Tony Brown, the iconic journalist and pioneering host and producer of PBS’s long-running show “Tony Brown’s Journal,” known for nearly 40 years for candid discussions on everything from politics to race to culture, has died. He was 93 years old.
Brown died of coronary heart disease on June 17th at his home in Newport News, Virginia, his family announced on his Facebook page on June 26th.
Brown began appearing on television in the late 1960s in the post-civil rights era, when there were few national news programs aimed at primarily black audiences.
By the time Brown’s show officially ended on both public and syndicated television in 2008, his family estimates he had interviewed more than 1,000 guests, from civil rights activists including Angela Davis and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, numerous politicians such as President Ronald Reagan, to sit-downs with popular stars Stevie Wonder and Denzel Washington.
Emmy Award-winning TV producer and director Jesse Vaughn spoke to USA TODAY about Brown on June 27.
“Long before diversity became a corporate buzzword, Tony Brown was documenting Black America with intelligence, honesty and depth,” Vaughn said. “Through Tony Brown’s Journal, he created one of the few national platforms where the stories, struggles, achievements, and ideas of people of color are considered with the seriousness they deserve.
“He didn’t get enough recognition during his lifetime,” Vaughan continued of Brown. “But history has a way of correcting what the present often overlooks.”
Brown’s early career began in Detroit, New York
After working for a Detroit newspaper, Brown joined the city’s public television station in 1968 as a producer of black-related news programs. In 1970, Brown moved to New York City and became executive producer and host of the award-winning monthly public television program, Black Journal. The show debuted two years ago and aired nationwide.
The Emmy Award-winning show featured commentary, documentaries, and opinion segments, and garnered both praise and criticism. According to Brown’s family, in 1973, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced that it would cease public funding for the program.
This decision sparked protests nationwide, although “Black Journal” was only aired on a limited basis. By 1977, the show went from airing monthly to weekly. It ended up bearing Brown’s name as it secured a sponsorship deal with Pepsi-Cola and briefly went into national syndication before returning to public television. By September 1995, PBS announced that the show had an average audience of 5 million viewers, according to a report in the New York Times.
“This was must-see television,” Vaughn said, adding that Brown’s goal was not to instill stereotypes, but to promote positive images of black people.
“People trusted Tony. When they called and said, ‘Tony wants to interview you,’ they usually asked, ‘When?’ The answer was,” veteran television executive Aisha Karimah, a longtime producer on the show Brown also hosted on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., told USA TODAY on June 27.
“Tony got to the heart of the matter for informed answers,” Karima said. “He knew how to ask questions, so in the end everyone learned something.”
Brown also further expanded his influence during this period, hosting a syndicated national radio show, writing syndicated newspaper columns and several books.
Mr. Brown acted as a historian of the black experience while at the same time urging the public to broaden their horizons, added Mr. Vaughn, a cultural commentator who directed a similar interview program with Jesse Jackson produced by music entertainment mogul Quincy Jones in the 1990s.
“(Brown) was unique in that sense in the sense that he made a conscious effort. He documented the most important issues we face,” Vaughn said. “It wasn’t always ratings that mattered. He wanted to make sure the right knowledge was available and that his message got across. He never insulted his viewers.”
Brown was also a scholar.
Brown also helped shape future journalists. In 1971, Brown founded the School of Communication at Howard University in Washington, DC, and served as its chair until 1974. In 1980, Brown founded Black College Day, which attracted 18,000 students to draw attention to historically black colleges and universities and encourage students to consider those institutions. Congress officially designated the last Monday of September as the day to celebrate the event.
That same year, President Jimmy Carter signed an executive order to strengthen and increase funding for HBCUs. In 1981, President Reagan signed an executive order creating the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities to encourage federal funding for HBCUs.
In 2004, Brown became the founding dean of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communication at Hampton University in Virginia, a position he held until 2009. Three years later, Brown was inducted into the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communication Hall of Fame. He eventually taught at four universities.
Brown was inducted into the Silver Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2002 and the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame in 2015.
A list of Brown’s survivors was not immediately available. Brown’s family says there are no memorial services or public events planned at this time.
