The untimely death of renowned African American journalist and Maynard Institute
alumnus Chauncey Bailey stunned the media community. He was gunned down on his way to
work Aug. 2 in Oakland, Calif. A handyman at Your Black Muslim Bakery, an organization
Bailey was investigating, has been charged in the slaying. In e-mails to the Maynard
Institute, alumni share how they covered the death of their fellow journalist
and, for many, their friend.
Gregory Lewis
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| Gregory Lewis |
Gregory Lewis is a senior reporter at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel,
where he is a member of the race and demographic team and author of the newspaper's
"Old School Blues" blog. He was director of recruitment and placement for the Maynard reporting and editing programs from 1981 to 1986.
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In his blog entry of Aug. 3, "This can't be real," he wrote:
"I am in pain today ...
"I am having a hard time believing this is real. It's like a dream or a storyline
in a movie or a television show.
"Chauncey invited me along with several other black journalists to write 13 scripts
for a television sit-comedy he had sold to ABC. Chauncey had written the pilot and
could have been selfish but he wanted to share his potentially newfound wealth with
other brothers and sisters.
"But my association with him started way before us trying
to get rich being Hollywood writers. I've known Chauncey, who was editor of the Oakland
Post, a black weekly newspaper in the East Bay, for nearly 30 years. He was a
controversial brother but a good brother nonetheless. He was a black community-minded
reporter.
"We often showed up on the same stories when I plied my trade for the
San Francisco Examiner. He worked for the Oakland Tribune. Whenever we were on the
same story, we traded off being good guy-bad guy on the person who was holding the
press conference. We'd debate about who delivered the question that made the person
squirm the most. I must admit Chauncey won most of those challenges. He had a way of
asking pointed, direct, hard questions, especially of black officials, that would
anger them.
"He was about improving the black community..." |
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Mary Ambrose
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| Mary Ambrose |
Mary Ambrose, managing editor for
New America Media,
was in the Editing Program
this summer. New America Media extensively covered the death of Bailey, who was
a co-founder of the organization.
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Excerpts from some of New America Media's coverage:
The Danger Signs Were There For Chauncey Bailey, commentary by Earl Ofari Hutchinson,
posted Aug. 5:
"Bailey will be honored and remembered for his tough, honest reporting and as a champion
for black community causes. But as the past has tragically shown, the slayers of men such
as him almost always are those that they champion."
RIP Chauncey Bailey — Fierce Advocate for the Black Community, tribute by Kevin Weston
posted Aug. 4:
"The New America Media family would like to extend our personal condolences to the
family of Chauncey Bailey — a consummate professional, friend, mentor and Black Media
pioneer. Mr. Bailey was gunned down Aug. 2 in Oakland, California. He will be remembered
as a fierce advocate for the African-American press and community, a loving father, a
visionary media businessman and a friend of New America Media/Pacific News Service for
over twenty years.
"New America Media Executive Director Sandy Close said of Bailey, 'Chauncey was a
co-founder of New America Media and one of the best investigative journalists working
bar none ... He once said, "All of the ethnic media are like fingers on a hand. Only
together will we be strong like a fist."'"
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Alice Bonner
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| Alice Bonner |
Alice Bonner,
a journalism instructor at the University of Maryland who is writing a Robert Maynard
biography, was in the Summer Program for Minority Journalists at Columbia University
in 1972. She taught in several classes at the University of California at Berkeley in
the 1970s and 1980s and directed the Summer Program in 1986.
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Bonner's thoughts on the coverage:
"Although I did not read every account, I did not see mention of this
stunning coincidence: When Chauncey Bailey's name is added to the hundreds of
journalists honored on the Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial, (if the alleged motive
in his death holds) he will share a unique connection to Maurice Williams who was
shot down at D.C. government headquarters in the 1977 Hanafi Muslim siege. It puzzles
and pains me to realize that two black journalists who were my friends have been shot
down while doing their jobs, and both were killed (30 years apart) in 'religion'-related
strife connected to the checkered saga of the Black Muslims/Nation of Islam.
This must have some significance as a commentary on the sorrowful side of black
Americans' history?" |
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Russell LaCour
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| Russell LaCour |
Russell LaCour,
a copy editor at the Tulsa
(Okla.) World, was in the 2006 Maynard Editing Program.
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"The Tulsa World ran the horrific death of Chauncey Bailey as the top story
in the nation's briefs on A-7. The World also included a photo above the briefs that
was the only art element on the page. The AP photo was from the crime scene
that included the publisher of the Oakland Post and an unidentified woman.
"Although the play was reasonable, there was no follow-up that I could find in the days
afterward that you would expect in the coverage of an editor of a newspaper being killed
in broad daylight."
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M. Alexis Scott
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| M. Alexis Scott |
M. Alexis Scott,
publisher/CEO of Atlanta Daily World,
attended Columbia University's
1974 summer journalism program, which was the precursor to the Maynard Institute's
Summer Program for Minority Journalists. She is
a former teacher for the Summer Program for Minority
Journalists at University of California at Berkeley and former
vice chair of the Maynard Institute board of directors.
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"I was shocked by Chauncey Bailey's untimely and awful death but I had
not heard about it until I went to the news service of the National Newspaper Publishers
Association Web site to look for stories for that week's paper. I was especially
shocked because Chauncey and I were classmates at the Michelle Clark Fellowship Summer
Program for Minority Journalists at Columbia University ... Chauncey was a spirited,
gorgeous and eager journalist anxious to make his mark on the profession and on
'mainstream' media. Our paths crossed from time to time over the years and he was
always on the case, working to shine light on the darkness. God bless you, Chauncey.
May you rest in peace.
"We used the story filed by the National Newspaper Publishers Association news service
of which we are a member ... As with most of our obits, the story about Chauncey ran
in the spirituality section. The story also fell on the same week as we celebrated the
newspaper's 79th anniversary, my 10th anniversary as publisher and coverage of the
national convention in Atlanta of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
featuring U.S. Sen. Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton. This completely
consumed our front page. We have a follow-up story from the Oakland Post publisher
urging the Black Press to step up in the face of intimidation."
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