Black and New American Newspapers
As the population increased in Columbus, more newspapers were founded that competed with established publications. Beginning in the 1840s, a shifting demographic of immigrants and Black Americans coming to Columbus provided an opportunity for newly arrived citizens to publish news that would resonate within their own communities. The first Black newspaper in Columbus, Palladium of Liberty, and the first German one, Der Westbote, were both published beginning in 1843. Over a dozen German newspapers were published in Columbus from the 1840s until the 1950s, filling a need for a community that was not being served by the major publications.
After World War I another wave of immigrants settled in Columbus. Immigrants from other areas in Europe established newspapers here. The first Hungarian newspaper appeared in 1928 and several others were published along Parsons Ave. until 1938. Silvio Di Pietro organized an Italian newspaper, Il Messaggero, in 1933 and was editor of the newspaper at 662 N. High St. until 1940 when the paper was discontinued. Usually printed in the audience’s native language, immigrant newspapers helped new immigrants stay informed about community and national news. Often, international news about the readers’ country of origin was included as well.
Black newspapers filled a gap left by mainstream newspapers to provide different perspectives and community news to minority groups, much like immigrant newspapers did. In the 1930s, The Columbus Dispatch started publishing a column called the “Afro-American News.” Journalists Florence Oakfield and Howard H. Gillard wrote content for it. Oakfield also published her own Columbus-based newspaper called the Columbus Voice during the same time. Columbus Voice is considered a Black newspaper because it was written and published by African Americans and with African Americans as their target audience.
The Kahiki Incident News Coverage
A certain amount of bias exists in all media, but that bias can often be overlooked when other viewpoints are not represented. These images show how The Columbus Dispatch (left) and a Black newspaper called the Columbus Call & Post (above) covered the same investigation of potential police brutality at the Kahiki Club in 1975. Differences in the race, socioeconomic class, sex and various factors between the journalists and the news subjects can result in very different coverage of the same events.