Earl Caldwell (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Earl Caldwell is an American journalist. He documented the Black Panthers from the inside in the 1970s, and became embroiled in a key U.S. Supreme Court decision clarifying reporters' rights. The case started when the FBI tried to press Caldwell to be an informant against the Black Panther Party
. He worked for The New York Times
, New York Daily News
, The New York Amsterdam News
and is currently on the radio in New York. His career as a journalist spans more than four decades. He is also a founding member of the steering committee of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, as well as the Washington-based Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Caldwell witnessed and chronicled some of the most important civil rights events from the 1960s and on and was the only reporter present when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. As a writer-in-residence, Caldwell is writing "The Caldwell Journals," a serialized account of the black journalist movement spawned by the 1960s civil rights movement. Caldwell previously served as the Scripps Howard Endowed Chair at Hampton University
.
Caldwell is writer-in-residence at the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
in Oakland, California
, where he is writing “The Caldwell Journals,” a serialized account of the black journalist movement spawned by the 1960s civil rights movement
. The journalist rose to fame while a reporter at The New York Times
when he refused to disclose information to the FBI and the Nixon administration involving his sources in the Black Panther party
. The case, United States v. Caldwell, reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 when the court ruled against him. The “Caldwell Case” led to the enactment of shield laws in many states that allow reporters to protect sources and information.
Caldwell started his career at The Progress in Clearfield, Pa., and went on to work for the Intelligencer-Journal in Lancaster, Pa; the Democrat and The Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y. In addition to his work at The New York Times, he worked for The New York Daily News.
In addition to teaching, he has organized efforts to videotape/audiotape African-American journalists selected for an oral history collection.
.
Caldwell covered the trial of Angela Davis
, the controversial black scholar accused of a central role in the murder of a Marin County, California, judge during an escape attempt from San Quentin Prison. He also spent months in Atlanta covering the child murders and the subsequent trial of convicted killer Wayne Williams
. Caldwell traveled the campaign trail with the Rev. Jesse Jackson during his historic run for the presidency in 1984 and in Africa, he covered the fall of the white regime and election of the first black government in Zimbabwe
.
Caldwell broke a barrier in New York City in 1979 when he became the first black journalist to write a regular column in a major daily newspaper Daily News. In April 1994, three years before the Abner Louima
incident, he reported the story of six Haitian male cab drivers who came forward after being raped and sodomized by a police officer. The officer used his service revolver, uniform, and the police van for the attacks. The city did nothing. Caldwell was fired from the Daily News, and was afterward unable to find work in the mainstream press.
and disclose confidential information involving his sources in the Black Panther Party
. In a historic ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit supported Caldwell’s position. Later on, however, that decision was reversed. However, in an apparent conflict of interest, the deciding vote was cast by then Associate Justice William Rehnquist
, who, as a U.S. Justice Department lawyer, had been intimately involved in the Caldwell case.
Writer-in-Residence at Hampton University, VA in addition to teaching, he has organized efforts to videotape/audiotape African-American journalists selected for an oral history collection.
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
. He worked for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, The New York Amsterdam News
The New York Amsterdam News
The New York Amsterdam News is a American black nationalist weekly newspaper geared to the African-American community of New York City, New York.It has published columns by notables including W. E. B. Du Bois, Roy Wilkins, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr...
and is currently on the radio in New York. His career as a journalist spans more than four decades. He is also a founding member of the steering committee of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, as well as the Washington-based Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Caldwell witnessed and chronicled some of the most important civil rights events from the 1960s and on and was the only reporter present when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. As a writer-in-residence, Caldwell is writing "The Caldwell Journals," a serialized account of the black journalist movement spawned by the 1960s civil rights movement. Caldwell previously served as the Scripps Howard Endowed Chair at Hampton University
Hampton University
Hampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen.-History:...
.
Caldwell is writer-in-residence at the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education , is a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California emphasizing diversity in journalism...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, where he is writing “The Caldwell Journals,” a serialized account of the black journalist movement spawned by the 1960s civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
. The journalist rose to fame while a reporter at The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
when he refused to disclose information to the FBI and the Nixon administration involving his sources in the Black Panther party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
. The case, United States v. Caldwell, reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 when the court ruled against him. The “Caldwell Case” led to the enactment of shield laws in many states that allow reporters to protect sources and information.
Caldwell started his career at The Progress in Clearfield, Pa., and went on to work for the Intelligencer-Journal in Lancaster, Pa; the Democrat and The Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y. In addition to his work at The New York Times, he worked for The New York Daily News.
In addition to teaching, he has organized efforts to videotape/audiotape African-American journalists selected for an oral history collection.
Career highlights
Reporting for The New York Times, Caldwell went coast-to-coast to cover the riots that swept black America in the summers of 1967 and 1968. He was the lone reporter to witness the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis in April 1968 and he was on the streets of Chicago in 1968, covering the riots as the police challenged demonstrators during the Democratic National ConventionDemocratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
.
Caldwell covered the trial of Angela Davis
Angela Davis
Angela Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. Davis was most politically active during the late 1960s through the 1970s and was associated with the Communist Party USA, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party...
, the controversial black scholar accused of a central role in the murder of a Marin County, California, judge during an escape attempt from San Quentin Prison. He also spent months in Atlanta covering the child murders and the subsequent trial of convicted killer Wayne Williams
Wayne Williams
Wayne Bertram Williams is an American serial killer who committed most of the Atlanta Child Murders that occurred in 1979 through 1981. In January 1982, Williams was found guilty of the murder of two adult men...
. Caldwell traveled the campaign trail with the Rev. Jesse Jackson during his historic run for the presidency in 1984 and in Africa, he covered the fall of the white regime and election of the first black government in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
.
Caldwell broke a barrier in New York City in 1979 when he became the first black journalist to write a regular column in a major daily newspaper Daily News. In April 1994, three years before the Abner Louima
Abner Louima
Abner Louima is a Haitian who was assaulted, brutalized and forcibly sodomized with the handle of a bathroom plunger by New York City police officers after being arrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub in 1997....
incident, he reported the story of six Haitian male cab drivers who came forward after being raped and sodomized by a police officer. The officer used his service revolver, uniform, and the police van for the attacks. The city did nothing. Caldwell was fired from the Daily News, and was afterward unable to find work in the mainstream press.
Supreme Court
The central case in the United States Supreme Court's defining of reporter’s rights was the United States v. Caldwell in 1972. This was based on Caldwell, then with The New York Times, refusal to appear before a federal grand juryGrand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
and disclose confidential information involving his sources in the Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
. In a historic ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit supported Caldwell’s position. Later on, however, that decision was reversed. However, in an apparent conflict of interest, the deciding vote was cast by then Associate Justice William Rehnquist
William Rehnquist
William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer, jurist, and political figure who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States...
, who, as a U.S. Justice Department lawyer, had been intimately involved in the Caldwell case.
Current activities
The Caldwell Chronicle radio program (Friday 4-6 p.m.) originates at WBAI (99.5 FM), the Pacifica radio outlet in New York, and can be heard live over the Internet (www.wbai.org).Writer-in-Residence at Hampton University, VA in addition to teaching, he has organized efforts to videotape/audiotape African-American journalists selected for an oral history collection.
Books
- Walker, Kenneth; Caldwell, Earl; Rackley, LurmaLurma RackleyLurma M. Rackley is an American author, journalist and publicist. The daughter of a civil rights activist, she participated in civil rights demonstrations and was arrested sixteen times before she was thirteen. After college, she became a journalist and later, a publicist with the Washington,...
. Black American Witness: Reports from the Front (1994). Lion House Pub. ISBN 1886446105
External links
- Biography at reportingcivilrights.org
- Earl Caldwell's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project