Veteran Broadcaster, 71, Opened Howard U School
Tony Brown, the longtime host of television’s “Tony Brown’s Journal” who was the founding dean of Howard University’s School of Communications, today was named dean of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University.
The university, acting five days after Christopher Campbell’s resignation as the school’s director became effective, said that Brown would start Aug. 30.
Brown, 71, was traveling and could not be reached for comment.
?What we have now is strong executive leadership in the Scripps Howard School of Journalism,? Hampton President William R. Harvey said in a news release. ?Mr. Brown is known as a team player who throughout his life has worked to solve problems and create successes for those with whom he associates.?
But a longtime acquaintance of Brown who did not want to be named said, “they’re getting a handful,” and added, “either Tony is going to be there a very short time or he has totally changed.”
Howard’s School of Communications opened with the fall semester of 1971 with Brown as the dean. Among his achievements there was the founding of an annual communications conference in 1972.
“Tony Brown’s Journal,” now syndicated, was born from “Black Journal,” created in 1968 by New York’s public station WNET-TV shortly after the release of the Kerner Commission report, which cited the lack of black people in the media, as Michael H. Cottman noted in a 1989 article in Newsday.
“In 1970 Brown, who was establishing the School of Communications at Howard University, took over as host and executive producer. In 1978, the show moved from PBS to commercial TV, the name was changed to ‘Tony Brown’s Journal.’ In 1982, the show moved back to PBS and a commercial-free format. Pepsi, which began sponsoring the show in 1976, has raised its underwriting to $ 1 million a year. The series is estimated to have 5 million viewers, in 241 markets covering 90 percent of the country,” Cottman wrote then.
Brown soon began preaching a message of self-help. In 1990, he announced he was switching to the Republican Party. He also reportedly spent $2 million to produce and distribute his own 1989 movie, “The White Girl,” a love story with an anti-drug message that, according to Venise Berry’s “50 Most Influential Black Films,” failed at the box office.
Brown’s books include, “What Mama Taught Me: The Seven Core Values of Life,” “Black Lies, White Lies: The Truth According to Tony Brown” and “Empower the People.”
As reported Friday, Campbell, the first director of the School of Journalism at Hampton — the result of a $6 million commitment from the Scripps Howard Foundation to upgrade journalism education at a historically black campus — resigned Thursday, saying he was another casualty of the “authoritarian” nature of the university administration.
Campbell said he had accepted a job chairing a year-old journalism department at Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y. Campbell arrived July 1, 2003, after the head of what was then the department of media arts, former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Charlotte Grimes, had left in a public debate with Harvey over whether the school should pursue investigative journalism.
Unlike his predecessors, Brown is African American and will have the title of “dean.”
HU journalism school still facing conflicts (Daily Press, Newport News, Va.)
Hampton U.’s journalism chairman leaving after a year (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)
Hampton University News Release
Tony Brown appointed First Dean of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism
Hampton, Va. — TV journalist, bestselling author, commentator, radio host and Silver Circle Award winner Tony Brown has been named Dean of the Hampton University Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, HU President William R. Harvey announced today. Brown will assume his duties as dean on August 30. TV journalist, commentator and radio talk show host Tony Brown has been named Dean of the Hampton University Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, HU President William R. Harvey announced today. Brown will assume his duties as dean on August 30.
?What we have now is strong executive leadership in the Scripps Howard School of Journalism,? said HU President William R. Harvey. ?Mr. Brown is known as a team player who throughout his life has worked to solve problems and create successes for those with whom he associates.?
Brown is the commentator of the PBS series, Tony Brown?s Journal, the longest-running of all PBS series. He was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ prestigious Silver Circle. With this honor, he joins such television icons as Walter Cronkite, who “have made enduring contributions to the vitality of the television industry and set the highest standards of achievement for all to emulate.” He is the former Chief Executive Officer of Urban America Television Network (UATV), which has about 30 million viewers. Recently, Brown also became the first recipient of the National Director?s Legacy Award for Journalism from the U.S. Department of Commerce?s Minority Business Development Agency.
An accomplished educator, Brown was the first and founding dean, as well as professor, of the School of Communications at Howard University, where he established a highly distinguished academic and professional record. He is also a former faculty member at Central Washington University and Federal City College. Brown earned the bachelor?s degree in sociology and his master?s degree in psychiatric social work at Wayne State University in Detroit. He has received numerous honorary doctorate degrees for his achievements in civil rights, education, economics and journalism.
Brown is the author of many books and publications including his latest, What Mama Told Me, which describes seven core values given to him by his Mama that have sustained him through life. He is also the author of Black Lies, White Lies: The Truth According to Tony Brown, which sold 100,000 copies.
But it is for his work as a journalist that he is best known. Brown?s weekly television series was selected in the New York Daily News as one of the top 10 shows of all time that presents positive Black images. Tony Brown?s Journal was the only current program ranked in the top 10.
The Hampton University campus community had the following to say about Brown assuming the leadership of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications:
- ?I am excited about the appointment of Tony Brown. I believe that with the reputation of two giants, Hampton University and this renowned journalist, working in unity to promote diversity in the media is a coup! I believe that under Tony Brown?s leadership, the vision of President Harvey and the partnership with Judy Clabes will be fully realized. In addition, the opportunity for students to grow and learn is great and faculty will work with a well-established academician and well respected journalist.? ?- Dr. JoAnn Haysbert, provost, Hampton University.
- ?There is no finer journalist, commentator, author in the world that not only African-Americans look up to, but much of mankind admires and respects. Hampton University faculty, staff and students will not only benefit from his infinite wisdom, historical perspective and vast amount of knowledge but we will learn from someone who has a vested interest in the future of journalism and communications. I look forward to meeting, working and learning from Tony Brown who I have watched, read and admired and aspired to be like.? — Rob Dixon, general manager WHOV, Hampton University radio station.
- ?With Tony Brown?s connections to people in the media, this will lead to interesting people coming in as faculty and visiting professors.? ?- Kim LeDuff, assistant professor, Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, Hampton University.
- ?We are excited to see Tony Brown come to Hampton University and based on his reputation we know that he will be a great addition to our campus.? ?- Anita Blanton, senior broadcast major and president of Hampton University chapter of NABJ.
- ?Tony Brown is a national headliner, and he doesn’t pull his journalistic punches. His three decades of public affairs broadcast journalism will be an inspiration to our students. The Scripps Howard School and Hampton University are fortunate to have him on board, and I’m looking forward to working with him.? -? Dr. Curtis Holsopple, assistant professor, Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, Hampton University.