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Journalism

Television Newscasters

Who was Louis Lomax?

The first black newscaster, for WNTA-TV in New York City, was Louis Emanuel Lomax (1922–1970), in 1958. Lomax, an author, educator, and civil rights activist, was born in Val-dosta, Georgia, and graduated from Paine College in Augusta, Georgia. He later received a master’s degree from American University and a doctorate from Yale University. From 1947 to 1958 he was a journalist for both the Baltimore Afro-American and the Chicago American; he covered lynchings, riots, and leadership problems in the black community. Lomax was a freelance writer from 1958 to 1970. For two years he was also a news commentator on WNTA-TV in New York City, and from 1964 to 1968 for Metromedia Broadcasting. Around this time as well, Lomax was news analyst for KTTV in Los Angeles, news director for WNEW-TV in New York City, and news writer for the Mike Wallace Show. He was also a syndicated columnist for the North American Newspaper Alliance. For a while Lomax hosted his own television program in Los Angeles, called Louis Lomax. In addition to teaching at Georgia State University and Hofstra University, he wrote a number of books and contributed articles to Life, Look, and the Saturday Evening Post.



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