Etheleen Renee Shipp (born June 6, 1955)
["E. R. Shipp." ''Contemporary Black Biography''. Vol. 15. Detroit: Gale, 1997. Gale Biography In Context. Web. August 8, 2011.] is an American journalist and columnist. As a columnist for the ''
New York Daily News'', she was awarded the 1996
Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary is an award administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism "for distinguished commentary, using any available journalistic tool". It is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are ...
for "her penetrating columns on race, welfare and other social issues."
She is an
associate professor at
Morgan State University
Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known a ...
's School of Global Journalism & Communication in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
.
Early life and education
Shipp was born the oldest of six children to an extremely poor African-American family in
Conyers, Georgia
Conyers is an Atlanta suburb, the county seat of and only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of downtown Atlanta and is a part of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, th ...
.
The "E. R." stands for "a good southern name" that she hasn't "grown into" yet. Except for a brief stay in
public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
, they lacked indoor plumbing and were forced to bring in buckets of water multiple times per day.
Shipp attended the
J. P. Carr School until 1968, when she transferred to
Rockdale County High School
Rockdale County High School is located in the heart of Conyers, Georgia, United States, in the old-town district. RCHS is one of three high schools located in Rockdale County, along with Heritage High School, and Salem High School. RCHS also h ...
, where she was one of the first black students, and graduated in 1972. It was expected that she would work in a factory upon graduation, but teachers pushed her to seek scholarships. She thought journalism "sounded a hell of a lot more interesting and easier than working in a factory" and began working as a
home economics
Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...
correspondent for a local newspaper while still in high school.
Shipp graduated from
Georgia State University
Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...
in 1976 with a BA in journalism and interned at the ''
Atlanta Journal
''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...
''.
She moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and graduated from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
with an MS in journalism in 1979 and a
JD in 1980.
Career
She began working for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' in 1980. She worked there as a reporter and editor until 1993.
In 1990, she and five other ''Times'' reporters published the book ''Outrage: The Story Behind the
Tawana Brawley Hoax''.
Ellen Goodman
Ellen Goodman (née Holtz; born April 11, 1941) is an American journalist and syndicated columnist. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1980. She is also a speaker and commentator.
Career
Goodman's career began as a researcher and reporter for ''Newsweek ...
, in ''
The New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'', praised its "thoroughness" and wrote that the authors "chase down every lead, go down every blind alley, talk to every
Deep Throat, profile every character in a cast as long and exotic as that of a
Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repress ...
novel." Shipp also wrote the paper's
obituary for
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
leader
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "th ...
. It is common practice to write obituaries of famous people in advance. Shipp began the obituary in 1988 and Parks died in 2005, long after Shipp left the ''Times''.
In 1993 she left the ''Times'' to pursue graduate work in history.
She earned an MA in history in 1994 and was working on a PhD thesis about relations between former slaves and former slave owners in rural Georgia, including an examination of her own family history.
She also became an assistant professor at the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City.
Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...
and was faculty supervisor of the student publication ''Bronx Beat''.
Shipp began writing for the ''
New York Daily News'' as an
op-ed columnist in 1994.
She said "If you feel passionate about a subject, the columns almost write themselves." Among the topics she wrote about the year she won the Pulitzer were
affirmative action,
Johnnie Cochran
Johnnie Lee Cochran Jr.Adam Bernstei ''The Washington Post'', March 30, 2005; retrieved April 17, 2006. (; October 2, 1937 – March 29, 2005) was an American lawyer best known for his leadership role in the defense and criminal acquittal ...
and the
O. J. Simpson murder trial, and the
Million Man March
The Million Man March was a large gathering of African-American men in Washington, D.C., on October 16, 1995. Called by Louis Farrakhan, it was held on and around the National Mall. The National African American Leadership Summit, a leadin ...
.
"There are no
sacred cows
''Sacred Cows'', subtitled "The Songs That Helped Us," is an album featuring the rock band The Swirling Eddies, performing their own less-than-serious versions of popular CCM hits, released in 1996 on StarSong.
The basic plan for the recor ...
in a Shipp column", wrote the ''Daily News'' in the letter nominating her for a Pulitzer. Her columns have prompted angry feedback,
including from members of her own church, the
Abyssinian Baptist Church
The Abyssinian Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch located at 132 West 138th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the National Baptist Con ...
in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
, when she criticized her pastor,
Calvin O. Butts, in one column.
However, when Shipp was awarded the Pulitzer, Butts led his congregation in a standing ovation from the pulpit.
From 1998 to 2000, Shipp served as the
ombudsman at ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', which had one of the few and perhaps the most independent of such positions in the US news media.
As the person responsible for discussing the ''Post''s policies and editorial decisions, among the issues she discussed in her column were the
murder of Jesse Dirkhising and the coverage of the candidates in the
2000 presidential election. She complained about the inaccessibility of the newsroom and its lack of communication with readers but expressed hope that these issues could be addressed.
In 2005, Shipp left Columbia and became the Lawrence Stessin Distinguished Professor of Journalism at
Hofstra University in
Hempstead, New York
The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on ...
.
In 2006, The ''Daily News'' dropped Shipp's column. She said "I join the rest of my journalistic generation of pioneers who don't have the jobs they thought they had."
In 2012, Shipp was named as "Journo in Residence" at
Morgan State University
Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known a ...
in Baltimore.
Personal life
Shipp lived in
Center Moriches
Center Moriches ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 7,580 at the 2010 census. Center Moriches is in the town of Brookhaven. It is the location of the historic Masury Estate B ...
, New York.
As of 2013, she lives in Baltimore.
References
External links
1996 Pulitzer Prize WinnersE. R. Shippat ''
The Grio
TheGrio, styled as thegrio, is an American television network and website with news, opinion, entertainment and video content geared toward Black Americans.
The website originally launched in June 2009 as a division of NBC News, it became a di ...
''
E. R. Shippat ''
The Root
"The Root" is a song by American recording artist D'Angelo. It is the eighth track on his second studio album, ''Voodoo'', which was released on January 25, 2000, by Virgin Records. "The Root" was recorded and produced by D'Angelo at New York's ...
''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipp, E. R.
1955 births
Living people
People from Conyers, Georgia
Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)
American columnists
African-American women journalists
African-American journalists
Pulitzer Prize for Commentary winners
Georgia State University alumni
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni
Columbia Law School alumni
Columbia University faculty
Hofstra University faculty
Morgan State University faculty
People from Center Moriches, New York
American women columnists
American women academics
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women
20th-century African-American people
20th-century African-American women