It could be said that one of the greatest collections of imagery chronicling the Black experience in 20th century America was created by the iconic magazines Jet and Ebony. The treasure trove provided a golden opportunity for Donna Terrell (pictured at top), an anchor at Nexstar Media Group's Fox16 (KRLT-TV) in Little Rock, Ark., to recount some moments in history for an ambitious initiative spanning all of Nexstar's stations and its national cable news network, NewsNation: "Honoring Black History: Sharing Our Stories."
In speaking of Jet and Ebony's importance, Terrell says: "Although very slow in comparison to what we have now, they were the first social media, if you will, for the African American community."
To cover the story, Terrell traveled to Washington, D.C., and visited the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, which now shares ownership of the collection with Getty Trust. The entire collection includes four million prints and negatives, spanning 70 years. Terrell focused her four-minute segment on the images within the exhibit "Spirit in the Dark: Religion in Black Music, Activism and Popular Culture."
"There are roughly 40 images through the years," Terrell says of the exhibit. "These images have a story in and of themselves." To dig into them, she interviewed a man behind the lens: Roy Lewis, a photographer (now in his 80s) who worked at Ebony and Jet back in the 1950s and '60s and took many of the pictures.
Terrell's story, produced with support from Nexstar colleagues at stations in Denver and Washington D.C., is the centerpiece of "Sharing Our Stories." But the initiative is far larger than her report. News departments in all Nexstar stations, covering 116 markets, are participating in the project, which runs throughout February, Black History Month.
An advisory committee of 20 Black journalists across the company developed the "Sharing Our Stories" theme. The project includes several elements. Each station is creating its own 30- or 60-minute news special, and there will be at least eight nationally produced news segments that can be integrated into local news reports.
The stations will have sections within their sites focusing on Black History Month; ways for consumers to engage with the stations and tell their own story on digital media, and promotional segments on broadcast outlets and digital platforms that can be customized with sponsorship messages.
Courtney Williams, Nexstar's Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Human Resources, says that her favorite segment produced for "Sharing Our Stories" is about jumping the broom. It was produced at WPIX-TV New York.
While it may have originated in Britain, jumping the broom is a tradition that dates back to the 1840s and 1850s in America, when slaves in the South often were not permitted to marry legally. It quite literally involves jumping over a broom. Many contemporary couples have incorporated the tradition into their wedding ceremonies as a symbol of solidarity with their ancestors.
"I did it at my own wedding," Williams says. "It's a happy story. Sometimes when we share our stories, we tend to focus on some of the trauma that we've been through. I like the uplifting ones."
Another "Sharing Our Stories" segment from WPIX that Williams likes is about Jon Batiste, the singer, songwriter and bandleader. "He really focuses in on community, and also has a lot of positivity," Williams explains. "A lot of times we learn about African American figures in history. But it's nice to know we have some people living who are also making a difference and spreading love and joy."
This is the third year that Nexstar's stations have worked on company-wide initiatives tied to Black History Month. The theme in 2021 was "And Still We Rise," and last year's was "Mind, Body and Soul." It takes months for Nexstar's journalists to develop the ideas and stories that go into them.
They don't just stop at Black History Month when it comes to honoring the fascinating segments of society that make up America. Other initiatives celebrate months that are dedicated to women (March), Hispanics (September/October), Asian American and Pacific Islanders (May) and the LGBTQ+ community (June).
But the effort to honor different social and cultural segments extends beyond those particular spots in the calendar. "It really is throughout the year," Williams notes. "It's ongoing."
As for this month, Terrell hopes viewers come away from her own story about the Jet and Ebony photos realizing that history is a good thing. "It's nothing to fear," she says. "It should not make people feel bad in any way. If anything, it should be inspiration."
For some, the stories Nexstar stations tell might spark older family members to talk about certain landmark events they lived through, or traditions from times gone by, as they sit around the kitchen table. "I hope people will see the humanity in those images and see themselves in some way," Terrell concludes.
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