Tamron Hall Interview…
The Huffington Post interviews Tamron Hall…
Indeed, Hall’s humble beginnings from rural Luling, Texas, to the top of the media industry came with countless hours of labor as an assignment reporter in Dallas to an anchor in Chicago. However, according to Hall, she did bear witness to the lack of black journalists in a few newsrooms.
“When I first started out as a young journalist, I know that on at least two occasions, when I walked into a newsroom I knew I was replacing the black person in that job,” she revealed. “There was always one reporter or one anchor. In fact, I replaced the same woman in Dallas and in Chicago. And she was the only African American on air in Dallas. I went to Chicago and she was the reporter/anchor, which just happened to be the job that I was being interviewed for, and that was the person that I replaced.”
“So there was this thing where I would go into a newsroom and feel a little uncomfortable because I thought to myself, ‘I’m not probably replacing the blonde. I’m not probably replacing the white guy,’ she added. “Sadly, I’m probably here to replace this person, and two times it proved to be true. I think that’s less so certainly now. Didn’t happen to me here when I was hired by MSNBC and NBC. But did happen to me early on in my career.”
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August 5, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Didn’t happen to me here when I was hired by MSNBC and NBC. But did happen to me early on in my career.”
Actually she did sorta replace Alison Stewart! Not sure of the time in between but its all the same to me.
August 5, 2011 at 4:55 pm
No she didn’t. Stewart left before Hall arrived. Stewart left in May. Hall’s hire was announced in July.
August 5, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Your timeline doesn’t dispute Terance’s point: Allison was out, then another African-American was added, keeping the headcount the same. It’s a tenuous point, I admit, but your example doesn’t refute it.