Hard as it may be to believe, if someone from the business side of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had attended the Town Hall that the St. Louis NAACP organized with Post editors at Shalom Church (City of Peace) last Thursday, they would have seen opportunity – provided the observer deeply understood black people in St. Louis and their concerns.
Stakeholders and citizens came armed with grievances and sharp questions concerning St. Louis’ daily newspaper’s coverage of the black community, which has been a majority demographic in the city, is now a plurality and remains a substantial component of St. Louis County and the entire region. But it was clear that these thoughtful, informed and respectful African Americans have not given up on the Post. They merely want to improve it, and they sincerely – and unanimously – argued that the paper would be improved by a more diverse news and opinion staff that presents a more fair and balanced coverage of African Americans in St. Louis.
Unfortunately, Post editor Gilbert Bailon had to cancel his appearance due to a medical situation, so Tony Messenger, who edits the Post’s generally progressive opinion pages, was the paper’s only representative, left to answer questions that, for the most part, touched upon news coverage, which is not his domain. We suspect his answers to these sharp questions, as reported on our front page and in our political column this week, might bring upon Messenger a new round of tough questions from his bosses. We urge them not to criticize but to praise Messenger for his candor and lack of defensiveness. Only after admitting there is a problem – and no one who is paying attention can doubt there is a problem between the Post and Black St. Louis – can the problem be addressed.
Messenger stated what seemed to be his sincere opinion that racism is not ingrained in the culture and leadership of the Post. He argued that the paper attempts to be fair and unbiased, and even stood by his endorsements in the 2012 primary, when the Post did not endorse one single black candidate on a long ballot of contested, multiracial elections. But faced with a series of sharp questions, he candidly granted many facts that the Post should be embarrassed to see aired publicly.
Messenger acknowledged that his editorial board has no black representation. He acknowledged that the paper’s news staff continues to lose what little black staff it has had, without replacing them. He said that the editorial and news staffs have little interaction, meaning the editorial writers at the paper don’t even mix professionally with the few black colleagues they have. He admitted that scarcely anyone in the Post newsroom, if anyone, lives in majority-black North City. And he granted the obvious fact that who people are and where they live influence what stories and issues they think are important and how they approach those stories and issues as journalists.
Messenger promised to report back with more precise demographics about diversity at the Post and how the paper compares to its peer publications. We are waiting for his report and prepared to share this information with our readers in our July 25 Diversity edition. We also appreciate the fact that Gilbert Bailon did fully intend to participate in this forum and is committed to representing the paper at a future NAACP Town Hall. We are keen to hear how Bailon responds to similar questioning. And we very much hope that Messenger and Bailon both tell their bosses, colleagues and counterparts on the business side: Don’t give up on Black St. Louis, which is critically important to this region and its future. For hard as it may be to believe, Black St. Louis, recognizing how indispensable a vibrant major daily is to a metropolitan community, has not given up on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch – yet.
