The Westside Gazette is a newspaper based in Broward County, Florida. It was established to serve an African American audience and is the oldest African-American newspaper in the region.
Levi Henry established the Westside Gazette in 1971, reportedly with "$158 and [his] good name".[1] Henry, who began his career selling ads for radio station WRBD his contacts to entice advertisers to his new paper.[2] The paper has broken several stories in South Florida's African-American community, including a 1990 incident in which longtime Fort Lauderdale Mayor Bob Cox told fourth-grade students that in order to be mayor, one had to be "free, white and 21".[1]
A weekly paper, The Westside Gazette is now owned by Levi Henry's son, Bobby Henry. Henry's wife, Bertha Henry, was the Chief Executive of Broward County, Florida (County Administrator) for over a decade. Circulation of the newspaper increased from 10,000 copies in 1971 to 70,000 copies in 2001.[1] PBS correspondent Yamiche Alcindor interned at the paper when she was in high school.
Competing African-American newspapers have alleged that The Westside Gazette inflates circulation numbers.[3] [4]