When Professor David Mindich was a graduate student in the 1990s, he examined how Ida B. Wells uncovered truths about lynching, despite attempts by the press to malign her and suppress her message. In his upcoming Graduate Speaker Series talk, Mindich will bring to light how, beginning in 1892, Wells and other Black journalists fought a multipronged battle against these slanders and uncovered a widespread practice of white mob terrorism.  The talk will take place on Wednesday, September 24, in AH1 (Mind Lab) from 12:30 - 1:50 p.m. 

Mindich’s research about the battles between Wells and the white press made its way into his dissertation, which became a book,  Just the Facts: How “Objectivity” Came to Define American Journalism.  Now, 30 years later, Mindich is exploring Wells’s relationship with the Black press and how she led the fight to defend Black lynching victims. 

Mindich’s inspiration to revisit his work on Wells came in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Mindich’s earlier work is widely cited in discussions about how the white press used “objectivity” as a cover to exclude Black men and women—but especially women—from political dialogue.  But less has been written about how Wells affected the coverage of her fellow Black journalists in confronting the myths of Black lynching victims, who were portrayed as sexual predators and “brutes.”  

Note: Mindich’s talk will include explicit and disturbing content about lynching.