A TV Spotlight on Journalism

Every Thursday in March, TCM (cable's Turner Classic Movies) will turn a spotlight on Journalism in the Movies. The slate of classic films airing in this spotlight includes IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, LIBELED LADY and HIS GIRL FRIDAY -- comedies with stars as newspaper reporters.

The dramas CITIZEN KANE, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, Billy Wilder's ACE IN THE HOLE, THE CHINA SYNDROME, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and Paddy Chayefsky's prophetic satire, NETWORK are also in the mix. This TCM spotlight on journalism starts Thursday, March 7th, at 8p ET/5p PT.

A few years ago, when I was taking an acting class, I mentioned to a classmate that I'd love to use some of Howard Beale's "I'm as mad as hell" monologue as an audition piece. I wanted to give it a different flavor and base my interpretation of network news anchor Howard Beale on a real-life network news anchor I'd once spent a few hours with for interview purposes. I was taping a feature on him for our ABC affiliate. He was the late ABC network news anchor, Max Robinson. Max was the first African American to anchor a network newscast. He broke that ground in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Max was serious about his craft and proud of being Black. He founded the National Association of Black Journalists. Max had his righteous angers and inner demons. He was complicated and helpful. He was a strong character who believed in a definite line of demarcation between news and entertainment. Max Robinson died in 1988.  His legacy and accomplishments seem to be forgotten by ABC News. In occasional clips, we will see Robinson's co-anchor, the late Peter Jennings. Jennings went on to become the solo anchor of the evening newscast. But we never see Max Robinson. His work of the late 70s/early 80s deserves to be remembered during Black History Month.

Cut to today.  ABC, CBS and NBC have weekday morning news programs and each one has an African American anchor on its team. Lester Holt, also an African American, is the anchor of the NBC Nightly News.

TCM is currently airing a commercial in between films that promotes the TCM spotlight on Journalism in the Movies. In the promo is a montage of clips from movies about journalists on the job. Clips from most of the films I mentioned in the opening paragraph are in the promo.

You don't see one single Black actor or actress in the promo as a journalist. I could not think of a Black actor who played a journalist in a classic film.  In the 1987 movie BROADCAST NEWS written and directed by James L. Brooks, there's a Black network reporter in the field when the William Hurt character makes his anchor debut in a special report. But I couldn't think of a Black actor or actress who had a lead or supporting role as a reporter in a classic film.

Hollywood needs to consider actors of color for some good, juicy journalist roles.

The special guests for the TCM spotlight are network TV newsman Anderson Cooper and Carl Bernstein, the famous newspaper journalist, with Bob Woodward, broke the Watergate scandal and was played by Dustin Hoffman in ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN. TCM's Ben Mankiewicz. a journalism veteran, will host.

By the way, did you see the recent Oscars telecast? I liked it without a host. The show felt like it was more focused on the art of film. We didn't have to sit through 20 minutes of a stand-up comedy monologue and some go-into-the-audience comedy bits that just added to the already long running time. I love the diversity seen in the quartet of winners in the acting categories.  Best Actor, Rami Malek, the son of Egyptian immigrants. British Olivia Colman, Best Actress. African American Regina King, Best Supporting Actress.  African American Mahershala Ali, Best Supporting Actor.  Here's the quartet of actor Oscar winners for this year.

Actors of color in that quartet of Oscar winners for 2019: 2.
People of color in the TCM quartet of on-air hosts for 2019:  0

That's something an entertainment journalist might wonder about in this age of diversity and inclusion in the entertainment industry.

I hope you had a good Black History Month.