August 14, 2005

Another news icon passes, but notice slim

Dwight Lewis
Nashville Tennessean

It's been 37 years now since the Kerner Commission issued its report saying that America was moving toward two societies, one black, one white -- separate and unequal.

Sure, there has been improvement. But if you don't think this nation is still divided along racial lines, consider the news coverage of two recent deaths: ABC News anchor Peter Jennings and Ebony and Jet Magazine founder and publisher John H. Johnson.

On many broadcast outlets, nationally and locally, Jennings death Sunday resulting from lung cancer at the age of 67, led or was at the top of various newscasts when it was first reported. It also, and deservedly so, made the front page of many newspapers around the nation.

Johnson's death Monday in Chicago at age 87 of heart failure was inside news in most of the nation's mainstream newspapers (in which it was reported at all) and only contained a few paragraphs. And to my knowledge, there was very little broadcast coverage outside Chicago.

While playing the story of Johnson's death inside its Money section, USA Today did run a picture of this "media icon" on page 1 Tuesday.

Racial division is something many people today don't like to admit, but unfortunately it still exists. That is not to say that there hasn't been progress since the racial disorders of the 1960s that prompted President Lyndon B. Johnson to call for the Kerner report.

Many more blacks and whites go to school together today. Many more blacks and whites work along side each other in 2005 than they did in 1967. The list goes on and on, but the racial divide between blacks and whites is still there.

"It saddens me that Pac Man Jones gets better coverage than John H. Johnson," wrote Nashville accounting executive Harvey Hoskins in an e-mail I received Tuesday.

"You had to search the paper to find any mention of Johnson. For African-American readers, John H. Johnson is our Peter Jennings."

Thankfully, Johnson's death did not go totally unnoticed.

"He also wasn't afraid to take risks," Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said in a press release following the announcement of John H. Johnson's death. "In 1955, his decision to publish photos in Jet of Emmett Till's brutally beaten body in his open casket sparked an important national discussion on civil rights and helped lead to progress on key civil rights legislation.

"John's life story epitomized the American dream. He sold his mother's furniture to start his first magazine, working his way to the top of both the business and publishing worlds."

And House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a press release, "During a turbulent time in American history, Mr. Johnson gave voice to African Americans when he founded Johnson Publishing Co., more than 60 years ago. His hallmark magazines Ebony and Jet continue to provide Americans with images that reflect the rich heritage and spirit of the African-American community."

Yes, Mr. Johnson did do all of that. It's just too bad that the divide between blacks and whites is still so wide that we miss out on giving some people the praise they deserve, even in death.

Dwight Lewis is a columnist, regional editor and member of the editorial board for The Tennessean. E-mail: dlewis@tennessean.com.