Series: The Ten O'Clock News
Date: 1987-05-21
Duration: 00:03:05

Subject: Discrimination
People: Kelly, James; Sneed, Bernard; Vaillancourt, Meg; Wilkerson, Dianne;

Clip Description
Meg Vaillancourt reports on the failure of Ward 7 to elect any minority delegates to the Massachusetts State Democratic Party convention. Vaillancourt notes that minority voters accuse party bosses of discouraging minorities from running as delegates. Vaillancourt reports that Dianne Wilkerson (Ward 7 resident) and Bernard Sneed (Ward 7 resident) both ran for delegate in Ward seven last year. Sneed calls for a change in the election process. Vaillancourt interviews Wilkerson and Sneed. Wilkerson accuses James Kelly (Boston City Council) of setting up the election to be restrictive and hostile to minority delegates. Vaillancourt quotes Kelly as saying that he set up a fair election and that Wilkerson and Sneed lost. Vaillancourt reports that Wilkerson and Sneed were named as delegates on an appeal to the State Democratic Party. Vaillancourt's report is accompanied by footage of residents of Ward seven in their neighborhoods.

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/5090_01