Pioneering Black Newsmen Remembered

Harold Robinson and Bob Bennett, two men who in Detroit paved the way for a generation of black journalists, died last week within days of each other.

Robinson died of lung cancer Aug. 19, one day shy of his 74th birthday. Bennett, 65, whose real name was Robert Lee Billups, was found dead on Aug. 21 in the St. Clair River near his home in Sarnia, Ontario. Police say that he drowned.

Known as ""Robby"" to his colleagues, Robinson was the first black photographer hired by The Detroit News. Like many other major American newspapers at the time, the News hired Robinson due to the civil unrest that plagued the city during the 1960s. He remained with the News for nearly 30 years, retiring in 1995.

Bennett, who became well known in Detroit for his hard-news journalism, retired in 2000 after 32 years as a reporter for WDIV-TV Channel 4. He started his broadcasting career in 1963 as an announcer and gospel disc jockey at WCHB radio in Inkster, Detroit. In 1965, he became a radio news reporter for the station that would become WXYT.

Bennett joined WDIV in 1968, when the station was still known as WWJ-TV. Initially he served as its political reporter, covering the courts, police, city hall and the environment, before being made a general assignment reporter.