Since this column began 19 years ago, this space has tried to prod, embarrass, cajole and lobby the city’s majority media companies to hire and promote African-Americans in substantial positions.
When this column began, African-American TV anchors were as rare as seeing Mayor Greg Ballard in the Black community. Now Black news and sports anchors along with meteorologists are commonplace on our local TV screens.
Unfortunately, despite the progress in front of the TV cameras, African-American progress in local media management is still disturbingly monochromatic.
The Indianapolis Star has fewer African-American reporters and columnists than when this column began. Twelve years after the fiasco when Calvin Stovall became the Star’s first Black managing editor only to leave literally a year later, there’s no African-American in a senior management position.
Despite Blacks holding mid-level management positions at Indy’s TV stations, African-Americans have never held one of the three critical TV station management spots – sales manager, news director or general manager.
Women have held those positions. But not an individual of color.
Recently, Indianapolis held a dubious distinction in the industry as a majority of the city’s TV news director positions were vacant. The news department is the largest single department of a local TV station and generates upwards of 40 percent of a station’s profit.
WRTV/Channel 6; WISH-TV/Channel 8 and WTHR/Channel 13 were all searching for news directors. And while I was hoping that an African-American might attain that position at one of the stations; I was highly pessimistic.
But, in media, opportunities sometimes fall to those at the right place at the right time.
Terri Cope-Walton came to Channel 6 15 years ago from Dayton, Ohio, where she was a reporter in radio and television.
Hired as a morning news producer, Cope-Walton became, several years ago, Channel 6’s community affairs director. Then a year ago, she was promoted to assistant news director. The first African-American to hold such a position.
Right after the election, Channel 6 began searching for their new news director. Meanwhile, as number two in the department, Cope-Walton had to hold her department together. Then came the Richmond Hills gas explosion disaster. Followed a month later by that after-Christmas blizzard.
It’s coverage of big events that can make or break a news organization. It’s a time when news departments can shine. Obviously the bosses at Channel 6 and owner Scripps saw something in Cope-Walton.
Last week, they removed “assistant” from her title. She became news director. The first African-American to hold such a position at (we believe) any Indiana TV station.
General Manager Larry Blackerby said, “After a nationwide search, I found the most qualified, natural leader right here inside our station.”
A couple of decades ago, I had lunch with then Channel 13 General Manager Rich Pegram. I told him about the many excuses I’d heard from folks in his position about not hiring Black anchors and managers.
Pegram told me something I’ve never forgotten. “Don’t judge me by my words. Judge me by my actions.”
His actions at Channel 13 opened doors to more Black anchors and managers in Indy. Blackerby adhered to Pegram’s dictim and his actions speak volumes and made history!
What I’m hearing
in the streets
It was one of a couple of sentences in Gov. Mike Pence’s Inaugural Address that caught my ear. “We must also seek ways to strengthen the institutions that nurture the character of our people, most especially the family.”
Pence didn’t waste time making his rhetoric real as he put into effect one of his campaign promises to create “Family Impact Statements.”
In an executive order issued two hours after he took the oath of office, Pence ordered six state agencies “to ensure (they) do not disregard or disadvantage the formation and well being of intact married families, intentionally or unintentionally whenever promulgating rules.”
Gov. Pence decreed that the Family Social Services Administration (FSSA), Department of Correction, Department of Child Services, State Department of Health, Department of Workforce Development and the Criminal Justice Institute and Victim Service Division “shall not create rules that inhibit families (or) may have a significant impact on families.”
I don’t have a problem that our new governor feels strongly about creating stable two parent families. I (and most of you reading this) agree that two parent families provide more stability, especially for children.
But given the severe family imbalance in Indiana’s African-American population, I’m extremely wary of Pence’s proposal as African-Americans are disproportionally represented in the client base of these six agencies.
Indiana’s has the 10th lowest percentage of married Black families of the 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Indiana, though, isn’t at the top of the list for Black single female families. Just 31.3 percent of Black households are single female families.
My concern is regulations that try to protect and preserve the stability of “two parent families” will negatively impact African-American families and households.
Even if I give our new governor the benefit of the doubt that his intentions are positive, I don’t trust state bureaucrats; especially those whose sensitivity towards Black households and families haven’t been known as particularly sympathetic.
Like the folks at the Department of Child Services who routinely take actions that break up Black families rather than keeping them together through responsible grandparents or inlaws.
While the era of good feelings continue to exist in the new Pence administration, it’s imperative that the governor and his folks quickly explain to our community what his Family Impact Statements may mean. Is it a way to help improve Black families or further erode and destroy them?
See ‘ya next week.
You can email comments to Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.
