Training Black Media Makers after Kerner: The Black Journal Workshop

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the history of black media training programs created in the wake of the Kerner Commission Report. The history of pervasive anti-Black discrimination in the television unions made training programs vital as alternative credentialing sites. One of the most prominent training programs among the many that Black media activists demanded and created in this era was the Black Journal Workshop, which was affiliated with the national television program, Black Journal . Black Journal , as the first national Black public affairs television program, had a strong interest in creating a pool of trained graduates to hire to work on the show. The history of the Black Journal Workshop shows that the workshop served as more than a technical training ground for black producers, directors, cinematographers, technicians, and journalists, but also a political and intellectual foundation to life as a black media maker in a frequently hostile environment. Keywords: Black Journal Workshop; black media maker; black media training program; Kerner Commission Report