- Feb 27, 2007
- 1,846
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Taken from http://www.stlamerican.com/articles/2007/08/09/news/local_news/localnews02.txt.
THURSDAY AUGUST 9, 2007 Last modified: Wednesday, August 8, 2007 10:39 PM CDT
Editor of black Oakland paper slain
Chauncey Bailey allegedly murdered over local coverage
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - The publisher of the Oakland Post is calling on black newspapers across America to not only stay the course, but “step up” when uncovering injustices and speaking truth to power in the wake of the assassination-style murder of his paper’s editor, Chauncey Bailey.
Bailey, 57, editor-in-chief of all five editions of the Post newspaper (Oakland, Berkeley Tri-City, Richmond, San Francisco and South County) and longtime reporter, was gunned down in the street by an unknown assailant at 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning, August 2.
Devaughdre Broussard, 19, has been arrested for the murder. Police said he has confessed, saying he killed Bailey because of stories he was writing on the bakery where he worked as a handyman, Your Black Muslim Bakery, according to reports.
“Especially with the demise of our national civil rights organizations like the NAACP, the Black Press is going to have to step up,” said Post publisher Paul Cobb.
“They should not shrink back and give a free pass to either suspected corruption or wrong-doing or inequities in society.”
Cobb vowed not to allow fear, threats or intimidation to stop his paper from continuing to uncover truths: “If you don't cover something that needs to be covered just because you're afraid for your life, you don’t need to be in the business.”
In the four years since Bailey was hired, the Post had received numerous “threats of violence,” Cobb said.
Arrested Saturday, Broussard was booked on murder and weapons charges, and was being held without bond. Broussard was on probation for a San Francisco burglary, according to reports.
Police said Broussard stalked and shot Bailey at least three times with a shotgun.
Cobb said the paper had also worked on stories “related to criminal activity, totally unrelated to stories on the Black Muslim Bakery” as well as “investigating people in the police department.”
It was apparently that fearlessness in his writing and his speaking on radio and television that caused the paper to flourish in the community. Cobb said the circulation skyrocketed from 5,000, when Bailey was first hired four years ago, up to its current audited circulation of 60,000.
Bailey was a seasoned journalist, who had covered the black community for the daily Oakland Tribune for more than 20 years. He had also written for the Detroit News, UPI, and the Hartford Courant. He had been a popular reporter for KDIA radio and Soul Beat TV.
“Chauncey’s coverage at the Oakland Tribune was essential to the paper,” said Martin Reynolds, the paper’s managing editor.
“His was a voice and perspective we have not had since he left.”
“African Americans have lost a champion and the world has lost an outstanding journalist,” said Bob Butler, president of the Bay Area Black Journalists Association.
“Chauncey will be missed. He was at every media event and he always asked the first question,” said Oakland Mayor Ronald V. Dellums.
“His questions were thoughtful and you knew that he sought to truly inform the public.”
“Chauncey was the consummate truth teller, no matter what the forum,” said radio talk show host Joe “Black Eagle” Madison, who has known Bailey since the 1970s. “He would never allow journalists, editors or reporters to undervalue, underestimate or marginalize the black community. He was fearless when it came to speaking truth to power. Chauncey was the type of journalist that would ask God the tough questions and demand an answer.”
The Post is a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, The Black Press of America, a federation of 200 black-owned newspapers that also includes the St. Louis American.
[Note: Remeber what happened to Malcolm X.]
THURSDAY AUGUST 9, 2007 Last modified: Wednesday, August 8, 2007 10:39 PM CDT
Editor of black Oakland paper slain
Chauncey Bailey allegedly murdered over local coverage
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - The publisher of the Oakland Post is calling on black newspapers across America to not only stay the course, but “step up” when uncovering injustices and speaking truth to power in the wake of the assassination-style murder of his paper’s editor, Chauncey Bailey.
Bailey, 57, editor-in-chief of all five editions of the Post newspaper (Oakland, Berkeley Tri-City, Richmond, San Francisco and South County) and longtime reporter, was gunned down in the street by an unknown assailant at 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning, August 2.
Devaughdre Broussard, 19, has been arrested for the murder. Police said he has confessed, saying he killed Bailey because of stories he was writing on the bakery where he worked as a handyman, Your Black Muslim Bakery, according to reports.
“Especially with the demise of our national civil rights organizations like the NAACP, the Black Press is going to have to step up,” said Post publisher Paul Cobb.
“They should not shrink back and give a free pass to either suspected corruption or wrong-doing or inequities in society.”
Cobb vowed not to allow fear, threats or intimidation to stop his paper from continuing to uncover truths: “If you don't cover something that needs to be covered just because you're afraid for your life, you don’t need to be in the business.”
In the four years since Bailey was hired, the Post had received numerous “threats of violence,” Cobb said.
Arrested Saturday, Broussard was booked on murder and weapons charges, and was being held without bond. Broussard was on probation for a San Francisco burglary, according to reports.
Police said Broussard stalked and shot Bailey at least three times with a shotgun.
Cobb said the paper had also worked on stories “related to criminal activity, totally unrelated to stories on the Black Muslim Bakery” as well as “investigating people in the police department.”
It was apparently that fearlessness in his writing and his speaking on radio and television that caused the paper to flourish in the community. Cobb said the circulation skyrocketed from 5,000, when Bailey was first hired four years ago, up to its current audited circulation of 60,000.
Bailey was a seasoned journalist, who had covered the black community for the daily Oakland Tribune for more than 20 years. He had also written for the Detroit News, UPI, and the Hartford Courant. He had been a popular reporter for KDIA radio and Soul Beat TV.
“Chauncey’s coverage at the Oakland Tribune was essential to the paper,” said Martin Reynolds, the paper’s managing editor.
“His was a voice and perspective we have not had since he left.”
“African Americans have lost a champion and the world has lost an outstanding journalist,” said Bob Butler, president of the Bay Area Black Journalists Association.
“Chauncey will be missed. He was at every media event and he always asked the first question,” said Oakland Mayor Ronald V. Dellums.
“His questions were thoughtful and you knew that he sought to truly inform the public.”
“Chauncey was the consummate truth teller, no matter what the forum,” said radio talk show host Joe “Black Eagle” Madison, who has known Bailey since the 1970s. “He would never allow journalists, editors or reporters to undervalue, underestimate or marginalize the black community. He was fearless when it came to speaking truth to power. Chauncey was the type of journalist that would ask God the tough questions and demand an answer.”
The Post is a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, The Black Press of America, a federation of 200 black-owned newspapers that also includes the St. Louis American.
[Note: Remeber what happened to Malcolm X.]