Jerri: A Black Woman's Life in the Media
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
In "JERRI, A Black Woman's Life In the Media," Jerri Lange has written a
personal, candid revelation of the situation of a black woman in the
early days of media. She reminds us of a time when sheroes like Ms.
Lange challenged powerful institutions, no matter the consequences.
Armed with her father's admonition to not allow anyone to interfere
with her dreams, author Jerri Lange set out on a life's journey that
would take her to the pinnacle of San Francisco's media and political
power. A single mother, Ms. Lange accomplished this while raising three
distinguished sons, including Michael, a director, producer and Malcolm
X delineator, and Ted, a regular on the television series "Love Boat."
Ms. Lange's journalistic career began at the San Francisco Chronicle,
where she worked along side such luminaries as Art Hoppe, Charles
McCabe and Count Marco, and her mentor, Scott Newhall. She
continued with tours at stations KEMO, KBHK, KGO and KQED
Television. The dream ended when Ms. Lange delivered her famous
speech, "Blacks In Broadcasting," in which she criticized the negative
images of blacks in the media. After this speech she found the industry
that had formerly welcomed her as the token pioneering
African-American newswoman and television host, began to give her the
cold shoulder. She was eventually, in her words, ‘black balled.'
But if some members of the segregated San Francisco media thought
that they had defeated Jerri Lange, they underestimated the resiliency
of Laura and Turner Wilson's daughter. Ms. Lange began to tour the
world, which provided her with the opportunity to draw revealing
portraits of a dictator's wife, Arnold Toynbee, and others. Along the
way she was feted by members of the British aristocracy and was an
invited guest to a king's wedding. Ms. Lange also gives the reader
revealing portraits of Malcolm X, Shirley MacLaine, Sammy Davis, Jr. and
Daisaku Ikeda. She continued her career at KHET, a public television
station in Hawaii.
With African American faces disappearing from television news rooms,
and the media establishment having abandoned their goal of diversifying
the industry by the year two thousand, a challenge made by the late
Robert Maynard, Ms. Lange's effort as a pioneer African-American news
woman is especially timely.
About the Author
Jerri Lange has had a wealth of experience in the fields of broadcasting
(working both in front of the television cameras and behind the
scenes), as a newspaper correspondent, magazine editor and public
relations consultant. Between 1969 and 1979, she was host of a number
of television programs in the San Francisco Bay Area stations which
focused on community issues. Celebrating and valuing diversity, a
common thread through Jerri's life, her colorful career yielded
numerous awards in the field of broadcasting and academic
appointments at San Francisco State University and Stanford University
in the discipline of Communications. She currently lives in Oakland,
California.
Jerri: A Black Woman's Life in the Media,Jerri Lange,Ishmael Reed Publishing Company,1413478719,Biography & Autobiography,Biography / Autobiography,Biography/Autobiography,General,Biography: general
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