Page 23 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

BLACK
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many
moderate approach of the more traditional civil rights movement." To PRESS
civil rights supporters, both black and white, the phrase exemplified the growing
violent tendencies of young blacks. Carmichael went on to use the phrase during
his association with the Black Panthers. (See also Stokely Carmichael.)
SOURCE: John W. Smith, The Urban Politics Dictionary, 1990.
Jacqueline Nash Gifford
BLACK PRESS. The first black newspaper, Freedom's Journal, was estab-
lished in 1827. An abolitionist publication, Freedom's Journal advocated for
black rights. Frederick Douglass, the well-known abolitionist, began publishing
his newspaper, North Star, in 1847. The first black female journalist was Ida B.
Wells, who championed human rights and wrote for both the black and Anglo
media in the late nineteenth century. The black press flourished early in the
twentieth century but by 1970 was struggling to maintain its readership. Cir-
culation of even the most successful papers, such as the Chicago Defender, had
plummeted. Rising production costs and competition from other media are rea-
sons most often cited for the decline. Today, the total number of black news-
papers is close to 200. Some of these are free publications, but others maintain
paid circulations.
The oldest circulating African-American newspaper is the Philadelphia Trib-
une, founded in 1884. It is published three times a week and established a Web
site in 1996. The oldest daily newspaper is the Chicago Daily Defender, which
began as a weekly in 1905. The black press of the 1990s has attracted nonblack
investors, a trend that has met with mixed reaction because these publications
survive, while many smaller, community-based papers do not. Although con-
temporary black newspapers struggle to compete for advertising dollars, surveys
show that black newspapers are the primary source of news for their readers.
(See also Frederick Douglass; William Lloyd Garrison.)
SOURCE: Clint C. Wilson, Black Journalists in Paradox: Historical and Current Per-
spectives, 1991.
Carol M. Liebler and B. Carol Eaton

BLUMLER, JAY (1924- ) is a British political communication researcher. He
has been director of the Centre for Television Research and professor of soci-
ology and political aspects of broadcasting at the University of Leeds in En-
gland. He also was a lecturer at Oxford College and finally at the University of
Maryland, from where he retired in 1989.
Blunder's contributions to political communication lie in the realm of the
effects of television in the process, particularly in books he either coauthored
or wrote. Some of his more influential books are Television in Politics: Its Uses
and Influence (1968), The Challenge of Election Broadcasting (1978), and a
coauthored book, The Formation of Campaign Agendas (1991). In the latter
book, he uses British and U.S. election data to analyze messages and commu-
nication strategies. For example, he studies the gatekeeping process, agenda