Malcolm Poindexter, groundbreaking journalist

Malcolm P. Poindexter Jr., a groundbreaking broadcast journalist who in 1948 had to interview delegates to the Republican and Democratic Conventions in Philadelphia in the hallways because black reporters were denied floor credentials, died yesterday, four days before his 85th birthday.

"Back then, there were no black journalists covering major conventions," Mr. Poindexter - who went on to an award-winning career spanning more than 50 years, including more than 30 years with KYW-TV - told The Inquirer in 2000. "It never made me angry, because I expected it. I just kind of turned the other cheek. Wherever I wasn't permitted, I didn't push the issue. The job gave me a golden opportunity to bear the prejudice, and perhaps make a change."

Mr. Poindexter, of Center City, died of Alzheimer's disease at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1947, he began his career as a reporter with the former Associated Negro Press and at the Philadelphia Tribune, where he was a reporter and later a columnist, city editor, and controller. In 1960, he joined the Bulletin as a reporter.

When KYW NewsRadio was launched in 1965, he was one of the first reporters hired. To research a five-part series on the plight of migrant workers, he became one of them. The series won the station an Associated Press award and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Community Service.

In 1967, Mr. Poindexter joined KYW-TV (Channel 3). In the 1970s, in addition to reporting for KYW and occasionally coanchoring the newscast, he also hosted the weekly program Black Edition. As KYW-TV's editorial spokesman from 1985 to 1990, he won four local Emmys for his commentaries on such issues as urban blight and Philadelphia's dog laws. In 1991 he was briefly a reporter on the station's 6-to-7-a.m. NewsDay program.

He quickly returned to reporting for the evening news and in 1998 hosted a public affairs program, Newsmakers, which aired on the station's Sunday morning newscast. He was doing special features as an "arts ambassador" for the station when he retired in 2001.

Mr. Poindexter had an elegant demeanor and a mellifluous voice. "He was a Renaissance man," said longtime friend Claude Lewis, a retired Inquirer columnist. "He liked dining out at fine Italian restaurants with opera singing in the background."

A highlight of the Democratic Convention in 1948 for Mr. Poindexter was sitting next to President Harry S. Truman at a fried-chicken dinner. "I was very worried about protocol," he told The Inquirer. "When it came time to eat, Truman turned to me and said, 'I don't know about you, but I'm going to pick mine up.' He was a real down-home guy."

Mr. Poindexter had a personal library filed with cards on every politician or convict he had ever interviewed or done a story about, said Trudy Haynes, a 30-year KYW-TV veteran. "The police got in the habit of calling him for information, and he was a great resource in the newsroom because he remembered every name," Haynes said. "He wasn't a gabber, but he had all the nitty-gritty stuff.

"Malcolm was always joyful and always had a smile. He was a gentleman of the old school and was a good example for young people," Haynes said.

Mr. Poindexter helped train many young reporters at KYW-TV, including Jessica Savitch and Maria Shriver. His son David said he would often accompany Mr. Poindexter to Police Headquarters or to police districts. "He would get the cops to lock me in the cell, just so I could experience what it was like," his son said. "I would sit in on his interviews, and then he would tell me to write a report up as practice."

Mr. Poindexter grew up in Eastwick. He graduated from Overbrook High School and attended Temple University. His father, a concert baritone, pianist, and vocal coach, instilled in him a love of classical music. In 1974, Mr. Poindexter was cofounder and was later manager of Opera Ebony, and he served on the board of the Mann Music Center.

In 1975, Mr. Poindexter, who had been living on Washington Square, purchased a large home across from Norris Square in North Philadelphia, rehabbed it, and moved in with his family. In 1980, his efforts to clean up his neighborhood were profiled in People magazine.

"I'd been reporting on misery and suffering for 25 years. I felt there was more I could do than just report after the fact. Why not roll up my sleeves and see what I could do?" he told a Philadelphia Daily News reporter.

Mr. Poindexter was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 1996. He was also a member of the Broadcast Pioneers of Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and was an early member of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ).

"Malcolm was a constant stabilizing figure in radio and television. He was also an admirable man and an outstanding citizen. He was a man respected by everybody," said Acel Moore, a founding member of PABJ and associate editor emeritus of The Inquirer.

PABJ president Sarah J. Glover, an Inquirer and Daily News photographer, said, "Today's journalists should take a cue from Malcolm and his legacy. He not only blazed a trail as a black journalist, he accomplished more than most journalists might be capable of in two lifetimes."

In addition to his son, Mr. Poindexter is survived by his wife, Ilse; another son, Malcolm III; a daughter, Lynne; a stepdaughter, Kirsten Kovalchik; and former wives Lois Herring, Edie Garrett, and Lottie.

Plans for a memorial service were pending.