THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA (1900-⸺)
[Sidenote: JOURNALISM BECOMING A PROFESSION]
Without doubt the first two decades of the twentieth century mark the
highest progress in Negro Journalism. More papers have been established,
and better papers have been produced. A realization of the power of
the press has grown as the period of freedom has increased and race
consciousness has been developed. More men with capital have invested in
newspapers. Publishers and editors began for the first time to consider
Journalism a profession from which a living could be derived.
[Sidenote: LACK FUNDS AND NEED EQUIPMENT]
Lack of adequate funds to fully develop a well-balanced newspaper has
been and still is the greatest drawback to the Negro publisher. Until in
very recent years, no Negro newspaper did all of its mechanical work.
In many cases the newspaper office merely collected and arranged the
news, and then carried it to some publishing concern. In other cases,
the paper was printed by a publishing house, although the “forms” were
made-up in the paper’s own shop. Thus, Negro newspapers have not been
independent concerns.
[Sidenote: LACK OF LIVE NEWS STORIES]
In his effort to seriously make journalistic progress, the publisher of
a Negro newspaper has always found it difficult to obtain sufficient
live material to fill up his sheet. There have been no news bureaus or
syndicates to supply him with the type of news needed to make his paper
a real newsy sheet. In his endeavor to “pad out” in order to continually
fill the standard size of his paper, the Negro publisher has been
compelled to “clip” news previously featured by the daily newspapers
or rewrite news from other Negro papers—a task rendered difficult by
the corresponding dearth of real news in all Negro papers during “dull”
seasons.
[Sidenote: POOR ORGANIZATION A SERIOUS HANDICAP]
Prior to and at the beginning of the twentieth century, the organization
of the average Negro newspaper amounted to a printer-editor, perhaps an
assistant whose duties were varied and manifold, an office girl, who in
addition to keeping books, also performed the duties of copy-reader,
and two or three agents who worked part time on a percentage basis. The
typographical and grammatical structure of many of the papers suffered
greatly through the lack of having a staff sufficiently trained and
equipped with the proper facilities for turning out a well-edited,
well-printed sheet.
Dependence on a small, under-paid and inefficient organization—a
condition analogous, and in many instances worse than that which exists
on the small town newspaper—has seriously handicapped the Negro newspaper
of the past.
[Sidenote: NEWS BUREAUS AND SYNDICATES FOUNDED]
The past twenty years have witnessed the evolution of a new Negro
press. Stronger papers have been begun, and news syndicates and news
associations have been founded. Examples of the latter are: The Hampton
Institute Service, The Tuskegee Institute Press Service, Allen’s News
Agency, The R. W. Thompson News Agency, The National Negro Press
Association and The Associated Negro Press. Especially is the last named
organization rendering a great service and filling a great need.
[Sidenote: ASSOCIATED NEGRO PRESS]
The Associated Negro Press has been in existence less than four years but
during that time it has rapidly grown and achieved great success. Today
it has a membership of more than 100 newspapers. The establishment of
the A. N. P. was the first effort in Negro Journalism to assemble and
distribute regularly general news from all sections of the United States
and other countries affecting Colored people. Through the work of this
organization big news stories now appear simultaneously in all of the
leading Negro newspapers. The A. N. P. maintains executive offices in
Chicago and permanent bureaus in Washington and New York.
[Sidenote: PAPERS OF THE PERIOD]
Among the present day papers established in this period are: _The Boston
Guardian_, _The Nashville Globe_, _The Atlanta Independent_, _The Chicago
Defender_, _The Detroit Leader_, _The Pittsburgh Courier_, _The St.
Louis Argus_, _The Dallas Express_, _The Cleveland Advocate_, _The Negro
World_, _The Indianapolis Ledger_, _The Indianapolis Recorder_, and _The
Chicago Whip_.