THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503110199
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Interview
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
More than three decades ago, Charlayne Hunter-Gault braved chants of ``Nigger, go home'' to become one of the first two black students enrolled at the University of Georgia.
Last year, as one of the most senior black women on TV news, she felt she faced another form of discrimination: Hunter-Gault, 53, wasn't getting support from the network for taking her own half-hour news show national. So she went public with her complaints about a ``glass ceiling'' in TV news because, she says, ``I feel that it is important for me to tell the truth as I see it.''
Hunter-Gault, a national correspondent for PBS' ``The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour,'' will speak at Old Dominion University on Thursday. She talked to staff writer Philip Walzer about her struggles then and now. Despite the obstacles, she tries to look on the bright side. ``When I look at the world today, especially America,'' she says, ``I see a situation where the glass is maybe half-full.'' Here are excerpts from the interview.
Q Thirty-four years ago, you became the first black woman to enroll at the University of Georgia. Tell me what images linger from that first day on campus.
A The images for me were mostly a blur. The white students were there in force, but they weren't menacing, for the most part. I think there were plenty of people in those crowds that worked to whip up the kids so that eventually they all got out of hand. But initially, it was just a big, boisterous crowd of white kids who were mostly a blur to me because my mind was on one thing - that was putting one foot in front of the other until I got through the registration process.
Q Do you still count that as the most significant achievement of your life?
A I've never said that. I think that every day there are significant achievements in my life. That was the defining moment in the history of the country, the history of the South. But I've never looked on that as the most important experience of my life because I've had too many other experiences, and life offers up too many other opportunities.
Q You became a journalist and moved up to The New York Times, the supposed pinnacle of print journalism. Why did you leave The Times for PBS?
A At that time, I was looking for a way to grow and broaden my journalistic range. I had little kids, and I didn't want to go onto the staff of either the national beat or the foreign beat because it would have meant that I would have had to be away from my kids more than I wanted to be away from them.
So when this came along, it looked like the perfect thing. Because the show did cover the world, essentially from New York. And also, it wasn't, and still isn't, the typical television news program. The format, as well as the organization of the program, is really very much along the lines of a newspaper. This is real journalism unfolding in front of your eyes.
Q. But you've expressed some concerns about PBS. Last summer, you complained about a ``glass ceiling'' at your network because ``Rights and Wrongs,'' a half-hour show that you anchor on human rights, was not being distributed nationwide. Has anything changed since then?
A. I think that as a result of that confrontation, a lot more stations have signed on. We're going back on the air in April. I think that one of the problems was that a lot of the stations weren't aware of the program because PBS did not embrace it, but now that people are more aware of it, there's more interest in it.
Q. Do you still feel the existence of that glass ceiling?
A. I still think that we have miles to go in terms of the total integration of the system - with women, minorities and people who are different. I think if you look at the networks, you see some changes, but we have a ways to go yet.
Q. Aren't opportunities improving for black and women journalists at most networks or newspapers?
A. I think it's episodic. I think that there is movement. I think that when people speak out, things happen. I'm not sure that left to its own devices, there would be significant change. I think that we have to protect the gains that we have made and at the same time not be complacent if we feel that we're not where we ought to be.
It's a matter of ensuring that all of our institutions are as inclusive as they ought to be, as they need to be, because it's good business. Our world today, our nation, is more complex, multihued, multiracial, multiethnic, than ever before.
Q. How have your experiences both in Georgia and PBS shaped your feelings on affirmative action, which has suddenly become a hot topic?
A. I'm not going to get into that. Right now, this is the stuff that I'm covering, so I can't.
What I'm talking about is a vision of an inclusive profession, and an inclusive society. Now how you get there people can argue about, but I don't think there's any debating by anybody that the objective is a more inclusive society.
Q. Do you want to offer any thoughts on what we as a society, we as journalists, can do to narrow the divide between blacks and whites?
A. I just think we have to keep on doing our job and question ourselves and our own vision of things.
Q. Have we been doing the job well enough?
A. I think we always can improve. Part of the challenge that we face is informing the public in a way that enables them to make good decisions. And I think that's an awesome challenge. It's a challenge that we fall short of in a lot of areas, and we just have to keep reminding ourselves of what our mission is.
The diversity helps to bring us to a point where we get a sense of truth, because nobody has any corner; no one group, one person, one profession, has a corner on truth. But to arrive at some semblance of truth, we do need the multiple visions of the different people who make up the community.
Q. Looking back at what happened at the University of Georgia 34 years ago, how much as a society have we progressed?
A. I think that we've made a lot of progress. I think doing what I do is a sign of progress, and looking around at the other African-American journalists, women, other minorities, I think that all of their presence in this business, as well as in other professions, speaks to a certain level of progress. Obviously, if you look through a different prism, you see that there are other things that have yet to be fulfilled.
When I look at the world today, especially America, I see a situation where the glass is maybe half-full, but to realize the full promise of this country, the glass has to be full. So there are more challenges ahead. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
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