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A Retrospective: 28 Media Leaders Who Died This Decade

The Aughts

by Danny Groner | 12:52 pm, December 4th, 2009

» 7 comments

Editor’s Note: Mediaite has been rightly called out for a big, glaring error: On our list of 28 media leaders we’ve lost this decade there was not a single person of color. Not a one. Read Mediaite editor-at-large Rachel Sklar‘s entire mea culpa here and below, we’ve added 5 of the deceased black media leaders that should have been mentioned initially.

2005

Shirley_Chisholm

Who: Shirley Chisholm
Major Accomplishment: Mrs. Chisholm was an outspoken, steely educator-turned-politician who shattered racial and gender barriers as she became a national symbol of liberal politics in the 1960′s and 1970′s.
Legacy: In 1972, when she entered the presidential primaries, she did not expect to capture the Democratic nomination, which ultimately went to George S. McGovern. “Some see my candidacy as an alternate and others as symbolic or a move to make other candidates start addressing themselves to real issues,” she said at the time. She did not win a single primary, but in 2002, she said her campaign had been a necessary “catalyst for change.”

JohnHJohnson

Who: John H. Johnson
Major Accomplishment: Mr. Johnson had major holdings in book and magazine publishing, cosmetics, television and radio and in 1982 was the first African-American on Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 wealthiest Americans.
Legacy: [Ebony's] advertising was distinctive among black publications at the time because it promoted general merchandise, as well as products like hair straighteners aimed at blacks. Ebony strove to glamorize consumption, at first with cover girls, and some suggested the effect was to play down serious issues at a time blacks were still excluded from many areas of American life. But many readers were glad for the uplift.

richard_pryor

Who: Richard Pryor
Major Accomplishment: Mr. Pryor’s crossover appeal derived largely from his innovative approach to comedy – what Rolling Stone magazine called “a new type of realistic theater.” It was essentially comedy without jokes – re-enactments of common human exchanges that not only mirrored the pretensions of the characters portrayed but also subtly revealed the minor triumphs that allowed them to endure and even prevail over the bleak realities of everyday living.
Legacy: “Pryor started it all,” the director and comedian Keenen Ivory Wayans said. “He made the blueprint for the progressive thinking of black comedians, unlocking that irreverent style.” For the actor Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor was simply “better than anyone who ever picked up a microphone.” The playwright Neil Simon called him “the most brilliant comic in America.”

2006

bradley

Who: Ed Bradley
Major Accomplishment: To generations of television viewers, Mr. Bradley was a sober presence — albeit one with salt-and-pepper stubble and a stud in one ear — whose reporting for CBS across four decades ranged from the Vietnam War and Cambodian refugee crisis to the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and the Columbine High School shooting. He won 19 Emmy awards, according to CBS, including one for lifetime achievement in 2003.
Legacy: For Charlayne Hunter-Gault, who left The New York Times for the “MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour” on PBS in 1978, Mr. Bradley was more than just someone who helped clear an early path to national television for herself and other black journalists. “I think people might want to characterize him as a trailblazer for black journalists,” she said. “I think he’d be proud of that. But I think Ed was a trailblazer for good journalism. Period.”

2009

michael-jackson_up

Who: Michael Jackson
Major Accomplishment: As with Elvis Presley or the Beatles, it is impossible to calculate the full effect Mr. Jackson had on the world of music. At the height of his career, he was indisputably the biggest star in the world; he has sold more than 750 million albums.
Legacy: Berry Gordy, the Motown founder who helped develop the Jackson 5, told CNN that Mr. Jackson, as a boy, “always wanted to be the best, and he was willing to work as hard as it took to be that. And we could all see that he was a winner at that age. Tommy Mottola, a former head of Sony Music, called Mr. Jackson “the cornerstone to the entire music business.”

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ImNotBlue

No Farrah Fawcett? She was a media icon! That poster alone was a huge deal!

But perhaps more confusing, no Michael Jackson?

Sure we’re all sick of hearing about the coverage… but come on, if ever there was a media star, he was it. From the birth of the music video, to the television commercials, to the movies, to the wacky stuff in the later years… not to mention the music… MJ was all things media! I think he deserves to be on the list, for sure.
Jim R

Well done, Danny, a significant list indeed.
Rel E Vant

What, no Ed Bradley?

Guess it only matters if we lose white “media leaders,” huh?

And for the record, including Kate Hepburn, Bob Hope, William Hanna and Johnny Carson is totally stretching the “media” designation beyond all recognition.
ClarkKent_DC

These are “the figures who helped define, shape and set the standards in their industries” — but there’s no mention of John H. Johnson, founder of Ebony magazine? Carl T. Rowan, public servant, author and columnist? Ed Bradley, “60 Minutes” correspondent? August Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright? Not even Richard Pryor or Michael Jackson?
wdawkins

Thank you for updating the list.

Do understand that the criticism of the lack of diversity this morning was not a matter special pleading, but was based on merit. The gaping omissions spoke to credibility and authenticity of the list.

Regarding the additions, Chisholm did not win a primary, but she changed the California winner-take-all primary system in 1972.

Johnson’s Ebony/Jet had iconic journalistic moments and products: The Emmett Till casket photo in 1955, the photo of widow Coretta Scott King in 1968 and the seminal book “Before the Mayflower” by editor and popular historian Lerone Bennett Jr.
asamuels

Why is the original list still available to be found on this site without having the mea culpa added to it? Also, your description of John Johnson is unacceptable.To state that the only reason why Ebony and Jet magazines were remarkable is because of race-specific advertising is missing the point in its entirety. The Johnson magazine empire is legendary because Johnson dared do – and succeeded – where others could not. Black folks were being lynched for being able to read and write and Johnson still decided to start a magazine that uplifted black folk.

Johnson was friends with presidents. He created America’s first black magazine amidst a most dangerous time. He gave opportunity to black journalists when whites were too racist to be bothered with us. I don’t know who wrote up this description, but a simple Google search would have turned up quite a bit more. You could also have read his bio or gone to the Web site. He was not legendary because of advertising alone. He’s legendary because he put black people on magazine covers. He told the stories of black people. He helped to cement our perceptions of black beauty. Most importantly though, for the first three decades, he told our stories when no one else would.

He’s legendary because he started something big and it stuck.
Gdub

So by adding five African-Americans of note to the end of this list, we should be pleased? Are you serious? And what about other people “of color?” This was handled very, very poorly, all-around.