Three in a Row

Searching his brain for a fresh lead on an editorial on slums, Editor P. Bernard Young of the Norfolk (Va.) Journal and Guide stared moodily out the window--and saw a Negro hovel cave in. Rushing from his office, he got pictures, a story and a bitter editorial that shocked Norfolk's officials into action. That was in 1933. Now Norfolk has four modern Negro housing developments, and Editor Young heads the Negro housing advisory commission.

For nearly 40 years, the weekly Norfolk Journal and Guide has campaigned so skillfully for the Negro that it is the biggest Negro newspaper in the South (circ. 68,000). It is also about the most soundly edited paper in a segment of the U.S. press that is too often shrill, sensational and irresponsible. Last week the Guide won its third straight Wendell Willkie award--for public service in Negro journalism. Said Louis M. Lyons, curator of Harvard's Nieman Fellowships and chairman of the judges: "For the most part, the Negro press has a long way to go to reach the highest standards. The Guide is a first-class paper by any standards."

Gideon's Knights. When P. (for Plummer) Bernard Young went to work for the Guide in 1907, it was the fraternal organ (circ. 500) of the Knights of Gideon. One day the editor failed to show up and Printing Foreman Young tried his hand at an editorial. He did so well that he was hired as associate editor. In 1910, Young took over the Guide and turned it into a general newspaper for Negroes. Now it has 80 employees, an International News Service wire and good Washington coverage from the National Negro Press Association.

In 1943, "P.B. Sr.," now 64, became editor emeritus. But he still goes to the Guide office every day and keeps a watchful eye on the way things are run by his sons. Editor in chief is "P.B. Jr.," 42, who was a correspondent during World War II, later covered the Bikini atomic tests and the United Nations conference at San Francisco (for which he won the Guide's first'Willkie award). President and business manager is brother Thomas W. ("T. W."), 40. The newspaper's philosophy on race relations is still old P.B.'s own: "I am definitely opposed to the frontal attack. I believe in negotiation, arbitration, conciliation and persuasion. If that does not work, then I resort to the courts."

Into Battle. The Young approach, among other things, got Gloucester County to float a $750,000 bond issue to improve conditions in Negro schools, and persuaded Norfolk to pay the same salaries to Negro and white schoolteachers. On only a few occasions has the Guide used the frontal attack. After a Negro was convicted of raping a white woman and condemned to death, the Guide decided he was innocent. It defied local custom by printing the woman's name. A white man read the story, gave testimony that proved the case was a frame-up.

The Guide is a modest moneymaker, but the Youngs look forward to the day when the paper will no longer be needed. Says T. W., who is president of the Negro Newspaper Publishers Association: "If the daily newspapers . . . adequately reported [Negro news] and crusaded against all injustices . . . they would take away the . . . reason why Negro newspapers exist."

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