Georgia Historic Newspapers

Mallory Millender published the first issue of the News-Review in Augusta, Georgia, on March 25, 1971. The newspaper, which became the Augusta News-Review in November 1972, identified itself as a “community paper with a predominantly Black readership” that presented the issues of the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) from a “Black perspective.” In addition to his publishing and editorial duties with the News-Review, Millender was also a professor of French and journalism at Paine College, a historically Black college or university (HBCU) in Augusta. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the News-Review was the sole African-American newspaper published in the city. The publication covered the triumphs of the Black community in the CSRA and the continued fight for social and economic equality in the United States in the post-civil rights era. Staffers of the paper during this period included Pulitzer Prize winning columnist E. R. Shipp and Michael Thurmond, the chief executive officer for DeKalb County and a former representative in the Georgia Assembly. In November 1980, the white printer of the Augusta News-Review attempted to censor a cartoon set for publication in the paper. Millender refused his demand and the printer locked him out of the newspaper offices. With printing assistance from the Atlanta Voice, the use of NAACP offices, and volunteers and donations from across the country, the Augusta News-Review continued to publish weekly. By the following year, the publication had gained complete independence as a Black-owned, Black-produced, and Black-printed newspaper. The Augusta News-Review continued to serve the CSRA for another five years before ceasing publication in March 1985. In its place, Barbara Gordon, who had studied under Millender and served as general manager of the News-Review, published the Metro Courier.

Provided by: Digital Library of Georgia