Local TV News Archives and the Pursuit of Social Justice

Abstract

Local TV News Archives and the Pursuit of Social Justice Rich Newberg (bio) A TV news consultant once shared an observation on the experiential nature of the moving image versus the printed word. A well-told story on television hits the viewer's heart first, before registering in the brain, he said. Newspaper reporting, he added, goes from the reader's brain to the heart. Watching the life being squeezed out of George Floyd by a uniformed police officer was beyond heart-wrenching. No words could describe that moment in time when centuries of injustice to people of color came to a head. TV news headlines disappear as quickly as the flash-bang of a stun grenade tossed at Black Lives Matter demonstrators, but buried deep in the archives of local television stations, a long-burning fuse of social injustice cannot be extinguished. When those stories are brought to light, they become teachable moments in time and powerful primary source material in the classroom. Video is powerful and familiar to today's students raised with smartphones and tablets. But even before the digital age, local television news often served as a pressure valve, giving a voice to the disenfranchised and context to the issues that divide us. Some TV stations with a conscience and an eye toward history had their archives preserved and are now in a position to bring an added perspective to a country searching for its soul. At WIVB-TV in Buffalo, where I spent thirty-seven of my forty-six years as a TV news anchor and senior correspondent, my cubicle was so cluttered with archived material that station management cordoned it off with yellow crime tape on several occasions. An avalanche of tapes once shattered a prized candy jar belonging to my co-anchor next door! It turns out this was a small price to pay for the benefits that were to follow years later. I now have licensing rights to repurpose Buffalo's African American history pieces and other documentaries for use in the classroom. Our Black history specials, produced by a diverse newsroom team of reporters and videographers, trace local issues of race relations dating back to the days of the Underground Railroad. Buffalo was the last stop for escaping slaves on the road to freedom. These pieces enable educators to meet the new inquiry-based standards for teaching social studies. Students are engaged because they can relate to the history that unfolded in their very neighborhoods. Journalists present stories based on evidence and facts. On television, they relate to the human experience in a way easily grasped by students with very short attention spans. Local TV stations must look beyond the fleeting images of today's newscasts if they want to play an active role in promoting social justice. Over the decades, their reporters and photojournalists provided the first rough draft of history to the communities they served. Providing a means to review this history will do more than merely hold up a giant mirror. It will provide a means for inner reflection and self-discovery. We should all take a lesson from the great Edward R. Murrow, who said of television's potential, "This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and even it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are [End Page 226] determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise, it's nothing but wires and lights in a box." Rich Newberg Rich Newberg is a member of AMIA's News, Documentary, and Television Committee. He is a founding board member of the Buffalo Broadcasters Association and spearheaded initial efforts to digitize historically relevant material from two of the region's TV network affiliates. He is currently repurposing portions of his own documentaries and reports for classroom use. The National Television Academy's New York Chapter inducted Mr. Newberg into its Silver Circle in 2019, recognizing his contributions to the state's television industry. He was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2006. Copyright © 2021 Association of Moving Image Archivists