State media or state-owned media is media for mass communication which is ultimately controlled and/or funded by the state.^[1] These news outlets may be the sole media outlet or may exist in competition with privately controlled media.

Overview[link]

The term state media is often used in contrast to private or independent media, which has no direct control from any political party.^[2] Its content is usually more prescriptive, telling the audience what to think, particularly as it is under no pressure to attract high ratings or generate advertising revenue.^[3] In more controlled regions, the state may censor content which it deems illegal, immoral or unfavourable to the government and likewise regulate any programming related to the media; therefore, it is not independent of the governing party.^[4] In this type of environment, journalists may be required to be members or affiliated with the ruling party, such as in the former Soviet Union or North Korea.^[3] Within countries that have high levels of government interference in the media, it may use the state press for propaganda purposes:

• to promote the regime in a favourable light,
• vilify opposition to the government by launching smear campaigns or
• giving skewed coverage to opposition views, or
• act as a mouthpiece to advocate a regime's ideology.

Additionally, the state-controlled media may only report on legislation after it has already become law to stifle any debate.^[5] The media legimitises its presence by emphasising "national unity" against domestic or foreign "aggressors".^[6] In more open and competitive contexts, the state may control or fund its own outlet and is in competition with opposition-controlled and/or independent media. The state media usually have less government control in more open societies and can provide more balanced coverage than media outside of state control.^[7]

State media outlets usually enjoy increased funding and subsides compared to private media counterparts, but this can create inefficiency in the state media.^[8] However in the People's Republic of China, where state control of the media is high, levels of funding have been reduced for state outlets, which have forced the Party media to sidestep official restrictions on content or publish "soft" editions, such as weekend editions, to generate income.^[9]

Theories of state ownership[link]

Two contrasting theories of state control of the media exist; the public interest or Pigouvian theory states that government ownership is beneficial, whereas the public choice theory suggests that state control undermines economic and political freedoms.

Public interest theory[link]

The public interest theory, also referred to as the Pigouvian theory^[10] states that government ownership of media is desirable.^[11] Three reasons are offered as to why. The first reason is that the dissemination of information is a public good, and to withhold it would be costly, even if it is not paid for. Secondly, the cost of the provision and dissemination of information is high, however once costs are incurred, marginal costs for providing the information are low and are therefore subject to increasing returns.^[12] Finally, state media ownership can be less biased, more complete and accurate if consumers are ignorant and in addition to private media which would serve the governing classes.^[12] However, Pigouvian economists, who advocate regulation and nationalisation, are supportive of free and private media.^[13]

Public choice theory[link]

The public choice theory asserts that state-owned media would manipulate and distort information in favour of the ruling party and entrench its rule while preventing the public from making informed decisions, therefore undermining democratic institutions.^[12] This would prevent private and independent media, which provide alternate voices allowing individuals to choose politicians, goods, services etc. without fear from functioning. Additionally, this would inhibit competition among media firms which ensures consumers usually acquire unbiased, accurate information.^[12] Moreover, this competition is part of a checks-and-balances system of a democracy, known as the Fourth Estate, along with the judiciary, executive and legislative.^[12]

Determinants of state control[link]

Both theories have implications regarding the determinants and consequences of ownership of the media.^[14] The public interest theory suggests that more benign governments should higher levels of control of the media which would in turn increase press freedom as well as economic and political freedoms. Conversely, the public choice theory affirms that the opposite is true - "public spirited", benevolent governments should have less control which would increase these freedoms.^[15]

Generally, state ownership of the media is found in poor, autocratic non-democratic countries with highly interventionist governments that have some interest in controlling the flow of information.^[16] Countries with "weak" governments do not possess the political will to break up state media monopolies.^[17] Media control is also usually consistent with state ownership in the economy.^[18]

The press in most of Europe (with the exception of Belarus) is mostly private and free of state control and ownership, along with North and South America.^[19] The press in the United States, Canada and Australia has always been the responsibility of the private commercial sector since its inception.^[20] Levels of state ownership are higher in some African countries, the Middle East and some Asian countries (with the exception of Japan, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand where large areas of private press exist.) Full state monopolies exist in Burma and North Korea.^[19]

Consequences of state ownership[link]

Press freedom[link]

Freedom of the press worldwide as of 2009, according to Reporters Without Borders. Levels of state control in the media is usually associated with levels of political, civil and economic rights, though this is not always the case.

"Worse outcomes" are associated with higher levels of state ownership of the media, which would reject Pigouvian theory.^[21] The news media are more independent and fewer journalists are arrested, detained or harassed in countries with less state control.^[22] Harassment, imprisonment and higher levels of internet censorship occur in countries with high levels of state ownership such as Belarus, Burma, China, Iran, Syria, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.^[22][23] However, this is not always true: journalists in countries that possess media free from state control such as Turkey, Nigeria and Kenya are still subject to harassment and threats.^[22] Some democracies do jail journalists, such as Russia and South Korea, whilst some "near democracies", such as Ethiopia and Zambia, do not.^[24] In a similar vein, the public broadcaster in the United Kingdom, the BBC, although funded by the public license fee and government, is independent of state control, this is questionable however.^[25] Countries with a total state monopoly in the media like North Korea and Laos experience a "Castro effect", where state control is powerful enough that no journalistic harassment is required in order to restrict press freedom.^[22]

Civil and political rights[link]

The public interest theory claims state ownership of the press enhances civil and political rights; whilst under the public choice theory, it curtails them by suppressing public oversight of the government and facilitating political corruption. High to absolute government control of the media is primarily associated with lower levels of political and civil rights, higher levels of corruption, quality of regulation, security of property and media bias.^[23][26] Independent media sees higher oversight by the media of the government (for example, increased reporting of corruption in Mexico, Ghana and Kenya after restrictions were lifted in the 1990s, whilst government-controlled media defended officials.)^[27][28]

Economic freedom[link]

More independent media may benefit the public economically compared to state media.^[28] The media would supply more accurate information to improve the markets, which are particularly sensitive to information, allowing insight into corporate abuse of power and pricing of securities, leading to better performance and regulation.^[28] Additionally, the public are better informed as to limiting whether the government is able to hurt them economically.^[28] In contrast, higher levels of ownership of state media would show the opposite - weaker property security and lower quality of regulation.^[28] It is also common for countries with strict control of newspapers to have fewer firms listed per capita on their markets^[29] and less developed banking systems.^[30] These findings support the public choice theory, which suggests higher levels of state ownership of the press would be detrimental to economic and financial development.^[23]

See also[link]

• Freedom of the press
• Media transparency

Notes[link]

References[link]

Jesse Jackson
Jackson speaking at the United Nations in 2012
United States Shadow Senator for the District of Columbia
In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1997 Serving with Florence Pendleton
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	Paul Strauss
Personal details
Born	Jesse Louis Burns (1941-10-08) October 8, 1941 (age 70) Greenville, South Carolina
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Jacqueline Lavinia Brown (m. 1962)
Children	Santita Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Jonathan Jackson, Yusef DuBois Jackson, Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson, Ashley Laverne Jackson (with Karin Stanford)
Alma mater	North Carolina A&T Chicago Theological Seminary
Occupation	American civil rights activist minister
Religion	Baptist

Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. (born October 8, 1941) is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to form Rainbow/PUSH. Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. is his eldest son. In an AP-AOL "Black Voices" poll in February 2006, Jackson was voted "the most important black leader".^[1]

Early life and education[link]

Jackson was born Jesse Louis Burns in Greenville, South Carolina, to Helen Burns, a 16-year-old single mother. His biological father, Noah Louis Robinson, a former professional boxer and a prominent figure in the community, was married to another woman when Jesse was born. He was not involved in his son's life, and died January 28, 1997 in Greenville, S.C.^[2] In 1943, two years after Jesse's birth, his mother married Charles Henry Jackson, who would adopt Jesse 14 years later. Jesse went on to take the surname of his stepfather.^[3]

Jackson attended Sterling High School, a segregated high school in Greenville, where he was a student-athlete. Upon graduating in 1959, he rejected a contract from a professional baseball team so that he could attend the racially integrated University of Illinois on a football scholarship.^[4] One year later, Jackson transferred to North Carolina A&T located in Greensboro, North Carolina. There are differing accounts for the reasons behind this transfer. Jackson claims that the change was based on the school's racial biases which included his being unable to play as a quarterback despite being a star quarterback at his high school. ESPN.com suggests that claims of racial discrimination on the football team may be exaggerated because Illinois's starting quarterback that year was an African American, although it does not mention factors besides the quarterback's race which may have contributed to this perception (such as team dynamics or interpersonal interactions with other players on the team).^[5] Jackson also mentions being demoted by his speech professor as an alternate in a public-speaking competition team despite the support of his teammates who elected him a place on the team for his superior abilities.^[4] Jackson left Illinois at the end of his second semester after being placed on academic probation.

Following his graduation from A&T, Jackson attended the Chicago Theological Seminary with the intent of becoming a minister, but dropped out in 1966 to focus full time on the civil rights movement.^[6] He was ordained in 1968, without a theological degree; awarded an honorary theological doctorate from Chicago in 1990; and received his Master of Divinity Degree based on his previous credits earned, plus his life experience and subsequent work, in 2000.^[7][8]

Civil rights activism[link]

Jackson speaks on a radio broadcast from the headquarters of Operation PUSH, (People United to Save Humanity) at its annual convention. July 1973. Photograph by John H. White.

Jackson surrounded by marchers carrying signs advocating support for the Hawkins-Humphrey Bill for full employment, January 1975.

In 1965, he participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches organized by James Bevel, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights leaders in Alabama. When Jackson returned from Selma, he threw himself into efforts by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to establish themselves a beachhead in Chicago.

In 1966, King and Bevel selected Jackson to be head of the SCLC’s Operation Breadbasket in Chicago, and SCLC promoted him to be the national director in 1967. Following the example of Reverend Leon Sullivan of Philadelphia, a key goal of the new group was to foster “selective buying” (boycotts) as a means to pressure white businesses to hire blacks and purchase goods and services from black contractors. One of Sullivan's precursors was Dr. T.R.M. Howard, a wealthy South Side doctor and entrepreneur and key financial contributor to Operation Breadbasket. Before he moved to Chicago from Mississippi in 1956, Howard, as the head of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, had successfully organized a boycott against service stations that refused to provide restrooms for blacks.^[9]

When King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, the day after his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech at the Mason Temple, Jackson was in the parking lot one floor below. Jackson's appearance on NBC's Today Show, wearing the same blood-stained turtleneck that he had worn the day before, drew criticism from several King aides; some King associates also dispute Jackson's description of his personal involvement and also of the sequence of events surrounding the assassination.^[10]

Jackson has been known for commanding public attention since he first started working for King in 1966. His primary goal for this attention has been to give blacks a sense of self-worth.^[11]

Beginning in 1968, Jackson increasingly clashed with Ralph Abernathy, King's successor as chairman of SCLC. In December 1971, they had a complete falling out. Abernathy suspended Jackson for “administrative improprieties and repeated acts of violation of organizational policy.” Jackson resigned, called together his allies, and Operation PUSH was born during the same month. The new group was organized in the home of Dr. T.R.M. Howard, who also became a member of the board of directors and chair of the finance committee.

Rainbow/PUSH national headquarters in Kenwood, Chicago

In 1984, Jackson organized the Rainbow Coalition, which later merged, in 1996, with Operation PUSH. The newly formed Rainbow PUSH organization brought his role as an important and effective organizer to the mainstream. Al Sharpton also left the SCLC in protest to follow Jackson and formed the National Youth Movement.^[12]

In March 2006, an African-American woman accused three white members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team of raping her. During the ensuing controversy, Jackson stated that his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition would pay for the rest of her college tuition regardless of the outcome of the case. The case against the three men was later thrown out and the players were declared innocent by the North Carolina Attorney General.^[13]

Jackson took a key role in the scandal caused by comedic actor Michael Richards' racially charged comments in November 2006. Richards called Jackson a few days after the incident to apologize; Jackson accepted Richards' apology^[14] and met with him publicly as a means of resolving the situation. Jackson also joined black leaders in a call for the elimination of the "N-word" throughout the entertainment industry.^[15]

On November 18, 1999, seven Decatur students were expelled for two years after participating in a brawl at a high school football game. The incident was caught on home video and became a national media event when CNN ran pictures of the fight. After the students were expelled, Jesse Jackson decided it was time to speak out. Jackson argued that the expulsions were unfair and racially biased. He called on the school board to reverse their decision.^[16]

International activism[link]

During the 1980s, he achieved wide fame as an African American leader and as a politician, as well as becoming a well-known spokesman for civil rights issues. His influence extended to international matters in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1983, Jackson traveled to Syria to secure the release of a captured American pilot, Navy Lt. Robert Goodman who was being held by the Syrian government. Goodman had been shot down over Lebanon while on a mission to bomb Syrian positions in that country. After a dramatic personal appeal that Jackson made to Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, Goodman was released. Initially, the Reagan administration was skeptical about Jackson's trip to Syria. However, after Jackson secured Goodman's release, United States President Ronald Reagan welcomed both Jackson and Goodman to the White House on January 4, 1984.^[17] This helped to boost Jackson's popularity as an American patriot and served as a springboard for his 1984 presidential run. In June 1984, Jackson negotiated the release of twenty-two Americans being held in Cuba after an invitation by Cuban president Fidel Castro.^[18]

On the eve of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Jackson made a trip to Iraq, to plead to Saddam Hussein for the release of foreign nationals held there as the "human shield", securing the release of several British and twenty American individuals.^[19][20][21]

He traveled to Kenya in 1997 to meet with Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi as United States President Bill Clinton's special envoy for democracy to promote free and fair elections. In April 1999, during the Kosovo War, Jackson traveled to Belgrade to negotiate the release of three U.S. POWs captured on the Macedonian border while patrolling with a UN peacekeeping unit. He met with the then-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević, who later agreed to release the three men.^[22]

His international efforts continued into the 2000s (decade). On February 15, 2003, Jackson spoke in front of over an estimated one million people in Hyde Park, London at the culmination of the anti-war demonstration against the imminent invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and the United Kingdom. In November 2004, Jackson visited senior politicians and community activists in Northern Ireland in an effort to encourage better cross-community relations and rebuild the peace process and restore the governmental institutions of the Belfast Agreement. In August 2005, Jackson traveled to Venezuela to meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, following controversial remarks by televangelist Pat Robertson in which he implied that Chávez should be assassinated. Jackson condemned Robertson's remarks as immoral. After meeting with Chávez and addressing the Venezuelan Parliament, Jackson said that there was no evidence that Venezuela posed a threat to the U.S. Jackson also met representatives from the Afro Venezuela and indigenous communities.^[23]

In 2005, he was enlisted as part of the United Kingdom's "Operation Black Vote", a campaign run by Simon Woolley to encourage more of Britain's ethnic minorities to vote in political elections ahead of the May 2005 General Election.^[24]

Jackson inherited the title of the High Prince of the Agni people of Côte d'Ivoire from Michael Jackson. In August 2009, he was crowned Prince Côte Nana by Amon N'Douffou V, King of Krindjabo, who rules more than a million Agni tribespeople.^[25]

Political activism[link]

1984 presidential campaign[link]

Jackson in 1983

On November 3, 1983, he announced his campaign for presidency.^[26] In 1984, Jackson became the second African American (after Shirley Chisholm) to mount a nationwide campaign for President of the United States, running as a Democrat.

In the primaries, Jackson, who had been written off by pundits as a fringe candidate with little chance at winning the nomination, surprised many when he took third place behind Senator Gary Hart and former Vice President Walter Mondale, who eventually won the nomination. Jackson garnered 3,282,431 primary votes, or 18.2 percent of the total, in 1984,^[27] and won five primaries and caucuses, including Louisiana, the District of Columbia, South Carolina, Virginia, and one of two separate contests in Mississippi.^[28]

As he had gained 21% of the popular vote but only 8% of delegates, he afterwards complained that he had been handicapped by party rules. While Mondale (in the words of his aides) was determined to establish a precedent with his vice presidential candidate by picking a woman or visible minority, Jackson criticized the screening process as a "p.r. parade of personalities". He also mocked Mondale, saying that Hubert Humphrey was the "last significant politician out of the St. Paul–Minneapolis" area.^[29]

Remarks about Jews[link]

While talking with the Washington Post reporter Milton Coleman in January 1984, Jackson referred to New York City as "Hymietown".^[30] Hymie is a pejorative term for Jews. Jackson first denied having the conversation and said Jews were conspiring against him.^[30] Later, he acknowledged Coleman's account, indicated that he considered the conversation with the reporter private, and said he had been wrong to use the term.^[30] Jackson apologized during a speech before national Jewish leaders in a Manchester, New Hampshire synagogue, but continuing suspicions have led to an enduring split between Jackson and many in the Jewish community.^[30]

Among Jackson's other remarks were that Richard Nixon was less attentive to poverty in the U.S. because "four out of five [of Nixon's top advisors] are German Jews and their priorities are on Europe and Asia"; that he was "sick and tired of hearing about the Holocaust"; and that there are "very few Jewish reporters that have the capacity to be objective about Arab affairs". In 1979, Jackson said on a trip to the Middle East that Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was a "terrorist," and Israel was a "theocracy."^[31] Jackson has since apologized for at least some of these remarks, but they badly damaged his campaign, as "Jackson was seen by many conservatives in the United States as hostile to Israel and far too close to Arab governments."^[32]

Years later, Jackson was invited to speak in support of Jewish Senator and Vice Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman at the 2000 Democratic National Convention.^[33]

1988 presidential campaign[link]

Four years later, in 1988, Jackson once again offered himself as a candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. This time, his successes in the past made him a more credible candidate, and he was both better financed and better organized. Although most people did not seem to believe he had a serious chance at winning, Jackson once again exceeded expectations as he more than doubled his previous results, prompting R.W. Apple of the New York Times to call 1988 "the Year of Jackson".^[34]

Jackson with Maryland's Sen. Decatur Trotter and Del. Curt Anderson during a Maryland Legislative Black Caucus meeting in Annapolis, Maryland (1988)

He captured 6.9 million votes and won 11 contests; seven primaries (Alabama, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and Virginia) and four caucuses (Delaware, Michigan, South Carolina and Vermont).^[35] Jackson also scored March victories in Alaska's caucuses and Texas's local conventions, despite losing the Texas primary.^[36][37] Briefly, after he won 55% of the vote in the Michigan Democratic caucus, he was considered the frontrunner for the nomination, as he surpassed all the other candidates in total number of pledged delegates.

In early 1988, Jackson organized a rally at the former American Motors assembly plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin, approximately two weeks after new owner Chrysler announced it would close the plant by the end of the year. In his speech, Jackson spoke out against Chrysler's decision, stating "We have to put the focus on Kenosha, Wisconsin, as the place, here and now, where we draw the line to end economic violence!" and compared the workers' fight to that of the civil rights movement in Selma, Alabama. As a result, the UAW Local 72 union voted to endorse his candidacy, even against the rules of the UAW.^[38] However, Jackson's campaign suffered a significant setback less than two weeks later when he was defeated handily in the Wisconsin primary by Michael Dukakis. Jackson's showing among white voters in Wisconsin was significantly higher than in his 1984 run, but was also noticeably lower than pre-primary polling had indicated it would be. The discrepancy has been cited as an example of the so-called "Bradley effect."^{[citation needed]}

Jackson's campaign had also been interrupted by allegations regarding his half-brother Noah Robinson, Jr.'s criminal activity.^[39] Jackson had to answer frequent questions about his brother, who was often referred to as "the Billy Carter of the Jackson campaign".^[40]

On the heels of Jackson's narrow loss to Dukakis the day before in Colorado, Dukakis' comfortable win in Wisconsin terminated Jackson's momentum. The victory established Dukakis as the clear Democratic frontrunner, and he went on to claim the party's nomination, but lost the general election in November.^[41]

Campaign platform[link]

In both races, Jackson ran on what many considered to be a very liberal platform. Declaring that he wanted to create a "Rainbow Coalition" of various minority groups, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Arab-Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, family farmers, the poor and working class, and homosexuals, as well as European American progressives who fit into none of those categories, Jackson ran on a platform that included:

• creating a Works Progress Administration-style program to rebuild America's infrastructure and provide jobs to all Americans,
• reprioritizing the War on Drugs to focus less on mandatory minimum sentences for drug users (which he views as racially biased) and more on harsher punishments for money-laundering bankers and others who are part of the "supply" end of "supply and demand"
• reversing Reaganomics-inspired tax cuts for the richest ten percent of Americans and using the money to finance social welfare programs
• cutting the budget of the Department of Defense by as much as fifteen percent over the course of his administration
• declaring Apartheid-era South Africa to be a rogue nation
• instituting an immediate nuclear freeze and beginning disarmament negotiations with the Soviet Union
• supporting family farmers by reviving many of Roosevelt's New Deal–era farm programs
• creating a single-payer system of universal health care
• ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment
• increasing federal funding for lower-level public education and providing free community college to all
• applying stricter enforcement of the Voting Rights Act and
• supporting the formation of a Palestinian state.

With the exception of a resolution to implement sanctions against South Africa for its apartheid policies, none of these positions made it into the party's platform in either 1984 or 1988.

Stand on abortion[link]

Although Jackson was one of the most liberal members of the Democratic Party, his position on abortion was originally more in line with pro-life views. In 1975, Jackson endorsed a plan for a constitutional amendment banning abortion.^[42] Jackson once endorsed the Hyde Amendment, which bars the funding of abortions through the federal Medicaid program. He wrote an article published in a 1977 National Right to Life Committee News report:

"There are those who argue that the right to privacy is of [a] higher order than the right to life...that was the premise of slavery. You could not protest the existence or treatment of slaves on the plantation because that was private and therefore outside your right to be concerned. What happens to the mind of a person, and the moral fabric of a nation, that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience? What kind of a person and what kind of a society will we have twenty years hence if life can be taken so casually? It is that question, the question of our attitude, our value system, and our mind-set with regard to the nature and worth of life itself that is the central question confronting mankind. Failure to answer that question affirmatively may leave us with a hell right here on earth."

However, since then, Jackson has adopted a pro-choice view, believing that abortion is a right and that the government should not prevent a woman from having an abortion.^[43]

Later political activities[link]

He ran for office as "shadow senator" for the District of Columbia when the position was created in 1991,^[44] and served as such through 1997, when he did not run for re-election. This unpaid position was primarily a post to lobby for statehood for the District of Columbia.^[45]

In the mid-1990s, he was approached about being the United States Ambassador to South Africa but declined the opportunity in favor of helping his son, Jesse Jackson, Jr., run for the United States House of Representatives.^[46]

Jackson was initially critical of the "Third Way" or more moderate policies of Bill Clinton, so much so that Clinton was "petrified about a primary challenge from" Jackson in the 1996 election.^[47] However, he became a key ally in gaining African American support for Clinton and eventually became a close advisor and friend of the Clinton family.^[46] Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest honor bestowed on civilians. His son, Jesse Jackson, Jr., also emerged as a political figure, becoming a member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois.

In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Jesse Jackson on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.^[48] In 2003, Jackson surprised many observers by declining to endorse the campaigns of either Al Sharpton or former Senator Carol Moseley Braun, the two African American candidates, in the race for the Democratic Party's 2004 presidential nomination. Instead, Jackson remained largely silent about his preference in the race until late in the primary season, when he allowed Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, another presidential candidate, to speak at a Rainbow/PUSH forum on March 31, 2004. Although he did not explicitly voice an endorsement of Rep. Kucinich, Jackson described Kucinich as "assuming the burden of saying 'you make the most sense, but you can't win.'" He also writes for The Progressive Populist.

Jackson was a target of the 2002 white supremacist terror plot.

2004 presidential election[link]

Jackson gathered information and support to investigate the 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy, particularly the voting results in Ohio and its recount. He called for a congressional debate on the matter, asking for a fair count and national voting standards, saying that the elections in the United States are each run with different standards by different states with partisan tricks, racial bias, and widespread incompetence and are an open scandal.

Jackson said that he held some hope that the election could be overturned, although he admitted that that was very doubtful. Jackson compared the voting irregularities of Ohio to that of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, saying that if Ohio were Ukraine, the U.S. presidential election would not have been certified by the international community. Jackson called Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell inappropriately partisan and said that Blackwell may have been pressured by President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney to deliver Ohio to the Republican Party.

Based on information obtained in hearings held by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and discovered during a flawed recount of the Ohio presidential vote called for by Green Party candidate David Cobb and Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik, Jackson suggested that the Ohio voting machines were "rigged" and that some African-Americans were forced to stand in line for six hours in the rain before voting. When asked for evidence, Jackson replied, "Based on distrusting the system, lack of paper trails, the anomaly of the exit polls."

On January 6, 2005, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff released a 100 page report on the Ohio election. This challenge to the Ohio election was rejected by a vote of 74-1 by the United States Senate and 267-31 in the House. Many high-ranking Democrats chose to distance themselves from this debate, including John Kerry, despite Jesse Jackson personally asking Kerry for help. The call for election reform legislation and voting rights protection nonetheless continued.

Terri Schiavo case[link]

In early 2005, Jackson visited the parents in the Terri Schiavo case; he supported their unsuccessful bid to keep her alive.^[49]

Firearms protest and arrest[link]

Jackson at the University of Chicago in 2009.

On June 23, 2007 Jackson was arrested in connection with a protest at a gun store in Riverdale, a poor suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Jackson and others were protesting due to allegations that the gun store had been selling firearms to local gang members and was contributing to the decay of the community. According to police reports, Jackson refused to stop blocking the front entrance of the store and let customers pass. He was charged with one count of criminal trespass to property.^[50]

2008 presidential election[link]

In March 2007, Jackson declared his support for then-Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 democratic primaries.^[51] Jackson later criticized Obama in 2007 for "acting like he's white," in response to the Jena 6 beating case.^[52]

On July 6, 2008, during an interview with Fox News, a microphone picked up Jackson whispering to fellow guest Dr. Reed Tuckson:^[53] "See, Barack's been, ahh, talking down to black people on this faith-based... I want to cut his nuts off."^[54] Jackson was expressing his disappointment in Obama's Father's Day speech chastisement of black fathers.^[55] Only a portion of Jackson's comments were released on video. A spokesman for Fox News stated that Jackson had "referred to blacks with the N-word" in his comments about Obama; Fox News did not release the entire video or a complete transcript of his comments.^[56] Subsequent to his Fox News interview, Jackson apologized and reiterated his support for Obama.^[54]

On November 4, 2008, Jackson was present at the Obama victory rally in Chicago's Grant Park, waiting for Obama to appear. In the several moments before Obama spoke, Jackson was seen in tears.^[57]

Electoral history[link]

In popular culture[link]

• In the 1970s, Jesse Jackson recited his poem "I Am – Somebody" on Sesame Street, as the child audience repeated his verses.^[64]
• Jackson performed the marriage ceremony for Sammy Davis, Jr. and Altovise Davis in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 11, 1970.
• Jackson makes a cameo appearance near the start of the film, The Adjustment Bureau.

LGBT[link]

In April 2011, Tommy R. Bennett, an openly gay man who worked at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition from July 11, 2007 through December 23, 2009, filed a complaint with the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations against Jackson and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, claiming harassment and termination on the basis of Bennett's sexual orientation.^[65]

Jackson has commended Obama's decision to support gay marriage. He compared the struggle for same-sex marriage to the slavery and anti-miscegenation laws of blacks.^[66]

Personal life[link]

Jackson married Jacqueline Lavinia Brown (born 1944) on, December 31, 1962,^[67][68] and they had five children: Santita (1963), Jesse Jr. (1965), Jonathan Luther (1966), Yusef DuBois (1970), and Jacqueline Lavinia (1975).^[69]

On Memorial Day, May 25, 1987, he was made a Master Mason on Sight by Grand Master Senter of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Illinois; thereby making Jesse Jackson a Prince Hall Freemason.^[70]

In 1991, Jackson received the American Whig-Cliosophic Society's James Madison Award for Distinguished Public Service.^[71]

In 2001, it was revealed Jackson had an affair with a staffer, Karin Stanford, that resulted in the birth of a daughter, Ashley, in May 1999. According to CNN, in August 1999, The Rainbow Push Coalition had paid Stanford $15,000 in moving expenses and $21,000 in payment for contracting work. A promised advance of an additional $40,000 against future contracting work was rescinded once the affair became public.^[72] This incident prompted Jackson to withdraw from activism for a short time.^[73] Separate from the 1999 Rainbow Coalition payments, Jackson pays $4,000 a month in child support.^[74]

See also[link]

• "I Am - Somebody" - a well-known Jesse Jackson poem

Notes[link]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Dudley, K. (1994), The End of the Line, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-16908-1 .
• Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. (2001), A More Perfect Union: Advancing New American Rights, with Frank E. Watkins, New York: Welcome Rain Publishers, ISBN 1-56649-186-X .

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jesse Jackson

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jesse Jackson

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Jesse Jackson

• Interview with Jesse Jackson About South African-US Relations from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
• Jesse Jackson at the Internet Movie Database
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Jesse Jackson - Keep Hope Alive
• Affiliates
• Quotes
• Ubben Lecture at DePauw University
• 1984 DNC speech transcript and audio
• 1988 DNC speech transcript and audio
• Jesse Jackson Calls for "War on Poverty" - video interview by Democracy Now!

Articles and topics related to Jesse Jackson v t e United States Shadow Senators from the District of Columbia Seat 1 Florence Pendleton Michael D. Brown Seat 2 Jesse L. Jackson Paul Strauss v t e United States presidential election, 1984 Republican Party Convention • Primaries • Primary results Nominee: Ronald Reagan VP Nominee: George H. W. Bush Candidates: Ben Fernandez · Harold Stassen Democratic Party Convention • Primaries • Primary results Nominee: Walter Mondale VP Nominee: Geraldine Ferraro Candidates: Reubin Askew · Alan Cranston · John Glenn · Gary Hart · Ernest Hollings · Jesse Jackson · George McGovern   Third party and independent candidates Citizens Party Nominee: Sonia Johnson VP Nominee: Richard Walton Communist Party USA Nominee: Gus Hall VP Nominee: Angela Davis Libertarian Party Nominee: David Bergland VP Nominee: Jim Lewis Candidates: Gene Burns · Earl Ravenal · Mary Ruwart Prohibition Party Nominee: Earl Dodge Socialist Equality Party Nominee: Edward Winn VP Nominee: Helen Halyard Socialist Party USA Nominee: Sonia Johnson VP Nominee: Richard Walton Socialist Workers Party Nominee: Melvin T. Mason VP Nominee: Matilde Zimmermann Workers World Party Nominee: Larry Holmes • Alternate nominee: Gavrielle Holmes VP Nominee: Gloria La Riva Independents and other candidates: Charles Doty · Larry Flynt · Lyndon LaRouche/ Running mate: Billy Davis Other 1984 elections: House • Senate • Gubernatorial v t e United States presidential election, 1988 Republican Party Convention • Primaries • Primary results Nominee: George H.W. Bush VP Nominee: Dan Quayle Candidates: Bob Dole · Pete du Pont · Ben Fernandez · Alexander Haig · Jack Kemp · Paul Laxalt · Isabell Masters · Pat Robertson · Donald Rumsfeld · Harold Stassen Democratic Party Convention • Primaries • Primary results Nominee: Michael Dukakis VP Nominee: Lloyd Bentsen Candidates: Douglas Applegate · Bruce Babbitt · Joe Biden (campaign) · David Duke · Dick Gephardt · Al Gore (campaign) · Gary Hart · Jesse Jackson (campaign) · Lyndon LaRouche · Andy Martin · Patricia Schroeder · Paul Simon · James Traficant   Third party and independent candidates Libertarian Party Nominee: Ron Paul (campaign) VP Nominee: Andre Marrou Candidates: Jim Lewis  · Russell Means New Alliance Party Nominee: Lenora Fulani Populist Party Nominee: David Duke Prohibition Party Nominee: Earl Dodge Socialist Equality Party Nominee: Edward Winn Socialist Party USA Nominee: Willa Kenoyer VP Nominee: Ron Ehrenreich Socialist Workers Party Nominee: James Warren VP Nominee: Kathleen Mickells Workers World Party Nominee: Larry Holmes VP Nominee: Gloria La Riva Independents and other candidates Jack Herer · Lyndon LaRouche · Herbert Lewin · William A. Marra · Eugene McCarthy Other 1988 elections: House • Senate • Gubernatorial v t e African-American Civil Rights Movement Topics and events (timeline) 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Albany Movement Birmingham campaign Browder v. Gayle Brown v. Board of Education Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church Chicago Open Housing Movement Civil Rights Act of 1964 Civil Rights Act of 1968 Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Emmett Till Freedom Riders Mississippi Freedom Summer Garner v. Louisiana Greensboro sit-ins Greyhound Bus Station (Montgomery, Alabama) Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections Little Rock Nine Loving v. Virginia March on Washington Mississippi civil rights workers murders Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Montgomery Bus Boycott Nashville sit-ins Poor People's Campaign Selma Voting Rights Movement Twenty-fourth Amendment Voting Rights Act of 1965 Activists Ralph Abernathy Victoria Gray Adams Ella Baker James Bevel Claude Black Unita Blackwell Julian Bond Joseph E. Boone William Holmes Borders Stokely Carmichael J.L. Chestnut Shirley Chisholm Septima Clark Dorothy Cotton Claudette Colvin Vernon Dahmer Annie Devine Patricia Stephens Due Medgar Evers Chuck Fager James Farmer James Forman Marie Foster Dick Gregory Prathia Hall Fannie Lou Hamer Dorothy Height Lola Hendricks Aaron Henry Myles Horton T. R. M. Howard Jesse Jackson Jimmie Lee Jackson T. J. Jemison Vernon Johns Frank Johnson Matthew Jones Clyde Kennard A. D. King Coretta Scott King Martin Luther King, Jr. Bernard Lafayette James Lawson Bernard Lee John Lewis Viola Liuzzo Z. Alexander Looby Joseph Lowery Clara Luper Malcolm X Thurgood Marshall Ralph McGill James Meredith Amzie Moore Irene Morgan Bob Moses Bill Moyer Diane Nash E. D. Nixon James Orange James Peck Rosa Parks Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Al Raby A. Philip Randolph Cordell Reagon Amelia Boynton Robinson Jo Ann Robinson Bayard Rustin Charles Sherrod Fred Shuttlesworth Modjeska Monteith Simkins Kelly Miller Smith Charles Kenzie Steele C. T. Vivian Wyatt Tee Walker Roy Wilkins Hosea Williams John Minor Wisdom Andrew Young Whitney Young Activist groups Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Highlander Folk School Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Montgomery Improvement Association National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) NAACP Youth Council Northern Student Movement National Council of Negro Women National Urban League Operation Breadbasket Regional Council of Negro Leadership Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Women's Political Council Historians Taylor Branch Clayborne Carson Michael Eric Dyson Chuck Fager Adam Fairclough David Garrow David Halberstam Diane McWhorter v t e Tribune Company Corporate directors Sam Zell (Chairman and Chief Executive) · Betsy Holden · Randy Michaels · Ed Wilson Tribune Publishing Newspapers The Baltimore Sun · Chicago Tribune · Hartford Courant · Los Angeles Times · South Florida Sun-Sentinel · Orlando Sentinel · The Morning Call · Daily Press · The Virginia Gazette · RedEye · Hoy (Chicago and Los Angeles) · El Sentinel del Sur de la Florida Times community papers Daily Pilot · Huntington Beach Independent · Burbank Leader · Glendale News Press Other Chicago · Hartford · Advocate Weekly Newspapers · Metromix (50%) · ChicagoNow Investments Classified Ventures · CareerBuilder · Topix Tribune Broadcasting Television networks Broadcast network Antenna TV Cable networks CLTV · Food Network (30%) · WGN America ABC network affiliate WGNO CW network affiliates KDAF · KIAH · KPLR-TV · KRCW-TV · KTLA · KWGN-TV · WCCT-TV · WDCW · WGN-TV · WNOL-TV · WPIX · WSFL-TV · WTTV Fox network affiliates KCPQ · KSWB-TV · KTXL · WPMT · WTIC-TV · WXIN · WXMI MyNetworkTV affiliates KZJO · WPHL-TV Radio WGN · Chicago Cubs Radio Network Tribune Media Services Comic strips Animal Crackers · Bottom Liners · Bound and Gagged · Brenda Starr, Reporter · Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! · Broom-Hilda · Dick Tracy · Gasoline Alley · Gil Thorp · Jumble · Little Orphan Annie · Loose Parts · Love Is... · The Middletons · The Pink Panther · Pluggers Editorial cartoons Dan Wasserman · Dana Summers · Dick Locher · Don Wright · Drew Sheneman · Jack Ohman · Matt Davies · Paul Conrad · Scott Stantis · Walt Handelsman Humor columnists Andy Rooney · Dave Barry · Diane Farr · Jen Lancaster · Mark Russell · Michael Showalter · Today's Chuckle Political columnists Arianna Huffington · Bill Press · Cal Thomas · Carl Hiaasen · Clarence Page · Garrison Keillor · Henry Kissinger · Ian Bremmer · Jesse Jackson · Jonah Goldberg · Jules Witcover · Leonard Pitts Jr. · Paul Kennedy · Andrés Oppenheimer · Victor Davis Hanson · William Pfaff Other columnists Amy Dickinson · Billy Graham · Goren Bridge · Liz Smith · Mitch Albom · Omarr's Astrological Forecast · Rick Steves · Robert Pagliarini · Wolfgang Puck · Zap2it Annual revenue: $5.73 billion USD (2% FY 2005) · Employees: 21,500 · Website: tribune.com