Media Bias, Perspective, and State Repression (Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics) by Christian Davenport

Author:Christian Davenport [Davenport, Christian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780511656170
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2009-11-22T18:30:00+00:00

We Shall Overcome…Really – The Sun Reporter

The third newspaper used in this research is the Sun Reporter. From available information, this paper was a weekly, politically moderate,24 African American newspaper that had served the greater Oakland–San Francisco black population since its founding in 1944.25 Discussing different topics generally consistent with the “black press” (e.g., Wolesley 1972; Simmons 1998),26 this source addressed numerous subjects relevant to daily African American life (e.g., announcements of community activities and statistics related to their condition), it provided information about social struggles and legal efforts related to improving the situation for blacks (e.g., affirmative action), and it discussed various sociopolitical events within other communities that appeared relevant (e.g., conflicts between other ethnic groups and the orientation of rival civil society organizations).

Differing from the other newspapers discussed earlier, the content of the Sun Reporter was much easier to assess than identifying its general orientation toward authorities, African American challengers in general, and the Panthers in particular. Although the paper was interested in reporting information concerning black life, it was less concerned with issues of radical politics or with directly challenging/transforming political institutions. Whether or not the Sun Reporter would cover BPP activity and pay attention to the actions of authorities directed against them or whether it would merely focus on the Panthers and ignore the authorities is thus unclear.

In large part, this lack of clarity revealed a certain degree of complexity within the Bay Area African American community. For example, Carlton Goodlett and Thomas Fleming (the two most important influences on the paper), although migrating to the Bay Area before the World War II influx, were still very much caught by the migratory ethos that brought many blacks to California (Broussard 1993: Chapter 10).27 As such, Goodlett and Fleming maintained a strong sense that individual effort could overcome political, economic, and cultural difficulties and that people should play by the rules of the game. This opinion was tempered with a strong awareness that numerous restrictions needed to be challenged in an overt but nonaggressive manner. In support of this, it was widely acknowledged that Goodlett engaged in efforts to overcome racial restrictions (e.g., on integration) and other societal difficulties (e.g., vice and crime), but it was also noted that these always took place within the strictures of the existing legal and political system (e.g., Broussard 1993: 213; Crowe 2000: 68, 126). These complexities were an issue within the Bay Area, but they also reflected a larger dilemma for black newspapers and communities.

As a result, while focusing on educating children and curbing police brutality would be welcome (Goodlett himself was twice a victim of police brutality), other aspects of the Panthers' message/activity would not likely be well received (e.g., discussion of revolution or communist/socialist rhetoric and the use of weapons). Although the expected coverage of BPP and authority activity in the Sun Reporter is unclear – at least compared with the other newspapers discussed – I anticipate that it will tend toward more equitable coverage of both authorities and Panthers: invariably this was the position that was safest.

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