125 year old newspaper says serve your community and readers
By Vanessa Rozier NNPA Special Correspondent, St. Louis American
After 125 years of empowering the Black community, the Philadelphia Tribune is nowhere near tired. Led by President and CEO Robert W. Bogle, the Tribune, which celebrated its 125th anniversary last week, has withstood social and economic trials since 1884 -not by being a jack of everything – but a master at serving its community.
”We reflect what our community is and does,” said Bogle in his twentieth year as the Tribune’s publisher. According to him, the key to the newspaper’s longevity is no different than any other newspaper – Black-owned or not. That is to print news and information that empowers its readers.
In a day when newspapers are filing bankruptcy, laying off in mass and flocking to the Internet, Bogle said that Black-owned newspapers are in a better position than most. ”We’re not trying to talk to everybody, we’re trying to talk to Black people,” he said. ”We’re not trying to be all things to a lot of people; we’re just trying to be the best thing to one people.”
With their entire editorial staff equal to the size of the copy desk at the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Tribune, which prints five days a week, boasts a newsroom with very few layoffs and very loyal readers.
While the American Society of News Editors reports that newsrooms laid off nearly 6,000 journalists in 2008, the Tribune seems to be an exception in the changing industry. ”Things are tough for us, but we don’t have the same issues as other newspapers,” Bogle said. ”Those whom we serve continue to buy our newspaper.”
A. Peter Bailey, a lecturer on the Black Press, commends the Tribune on fulfilling what he considers to be the purpose of Black newspapers – documenting the Black experience in Philadelphia. ”The Tribune is a very fine newspaper, but it can’t do it by itself,” says Bailey, a former Ebony Magazine editor, NNPA columnist and mass media professor at the University of the District of Columbia. He has also taught several courses on the Black Press. ”Two major Philadelphia dailies went bankrupt. The Tribune is doing something right.”
If it were up to this journalist of over 40 years, Black newspapers would begin to aggressively market themselves to talented young journalists instead of assuming that they would automatically run to papers like the New York Times.
Today, the student-run Hilltop newspaper at Howard University is the only daily Black newspaper in the country. Bailey believes that they should not be alone.
The Philly Tribune has thrived with young journalists over the years, including interns from universities around the country.
While some young Black journalists may prefer working at one of the nation’s top five papers, Eboni Farmer does not. ”I’d rather work for the Black Press because they need young reporters like myself to help change things,” said Farmer, a senior journalism student at Howard University and an editor at The Hilltop. ”I think that Black papers are still very important to the community and more than anything I want to have an impact on my community.”
Even though the United States is headed by a Black man, President Barack Obama, Bogle emphatically believes that the Black community still has a long way to go. ”Don’t think that by any stretch of the imagination, we are free,” he said. ”We still are not, in many cases, equally and fairly open to access.”
This is where the Black press comes in.
Farmer agrees that Black newspapers are sorely needed to report the experiences and ideas of the Black community. ”The Black press is needed to [report] the real Black perspective,” she said.
Paving the way for more than 200 Black newspapers around the country, the Tribune – which publishes every day except Saturdays and Monday – has worked tirelessly to not only remain among the best in Philadelphia, but the best in the nation. As a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a federation of more than 200 Black-owned newspapers, the Tribune is the current recipient of the prestigious NNPA Russwurm Award for excellence. Named for John B. Russwurm, a founder of the nation’s first Black newspaper, the Russwurm recipient is nicknamed the best Black newspaper in America.
Bogle anticipates many more years: ”If we continue to provide products that our readers want, we will survive.”
Leave a Reply