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AAPRC Weekly: Clarence Page

Clarence Page
Syndicated Columnist
The Chicago Tribune, Washington DC bureau
Washington DC


When Clarence Page was a 16-year-old high school student in Middleton, Ohio, the world he knew began to change. He watched it happen every night on the evening news. President Kennedy had just been assassinated. Martin Luther King, Jr. marched on Washington. The Civil Rights revolution was going full throttle. The Beatles were en route to "The Ed Sullivan Show." Page wanted to be a part of it all. "I thought journalism would be a great way to be an eyewitness to history," Page remembers. "After some talking to people, I realized I could make a career out of it."

He got started on that career right away. In the winter of 1963 his first editorial writings debuted in his high school newspaper, a column he dubbed "Page's Page." From high school, Page went on to Ohio University, where, in 1969, he received a bachelor's degree in journalism. His post-college years brought him to Chicago where he went about the business of becoming an overnight success. Sort of.

"It took me 20 years to become an overnight success," says Page. "I was 16 when I decided I wanted to do this and I was 36 by the time I actually got a column, in 1984."

Page spent most of the intervening years at the Chicago Tribune. During his 11 years there, from 1969 to 1980, the young journalist tested his mettle throughout the Tribune newsroom as a neighborhood news reporter, a general assignment reporter, an assistant city editor and, perhaps most notably, a task force investigative reporter. In 1973, Page was part of the Tribune team that worked on a series on voter fraud. The project brought Page his first taste of journalism's highest honor –– the Pulitzer Prize. Clarence Page had, apparently, hit his stride. Following the 1973 Pulitzer, his 1976 series on political upheaval in South Africa earned Page the Edward Scott Beck Award for overseas reporting, and his investigative series, "The Black Tax," brought a 1980 Illinois UPI award for community service.

Then, in 1980, Page made a leap, briefly, from the Tribune to the world of television news. During his four years at WBBM-TV, Chicago's CBS affiliate, Page worked as an onair reporter and the station's community affairs director. The versatile Page also lent his pen to local and national publications, area publications such as Chicago Magazine, The Chicago Reader, Washington Monthly, The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, New York Newsday, and Emerge. In fact, it was a magazine piece that led to Page's biggest leap ever.

In 1984, Page wrote a profile of the controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. The piece ran in Chicago Magazine, and soon after its publication, a young woman approached Page at a party to compliment him on the work. "This sweet young lady comes over and said: 'are you Clarence Page?' and I was just smitten," Page recalls. "I asked her out to lunch, which surprised her…That was the beginning of something." The woman, Lisa, became Page's wife.

The year Page met Lisa, was also the year the journalist stepped into the fulfillment of the dream he first had as a teenager. The Tribune lured him back from WBBM-TV with a seat on the paper's editorial board and Page's very own twice-weekly column. In just three short years he was syndicated. The Pulitzer Prize for commentary came two years after that, in 1989.

"When I was six years old the preacher at our church said: 'this boy's going to be a preacher some day,'" says Page. "I guess it happened, but I like this better 'cause I don't have to face my audience and I get to write two sermons a week instead of just one."

In his "editorial ministry," Page galvanizes readers in more than 200 newspapers nationwide with fiery sermons on the hot button social and political issues of contemporary American life –– from crime and education to racism and war. In 1987, Page's columns on constitutional rights earned him the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) James P. McGuire Award, and in 1992 he was inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame. He has gone on to publish collections of his writings with books such as Showing My Color: Impolite Essays on Race and Identity (1996, HarperCollins).

When Page returned to the Tribune, he didn't leave broadcasting behind completely. He does a twice-weekly commentary on WGN-TV, Chicago, and lends his voice as a panelist on some of the nation's top news programs, including "The McLaughlin Group," ABC's "This Week," and National Public Radio's "Weekend Sunday." He has also appeared on Black Entertainment Television's (BET) former political show "Lead Story." Page has also hosted several PBS documentaries.

Through it all, he stays focused on what he sees as the essential role of editorial columnists, recalling the words of a former colleague. "He used to say that we columnists don't have enough space to do any real reporting and we don't have the time to do any real investigating. The best thing we can do is explain things to people," Page says. "I think that's a very important role that we play because there's so much information that people have access to, but they have a hard time figuring it out. We help to give them a perspective. They know that in the 700 or so words that we write they will get a capsule view, a window into these much larger issues of the world…We don't tell people what to think, but we help to tell them what to think about."

A self-confessed news junkie who keeps his weekends as news-free as possible, Page and his wife live in Washington, DC. The couple's son, Brady, is now 15, and perhaps following in his father's footsteps. "In the sixth grade he wrote a column in the grade school newspaper," says Page. "He called it 'Page's Page…' He stole my title."

As an editorial writer it's your job to voice your opinion -- your readers don't expect "unbiased" writing. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, however, opinions deemed "unpatriotic" or too far off the prevailing viewpoint were sometimes dealt with rather harshly. Did you find this to be the case? How did that atmosphere affect your writing?

My writing did not change, although my concern for national security and civil liberties has faced new challenges. Some people, reacting out of fear, have tried to call me unpatriotic. As a Vietnam-era Army veteran, I shrug off those jabs as poorly informed. I feel obliged to help people in this atmosphere seriously consider what "patriotism" means. It is not, contrary to the beliefs of some, blind allegiance to whoever happens to be in power. It means serious no-spin examinations of how well our institutions are doing their job of protecting national security and our rights against all enemies, including our benighted fellow Americans who think they have to destroy democracy to save it.

The September 11 attacks prompted many journalists to proclaim that on that day life in the U.S. "was changed forever." Do you think this is true? If so, what do you see as the role/responsibility of journalists in post-September 11 America?

A columnist's job is to help explain the issues and events about which reporters report. That job has taken on a new seriousness in a post-9-11 era in which many new questions trouble Americans about a seemingly hostile world and precarious national security. African-Americans have long been familiar with questions of fear and security. As an African-American, I hope I can offer a perspective based on my experiences that can help others to understand the depth and breadth of meaning in the old anthem, "We Shall Overcome."

This year is a particularly heavy news cycle -- scandals, elections, war, economic turmoil. Are there any issues that you think aren't getting enough coverage and that you hope to address?

Yes. More needs to be said about the lagging performance of Black school children, including those of middle- and upper-class Black students, compared to the White and Asian-American peers of comparable income levels. Education is the main liberation tool for the next stage of Black advancement in America. We need to focus on it more seriously.

Have you ever expressed an opinion in your column that you came to regret?

Yes, I once made fun of new airline regulations that banned peanuts in flight. I thought it was an easy springboard for some light-hearted humor about busybody bureaucrats. My mind was changed forever by a letter I received from a parent and fellow journalist whose little girl had a serious peanut allergy. I went so far as to write a second column retracting and apologizing for the earlier one. The result: an outpouring of letters and e-mails from grateful readers, many of whom were merely astonished and grateful to find a journalist who admitted he made a mistake. I also was invited to speak to a conference of people who work with children who have disabilities. I recommend a little contrition, from time to time, to all of my colleagues.

Is there any work that you're most proud of, that you consider especially significant?

That's a tough one. From what my readers tell me, my calm and insightful "voice of reason" during various crises and cultural clashes, ranging from 9-11 to the bitter aftermath of the first O. J. Simpson trial verdict, have been most welcome.

How, if at all, did winning the Pulitzer change things for you as a journalist?

The title "Pulitzer Prize winner" seems to have a bracing effect on people who previously did not pay much attention to what I had to say. On the down side, it's surprisingly intimidating. After the celebrating fades and you wash the champagne out of your hair, you still have to go back and write your next column -- except now you feel like everybody in the world is going to expect it to be worthy of a "Pulitzer Prize winner." That's a heavy burden that can give you one heck of a case of writer's block. But you must persevere or you don't eat.

In terms of your career, what's been your greatest challenge?

Writing my next column. I've been doing it for 20 years and still every one feels like the first. I don't have trouble starting. I have trouble finishing, for it means I must show my work to other human beings. As a result, I still have trouble making deadlines, as my frustrated editors will confirm.

From your perspective as an observer of this country's cultural and political landscape, about what are you most optimistic?

As a Black man who remembers vividly the horrors and degradation of Jim Crow segregation, I am most optimistic about what Martin Luther King saw as the redemptive nature of the American people -- our basic fairness and decency and our ability to learn from our mistakes. Unfortunately, we don't always learn quickly enough to avoid tragedies, but we can learn and improve, when we work at it.

As a nationally syndicated editorial writer, obviously you keep a close eye on national and international news. Which news outlets do you depend on most?

I read major newspapers and surf reputable websites and knowledgeable bloggers every day. I am a captive of the Web. It's amazing. I can even read the Zimbabwe Daily News, which is a courageously independent newspaper whenever the country's President-for-Life is not throwing its editors in jail.

Tell us one thing people might be surprised to know about you.

I like rap music.


AAPRC's Mission
The African-American Public Relations Collective (AAPRC) is an assemblage of professionals who provide communication conduits among clients, journalists, media and our communities. We come together as a collective because we recognize the importance of building those same conduits amongst ourselves.

A great deal of what we do is professional development––updating our skills, keeping pace with technology, refining and streamlining processes, providing a forum to tackle the issues that impact our work environment––but we believe our professional lives benefit most from the forging of effective alliances. Connected to one another, we possess the power of a nationwide body of committed, knowledgeable practitioners with an eye on the future.

As we move into the 21st century at lightning speed, mass media and its potent messages occupy an ever-larger part of our daily lives and our collective psyche. The AAPRC is focused on helping our members gain a deeper understanding of media's force and supporting their growth as powerful participants in the global communications network.

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