"Black Power TV: A Cultural History of Black Public Affairs Television, 1968-1980" chronicles the history of a television genre that emerged in 1968, addressing African American audiences with such bold titles as Like It Is, Say Brother, Our People, and For Blacks Only in cities such as Boston, New York, Atlanta, Washington, and Chicago. This dissertation examines the importance of the urban uprisings as a catalyst for changes in Black media representation, considering the impact of the Kerner Report and the responses of local governments and media outlets to the civil unrest of that period. These shows had several critical effects: they created a space for publicizing internal debate in Black communities; they gave African American spectators a chance to see themselves and their communities represented positively on television; and they served as a training ground for a new generation of African American producers, journalists, and technicians. This dissertation analyzes the complex relations between the state, the media makers and the stations that aired these programs. While the programs were initiated as a salve for Black discontent, African American staff members of these programs used them to disseminate a message of Black liberation, by documenting and encouraging activism, celebrating Black artistic and political achievements, and offering a mode of rhetorical self-defense to racist discourses. Furthermore, both activists and government officials recognized a relationship between the media representation and the material conditions of an oppressed group. In addition to the programs themselves, this study demonstrates the impact of tuition-free training programs specifically for Black media workers, demonstrating the continuing impact of professionals who began their careers on programs such as Say Brother and who continued to transform television with programs from Eyes on the Prize to Hill Street Blues. Methodologically, this dissertation draws on extensive archival research as well as oral histories from twenty-three individuals who worked on the television programs. Close textual analysis is used to investigate how the programs articulated their vision of Black empowerment

Last modified

• 08/01/2018

Creator

• Devorah Heitner

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/N2MH7X

Subject

• Media, Technology and Society

Keyword

• Local Television
• Black Power
• Activism
• Broadcasting
• Civil Rights

Date created

• 06-25-2007

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright