Missing Pages: Black Journalists of Modern America: An Oral History

by Wallace Terry

Book Overview

An oral history of modern American journalism by trailblazing black journalists such as Ed Bradley, Max Robinson, and Karen Dewitt. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786719931
• ISBN13: 9780786719938
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers
• Length: 375 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.8" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Dimitrius McFadden "a person intrested in journalism"

Reading, "Missing Pages" by Wallace Terry started with my dad asking me two questions. His first question was. "Son, you want to be an athlete, how many black athletes can you name?" I named a bunch. "Ok. You also want to be a writer. How many black journalists can you name?" I was puzzled and embarrassed, because I'm a freshman in high school and I couldn't name one. My dad suggested I read "Missing Pages" The book is divided by chapters, with each chapter being a short story on a black journalist. While the book profiles several journalists including: Carl Rowan, Joel Dreyfus, Ben Holman, Tom Johnson, Karen Dewit, James Hicks, William Raspberry, Henry M. "Hank" Brown, Leon Dash, Barbara Reynolds, C. Sumner "Chuck" Stone, Bernard Shaw, Austin Scott, Earl Caldwell, Carole Simpson, Ed Bradley, and Wallace Terry. I chose three to talk about. Those three are Ethel Payne, John Q. Jordan, and Max Robinson. I have chosen these three because they share a certain interest to me. Ethel Payne, one of the first two black women to cover the White House, worked for the Chicago Defender and later became a columnist there. She was known as the First Lady of the Black Press. She also became the first black commentator for a national TV network when she was hired by NBC in 1972. Her main problem in her journalism career was not her talent, but her skin color. Often, her only support was her confidence in herself. Working in the White House press corps, she was never afraid to ask tough questions. Even with many of her colleagues questioning why she was allowed to work White House, she never wavered in her duties as a reporter. She tells many fascinating stories of her time in Washington, Africa, Vietnam, and behind the news desk at NBC, in her more than 40 years in journalism. John Jordan, of the Norfolk (VA) Journal and Guide, was a correspondent in World War 2 who covered black troops in Italy for. John Jordan had actually been drafted into the Marines when his editor decided he wanted Mr. Jordan to replace his current war correspondent in Italy. The newspaper had to pull some strings with the War Department to allow Mr. Jordan to be released from the Marines and join the 5th Army on the front lines in Italy as a reporter. Mr. Jordan tells not only first hand stories of life and death on the front lines, but also of the conditions and racism that black soldiers faced during the war. Max Robinson was the first black evening network anchorman in America. Mr. Robinson set up his first television audition by answering a "White male only" want ad in a Virginia newspaper. He later became an anchor on ABC's World News Tonight. He also was a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists. Mr. Robinson tells of career leading up to him being hired by ABC to do the evening news. He also tells many stories of covering major news stories including the Iran Hostage Crisis in which 63 Diplomats were held captive for more than a year inside the U.S. Emba

Missing Pages

Missing Pages The author's voice of Missing Pages has an energy powered by truth which resonates beyond race. Missing Pages enhances the legacy of Wallace Terry, the author of the best selling Bloods (circa 1985) who distinguished himself as a journalist with Time magazine, the Washington Post and Parade magazine. Missing Pages was skillfully completed by Janice Terry, the author's widow and Zalin Grant, his fellow combat journalist that he served with in Vietnam. Missing Pages rips the mask off of the Fourth Estate which historically abandoned its duty to the people by printing with a discernable bias. As it were, black journalist were either denied positions with the mainstream press or relegated to black on black assignments. During and subsequent to the heyday of the Civil Rights movement things began to change, but on a very small scale. While attempts were made to restrict assignments of black journalists, their courage, perseverance and genius trumped racism and indifference. Missing Pages is long overdue. It provides a unique insight into America from those who, to cite the biblical injunction of Isaiah 48:10 were "Not molded in silver but in the furnace of affliction." The challenge of writing about race requires courage, candor, competence, civility and compassion. One has to deal with injustice, humiliation and other wrongs which often lurk in the subconscious of the objectified. Wallace Terry sets the standard for excellence in his interviews with names familiar to many, Carl Rowan, Max Robinson, Bernard Shaw, Carole Simpson, Chuck Stone, Ed Bradley and others. Those interviewed such as Chuck Stone, who said the reason there were not more black columnists with white newspapers, is because white America feared black authority. Missing pages also contains the experience of good Samaritans, such as Walter Cronkite, who stopped to help somebody. Missing Pages is inspirational because is reveals how individuals asserted themselves through persistence, courage, dedication and professional excellence. Carlos Cardozo Campbell Reston, VA

Beauty in the plain-spoken storytelling

The beauty of "Missing Pages" is the 20 civil rights-era African American journalists just talk to interviewer Wallace Terry and capsulize their career stories in a powerful anecdote or two. I realized that these journalist-heroes were courageous and bold, but gosh, I appreciated them much more when I got more details from them about their challenges. Like Earl Caldwell pointing out that his landmark reporter-source confidentiality case should not have been merged with two related cases. What distinguished Caldwell's case was he was not involved in illegal activities. Max Robinson's guts were apparent when the Richmond, Va. native tried out in 1959 for an anchor job along with 30 white men. The competition laughed -- this was the "massive resistance" period in Va. -- yet Robinson won a spot because of his undeniable talent. I knew about Ethel Payne upsetting President Eisenhower for having the nerve to challenge the commander-in-chief about signing a desegregation order, but I did not know depths of sexism she had to endure within the D.C. press corps. All of the profiles challenge me to be a better journalist, educator and citizen. I hope "Missing Pages" inspires many more readers.

Superb oral history

The late Wallace Terry, author of Bloods, the outstanding oral history of black soldiers during the Vietnam War, was working at the time of his death on this equally outstanding oral history of heroic black journalists during some of the most tumultuous times in American history. The stories are truly eye-opening, reminding us of the courage it takes to speak truth to power and of how far America has come because individual blacks had that kind of courage. But the book is about more than journalism, it's about recent history and the struggle to bring this country face to face with its failure to live up to its ideals of justice and freedom. Included, for example, is James Hicks' account of covering the Emmett Till trial in Mississippi, where the sheriff greeted Hicks and his fellow black reporters with a cheerful "how are you nigger doing?" Or Leon Dash's swashbuckling through Angola with Jonas Savimbi's guerrillas. Missing Pages is a must read for anyone with an interest in journalism, public affairs and history.