On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents a 1985 conversation with the late Robert C. Maynard, journalist, newspaper publisher, editor and former owner of the Oakland (CA) Tribune newspaper.
Maynard was a charismatic leader who changed the face of American journalism, built a four-decade career on the cornerstones of editorial integrity, community involvement, improved education and the importance of the family. He was the co-founder of the Institute for Journalism Education, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to expanding opportunities for minority journalists at the nation's newspapers. In 1967 Maynard was hired by the Washington Post as national correspondent, the first African American to hold that position on any major newspaper. In 1979 he was hired by Gannett as editor of its newly acquired Oakland Tribune newspaper
When he purchased the Oakland Tribune in 1983, he became the first African American in this country to own a major daily newspaper. But Maynard had a career full of firsts, from being the first African American national newspaper correspondent to being the first African American newspaper editor in chief.
Maynard died on August 17, 1993. He was 56.
