Wilbert A. Tatum, who led the Amsterdam News for more than 25 years, died on Thursday while vacationing with his wife, Susan, in Dubrovnik, Croatia. He was 76.
Tatum suffered multiple organ shutdown around 1 a.m. local time, said Elinor Tatum, his daughter who had succeeded him as publisher in 1996 when she was 26. Ms. Tatum said her father was a diabetic and had been in a wheelchair.
Mr. Tatum held multiple roles over his time at The Amsterdam News, which is one of the nation’s oldest black newspapers. He served as editor, publisher, chairman and chief executive. Among the more polarizing decisions of his leadership: defending Tawana Brawley against official findings that the sexual assault she said she had been through was a hoax; printing the name of the Central Park jogger who was raped in 1989; and running editorials against Mayor Edward I. Koch in a box on the front page week after week under the headline “Why Koch Should Resign.”
Information from the New York Times contributed to this report.
