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Mal Goode (1908-1995) became network news's first African American correspondent when ABC News hired him in 1962. Raised in Homestead and Pittsburgh, he worked in the mills, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, and went on to become a journalist for the
Pittsburgh Courier and later for local radio. With his basso profundo voice resonating on the airwaves, Goode challenged the police, politicians, and segregation, while providing Black listeners a voice that captured their experience. Race prevented him from breaking into television until Jackie Robinson dared ABC to give him a chance. Goode was uncompromising in his belief that network news needed Black voices and perspectives if it were to authentically reflect the nation's complexities. His success at ABC initiated the slow integration of network news. Goode's life and work are remarkable in their own right, but his struggles and achievements also speak to larger issues of American life and the African American experience.
About the author
Liann Tsoukas (Author) Liann Tsoukas teaches history at the University of Pittsburgh, where her courses focus on African American history, US surveys, contemporary US history, and gender and sport. Tsoukas directs the sport studies certificate and serves as an assistant dean as well as the History Department's director of undergraduate studies. She has been recognized with several honors including the 2023 Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award.
Rob Ruck (Author) Rob Ruck is a historian at the University of Pittsburgh, where he teaches and writes about sport. He focuses on how people use sport to tell a collective story about who they are to themselves and the world. He is the author of
Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL,
Raceball: How the Major Leagues Colonized the Black and Latin Game, and
Rooney: A Sporting Life, among other titles. His documentaries
Kings on the Hill: Baseball's Forgotten Men and
The Republic of Baseball: Dominican Giants of the American Game appeared on PBS.
Summary
Mal Goode (1908–1995) became network news’s first African American correspondent when ABC News hired him in 1962. With his basso profundo voice resonating on the airwaves, Goode challenged the police, politicians, and segregation, while providing Black listeners a voice that captured their experience.
