Series: The Ten O'Clock News
Date: 1986-07-01
Duration: 00:03:08

Subject: South Africa - Apartheid; Journalists
People: Crossley, Callie; Fields, Carmen; George, Christy; Jackson, Derek; Mandela, Nelson; Pride, Michael; Rissman, Carol; Sisulu, Albertine; Sisulu, Walter; Sisulu, Zwelakhe; Solman, Paul;
Geography: South Africa|

Clip Description
Christy George reports that Zwelakhe Sisulu (Editor, The New Nation) has been detained by the South African government. George notes that Sisulu's friends and colleagues in the US held a press conference to draw publicity to his case in the hopes of protecting him. George reports that Sisulu lived in Cambridge in 1985 when he was a fellow at the Niemann Foundation at Harvard University. George's report includes footage from a press conference of present and former Niemann Fellows including Michael Pride (Editor, Concord Monitor), Carmen Fields (WBZ-TV), Derek Jackson (Newsday), Callie Crossley (documentary producer), Paul Solman (documentary producer) and Carol Rissman (WBUR-FM). Pride says that the group has written a letter to P.W. Botha (President of South Africa. He adds that the group will hold Botha personally responsible for Sisulu's safety. Members of the group speak out against Sisulu's detention. George reports that the Niemann Fellows hope that the South African government will treat Sisulu carefully because he has prominent friends abroad. George's report includes footage from an interview with Sisulu in 1984, photos of Sisulu and his family and footage of South Africa.

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/4416_01