‘Black Press Giant’ Wilbert ‘Bill’ Tatum Dies In Croatia

WILBERT "BILL" TATUM

NEW YORK (NNPA)—The New York Amsterdam News has announced the death of “Black Press giant” Wilbert “Bill” Tatum, publisher emeritus, CEO and chairman of the board of the newspaper that is in the midst of its centennial celebration.

Tatum, 76, died in a hospital in Croatia, Feb. 25, after a brief illness.

His wife, Susan, and family were working to bring Tatum’s body back to the U.S. from Croatia, a country in Central Europe. His daughter, Elinor Tatum, publisher and editor-in-chief of the nationally known and respected weekly newspaper, has expressed her gratitude for the outpouring of support and condolences from leaders in the Black Press, political, public service and Black leadership communities across the nation.

As funeral plans were still incomplete at NNPA deadline, salutes were being echoed across the nation for Tatum, who during his tenure, expanded the readership and influence of the Amsterdam News, New York’s oldest Black newspaper.

NNPA Chairman John B. Smith Sr., who has known Tatum more than 30 years, describes him as “a true and stellar newspaperman, who personified fairness, justice and determination to better the beloved community…He made certain, throughout his four decades at his publication, to [write] truth-to-power editorials to advance the African-American diaspora, in particular, and the nation and world, overall.”

Tatum, highly esteemed as a businessman as well as a publisher and civil rights leader, gained respect from every facet of society and across political lines.

Democratic Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, former New York senator, said, “Bill was a dear friend, an inspiration, and a leader among journalists and indeed throughout his community. As the longtime publisher of the Amsterdam News, New York City’s oldest African-American newspaper, and former deputy borough president of Manhattan, Bill’s leadership and advocacy on behalf of civil rights, his community, and journalistic integrity is an inspiration to all of us.”

Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with whom Tatum frequently sparred, saluted him in a heartfelt statement upon his death.

“It’s a big loss for a paper that has been influencing and reflecting city politics for over 100 years now,” said Bloomberg. “Bill helped build the company into a major employer in Harlem, but the paper’s voice really was heard across the city—and, on many occasions, around the world. He covered issues of concern to African-Americans in ways that other media outlets did not, and he gave many young writers opportunities they might not otherwise have had.”

From politicians to civil rights activists, Tatum carried major influence.

New York Action Network President Al Sharpton described Tatum as “an iconic and vitally important figure in both journalism and civil rights. I first met him when I was a teenager involved in civil rights work in New York and have known him over 30 years,” he says. “His courage, his tenacity, his sagacity, and his advocacy are unparalleled in African-American journalism. We have lost a great advocate, a penetrating writer, an unmatchable institution builder, and for me, a great friend and father figure.”

In the 1960s, the Amsterdam News, not yet owned by Tatum, had become the premier newspaper for the Civil Rights and Black Nationalist movements. The paper gave a platform to both the nonviolence, civil disobedience philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Black Nationalist teachings of Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X.

Tatum, along with a group of businessmen, purchased the Amsterdam News in 1971.

Tatum had a brief stay in the mainstream media in 1993, when he was named publisher and editor of the N.Y. Post amid the bankruptcy fight at the paper as well as discrimination allegations at both the Post and N.Y. Daily News. Both publications had no reporters of color on their city desks and no minority editorial managers.

“With Mr. Tatum’s passing we lose not only a wise and scholarly elder, but also a vanguard,” said Marquez Claxton, a co-founder of the 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. “[He] who cultivated a solid and irreplaceable institution in the form of the Amsterdam News. We lose the physical presence, but the spirit and instruction is clear, we must remain ever vigilant, defiant in the face of oppression or obstacles and committed to the truth and its honest communication. He joins the ancestors and we join his family in mourning Bill Tatum…the man, the myth, the legend.”

(NNPA Editor-in-chief Hazel Trice Edney contributed to this article.)

Visit The Amsterdam News Online:
http://www.amsterdamnews.com

See Also On W.E. A.L.L. B.E....

Bill Tatum: “I Did It My Way”:
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/03/bill-tatum-i-did-it-my-way.html


Mumia Speaks... Wilbert 'Bill' Tatum: Black Journalist:
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/03/mumia-speaks-wilbert-bill-tatum-black.html