Ronald Mitchell

Publisher & Editor, The Bay State Banner News

Ron Mitchell has spent more than 35 years in the New England media market creating in-depth, long- and short-form news and informational programming. As a network television cameraman and editor, he was responsible for creating daily news content, including an Emmy nominated news series on the criminal justice system and its effects on the Black community.

During his 27 years at WBZ, Mitchell created news coverage focused on racism in elementary school textbooks in 2014, and a four-year news series chronicling an 11-year racism lawsuit that culminated in an $11 million dollar award to a Black firefighter in Brookline, Massachusetts. Mitchell also co-produced news stories covering a wide range of topics, from exposing racism and injustice to celebrating the beauty and brilliance that is the African American experience. His news coverage included examining the lack of Black judges and newly elected African American leaders in criminal justice, such as Steve Thompkins, Ayanna Pressley, Rachel Rollins, and William Gross.

Many of these stories highlighted the impact of racism in youth sports as the life-changing Covid-19 pandemic erupted alongside the global pushback of systemic racism in 2020, including a story on a referee’s use of the “N” word in AAU athletics and related news coverage in Massachusetts, such as anti-Semitic problems in Duxbury and racial abuse during Georgetown and Danvers high school sports games.

On February 28, 2023, founder Melvin B. Miller of the historic Bay State Banner newspaper announced that after more than 57 years he would be stepping down immediately and passing the torch to the owners of the newly formed Mitchell Stark Enterprises. MSE President/CEO Ronald DuBois Mitchell and Vice President and COO Andre Hamilton Stark, both seasoned television news journalists, raised more than $1.5 million, including $325,000 from individual investors, to purchase and run one of the nation’s leading African American news organizations. Nearly two years later, they remain committed to honoring Miller’s legacy, leading current staff and new consultants, and shaping the Banner’s vision going forward.