The Race Beat

By Gene Roberts, Hank Klibanoff,

Book cover of The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation

Book description

An unprecedented examination of how news stories, editorials and photographs in the American press—and the journalists responsible for them—profoundly changed the nation’s thinking about civil rights in the South during the 1950s and ‘60s.

Roberts and Klibanoff draw on private correspondence, notes from secret meetings, unpublished articles, and interviews to…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Race Beat as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The Race Beat quickly turns to open conflict. White-owned media wake up to the atrocities of racism. (It was way past time to pay attention. Exploring that is among the reasons I appreciate the book.) What follows seem like war movies.

We learn just how hard it was to get the story, photograph, or film; get the story out; get yourself out. Journalists for the white-owned Northern press, black-owned press, and TV networks are assaulted by enraged mobs during the Montgomery bus boycott, Central High School’s desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas; James Meredith’s enrollment at the University of Mississippi; and…

Want books like The Race Beat?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Race Beat.

Browse books like The Race Beat

Book cover of Song of Solomon
Book cover of Simple Justice: The History of Brown V. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle for Equality
Book cover of Out of the House of Bondage: The Transformation of the Plantation Household

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,211

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the news media, African Americans, and race relations?

The News Media 21 books
African Americans 808 books
Race Relations 265 books