Series: The Ten O'Clock News
Date: 1989-10-04
Duration: 00:03:18

Subject: African American musicians; Popular music; Discrimination
People: Bolling, Royal, Sr.; Coppola, Michael; Gala, Andrew; Jackson, Michael; Jones, Marcus; Sullivan, Chuck;
Geography: Foxboro (Mass.)|

Clip Description
Marcus Jones reports that Michael Jackson (pop singer) has never played a concert at Sullivan Stadium. Jones notes that the Foxboro Board of Selectmen denied a request by Jackson to play two concerts at Sullivan Stadium in 1984. Jones reports that the permit was denied because of security and traffic concerns. Jones adds that Royal Bolling, Sr. (former State Senator) and others believe that the permit was denied on racial grounds. Jones' reports includes footage from a meeting of the Foxboro Board of Selectmen and footage of Bolling addressing a legislative hearing. Jones reports that Andrew Gala (Foxboro town administrator) and Michael Coppola (Foxboro Selectman) deny that the permit was denied on racial grounds. Jones notes that Gala says that the Jackson tour denied the terms offered to them by Sullivan Stadium. Jones reports that there are bad feelings between the town of Foxboro and Chuck Sullivan (organizer of Jackson's tour). Jones reports that big concerts bring in money to Foxboro. He notes that Jackson's most recent tour did not stop in Massachusetts. Jones' report is accompanied by concert footage of Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones at Sullivan Stadium, and other musical acts. Jones' report also features footage of the interior and exterior of Sullivan Stadium.This tape features additional footage of Sullivan Stadium.

This edition of the Ten O'Clock News also included the following item:
Jan von Mehren reports that the city of Boston and the NAACP signed a $3 million settlement to end litigation about the city's formerly discriminatory public housing policy
Housing discrimination settlement

Series Description
A local program aimed at the Boston audience, The Ten O'Clock News debuted on January 15, 1976. Its two immediate predecessors were The Reporters and Evening Compass. A news and public affairs show focusing on neighborhood, local and state issues, The Reporters was produced and broadcast on WGBH from 1970 to 1973. The Reporters was then replaced by Evening Compass, which expanded into a twice-nightly news broadcast during the tense moments of Boston's busing crisis. On the air from 1973 to 1975, Evening Compass found an audience through its in-depth coverage of school desegregation in Boston, which began in 1974. The Ten O'Clock News stood out as an in-depth news program. It strove for a balance between local and national stories, between politics and the Arts. The last The Ten O'Clock News program was broadcast on May 30, 1991.

See also: http://main.wgbh.org/ton/programs/6803_02