A New Web Magazine For Black Readers
February 15, 2008The Root is a new political and cultural web magazine dedicated to black readers, launched by the Washington Post on January 28.It provides information on the black community in the United States and also exemplary African news information.The site also offers assistanceto African-Americans who want to trace their roots.
In a video statement posted on the new website, theroot.com, editor-in-chief Henry Louis Gates Jr, a professor of African and African-American studies at Harvard University, hailed the project as “an exciting new milestone in the long history of black American media.”
According to AFP, the magazine continues a long history of black involvement in the US media which began with Freedom’s Journal, a newspaper founded during the slave era which was the first to address issues affecting African-Americans, Gates said.
Former Newsweek foreign correspondent Lynette Clemetson has been appointed managing editor, a former US News and World Report political reporter, Terence Samuel, will serve as deputy editor.
The inaugural edition of “The Root” included reports on the economic crunch in the United States and the analysis of the campaign of African-American Senator Barack Obama as he seeks the Democratic Party nomination for the White House race, including his trouncing of former first lady Hillary Clinton in Saturday’s South Carolina primaries.
“‘The Root’ focuses on the black perspective, but really does engage anyone interested in black culture,” said Lee, the spokeswoman for the Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive. (more…)
