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Oral history interview with Chester L. Washington, 1971.

Creator: Washington, Chester L.
Project: Black Journalists Oral History Collection.
(see all project interviews)
Phys. Desc. :Transcript 35 pages Sound recording 1 audiocassette
Location: Columbia Center for Oral History
Full CLIO record >>

Biographical Note

Chester Lloyd Washington, Jr. was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 13, 1902. He attended public school in Pittsburgh and received his B.A. in English from Virginia Union University. In the early 1940s, he took graduate courses in business law and accounting at the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University. He progressed from sports editor to city editor, to associate editor, to secretary, and finally the West Coast manager of the Pittsburgh Courier, the largest black weekly newspaper in the United States at the time. He joined the editorial staff at the Los Angeles Mirror-News from 1955 to 1960, while serving as a news commentator on radio station KWOL in Los Angeles, California. Eventually, he became the president of the Central News-Wave Publications. He passed away from cancer on August 31, 1983.

Scope and Contents

In this interview conducted by Henry La Brie III, Chester L. Washington (1902-1983) discusses the future of the black press and the United States. He discusses the future of the black press in contexts of future discrimination and changing readerships. He explains the importance of understanding race in the United States via the black press. Washington also points out how the white press handles reporting news affecting minority communities and what this means for the future of black press. He emphasizes the importance of democracy, the political nature of the black press, and the editorial section. Finally, he discusses the concept of black ownership and content of black newspapers.

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