Topeka Paper Commemorates Brown v. Board

By: Charles Geraci The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal's coverage of the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education case culminated yesterday with a special afternoon extra edition, the first for the newspaper since the Sept. 11 attacks.

"There were volunteers from all of the newspaper's departments selling the extra on the street corners," said Jim Debth, new media director for the Capital-Journal (Click for QuikCap).

The project to cover the event has been in planning for well over a year, requiring considerable financial resources.

"This year alone we have held meetings every week to discuss our coverage of the Brown anniversary," said Will Kennedy, the paper's executive editor. "At first, this was a daunting project but this morning it was just awesome. It was all-consuming."

The paper's Web site, www.cjonline.com, is marking the occasion with in-depth multimedia and background on the 1954 Supreme Court decision, which ended racial segregation in America's public schools. Debth has invited newspapers around the country to link to their package.

Papers far from Topeka are also using their Web sites to feature the impact of the Brown case. The New York Times posted a video of a discussion moderated by Sam Tanenhaus, the editor of the Book Review, with African-American scholars Cornel West and Henry Louis Gates Jr.

The Capital-Journal's online coverage includes stories from the paper's predecessors, The Topeka Daily Capital and The Topeka State Journal from 1951-1956. The site includes a video tour, 360-degree photos from inside the historic Monroe Elementary School, and photo galleries.

"We see the Web site as a tool for a broad range of students and researchers," said Corey Shoup, the paper's online managing editor.

CJOnline has teamed up with KSNT-TV, the NBC affiliate in Topeka, to show some of the local television coverage on its Web site. Video of President Bush's visit to Topeka yesterday was included.

"This is the first time we've had both presidential candidates visit Topeka on the same day," said Shoup, referring to Bush and Democratic candidate John Kerry, who also visited Topeka on Monday.

"The community as a whole recognizes the importance that this decision has had not just in Topeka but throughout the United States," added Debth.

Virtually everyone in the newsroom played a role in the paper's coverage of the anniversary.

"The sports columnist actually wrote the lead story" in the afternoon edition, said Kennedy. "I can't think of anything in Topeka -- outside of a natural disaster -- that will ever be bigger than this story."

The Capital-Journal is selling commemorative packages of its coverage ranging from $19.95 to $35.95.