Gene Roberts

The authors start with Myrdahl’s insight that the majority of white Americans, particularly northerners, wouldn’t care about racism unless they were forced to do so. It was the press—particularly photographers and the new technology of television—that made them ashamed enough to support the civil rights movement. This book tells the story of the civil rights movement as seen through its reporting, both in the black press (which ironically started to find itself having a harder time covering some of the stories as the national white press became interested) and in the “mainstream” media. It’s also a reminder of the power of law—expansive libel law kept the New York Times out of several key states for significant periods of time, and other newspapers didn’t even try. And, as both segregationists and civil rights leaders recognized, only publicity—often, only scenes of brutality—could move the fight against segregation forward. So the Supreme Court’s decision to cut back on the scope of libel law appears as a civil rights issue. It’s a gripping narrative, and an appalling reminder of how much racist horror went unpunished and unremarked, or even celebrated in the grossest terms by politicians and editors who were considered leaders of their communities, not very long ago.… (mer)