Series: The Ten O'Clock News
Program: Evening Compass broadcast
Date: 1974-12-12
People: Hicks, Louise Day; Stoia, Judy
Geography: South Boston (Boston, Mass.)|

Clip Description
Judy Stoia reports on the stabbing of a white student at South Boston High School. Stoia reports that Louise Day Hicks tried to calm the gathered crowd which threatened the safety of the African American students inside the school.

Program Description
Ed Baumeister introduces the newscast. Louis Lyons reads the news headlines. Judy Stoia reports on the stabbing of a white student at South Boston High School. Stoia reports that Louise Day Hicks tried to calm the gathered crowd which threatened the safety of the African American students inside the school. Greg Pilkington reports on the atmosphere at the Bayside Mall in Dorchester, where buses delivered African American students who were trapped in South Boston High School. Report includes footage of angry students and parents addressing the camera. Peggy Murrell reports on the reactions of Thomas Atkins (President, NAACP) and Mel King (State Representative) to the violence at South Boston High School. Atkins and King say that schools should be shut down if the safety of African American students cannot be assured. Pam Bullard analyzes school desegration at South Boston High School from the beginning of the school year up to the present. Stoia reports on the atmosphere at Hyde Park High School following the previous day's stabbing at South Boston High School. Stoia notes that one hundred students staged a walk-out at Hyde Park High School to protest the stabbing at South Boston High School; that the atmosphere at Hyde Park High School is less tense than the atmosphere at South Boston High School. Bullard reports on a special hearing before Judge Arthur Garrity to discuss measures to control violence at South Boston High School. Bullard notes that the Boston School Committee is due to file in court a desegregation plan for the next school year; that the School Committee risks being held in contempt of court if a plan is not filed. Bullard's report includes footage of John Coakley (Boston School Department) discussing school programs under next year's school desegregation plan. Baumeiseter comments on the lack of a response from either Kevin White (Mayor, City of Boston) or Frank Sargent (Governor, State of Massachusetts) to the previous day's violence at South Boston High School.

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/1475_01