The Blog

Having ranted about the treatment of Helen Thomas this week, I’d be remiss in not saluting two respected African American reporters who had long careers doing what I aspire to do. Both passed away recently.

Bob Ellison, 67, was a radio reporter who was the first African American journalist to serve as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. He spent 14 years as the White House correspondent for the Sheridan Broadcasting Network (a.k.a. American Urban Radio Networks). He covered the Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations. Read more here.

Evelyn Cunningham, a civil-rights-era journalist and later an aide to Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York. She worked more than 20 years for The Pittsburgh Courier, a black weekly newspaper. Read more here.