The Westside Gazette

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The Westside Gazette is a newspaper based in Broward County, Florida. It was established to serve an African American audience and is the oldest African-American newspaper in the region. [1]

History

Levi Henry established the Westside Gazette in 1971, reportedly with "$158 and [his] good name". [2] Henry, who began his career selling ads for radio station WRBD his contacts to entice advertisers to his new paper. [1] The paper has broken several stories in South Florida's African-American community, including a 1990 incident in which longtime Fort Lauderdale Mayor Bob Cox told fourth-grade students that in order to be mayor, one had to be "free, white and 21". [2]

A weekly paper, The Westside Gazette is now owned by Levi Henry's son, Bobby Henry. Henry's wife, Bertha Henry, was the Chief Executive of Broward County, Florida (County Administrator) for over a decade. Circulation of the newspaper increased from 10,000 copies in 1971 to 70,000 copies in 2001. [2] PBS correspondent Yamiche Alcindor interned at the paper when she was in high school.[ citation needed ]

Competing African-American newspapers have alleged that The Westside Gazette inflates circulation numbers. [3] [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 Bothel, Todd L. (2015). Legendary Locals of Fort Lauderdale. Arcadia Publishing. p. 86. ISBN   978-1-4671-0220-9 . Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Olmeda, Rafael A. (19 February 2001). "'WESTSIDE GAZETTE' IS A FAMILY TRADITION". South Florida Sun-Sentinel . Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  3. Jones, Elgin (Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2005). "Report Claims: Westside Gazette Outlandishly Inflated Circulation Numbers". Broward Times . No. 39. ProQuest   367827676 . Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  4. Norman, Bob (April 27, 2006). "Oh, Henrys". New Times Broward-Palm Beach.