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7,000 Members Flee Border Agents’ ‘Vile’ Online Group

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ProPublica Exposes Racist Site With 9,500 Members

Journalists of Color Scarce at Merged NOLA Paper

News Business Could See Worst Job Losses in Years

Pitts: Some Surprised That Cops Were Professional

Ariz. Paper Has Hired 43% People of Color Since ’18

Houston Publisher Ousts Black Press Group Chair

Are Democratic Candidates Outpacing the Pundits?

Reporter Who Claimed Retaliation Wins $110,000

White Reporter Dropped Over Protests of Black Colleague

‘Forced Busing’ Term Resurfaces on CBS

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A page from the report on detention centers by the Office of Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.

ProPublica Exposes Racist Site With 9,500 Members

Two major developments blew up the story of the U.S.-Mexico border crisis this week.

The first came from the government itself.

“Overcrowded, squalid conditions are more widespread at migrant centers along the southern border than initially revealed, the Department of Homeland Security’s independent watchdog said Tuesday,” Zolan Kanno-Youngs reported for the New York Times. “Its report describes standing-room-only cells, children without showers and hot meals, and detainees clamoring desperately for release. . . .”

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus echoed those observations on Monday after a visit to El Paso-area border facilities on Monday, where they described a “broken” and “horrifying” system of immigration detention at the nation’s southern border where women in one cell were allegedly told to drink water from a toilet, in the words of the El Paso Times.

The second came from A.C. Thompson, a mixed-race investigative reporter for ProPublica known for his work exposing white supremacists and hate crimes, among other subjects.

From Reveal series on hate. (click to enlarge)

“Members of a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents joked about the deaths of migrants, discussed throwing burritos at Latino members of Congress visiting a detention facility in Texas on Monday and posted a vulgar illustration depicting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaged in oral sex with a detained migrant, according to screenshots of their postings,” Thompson wrote Monday.

“In one exchange, group members responded with indifference and wisecracks to the post of a news story about a 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant who died in May while in custody at a Border Patrol station in Weslaco, Texas. One member posted a GIF of Elmo with the quote, ‘Oh well.’ Another responded with an image and the words ‘If he dies, he dies.’ . . .”

Thompson is not the only reporter covering such developments. On June 24, Reveal, from the Center for Investigative Reporting, posted “The American militia movement, a breeding ground for hate, is pulling in cops on Facebook,” by Will Carless and Michael Corey, the second of a two-part series that noted that “over the last year, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting identified almost 150 current and retired cops who were members of Facebook groups run by and for Oath Keepers, Three Percenters and other militias. . . .”

By the end of the day Monday, after Thompson’s piece, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it had opened an investigation. Outraged readers included members of Congress. “The people behind these posts are responsible for the well-being of the most vulnerable among us — children, pregnant women, families,” said Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y. “They are enduring desperate conditions. And these posts suggest they are literally in the hands of people who engage in vile, racist online behavior.”

Credit: ProPublica

Thompson began an interview with “Democracy Now!” Tuesday, “You know, I think what’s important to note is that there are people within the Border Patrol and the broader CBP agency who don’t like what’s going on there..

“They say, ‘Look, the culture has gotten toxic. It has gotten dangerous.’ And there are people that were in that Facebook group who said, ‘I want to alert the media about this. What’s going on is absolutely unconscionable.’

“Interestingly, about 7,000 people have left the group since we first did our reporting. And I think that says something, that people realize this is not a group they want to be associated with, and what was happening there was absolutely incorrect.”

Host Amy Goodman replied, “But talk about exactly what you found in this Facebook group. What were people saying?”

Thompson said, “I’ll tell you, I’ve been reporting on law enforcement for more than 20 years, and I have never seen anything like this. I have spent time with corrupt cops, with cops who went to prison. And I just have not seen people who would post memes joking about sexual assault, apparently celebrating sexual assault.

“And I have not seen people, you know, sort of posting these things, referring to the folks that they’re supposed to interact with, with the migrants, as essentially trash or subhuman. And like I said, I’ve met a lot of bad cops. This is way outside of the norms of normal behavior, whether in the civilian world or the law enforcement world.

“There were memes about homophobia, about mocking Anderson Cooper’s sexuality. There were memes questioning whether migrants who had died trying to cross the river between the United States and Mexico were actually — if that actually happened, referring to them as ‘floaters’ and saying maybe it was all a scheme concocted by the Democrats and liberals. I mean, the levels of antipathy for women, for migrants and for just for people in general, very, very high . . . .”

Peter Kovacs, editor of the New Orleans Advocate, told the Poynter Institute that about half the staffers at the rival Times-Picayune either were not interested in the Advocate’s offers or did not ask for an interview at all.

Journalists of Color Scarce at Merged NOLA Paper

The first product of the New Orleans Advocate’s acquisition of the New Orleans Times-Picayune appeared on Monday. The merged publication apparently has only one journalist of color from the Times-Picayune, though Editor-in-Chief Peter Kovacs messaged Journal-isms Wednesday, “We’re still hiring. The football game is only in the third quarter so too early to write the game story.”

The journalist of color is Michelle Hunter, who is covering crime in Jefferson Parish, as she did for the Times-Picayune. “It’s great to be back on the same team,” said Kovacs, who was managing editor of the Times-Picayune until 2012.

Kovacs also said the Advocate had signed someone else of color “last week . . . and he’s going through pre employment so not in staff yet.”

Other journalists of color at the Times-Picayune and its website, NOLA.com, declined jobs at the Advocate or were not hired for other reasons.

[Update: Kovacs said Friday night there are “Five minority group members on the payroll,” but did not say who they were, whether they are all journalists or provide the total number of journalists. Neither the Advocate nor the Times-Picyaune participated in the American Society of News Editors’ 2018 newsroom diversity survey.]

The Advocate, Kovacs said, has hired about 25 staffers, half of them for the newsroom,” Rick Edmonds wrote June 28 for the Poynter Institute. “Many, but not all, were from the Times-Picayune. The Advocate had offered to interview anyone from the Times-Picayune interested in working in the combined operations, but some chose not to.

“Pay was an issue, columnist Tim Morris wrote in a Facebook exchange with [Advocate owner John] Georges. In some instances, the Advocate was offering 25 to 40 percent less, Morris said.

Manuel Torres

“Of the 65 or so Times-Picayune news staffers, editor Mark Lorando told me, only two, to date, have found work at other Advance properties — a columnist at Cleveland.com and sports producer at Al.com. . . .”

Of the Times-Picayune’s journalists of color:

Hunter declined to discuss her reasons for joining the Advocate.

Others of color at the Times-Picayune included reporter Andrea Shaw; David Francis, executive vice president and publisher of NOLA Media Group; Terry Baquet, director of print at the Times-Picayune; reporter Maria Clark; and Amos Morale III, sportswriter, who tweeted Tuesday that he is “Back again on @Sports1280 from 10-12.”

Oscar Miller, director of the Acel Moore high school journalism workshop at the Philadelphia Inquirer, coaches Deondre Smalls, a former student at Camden Academy Charter in Camden, N.J., in 2013. Miller is leaving the paper but says he will continue to work with the program. (Credit: Twitter)

News Business Could See Worst Job Losses in Years

“The news business is on pace for its worst job losses in a decade as about 3,000 people have been laid off or been offered buyouts in the first five months of this year,” Gerry Smith reported Monday for Bloomberg.

“The cuts have been widespread. Newspapers owned by Gannett and McClatchy, digital media companies like BuzzFeed and Vice Media, and the cable news channel CNN have all shed employees.

“The level of attrition is the highest since 2009, when the industry saw 7,914 job cuts in the first five months of that year in the wake of the financial crisis, according to data compiled by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an outplacement and executive coaching firm.

“The firm’s tally is based on news reports of buyouts and layoffs, and includes downsizing at printing operations and advertising and tech executives at Verizon Media Group, home of HuffPost and Yahoo, which announced in January that it was laying off about 800 employees. . . .”

Ernie Brown

Last Friday, the Vindicator of Youngstown, Ohio, announced it would be shutting down for good at the end of August. The Vindicator had two journalists of color, Ernie Brown, a regional editor and writer who is African American, told Journal-isms by telephone on Monday. Brown, who has worked at the paper since 1976, said he planned to spend more time volunteering at the Rising Star Baptist Church of Youngstown. The other is Bertram De Souza, the editorial page editor who is of Asian Indian ancestry but was born in Africa, Brown said.

Meanwhile, the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia, Local 3810 of the Communications Workers of America, told members June 28, “The Company Friday morning initially identified 8 Guild members for layoff — 6 from the Inquirer newsroom, 2 from advertising. . . . But the Company remains insistent on getting to 30 Guild job reductions.

“What’s additionally infuriating is that 3 Guild members from the newsroom have opted to leave for other jobs, yet the Company says they don’t count toward the 30 total cuts sought. . . .”

Executive Director Bill Ross told Journal-isms that “we are still negotiating” over buyouts, but Oscar Miller, assistant sports editor for the Inquirer and a black journalist, wrote colleagues Tuesday that “Friday will be my last day at The Inquirer.”

However, Miller wrote, “Unlike cowboys Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus, I’m gonna ride some more. I will be back in the saddle soon and will see many of you from time to time as I will continue to work with the Acel Moore High School Journalism Program,” which Miller directs. He told Journal-isms he would not take another job. The Acel Moore program is “a good segue into full retirement.”

Pitts: Some Surprised That Cops Were Professional

Leonard Pitts Jr.

Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote a column Tuesday about his early Sunday encounter with Bowie, Md., police responding to a hoax call to 911 reporting that someone had been murdered inside his home. Pitts was told to come outside and was handcuffed while police investigated.

“People ask if I was scared,” he wrote. “It surprises them — heck, it surprises me — when I say that I was not. Was it stressful? Definitely. Did it feel surreal? You bet.

“But once I understood what was going on, I felt reasonably confident everything would be fine if I remained calm and allowed police to figure things out. It helped me, I think, that they themselves were calm. Nobody yelled or cursed at me. I wasn’t manhandled, and when it was over, I received an apology.

“Compare that to Cleveland, where 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed playing with a toy gun in an open carry state, within two seconds of police arriving. Compare it to Columbia, South Carolina and to suburban St. Paul, where Levar Jones and Philando Castile were shot — Castile died — while complying with police who had asked for their driver’s licenses. And by all means, compare it to Phoenix where officers with guns drawn cursed and threatened a black woman and her children last month over an alleged shoplifting incident.

“I wasn’t treated like that, and I was supposedly a wife killer.

“I don’t know if the police in Bowie are better trained or if I just got lucky. I do know that too many unarmed black people are wounded and killed by frightened and adrenalized cops. And that I could have become one of them and didn’t.

“The fact that so many people regard that as a minor miracle is telling and sad. Sunday morning in a tense situation, police conducted themselves coolly and professionally. People should not have to be surprised by that.

“It should tell you something that they are.”

Bowie Police Chief John Netsky, asked whether police have identified the caller and determined the motivation, told Journal-isms Friday that “the investigation is still ongoing. By no means have we let that one go.” As there are “so many ways’ to mask telephone numbers and IP addresses, it is not as easy as one might think to make the identification, Netsky said.

Ariz. Paper Has Hired 43% People of Color Since ’18

“I joined The Arizona Republic just over a year ago and have hired or promoted 50 people to support initiatives on data reporting and podcasting, to cover Indigenous communities and go deeper on the environment, to focus more energy on digital subscriptions and newsletters, reader engagement and loyalty,” Greg Burton, executive editor of the Arizona Republic since April 2018, told readers on June 30.

Greg Burton

“A diverse pool of candidates informed every choice. Judge for yourselves:

“Since early 2018, The Republic newsroom has hired:

“43% people of color.
“67% women.

“We’ve promoted:

“40% people of color.
“67% women.

“If you combine hires and promotions, we’ve infused our team with:

“40% people of color.
“66% women.

“We’ve added to the management ranks:

“40% people of color.
“60% women.

“Today, The Republic newsroom is 52% male and 48% percent female. We have a slightly higher percentage of black journalists than the statewide population breakdown, according to U.S. Census figures, and are closing diversity gaps when compared with Arizona and Maricopa County populations.

“Closing the gap is not enough. . . .

“Know this about The Republic: We’re here to produce and deliver great journalism, and to reflect the community we serve. . . .”

The Republic is owned by Gannett Co., Inc.

Houston Publisher Ousts Black Press Group Chair

Karen Carter Richards (Credit:/Freddie Allen/NNPA)

Karen Carter Richards, publisher of the Houston Forward Times, decisively defeated incumbent Dorothy Leavell, publisher of the Chicago and Gary Crusader newspapers, to become chair of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the trade organization that represents African American-owned newspapers and media companies.

Richards “won handily,” Ben Chavis, president and CEO, told Journal-isms by telephone Wednesday. The vote took place Friday at the NNPA convention in Cincinnati.

A May 29 Facebook posting by Leavell on her reelection effort, addressed “Dear NNPA Publisher,” indicated that financial management has been a concern.

“[I]t should be no surprise to any of you that I have been critical about the direction our association is moving in,” Leavell wrote. “Too many publishers are struggling to keep their heads above water. I am not satisfied with the amount of advertising revenue that is being generated given that executive leadership has approved more than $1 million in consulting fees to outside vendors. . . .

“The NNPA is not an ATM nor a personal platform for those to use our global brand to strengthen their personal leverage. Our organization should benefit us all and not give way to cronyism. I am not happy with those who hustle philanthropic dollars that only goes into the pockets of a few at the expense of national advertising sales that can benefit publishers across the country. . . .”
Richards did not respond to requests for comment.

Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of the Washington Informer whose tenure as NNPA chair ended when she was defeated for reelection by Leavell in 2017, told Journal-isms that “some members believed we were standing still if not moving backwards.”

Key issues for the publishers are getting more of them online, gaining more advertisers and partnerships and becoming more engaged with social media, video and other platforms, Rolark Barnes said.

Another member, Rosetta Perry of the Tennessee Tribune, told Journal-isms, “It’s time for the agency to look for younger leadership instead of recycling those who have been in leadership positions.”

Leavell told Journal-isms she would have no comment on the characterization of her term as chair.

Richards won NNPA’s Publisher of the Year Award in 2018.

“Her father, Julius P. Carter, founded the Houston Forward Times in 1960 after recognizing a need for a newspaper that was committed to covering issues and personalities routinely ignored by mainstream media,” Stacy M. Brown reported for the NNPA News Service.

“After Julius Carter’s death, the legendary Lenora ‘Doll’ Carter assumed responsibility for the Forward Times with Karen Carter Richards working alongside her.

“Richards said she understands that being the chair comes with a lot of responsibilities and work.

“After a fierce campaign, Richards said she will work to move the storied association forward, help to continue to provide Black America with critical news and information, and bridge any divides that might exist between members.

“ ‘I will win your trust,’ Richards said. . . .”

Are Democratic Candidates Outpacing the Pundits?

“Where many Americans have seen the emergence of compelling and charismatic candidates who don’t look like those who’ve preceded them (but do look more like the country they want to lead), some prominent pundits seem to be looking at a field of people they simply can’t recognize as presidential,” Rebecca Traister wrote Wednesday for New York magazine.

” Where many hear Democratic politicians arguing vigorously on behalf of more justice and access to resources for people who have historically been kept at the margins of power, some prominent columnists are hearing a scary call to destabilization and chaos, imagining themselves on the outside of politics they’ve long assumed should be centered around them.

“Altogether, what’s emerging is a view of a presidential commentariat that — in terms of both ideas and diversity — is embarrassingly outpaced by the candidates, many of whom appear smarter, more thoughtful, and to have a nimbler grasp of American history and structural inequities than the television journalists being paid to cover them. . . .”

Reporter Who Claimed Retaliation Wins $110,000

A former Kansas City television reporter who said that her race was “constantly used” in deciding where or what topics she would be reporting has been awarded $110,000 in lost wages and her attorneys nearly $692,000 in legal fees, according to news reports. Lisa Benson Cooper successfully charged that KSHB-TV retaliated against her.

Lisa Benson Cooper

“Cooper, who is African American, was a general assignment reporter at Channel 41 for 14 years before she was let go in mid-2018,” Dan Margolies reported June 26 for Kansas City’s public radio station KCUR-FM.

“She went by Lisa Benson on the air.

“Cooper sued KSHB and its owner, Cincinnati-based Scripps Media, in late 2016 for race discrimination, alleging she was denied promotions and other job opportunities because of her race. After the station declined to renew her contract, she added retaliation claims to her lawsuit.

“Following a 10-day trial in February, a federal jury in February awarded Cooper $26,000 in actual damages and $175,000 in punitive damages on her retaliation claims.

“The jury found that KSHB unlawfully suspended her in 2015 and didn’t renew her contract in 2018 because she complained about race discrimination and later sued the station.

“At the same time, the jury found in favor of the station and Scripps Media on Cooper’s race discrimination claims. . . .”

Margolies also wrote, “Asked to comment on Phillips’ rulings, Cooper said she was pleased that ‘we’re getting closer to the actual end of this chapter of my life.’

“ ‘My hope in filing the initial grievance and lawsuit almost three years ago now was to change the reality of working at KSHB-TV and working for E.W. Scripps,’ Benson said. ‘I believe there were racial disparities and I believe that my lawsuit, coupled with Dee Jackson’s lawsuit — there have been and will continue to be changes within the organization. So I’m pleased.’

“Cooper was referring to a race discrimination lawsuit filed by Demetrice ‘Dee’ Jackson, another black reporter at KSHB. Jackson, who is represented by the same attorneys as Cooper, alleges he was twice passed over for the position of sports director after he was led to believe he would get the job. . . .”

Kevin Dietz (Credit: Facebook)

White Reporter Dropped Over Protests of Black Colleague

Despite a black colleague reportedly standing up for him, WDIV-TV in Detroit abruptly dropped a white reporter who, posing with colleagues at the recent Investigative Reporters & Editors conference in Houston, commented that “We are probably going to have to crop the black reporter out of the photo.”

“The intent of my comment was to openly acknowledge, amongst team members, the challenge it’s been for our company, and many companies, to achieve diversity goals,” Kevin Dietz, an employee of the station since 1993, wrote on Facebook.

“This is a serious subject that I approached through humor.

“Nevertheless, the station has a zero tolerance policy on racially insensitive comments and they determined, despite the intent and context of my statement, that it violated the policy. I understand and support the need for such policies.”

Ann Zaniewski wrote in the Detroit Free Press Tuesday, updated Wednesday, “He said the black reporter who was present was not offended and came to his defense, but the station has a zero-tolerance policy about racially insensitive remarks, and he was terminated.

“The station issued a statement Monday describing Dietz’s departure as a resignation.” News accounts did not identify the black reporter, but a source pointed to fellow WDIV reporter Jermont Terry, who could not be reached.

Zaniewski also wrote, “Dietz said the reporter went to human resources and stood up for him. The reporter, he said, also ‘expressed that we are friends, conveyed to them all the help I have given him throughout his career, and the long list of stories I have done on television fighting against racism in Michigan.’ . . . .”

“Dietz also said he regretted what happened and issued an apology.”

Political consultant Adolph Mongo, who said he’s a friend of Dietz’s, and local activist Robert Davis told the Free Press they plan to launch a campaign to encourage the station to bring Dietz back, Zeniewski wrote.

” ‘It’s hard to find journalists with guts,’ Davis said. ‘He has been willing to report on stories that other journalists are too afraid to report on.’

“He also said: ‘I think (the station) overreacted.’ . . .”

‘Forced Busing’ Term Resurfaces on CBS

On Friday’s “CBS Evening News,” substitute anchor David Begnaud used the term “forced busing” (video) to introduce a segment on former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., in their contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

David Begnaud

This is what the late GOP strategist Lee Atwater said about that term in 1981: “You start out in 1954 by saying, ‘Nigger, nigger, nigger.‘ By 1968, you can’t say ‘nigger.’ That hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff [like] ‘forced busing,’ ‘states’ rights’ and all that stuff.

“And you’re getting so abstract now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all of these things you’re talking about are totally economic things, and the byproduct of them is: Blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously, maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that.

“But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract and that coded, that we’re doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. Do you follow me? Because, obviously, sitting around saying we want to cut taxes, we want to cut this, and we want—is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than ‘nigger, nigger,’ you know. So, any way you look at it, race is coming on the back burner. . . .”

“Court-ordered busing” is considered neutral.

Short Takes

Andy Ngo (Credit: Dave Killen/Oregonian)

 

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