Legendary Louisville journalist Merv Aubespin passes away at age 86

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- An iconic Louisville journalist passed away on Wednesday.

Merv Aubespin was one of the first Black news artists and reporters at the Louisville Courier Journal.

In the 1960s, he was on the frontline chronicling racial tensions as the city exploded into riots.

Aubespin retired from the newspaper in 2002 as an associate editor. He dedicated his life to diversifying media and involving more people of color in the production of the news.

A published author and former president of the National Association of Black Journalists, Aubespin was also a member of Kentucky's Journalism Hall of Fame.

"His distinguished career in journalism and commitment to the community did not go unnoticed," NABJ said in a post mourning Aubespin, who was also in the organization's Hall of Fame.

"According to the Courier Journal, his entry into journalism was inspired by a desire to ensure there were 'accurate depictions' of life as a Black resident in Louisville and 'consistent coverage of Black issues,'" NABJ's post reads.

Aubespin also founded the Louisville Association of Black Communicators.

"We called him, professionally, Papa Smurf because he was the principal architect of diversifying newspapers all over the country," retired Courier Journal reporter Larry Muhammad said.

Born in 1937 in Opelousas, Louisiana, Aubespin graduated from Tuskegee University (formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute), according to the Filson Historical Society. There, he joined the Civil Rights Movement and was part of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the march from Selma to Montgomery.

After graduation, Aubespin moved to Louisville where he continued taking part in civil rights demonstrations and worked as a teacher. After taking a job at BF Goodrich, he said he lost his draft deferment and served two years in the military, where he studied art in his free time. He returned to Louisville after his honorable release and became a news artist at the Courier Journal in 1967.

In 1968, he became a reporter, covering protests that erupted in west Louisville over racial injustice and claims of excessive force used by Louisville police after Manfred Reid, an African American businessman who'd been beaten with a blackjack by a Louisville officer.

While the officer who hit and arrested Reid was fired for using excessive force, the city's civil service commission voted to reinstate him, leading to unrest with rallies and protests that led to much destruction in the city.

The Filson Historical Society said that's when Aubespin's career as a reporter took form, as it had become "unsafe for his white coworkers to report from the scene." He later returned to his job as an artist for the newspaper, but was told by the publisher that he was "more valuable" as a reporter and he enrolled in the Minority Journalism Program at Columbia University. He would go on to report for the Courier Journal for decades, holding multiple positions.

"Aubespin's lifelong mission was to diversify newspaper staff and involve more people of color in the production of news, which is reflected in his involvement with numerous professional organizations and mentorship programs," the Filson Historical Society wrote.

Aubespin died in California at the age of 86.

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