Chauncey Bailey

Chauncey Wendell Bailey Jr. (October 20, 1949 – August 2, 2007) was an American journalist noted for his work primarily on issues of the African American community. He served as editor-in-chief of The Oakland Post in Oakland, California from June 2007 until his murder. His 37-year career in journalism included lengthy periods as a reporter at The Detroit News and The Oakland Tribune.

Chauncey Bailey
Undated family photo of Bailey
Born
Chauncey Wendell Bailey Jr.

(1949-10-20)October 20, 1949
Oakland, California, USA
DiedAugust 2, 2007(2007-08-02) (aged 57)
Oakland, California, USA
EducationMerritt College
San Jose State University
OccupationJournalist
Notable credit(s)
The Detroit News
The Oakland Tribune
Spouse(s)Robin Hardin (div.)
Children1 son

He was shot dead on a Downtown Oakland street on August 2, 2007, the victim of a crime syndicate he was investigating for a story.[1] His death outraged fellow journalists, who joined together to create the Chauncey Bailey Project dedicated to continuing his work and uncovering the facts of his murder. In June 2011 Yusuf Bey IV, a local bakery owner, and his associate Antoine Mackey were convicted of ordering Bailey's murder. A third man, bakery handyman Devaughndre Brousard, had earlier confessed to being the triggerman. Bailey was the first American journalist killed for domestic reporting since 1976.[2]

Biography

Early years

Chauncey was born in Oakland, California into a Catholic family who were members of St. Benedict's Catholic Church on 82nd Avenue. He lived in East Oakland neighborhoods for many years and attended Hayward High School in the nearby city of Hayward.[3] Bailey earned an associate degree from Oakland's old Merritt Community College in 1968, and a Bachelors in Journalism from San Jose State University in 1972.

Career

Bailey first wrote for The Oakland Post in 1970, and made his foray into television news that year as an on-air reporter with station KNTV in San Jose, California, where he continued through 1971. During the next three years he worked at the San Francisco Sun Reporter.[4]

In the mid-1970s, Bailey moved to Hartford, Connecticut to work on the Hartford Courant for three years. After working for a year on the rewrite desk at United Press International in Chicago, he returned to Oakland in 1978 and wrote for the California Voice through late 1980.[4][5] Bailey again moved to Chicago, where he worked as a publicist for the nonprofit Comprand Inc., and then relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1981 to work for a year as press secretary for the freshman U.S. Representative Gus Savage, D-Ill.[4] From 1982 Bailey spent the next decade as a reporter and columnist for the Detroit News, where he covered city government and worked on special projects.[4] In 1992 he returned to Oakland as public affairs director and newscaster on Bay Area radio with station KDIA, which was co-owned by then mayor of Oakland, Elihu Harris and then California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. During this era Bailey was seen throughout the 1990s as an interviewer and commentator on Soul Beat Television on the Oakland cable station KSBT, where he worked along with former Oakland actress Luenell.[4] Bailey worked at the Oakland Tribune from 1993 until 2005.[4] In the mid-1990s Bailey split from his wife.[5]

In 2003 Bailey quit his program on Soul Beat after he failed in his attempt to buy the station. His program was canceled in 2004.[5] In 2005 he began writing freelance travel stories for The Oakland Post. He became editor in June 2007, and then editor-in-chief of all five Post weeklies.[3] The Post is the largest African-American weekly newspaper in northern California, published in Oakland, California by the Post News Group, and serving mainly Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond and San Francisco.[6] In late 2004 Bailey became one of the producers, co-founders and hosts for OUR-TV (Opportunities in Urban Renaissance Television) on Comcast Channel 78.[5] Bailey had been known for his aggressive questioning of city officials.[1] Oakland Police spokesman Ronald Holmgren said: "I know him as being a somewhat outspoken type individual, assertive in his journalistic approach when trying to get at matters at hand."[7]

Murder
Main article: Murder of Chauncey Bailey

Bailey had written several articles about the problems of Your Black Muslim Bakery. Saleem Bey, half-brother of Antar and Yusuf IV, had anonymously told Bailey believed both Antar and Bey IV had looted the business.[8] By this time, the business was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was over one million dollars in debt.[9]

Bailey was shot and killed while working on a story about the finances of Your Black Muslim Bakery, involving its pending bankruptcy.[10][11]

The article was never published.[8] As Bailey walked to work on the morning of August 2, 2007, a van pulled up and a man jumped out and shot the reporter. According to a witness the man had a "long gun" and ran "full tilt" across the street.[12] Oakland Fire Capt. Melinda Drayton said Bailey had been shot first in the back and then once in the head.[13]

The killer was later identified as Devaughndre Broussard. He confessed to the murder,[14] but after almost two years of incarceration, he agreed to testify against Bey IV in exchange for a 25-year sentence. He told authorities that Bey IV had a hit list of people "he wanted to get rid of" who had "done stuff to" the bakery and that Chauncey Bailey's name was on the list.[15]

Broussard was booked on suspicion of murder on August 4, 2007, for the killing of Bailey, having told police detectives that he considered himself "a good soldier". Though other charges were made against those arrested, none of them were charged with Bailey's murder.[16] On August 7, 2007 Broussard was arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court, on charges of murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.[17]

Broussard testified for the prosecution at the trial of Bey IV and Antoine Mackey in 2011. He stated in court he was ordered by Bey to find, track and kill Bailey before the journalist could print his latest article on the bakery.[18] Bey IV and Mackey were both convicted of multiple counts of murder[19] and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.[20]

The Chauncey Bailey Project

To continue Bailey's work and answer questions regarding his death, more than two dozen reporters, photographers and editors from print, broadcast and electronic media, as well as journalism students, formed a group called the Chauncey Bailey Project. It was convened by New America Media, the Pacific News Service and the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

In June 2008, the Chauncey Bailey Project released a secretly recorded police video that reveals how Black Muslim Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV kept the gun used in the Chauncey Bailey killing in his closet after the attack and bragged of playing dumb when investigators asked him about the shooting.[21] Bey goes on to describe Bailey's shooting in detail, then laughingly denies he was there, and boasts that his friendship with the case's lead detective protected him from charges. Bey also claims he knew he was being recorded.

The Chauncey Bailey Project is not without its critics. Bay Area activist, investigative journalist, and radio talk show host J.R. Valrey (who works under the pseudonym "Minister of Information JR"), has accused the Chauncey Bailey Project of inaccurate and "self-congratulatory" reporting.[22] Valrey's criticisms largely stem from a 2008 Chauncey Bailey Project article published in the Oakland Tribune entitled "Evidence Ignored", of which Valrey's connections to Chauncey Bailey and Your Black Muslim Bakery was one of the focuses.

In 2010, Thomas Peele, Josh Richman, Mary Fricker and Bob Butler received the McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication for their work on the project.[23]

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See also

References
  1. Christopher Heredia; Leslie Fulbright & Marisa Lagos (2007-08-02). "Hit man kills newspaper editor on Oakland street". San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. Romney, Lee (June 10, 2011). "Two convicted of murder in shooting of Oakland journalist". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  3. Harry Harris & Angela Hill (2007-08-03). "Prominent journalist shot dead in street". The Oakland Tribune.
  4. Josh Richman & Douglas Fischer (2007-08-03). "Bailey's career in news spanned globe for decades". The Oakland Tribune.
  5. Kristin Bender (2007-08-07). "Oakland newsman Bailey to be laid to rest Wednesday". The Oakland Tribune.
  6. C. Dianne Howell. "Chauncey Bailey". The Oakland Post. Archived from the original on 2004-01-04. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
  7. "Veteran Reporter Gunned Down In Oakland". KTVU News. 2007-08-02. Archived from the original on 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  8. Erin McCormick & Jaxon Van Derbeken (October 8, 2007). "A Father's Fiefdom Reduced To Ruin". San Francisco Chronicle.
  9. Thomas Peele (April 12, 2011). "Your Black Muslim Bakery leader had Chauncey Bailey killed, bakery follower testifies". Oakland Tribune.
  10. "Police Link Bailey Homicide To Black Muslim Group". KTVU News. 2007-08-03. Archived from the original on 2007-08-17.
  11. Harry Harris; Kristin Bender & Kelly Rayburn (2007-08-04). "Cops: Editor's killer confesses". The Oakland Tribune.
  12. Thomas Peele (March 23, 2011). "Witnesses take the stand in Chauncey Bailey murder trial". San Francisco Bay Guardian.
  13. Christopher Heredia, Leslie Fulbright & Marisa Lagos (August 2, 2007). "Hit man kills newspaper editor on Oakland street". San Francisco Chronicle.
  14. Demian Bulwa & Matthai Chakko Kuruvila (August 6, 2007). "Bakery raid to elicit string of charges". San Francisco Chronicle.
  15. Thomas Peele; Bob Butler & Mary Fricker (April 17, 2009). "Suspect says Chauncey Bailey marked for death". The Oakland Tribune. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  16. Angela Hill & Harry Harris (2007-08-05). "Confessed killer: I'm 'a good soldier'". The Oakland Tribune.
  17. Harry Harris; Paul T. Rosynsky (2007-08-08). "Bakery leader, cohorts charged". The Oakland Tribune. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  18. Lee, Henry K. (March 28, 2011). "Chauncey Bailey shooter laughed at killings". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  19. Lee, Henry K. (June 9, 2011). "Your Black Muslim Bakery leader guilty of murder". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
  20. Anthony, Laura (August 26, 2011). "Two men sentenced to life in prison in Chauncey Bailey murder case". KGO-TV. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  21. Thomas Peele; Bob Butler; Mary Fricker; Josh Richman (2008-06-18). "Secret video raises questions about bakery leader's role in Bailey killing". Chauncey Bailey Project. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  22. Minister of Information JR (2008). "A Journalistic Critique of the Chauncey Bailey Project". BayView. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  23. "UGA awards McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage to Chauncey Bailey Project reporters - UGA Today". UGA Today. 2010-02-23. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
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