By Cynthia Levy
NABJ Monitor Staff Writer
Pulitzer Prize winner, and acclaimed Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Cynthia Tucker visited the NABJ student project newsroom Friday afternoon.
The writer, who is nationally known for her columns opposing voter id policies and calling out former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell, answered questions posed by four student reporters.
Tucker reached back into history to explain the importance of journalism to the students, explaining the need for objective reporting during and after the civil rights movement.
“It’s not my job to be the public relations rep of black elected officials,” Tucker told the them while remembering being called a “handkerchief-headed Aunt Jemima” and “Uncle Tom” for reporting on abuses and corruption among black politicians in the south.
Tucker explained to the young writers that in journalism although the rewards are slim the job is necessary.
“The victories are few and far between, but the work is important,” she said.
