Tippens, M. E. (2001). Talking Back: How Publisher and Activist Charlotta Bass Challenged Inequality Through the California Eagle.

Taking Back: How Publisher and Activist Charlotta Bass Challenged Inequality Through the California Eagle is the thesis done by California State University, Northridge Mass Communications student Marti Elizabeth Tippens. The thesis was submitted to CSUN in December of 2001.

This study investigated what we can learn about a community and its history by looking at the work of an activist/journalist as revealed through columns in the California Eagle. The thesis studies editor and publisher of the California Eagle, Charlotta Bass. The California Eagle was the oldest black owned newspaper in the Los Angeles area. Through her newspaper Bass voiced campaigns that challenged inequalities for Blacks in Los Angeles. Bass not only acted as an activist for her ethnic community but also regarding issues of labor and those that effected other minority groups.  

Tippens (2001) provides background that examines the social and historical underpinnings in which the black press was started and how it evolved through World War II. The study also looks at the evolution of the black press in different views, the events and social movements affecting African-Americans during the same time.

The study looked at Bass’s column “On the Sidewalk,” about themes and events that were determined to be important because of the ways Bass emphasized them.  Bass used themes of Americanism, democracy and citizenship to define her own role along with the community’s role in the area. By examining what she wrote in her columns and about the key events in context of their historical and social underpinnings, the study aimed to uncover Bass as anactivist journalist. These columns can reveal what Bass thought about her own relationship with her community of readers. As well as, how she interacted with the community and how the relationship with her community changed over time.

The author used theoretical and historical frameworks of African-American woman to create the basis for her research questions and the design of the study. The research questions that were considered focused on identity, community and membership and choosing to participate and advocacy journalism. Under identity, Tippens (2001) poses research questions such as: What can be revealed through editorial narrative? What does the work tell us about African-American subjectivity, existing on the margins but affecting mainstream change? Focusing on community and membership the author looks to find Bass’s perception of community through her column. Who is defined as her community? And last the questions focused on choosing how to participate and advocacy journalism asks: what do we learn about Bass’s view about her own participation in social and political movements? Did Bass discover or develop a framework or guiding principle in her choices for action?  

The study conducted a textual analysis of the California Eagle looking at 400 columns of “On the Sidewalk” by Bass. When doing this the author looked for two criteria’s: whether they were discussed in her memoir, 40 years, and if the events or issues revealed something about the African American progress in LA.

Tippens (2001)  found that her identity proved her awareness of a close relationship with her audience. It showed that Bass also believed that the newspaper and race progressed. The identity that Bass claimed and also believed Blacks should claim was the identity of American citizen. Another finding was that Bass saw her work in her columns as providing a duty to her community. According to the author Bass identifies ways for her community to improve. Tippens (2001) also says that Bass’s call for activism was specific actions, like writing letters, boycotting etc and the second was not telling others how to think but re-frame issues instead.

This study is useful in showing how a single editor/publisher of an African American paper used her journalism in advocating to and for her community, as well as other issues for minority groups. It looked at how she used the columns to reach out to her community. This would be useful when studying a journalist impact on their community, when it comes to ethnic news. It examines what her role was in the community as a journalist and how she portrayed her own role as well. The study would also be useful because it focuses on one ethnic group, using one news outlet for the focus yet in the large city of Los Angeles. I think this study was strong in pin pointing fine details of how this journalist used the paper as her voice through her columns and also showed what her beliefs and intentions were when publishing them. (Reviewed by Erika Gutierrez)