My Perspective On The Coverage of the Race Riot 40 Years Later, Pt I

By Corey Washington

May 11th was the 40th yr. anniversary of an event that has shaped Augusta, into the city that everyone recognizes today.  I am talking about the Augusta Race Riot of 1970.  This is a very complex story with many dimensions.  You really need to cover the story from all angles to avoid favoring one viewpoint over another.  I sat down with Grady Abrams and assured him that there is no one else who could tell this story any better.  So I proposed teaming up to tell an uncompromising and inclusive story of the Race Riot.

I sent out press releases to a number of local media outlets, alerting them of our intentions and agenda.  We wanted to use the Riot as a lesson for the city of Augusta today.

No entity was left unscathed.  We held the establishment, cops, rioters, and politicians accountable.  Grady even bared his soul to include himself with the blame.  I was able to use my research from my two books: Plain Talk 1 (Racism and Stereotypes) and Plain Talk 2 (Digging a Little Deeper) in order to tie in current situations.  Many in the local media jumped on the opportunity to have two informed guests talk about a delicate issue.

We received extensive coverage from local radio: Carl Thornton Jr. (1550 AM) Janice Jenkins and Kelby Dell (94.7) Austin Rhodes (580 AM) Minnesota Fattz and Cher (96.3 Kiss FM) and Helen Blocker Adams (103.7)

Columbia S.C. Television: (NBC affiliate) WIS Newswatch with Ben Hoover (Thanks Brandi Cummings and Rene)

Print Media: Augusta Chronicle

And last but not least Local Television: Ben Hasan Comcast Community Concerns

Local News shows: WJBF-ABC WAGT-NBC WFXG-Fox(by way of WJBF and WJBF)     WRDW-CBS (Part 2)

Even Mary Dits/Jill Peterson has footage of me and Grady going into an in-depth discussion of the Riots and other issues.  (Yet to be released, but hopefully will be soon)

For some strange reason The Metro Spirit and Metro Courier missed the boat and did not offer coverage of the biggest event that has affected the quality (or lack thereof) of life in Augusta.(Should I be disappointed??)

In Part Two, I will break down the quality of coverage..

[Click here to go to Part II]

About

Comcast Community Concerns is a weekly community oriented program that is sponsored by Comcast and hosted by Ben Hasan. It is designed to address the issues that affect the community in Augusta, such as racism, poverty, crime, education, and politics, etc. We believe the best way to address these issues is by inviting politicians and other authorities to the program to have positive dialogue. Our theory is that through dialogue with politicians and other citizens who are active in the community, the community will become better informed about the issues and more willing to get involved. We believe that as Augustans, we have an obligation to do as much as possible to help set higher standards that will enhance the quality of life for all of us. Our motto is "Always moving our community into the future."