Lester Rodney, at the time a sports writer for the Daily Worker, a Communist newspaper published in New York, was pushing for the desegregation of baseball long before Jackie Robinson pulled on a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform.
The San Francisco Chronicle ran a story on Sunday about the now-retired Rodney, and their Back Story Podcast has a two-parter containing excerpts from Jack Epstein’s interview with him. This is great reading and great listening – it’s a reporter talking about practicing his craft and writing about what he believed in, even though rival writers and papers wouldn’t touch the subject matter.
Rodney is a potent reminder that there’s more to journalism than the bottom line; a good story can help change the world.
Yes, I’m young and idealistic, thanks for asking.
- Irwin Silber’s book about Rodney, Press Box Red
- The Columbia Journalism Review on Press Box Red (scroll down…)
- Back Story Podcast pt. 1 (mp3) and pt. 2 (mp3)
[tags]podcast, san francisco chronicle, lester rodney, communism, daily worker[/tags]