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WlbtWLBT is a Jackson, Mississippi television station and NBC affiliate. It is best known for being the voice of segregation in Mississippi in the 1950s and 1960s. The station was founded in 1953 by Lamar Broadcasting Television, the third station in the state. It was managed by a group closely linked to the segregationist groups in the state. The station's leaders were closely linked to the white political and business elite, and often coordinated anti-civil rights advocacy. For the most part the station simply ignored the civil rights struggle, cutting out coverage of it from the network news feed, while also providing a platform for those in favour segregation. Moreover the station generally did not acknowledge that Black people even existed, despite 35% of the population in the region being Black. As a result of this blatant bias civil rights groups petitioned the FCC for its license to be revoked, and in an unprecedented move this was done in 1969. Control of the station was given to a bi-racial foundation that promised to make the station a beacon of tolerance. While many WLBT employees were retained a new group of managers, including the first Black television executives in the South, recreated the station as a far more neutral news source. External link
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