Many called William “Bill” Rouselle Jr. an advocate, a trailblazer, a leader, a friend and a mentor. As the first Black on-air news reporter at WDSU and a seasoned political strategist, he also was a legend.
The 77-year-old president and chief executive officer of the public relations firm Bright Moments died Sunday.
He “broke barriers and changed the lives of countless people through his motto of ‘Speak Truth to the People,” according to a Bright Moments news release.
“When I founded Bright Moments in 1984 with my friend, Kalamu ya Salaam,” Rouselle wrote on the firm’s website, “we wanted to provide public relations, marketing and advertising services to our community. We wanted Bright Moments to be a continuation of our efforts to improve the conditions for the African-American citizens of New Orleans. Since the inception of Bright Moments, we have always been a firm that was dedicated to the principles of freedom, justice, and equality.”
For 40 years, Bright Moments provided those services to such clients as Liberty Bank, Total Community Action, the City of New Orleans, Entergy, New Orleans Public Schools and New Orleans East Hospital.
Born on Aug. 3, 1946, Rouselle grew up in Uptown New Orleans. He graduated from Xavier University with honors in 1967. He started working at WDSU on April 4, 1968, the day Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
“He saw first-hand how media censorship works when police authorities convinced the TV station not to air information on the riots in other urban areas in America,” the Bright Moments website states. “They feared similar reactions from local citizens. His passion for truth and commitment to his people grew stronger.”

After a controversial interview with protesters fighting against merging Southern University at New Orleans into the Louisiana State University System, Rouselle left WDSU. He then became deputy director of the city’s new Human Relations Committee. In that role, he engineered the passage of the 1969 local Public Accommodations Ordinance, which barred racial and religious discrimination in restaurants and bars.
The next year, Rouselle began his 10-year-stint working with Free Southern Theater. He helped to organize a community-based effort to include Black people in TV media. The Media Project challenged local TV stations’ licenses and won concessions from most of them.
In the mid-70s, he hosted the weekly “Nation Time” on WYES, a public TV station. Rouselle also joined the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation board following a protest for Black involvement in the event. “He would eventually serve as president and help oversee the development of the festival into one of the world’s premier music events,” the Bright Moments website states.
Rouselle also excelled at political strategy. He managed successful campaigns for U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, State Legislator Dorothy Mae Taylor and Mayors Ray Nagin, Mitch Landrieu and Latoya Cantrell, as well as for public school and city millages.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Rouselle hosted the weekly “Sunday
Journal” radio show on WYLD FM. At the same time, he hosted a weekly TV show on the Cox Cable Access Channel called “The Liberty Network.”
After Hurricane Katrina, Rouselle focused on rebuilding the city. “Bright Moments has been involved in each of the planning efforts to rebuild the city through various sectors, such as education, libraries, healthcare and city politics,” he wrote. “All of our projects have been instrumental in the reshaping of New Orleans.”
In 2007, the New Orleans Ad Club honored Rouselle with the local advertising industry’s highest honor, the Silver Medal. In 2021, he received the Public Relations Society’s Lifetime Achievement award.
In addition to his professional accomplishments, Rouselle excelled as a community servant. He was a member of such boards as Black Education for New Orleans (BE NOLA), the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, the New Orleans Citizens Committee and the Silverback Society.
As a member of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, Rouselle served on the strategic planning committee and as an usher.
“Bill Rouselle was one of the most influential people in New Orleans from a political, cultural and human standpoint,” said the Rev. Fred Luter Jr., pastor of Franklin Avenue. “He was instrumental in the construction of our new building in New Orleans East. As influential as he was, the fact that he was an usher says a lot about him. He was a standup guy. He certainly will be missed not only by Franklin Avenue, but by all of New Orleans.”
For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the Back in the Day archives.