Civil Rights

50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement

Coverage Research

Blog Summary

by: Garret Flores

Our group reported on the commemorative coverage of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement that changed the face of America forever. In our group, Katee Boyd and Garrett Flores, chose to cover events that took place in the movement that aren't necessarily the first events one thinks of when they think of the Civil Rights Movement. However, all the protests and steps Americans took throughout this transitional period helped make the Civil Rights Movement as powerful as it was. 

After researching a variety of stories reported on 50 years ago, we were able to compare and contrast coverage of events then and now. The metamorphosis of news coverage in just 50 years is incredible and intend to show you the change in not only society, but journalism as well. We chose two front page stories from the The Delta Democrat-Times and The Birmingham News to summarize.

Mothers on both sides of Till murder express concern about investigation 

The Delta Democrat-Times, Friday, September 2, 1955, pg. 1

by: Katee Boyd

A little background

Till’s mother insisted on an open 
casket to display the brutality
 he endured by this act. 
Photo by The Chicago Defender 

The article I chose relates to the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till, 15, of Chicago. Till was kidnapped by two white men, half-brothers J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, while visiting relatives in Mississippi in August of 1955. He was then beaten, shot and his body disposed of in the Tallahatchie River. Milam and Bryant confessed to the kidnapping but not to the murder. Newspapers nationwide were critical of publications in the South. This in turn seemed to push the southern media towards supporting the two white men. As this shift occurred, the southern attitude as a whole towards Milam and Bryant began to follow in the medias footsteps. When the two could not afford decent attorneys, some stepped up to represent them pro bono and donations were made for their defense totaling $10,000. In September, the two men were acquitted by an all-white jury. The nation was outraged and it sparked widespread controversy. The following January in 1956, Milam and Bryant confessed to the murder in a Look magazine interview, as they were protected by double jeopardy. This incident is one of the key factors in igniting the civil rights movement. In addition to the front page I analyzed there are multiple front pages covering events from that time period. 

Favoritism apparent in article 

I found this article interesting because it gives both mothers a voice in the situation but in different ways. It gave more prominence to the white mother, Mrs. Eula Lee Bryant. It quoted her describing how she spent her time while her sons where in jail for kidnapping Till. It described her looking over photographs of her two sons and her other children. Bryant claimed that racism was not a characteristic of men in her family. I also think it is strange that they note how many other children she has. She also points out the military status of her sons. It seems like the paper made more of an effort to humanize her in some ways to gain sympathy.

The Delta Democrat-Times
Friday, September 2, 1955, pg. 1

On the other hand Till’s mother, Mrs. Mamie Bradley, is quoted as warning her son prior to leaving for his visit south, to willingly be submissive to whites. This could possibly be interrupted as he should have known not to mess with any whites.

Not only does the paper give more print space to the white mother but the first part of the story is also dedicated to her instead of the mother of the victim, which I thought to be odd. The layout of the story is strange. Instead of flowing in a normal pattern, they veer and surround the smaller portion about Till’s mother with that of Bryant’s story. Although the paper is not blatant in their support for the white mother, I do think we can acknowledge that there was some disproportionate coverage. As far as the layout of the front page as a whole, pictures were much smaller than today and the front page consists of mostly text.

While I do feel we as journalist strive to be unbiased and I am sure as a whole we have gotten better about this since the time of the civil rights movement, I do think favoritism in the media is still apparent, especially in situations such as these. While doing my research I was surprised to see how many times this situation and the recent Trayvon Martin case were compared.

The Confession 

In January of 1956, Milam and Bryant confessed in the library of their lawyers offices. The Look reporter did not ask the questions, instead their lawyers did. It was the first time anybody had heard the real story, including the lawyers.  

Alabama celebrates Civil Rights transformation 50 years later
By: Garrett Flores

Source: The Birmingham News/June 11, 1963/Front page
Photo Credit: Newseum Archives

The Birmingham News shows incredible progression years after a monumental Civil Rights point in time known as the desegregation of the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963.

History – University of Alabama desegregated

50 years ago, on June 11, 1963, President Kennedy ordered Alabama’s Gov. George Wallace, to “cease and desist” his interference of the integration of University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Gov. Wallace, while campaigning for office, vowed he stand in the doorway if there were ever a chance of integration in Alabama schools. Wallace did just that when Kennedy demanded two black students be allowed to enroll. In dramatic fashion, the Alabama National Guard was called out to enforce the president’s orders. Nicholas Katzenbach, deputy U.S. attorney general, was sent to Tuscaloosa on the president’s behalf. Katzenbach asked Wallace to follow orders four times and Wallace refused every time. Katzenbach, a few U.S. marshals and the two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, returned to the car and Wallace began reading aloud a statement why he was forbidding segregation in Alabama. A few hours later, the directive was given for the National Guard to head to campus. Subsequently, Wallace yielded and Malone and Hood were enrolled.

Newspapers – Then and now

The first aspect of The Birmingham News that I noticed is how different leads were then compared to now. The leads start off with the June 11 date even though that is obvious because it’s the date the newspaper was issued. There are also date reference words in the lead such as, “this afternoon” and “today” that tell the reader when the story took place. One other difference is the format of the photograph on the front page. Fifty years ago on this big day in history there is only a small sized photo on the front page. The front page is filled with a lot more written content than newspapers nowadays. Even on regular days when a historic hasn’t occurred, there is usually a bigger picture on the front page than what was on The Birmingham News front page 50 years ago. This could be because of how far cameras have progressed leading to a greater emphasis today on pictures.

Progressive coverage across the board

As expected, the newspapers varied significantly 50 years ago to what they look like now. Perhaps the greatest variation is the layout of the paper itself. The Birmingham News front page from 1963 is crowded, tangled and convoluted. It seems as if were just trying to fit as much content on page as possible. Nowadays, newspapers try to direct the eye where to go as smoothly as possible. When you look at the 1963 newspaper it’s hard to know where to look first. The use of the word “Negro” in reference to African-Americans was a little perplexing to read. Although we’re taught it was the norm back then, it’s still crazy to see it and think how times were. Despite the “Negro” references, I felt the stories on the front page concerning the University of Alabama desegregation were objective. I expected there to be a noticeable slant in the content being that The Birmingham News is a newspaper from the South in a state that at the time had a governor whom thought his belief in segregation was constitutional. Compare the 1963 version to The Birmingham News 50 years later in a commemorative story on their website complete with many more photos than the smaller photo published on the front page in 1963. NBC Nightly News also produced actual footage of the incident in Alabama and reported on it the same day.