OHIO alumnus, Pulitzer Prize winner to be inducted into NABJ Hall of Fame

Dr. Milbert O. Brown Jr., MA ’82, who studied photography at Ohio University, was recently announced as a 2024 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Hall of Fame inductee.

Brown holds a doctorate in education from Morgan State University, a master's from Ohio University, and a bachelor's in journalism from Ball State University. 

“When I was starting out in the industry, it was very difficult to get a job as a Black journalist,” said Brown. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without NABJ.”

Brown won a 2001 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Explanatory Reporting (for his contributions to the Chicago Tribune team) and has been honored as one of the top 90 Black photojournalists in the United States as a member of the “Gordon Parks Ninety.” Brown also served on the NABJ board of directors as an academic representative.

“Early in my career, things were very difficult for an African American person trying to get into journalism. The newspaper industry was racist,” said Brown. “Fortunately for me, I was multidimensional. I was good at writing, photography, and design.” 

Brown grew up in Gary, Ind. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Ball State University and started teaching high school journalism classes. He knew, though, that he didn’t want to stay there.

“My life was like the movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’” said Brown. “I was really George Bailey, teaching in Gary, Indiana. If I hadn’t of gotten out, I would not have advanced my dreams of becoming a professional journalist. Ohio University gave me that chance. It was that springboard to jump into the big ocean.”

When Brown decided to pursue graduate school, it didn’t take him long to figure out Ohio University was the place for him. He studied in the College of Fine Arts in the Institute of Visual Communication, which existed prior to the establishment of the School of Visual Communication in what is now the Scripps College of Communication.

“It was one of the best decisions I ever made. I wanted to go to a school that had a national reputation, and Ohio University had a national reputation for producing some of the finest photojournalists in America,” said Brown. “The program I pursued was a joint program between journalism and fine arts. I was one of the first cohorts to come into that program. It was interdisciplinary.”

Brown came to Ohio University on a full academic scholarship. While pursuing his graduate degree at Ohio University, Brown did internships at newspapers in Dayton, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; and Louisville, Ky. Then he received a call from Ben Bradlee, the executive editor of The Washington Post, who offered him an internship while he was completing his coursework. 

“Bradlee was at the helm of The Washington Post when the paper covered the Watergate scandal,” said Brown. “Of course, I accepted the internship.” 

Brown joined the paper in May 1982, but did not complete his graduate thesis and graduation requirements until November 1982.

At that time, he explained, internships were easier to come by than full-time jobs for Black journalists. He says the internships were offered to “fill a quota.” After his internship was finished, Brown started doing freelance work and teaching college courses. Eventually, Brown was hired full-time at a group of small newspapers and his career took off from there. Over Brown’s career, he has worked at prestigious newspapers like The Boston Globe and The Chicago Tribune.

“I was a photojournalist for The Boston Globe. In 1991, I was the first African American picture editor to work at The Chicago Tribune,” said Brown. “I was the assistant visual editor.”

While working at the Chicago Tribune, Brown taught classes as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. After retiring from the newspaper industry, his reporting interest extended beyond traditional media, with his role as the prestigious international editor for the Oracle Magazine, the membership publication of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Brown also served as a journalism professor at two of America’s most prominent Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Howard University and Wilberforce University.

Brown will be presented with the Hall of Fame honor at the NABJ conference held in Chicago later this summer.