WHYY
By
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a master orator, and an iconic presence on TV and radio.
“He turned out the press … because he was magnetic,” said Michael Days, veteran editor and former vice president for diversity and inclusion at the Philadelphia Media Network. “(King) was kind to the camera, the camera was kind to him, and he believed in, his movement believed in doing much of their work … in the light of day.”
King understood how powerful radio was for the civil rights movement, said Sara Lomax-Reese, president and CEO of WURD Radio, the only African-American owned talk radio station in Pennsylvania. Lomax-Reese pointed to a speech King gave to the National Association of TV and Radio Announcers in 1967 where he said “for better or for worse, you are opinion-makers in the community and it is important that you remain aware of the power which is potential in your vocation.”