The Civil Rights Media Panel.

Yesterday, students and anyone else interested had the rare opportunity of hearing first hand accounts from the civil rights struggle in Miami.

As part of Communication Week at The School of Communication at UM, the five speakers of The Civil Rights Media Panel shared their experiences with those present. The speakers all play/played a part in the struggle for racial equality in the news media in Southern Florida. They helped pave the way for coming generations of journalists of all ethnicities.

Garth Reeves, former editor of Miami’s African American newspaper, The Miami Times, and C. T. Taylor, the first black reporter for Channel 4, shared some very vivid stories from their struggles. They were stories about segregation and the pursuit of dreams.

As the son of H. E. Sigismund Reeves, founder of The Miami Times, Garth Reeves was born into the newspaper business. However, it was not until after he had served his country that he realized he wanted to go into journalism. In the beginning he, “took a back seat and was happy to go along until things started to change”. He soon discovered that he should not have to endure the injustices he had put up with his whole life.

Reeves then started helping the NAACP in their fight for justice, although he had to be careful what he printed in the paper. After the Miami Times successfully helped desegregate Crandon Park, they knew they could not throw the story on the front page as they wanted to. At the time, being a black journalist meant watching not to step over the line set by the rest of society.

The story that marked a turning point in Reeves’ reporting was when he exposed the then chief of police, Walter Headley. Headley was known to place evidence at crime scenes and was a blatant racist. As Reeves says, Headley was “the Bull Connor of Miami”, referring to the infamous police chief from Birmingham, Alabama.

C. T. Taylor had wanted to become a radio announcer since he was a child. He held on to his dream even though family members told him, “you will never become a radio announcer”. In 1968 Taylor was hired at a radio station as a maintenance worker. He learned how to operate radio equipment by watching the DJs while mopping the floors of the studios. And one day, by dumb luck, he was offered a chance to go on air himself. This chance, which had only been offered to him because another DJ was too drunk to do his job, ended up making C. T. Taylor the most popular DJ in Miami.

During the Arthur McDuffy-riots in 1980, White reporters were afraid to report from the hot zone. Mainstream television media were in desperate need of African American reporters like Taylor, whom they had earlier declined to hire. During the riots, Taylor received a phone call from a TV station who wanted to hire him as a cameraman. Without any training, Taylor was sent to report from the riots equipped with a 16 mm. camera. While he was sent out to report, he was never allowed to be in front of the camera. However, he deliberately let his hand, then ear, and soon the back of his head slide into the frame, making it obvious to viewers that the TV station had hired a black reporter.

When Channel 4 learned that the rival station had hired an African American reporter, they instantly contacted Taylor, who had left an application with them earlier. He soon found himself on screen and on air at Channel 4, as the first African American.

Having entered the news media by means of challenging the status quo, both Garth Reeves and C. T. Taylor were successful due to their dedication and sometimes odd coincidence. The message from these two reporters and the other panelists, who are all pioneers, can best be summarized in the words of C. T. Taylor. “Race doesn’t matter, report the facts!” Having dealt with incorrect representations of Black history by the news media, these reporters know the importance of reporting the truth better than anyone.