NABJ to Induct Earl Caldwell Into Hall of Fame Today

By: E&P Staf Earl Caldwell, who made his name covering civil rights and was the defendant in a landmark Supreme Court case, will be inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Hall of Fame Friday at the organization's annual convention in Tampa, Fla.

"It?s a high honor. I consider it recognition not just of my work, which I?m proud of, but also for my generation of black journalists who came to the top in the 1960s in a difficult, tumultuous time in America," said Caldwell in a statment.

Now a visiting professor at Hampton University?s Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, Caldwell rose to prominence at the New York Times, where covered a number of significant events in the civil rights movement. He was the only reporter present when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. He also covered the inner city riots in 1967 and 1968, as well as the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

In the early 1970s, much of Caldwell's reporting focused on the radical Black Panthers. After refusing to reveal his sources to the FBI, Caldwell was taken to court and the case made it all the way to the Supreme Court. Though the court ruled against Caldwell, the case led to the enactment of reporting shield laws in several states, which allow reporters to protect sources and information.

At Hampton, Caldwell is currently writing "The Caldwell Journals," a serialized work focusing on the experiences of black journalists during and after the civil rights movement.