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Spelman Spotlight
Ken Watts: A New Face In The News
February 1982
By Diane Moss
Special Features Editor
In December, 1981, TV 5
welcomed its newest member to
their news staff. Ken Watts, a
native of St. Louis, Missouri,
received his B.A. in journalism
from Creighton University in
Omaha, Nebraska. His interest
lay in broadcast news, therefore
he took a job as a part-time radio
news reporter. He later par
ticipated in a fellowship program
for minorities at Columbia Un
iversity in New York. Mr. Watts
was one of thirty-five minority
students chosen from ap
proximately five hundred
applicants to this program.
Mr. Watts has held several
different positions with various
other stations before coming to
work for Atlanta’s TV 5. Most
recently, he has worked as
weekend anchorman for WVUE-
TV in New Orleans. He has been
a reporter for ABC News in
Chicago, Illinois, KGW-TV in
Portland, Oregon, KMGH-TV in
Denver, Colorado, and KARK-
TV in Little Rock, Arkansas. Mr.
Watts also stated that he has
worked as a reporter in
Washington, D.C. for TVN, a
news film station. His beats
covered the State Department,
Capitol Hill, the White House,
and the Pentagon.
As a reporter/anchorman for
TV 5, Mr. Watts usually begins his
work week on Wednesday. Dur
ing this time, he reports on no
specific beat. On Saturdays and
Sundays his time is spent as
anchorman. Mr. Watts remarks
that neither job, as reporter or
anchorman, is easier than the
other and they both require a lot
of writing and preparation.
When asked what he felt his
responsibilities were as part of
the 5 percent of minority jour
nalists in the country, Mr. Watts
stated, “It is my responsibility to
do the best job I can and to try
and make it easier for minorities
to enter the field in whatever
area they are interested in. The
days when minorities and
women had to be twice as good
at their jobs to be acceptable are
not over.” Mr. Watts thinks it is
important to make contact with
minority students who have an
interest in TV media.
In discussing an occupation
dominated by whites, the ques
tion of Mr. Watt’s confrontations
with racism was brought forth.
He responded by saying, “Since
broadcasting is a microcosm of
American society and racism
does exist in American society,
it’s only natural to find a certain
degree of it in broadcasting.” He
further stated, “Personally, I
have - never encountered a
problem that I couldn’t over
come, but conditions are getting
better. The process is slow, but
things are getting better.”
When asked if he felt there was
any partiality shown toward
black females in TV media, he
replied, “Not really.” He feels
that there are just so many more
Black women to choose from,
but he couldn’t positively say. As
for competition between black
men and women in the field,
according to Mr. Watts, there is
none. It is more of a tendency to
help each other.
All those interested in enter
ing the field of TV media should
READ, stressed Mr. Watts. “Read
all available material about
broadcasting and be well
prepared! Next, tour. Make
contact with local TV stations and
ask abouttours.This isso you can
get an idea of the organizational
structure and see how many
people it takes to put a show
together. Also, it is important to
make contacts. Make contacts
with an individual reporter. If at
all possible, get to know them
and as much about their job as
possible. Last, but very impor
tant, are internships. Com
municate with local TV stations
and inquire about internships or
summer jobs.”
Mr. Watts, a thirty-one year
old family man, has several
hobbies to occupy his time,
besides having a very time con
suming yet interesting job. He
and his wife, Kathy, have two
daughters, Terri, eleven, and
Shawn, five. His hobbies include
gardening/" free lance writing,
fishing, photography, and telling
jokes.
Mr. Watts says he likes Atlanta
and has met many nice people
since he’s been here. Spelman
College would like to welcome
Mr. Watts and his family to
Atlanta and we wouldalso liketo
say we think you’re doing a
terrific job. Just as 5 belongs, so
do you.
Reactions To Africa Ancestry
by Rosalyn Cary ^
Junior Reporter
Why do many Blacks in
America seem to disassociate
themselves from their African
roots? They label themselves as
Black Americans, Negroes, or
Coloreds, and refuse to accept
their African ancestry.
During the early part of the
century, Marcus Garvey began
the Universal Negro Improve
ment Association to ease these
feelings of alienation from
Africa. Initially, Garvey and his
members centered their
philosophy around the improve
ment of Black businesses. He felt
a strong economic base was
essential to gain unity and power
within the society. When Garvey
observed the injustices done to
Blacks living on every socio
economic level, he began his
“Back to Africa” movement.
However, many Blacks during
Garvey’s time had views similar
to Spelmanite, Terri Tanner, who
said, “I can see why such a
venture did not succeed. I don’t
want to go back to Africa. We as
Black people owe it to ourselves
to make it in this country. We
helped to build this country
through the manipulation of the
White man, and on our own. We
deserve to reap some of the
obvious benefits of such a
struggle.”
There were other Blacks who
may have shared the views of
Susan Johnson, who stated, “I am
by Lisha B. Brown
Associate Editor
African. I’m also American. The
theories behind the Garvey
movement should be embraced
by the Black community, but the
actual “Back to Africa” move
ment should be somewhat dis
regarded. A majority of our
African ties have been broken.
The Irish and the Italians support
their homelands, know their
homelands, and in most cases,
still have family there. I have no
kinsmen I can identify with atthis
point, and, in a sense, I have no
homeland.”
True, Black Americans have
been ripped from their roots. But
this does not supply them with
adequate reason to totally deny
them. “It’s really sad to say,”
expressed junior, Gina Hobson,
“but the White man has almost
succeeded in his goals to weaken
the Black perspective. I truly feel
that I am a Black American, not
because I refuse to recognize my
obvious African roots, but
because my American heritage is
all I’ve ever known.”
Whether Black Americans
deny their ancestry or accept it,
they can never obliterate their
blackness or their origin. “There
are two things you gotta do in
this world,” said Michael
Simanga, editor of The Black
Nation, Journal of Afro-
American Thought, "You gotta
be black and you gotta die.”
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