Michele Clark
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Michele Clark | |
|---|---|
 Clark, c. 1972 | |
| Born | June 2, 1943[1] Gary, Indiana, U.S.[1] |
| Died | December 8, 1972 (aged 29)[2] |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Years active | 1970–1972 |
| Known for | First African–American woman to serve as a network reporter for CBS Television. |
| Notable work | WBBM-TV |
Michele E. Clark (June 2, 1943 – December 8, 1972) was an American journalist. Clark was the first African–American woman to serve as a television correspondent for CBS News.[3] As a correspondent at WBBM-TV, Clark covered the 1972 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
Clark died in the December 1972 crash of United Airlines Flight 553 at Chicago's Midway Airport, while investigating the Watergate scandal. Her death has been widely described as cutting short a promising career. Michele Clark Magnet High School in Chicago is named after her.
Early life and education
Clark was born in Gary, Indiana on June 2, 1943.[1] Her parents were Harvey Clark Jr. and Johnetta Clark.[4] They met while attending Fisk University, and her father served in World War II and worked as a bus driver and the manager of an appliance store.[5][6] Clark had a younger brother, also named Harvey Clark, who became a reporter at WCAU.[7] The family's decision to move into an all-white neighborhood of Cicero, Illinois sparked the Cicero race riot of 1951, of which they were the victims.[5]
Clark attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, followed by Grinnell College and Roosevelt University.[1] In 1970, Clark graduated from the Summer Program in Journalism for Members of Minority Groups there, and that program was subsequently renamed the Michele Clark Fellowship Program for Minority Journalists.[8][9] Clark graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1972.[1] Prior to the start of her career as a reporter, Clark worked at United Airlines, and as a model.[6]
Career
Clark began her journalism career at WBBM-TV, a CBS station in Chicago.[1] She became a CBS News correspondent[1] at a time when few women and few African Americans worked as network correspondents, and was hired at around the same time as three other women: Connie Chung, Lesley Stahl, and Sylvia Chase.[10] Clark was the first Black woman network reporter for CBS Television.[7] Even though she was a new reporter, Clark was assigned to cover the 1972 Democratic Party presidential primaries for CBS.[2] This has been described as her "most prominent assignment".[3] She was slated to become a correspondent on 60 Minutes in 1973.[6]