Journal-isms Roundtable

 

Designed by Carol Porter

The Journal-isms™ Roundtable is a dinner group of more than 50 current and former journalists, authors and editors that meets every month, sometimes at Sunday brunch, other times on a weeknight. In 2020, the COVID pandemic prompted a change of venue to Zoom, and since then we have also had hybrid Zoom and in-person sessions. Since 1999, the group, led by Journal-isms™ founder and journalist Richard Prince and veteran journalists Paul Delaney, Betty Anne Williams and the late Walt Swanston-NuevaEspana, have hosted journalists, newsmakers and other personalities to have lively, informative and provocative conversations over good food and drink. Ivan Roman later joined the organizing team. Here’s a list of the speakers and events over the past years:

 Dec. 8, 2024 

Our December Roundtable took place Sunday, Dec. 8, at 1 p.m. Eastern via Zoom, on “what next?” after the election and Donald Trump’s selections for his Cabinet.

 Panelists:
•  

• Evlondo Cooper, senior researcher, Climate & Energy Program, Media Matters for America. Evlondo joined us for our 2021 discussion of environmental racism and environmental justice.

• Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center and its lobbying arm, the SPLC Action Fund. “An experienced human rights and racial justice advocate, Huang leads the SPLC in its mission to serve as a catalyst for racial justice in the South, dismantling white supremacy, strengthening intersectional movements and advancing the human rights of all.” < https://bit.ly/4eVwg0B >. On the “PBS News Hour,” she recently discussed whether the political climate was influencing a spike in racist incidents. < https://to.pbs.org/3ZyLft6 >

• Linda Jones, writing and emotional wellness doula, who invited people to “Navigating Post-Election Grief”: “a Sunday healing circle for Black Women who showed up and are worn out.” Linda founded A Nappy Hair Affair as an effort to promote African American culture and identity, and earlier in her career, worked at AOL News, the Dallas Morning News, Detroit News, Miami News, Fayetteville (N.C.) Times and Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

• Patrick Mason, chair, Economics Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Washington Post noted that Patrick “has long been cited for his work on the experience of Black Americans in the labor market.”

•  

 Clayton Weimers, executive director, RSF (Reporters Without Borders) USA. The day after the election, the press freedom group issued “RSF urges Trump to cease attacks on the media and turn a new page for press freedom in his next administration.”

See also:

• Deborah Barfield Berry, USA Today: Racial justice activists prepare for Trump budget cuts and policy changes (Nov. 23)

• Joseph A. Davis, Society of Environmental Journalists: Will Trump ‘Disappear’ Environment, Climate Data? (Nov. 27)

• Ariama C. Long, New York Amsterdam News: Post-election stress: Black women and their mental health

• Ian Kayanja, WCCIV, Charleston, S.C.: Rep. James Clyburn advocates for renewal of Civil Rights Network Act — You can watch here

• Kenya Hunter, Associated Press: Feeling betrayed by increased minority support for Trump, Black women say they’re stepping back (Nov. 24)

YouTube video at < https://youtu.be/Qed5Qhknexg >  Column: < https://bit.ly/3VE0azC > Narrative and photos (Facebook) < https://bit.ly/3Pas02N >.

 

Oct. 29, 2024 — Remembering Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Matthew Lewis

Matthew Lewis at his home in Thomasville, N.C., in 2016. (D. L. Anderson for The Washington Post), Matt, who died Oct. 2 at age 94, was the first African American assistant managing editor at the Washington Post. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his photography. We discuss how the news media are doing in creating diverse teams of photographers. 

We also heard from Leonard Pitts Jr., author of the new historical novel “54 Miles,” returning to the Roundtable after moving on from his successful syndicated column at the Miami Herald. “54 Miles” is a historical fictional novel that follows a family forced to confront its tumultuous past during a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. The title references the 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.

 Jim Trotter, national columnist for The Athletic, returned after reaching a settlement with the NFL in exchange for NFL financial support for a scholarship foundation for journalism students at historically Black colleges and universities.

And heard from PEN America, which “stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide“:

Tim Richardson, director of PEN’s Journalism and Disinformation program. He has trained journalists in 100 newsrooms nationwide on dealing with disinformation over the last six months.

Column: < https://bit.ly/3C8n3o4 >. YouTube video: < https://youtu.be/i5G4O2W6GaY > Narrative and photos (Facebook)  Part 1:< https://bit.ly/3NMBF > Part 2: < https://bit.ly/4ejvhHy >

Sept. 22, 2024 — Reporters Who Have Covered Kamala Harris

(Credit: Kenny Holston/New York Times)

Our Journal-isms Roundtable took place Sunday, Sept. 22, at 1 p.m. Eastern, with reporters who have covered Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president.

It  came after the Sept. 10 ABC-TV debate with former president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and Harris’ Sept. 17 interview in Philadelphia with members of the National Association of Black Journalists < https://www.journal-isms.com/racist-tropes-stir-harris-emotions-at-nabj/ >.

The panelists are 

Amy L. Alexander, author of “How San Francisco’s Tight Community Of Female ‘Firsts’ Shaped Kamala Harris” (HuffPost)

Brakkton Booker, Politico

Errin Haines, the 19th News

Nii-Quartelai Quartey, Ed.D., author, “Kamala, The Motherland and Me”; host, KBLA talk radio, Los Angeles

April Ryan, the Grio

Darlene Superville, Associated Press

Column: < https://bit.ly/483DH4l >. YouTube video: < https://youtu.be/3JBHXOW7X3A >

Aug. 1, 2024

“Press Freedom in Black-Run Countries”

Black-Run Countries  (Please click for flier/poster)

The Journal-isms Roundtable presented a panel on “Press Freedom in Black-Run Countries,” in Chicago while the National Association of Black Journalists convention took place in that city.

The Roundtable was not officially be part of the convention, instead was hosted at the offices of Chicago Public Media offices on Navy Pier, with its spectacular riverside view .

The event was co-hosted by the NABJ Global Journalism Task Force. Those who were not in Chicago joined by Zoom.

After Black French journalist Olivier Dubois was held hostage last year for 711 days in Mali, West Africa, the press-freedom group Reporters Without Borders said, “To be a journalist in the Sahel means enduring the growing presence of radical armed groups who do not hesitate to kill reporters or kidnap them and use them as bargaining chips,” and more.

More recently, authoritarianism has been rising around the world, including in the United States as well as in Africa. That most often means finding a way to tamp down, even silence, the press. Haiti’s existential crisis has been extensively reported, less so the state of journalism there and in the rest of the Caribbean.

Discussions about the African diaspora most often do not include press freedom, and journalism sessions in the U.S. about Black people often do not include a global view.

Panelists:

• Zahra Burton, 18 degrees North, Jamaica; Global Reporters for the Caribbean – founder and principal, Kingston, Jamaica

• Muthoki Mumo, Committee to Protect Journalists – Africa program coordinator, based in Nairobi, Kenya

• Garry Pierre-Pierre, Haitian Times – Founder and publisher, Brooklyn, N.Y.

• Nompilo Simanje, International Press Institute – Africa advocacy and partnerships lead, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

• John Yearwood, Politico – editorial director – diversity and culture

• Richard Prince, Journal-isms columnist, moderator.

We were joined by Jacqueline Charles, Haiti/Caribbean correspondent, Miami Herald

The YouTube video has been posted at: < https://youtu.be/_XiSs-EPTLE >

Column: <  https://bit.ly/4dRE9EN > In Spanish: < https://www.journal-isms.com/la-libertad-de-prensa-tambien-es-para-los-paises-gobernados-por-negros/ >

Update:

Exiled Haitian journalist, NABJ honoree, to join Roundtable in Chicago

Roberson Alphonse, this year’s recipient of the Percy Qoboza Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, has agreed to join us at our special Roundtable Aug. 1 in Chicago on “Press Freedom in Black-Run Countries.” 

“I’m honored by your invitation to join that panel,” Roberson messaged. Commitment to “ringing the bell on press freedom, democracy in this era of disinformation, populism and the rise of authoritarian regimes is priceless. We have to deal with those issues while our profession is facing existential crisis. We are in surviving mode in Haiti. It’s almost the same for local press here in the US.”

NABJ said, “This award recognizes a foreign journalist who has done extraordinary work while overcoming tremendous obstacles that contribute to the enrichment, understanding, or advancement of people or issues in the African Diaspora.

“Alphonse, one of Haiti’s most respected investigative journalists, is not only a fearless journalist but a brave soul. He survived a shooting attack in 2022 that left him wounded in both arms on his way to work at a Port-au-Prince radio station. Now a University of Michigan Knight-Wallace Fellow, he boldly continues to heal and continues his work as the News Editor for Le Nouvelliste and Information Director at Magik9.”
—

You can see a video detailing Roberson’s story and journey to Wallace House HERE. 

See also: Outsiders, Leaders Stoke Africa’s Media Crises < https://bit.ly/3zMRT4z > (scroll down)
 

July 1, 2024

The team from the Center for Public Integrity and Reveal: “Our historical investigation found 1,250 formerly enslaved Black Americans who were given land – only to see it returned to their enslavers.”

The team gave a presentation.

Listen to the podcasts at: https://revealnews.org/article/40-acres-and-a-lie/

We toasted Matt Murray, interim executive editor at The Washington Post. 

Shirley Carswell, director of the Dow Jones News Fund and a longtime Roundtable member, updated us on the just-concluded inaugural Black Male Journalism Workshop, a collaboration between the New York University Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and the Dow Jones News Fund.

We congratulated Gary Lee, managing editor of the Oklahoma Eagle, who is receiving the “Journalist of Distinction” award from the National Association of Black Journalists.

Michael Days, Wayne Dawkins, Leon Carter and John Yearwood gave remembrances of Merv Aubespin, the former NABJ president who died June 26. < https://bit.ly/3RMxDWN >

Video: < https://youtu.be/Gyx-2ueAd2A > Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/new-wapo-editor-ready-to-home-in-on-diversity/ >

Narrative and photos by Sharon Farmer:

Part 1:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=richardprince&set=a.10169192188710385

Part 2:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=richardprince&set=a.10169192608920385

June 2, 2024

 Angela P. Dodson’s new book, “We Refuse to Be Silent: Women’s Voices for Justice for Black Men.”

Angela enlisted these contributors to join her:

• • • Mary C. Curtis
  • • Jackie Jones
  • • Yanick Rice Lamb
  • • Sonya Ross
  • • Anita Samuels
  • • Ingrid Sturgis
  • • Gayle Pollard Terry
  • • Geri Coleman Tucker
  • • Sandra Long Weaver

A podcast on the topic from Mary C. Curtis!  (May 30)

YouTube video: < https://youtu.be/R9IzEBlgqcE >

Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/police-abuse-hits-home-for-black-journalists/ >

Narrative on Facebook: < https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=richardprince&set=a.10169070790265385 > 

Thursday, April 11, 2024

How to counter the increasing moves against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)

 

Our lead speaker was Marc Morial (pictured), president of the National Urban League. He brought with him a multicultural duo of business people who are fighting anti DEI efforts in the business world:

Black civil rights organizations are rallying to counter anti-DEI rhetoric (Curtis Bunn, NBC News) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/anti-dei-rhetoric-black-organizations-counter-billionaires-rcna136815

This is specifically from the National Minority Development Council to Fortune 500 CEOs:
https://nmsdc.org/news/business-leaders-urge-fortune-500-ceos-to-maintain-and-expand-business-diversity-initiatives/

A journalism connection:
Gannett is in court over what the white plaintiff considers “reverse discrimination” https://www.journal-isms.com/2023/11/who-will-step-up-for-diversity/

We also heard from journalism educators, as schools are being hit as well. Two other panelists:

Eddith Dashiel, Ph.D., professor and director, E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University, mentioned in this column:

Ohio U. Pauses Scholarships That Mention Race (scroll down)
J-Group Says Hedge-Fund Papers Unwelcome – journal-isms.com

Kathleen McElroy,, Ph.D, professor, School of Journalism and Media at University of Texas, Austin, who was in the news over the summer. Texas A&M President Quits in McElroy Fallout – journal-isms.com

and is also co-chair of the commission on minorities of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)

Also “in the room”:

Christina Silva, co-chair, Diversity Committee, News Leaders Association; managing editor for local news, Boston Globe; former president and co-founder, Los Angeles chapter, National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Daarel Burnette and Audrey June, Chronicle of Higher Education. Daarel led a team of 10 to develop the “DEI Legislation Tracker.” “Explore where college diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are under attack,” it says.

The Roundtable was simulcast on Facebook and recorded for posting on YouTube at https://youtu.be/T3mKAJQF-Ck. 

Columns:  Ready to Call Out Backsliders on DEI < https://tinyurl.com/mryzuzz8 >

JAWS Backs Fight Against DEI ‘Misinformation’ < https://tinyurl.com/mwhruf7y >

Narrative:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=richardprince&set=a.10168880362455385

and

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=richardprince&set=a.10168880428490385

Feb. 27, 2024

Who will be next, and what are you going to do about it?

YouTube video:  https://youtu.be/ejCksrsrVMQ

Jan. 22, 2024

Dictator on ‘Day One’:  “How Journalists Can Counter the Growing Threat of Authoritarianism”

< https://www.aclu.org/cases/naacp-v-arkansas-board-of-apportionment​ >

Gilbert Bailon, veteran journalist now executive editor of WBEZ in Chicago. The station, the Chicago Sun-Times and the University of Chicago are part of the Democracy Solutions Project. <https://www.wbez.org/collections/the-democracy-solutions-project/256 >

Jennifer Dresden, policy advocate, Project Democracy; primary author, “The Authoritarian Playbook: How reporters can contextualize and cover authoritarian threats as distinct from politics-as-usual“

Louise Dubé, CEO, iCivics. iCivics was founded by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 2009. “We champion equitable, non-partisan civic education so that the practice of democracy is learned by each new generation.” https://www.icivics.org/our-team

Gary Fields, Associated Press reporter, member of AP’s Democracy Team. < https://www.ap.org/press-releases/2022/ap-announces-sweeping-democracy-journalism-initiative >

Julie Millican, vice president of Media Matters for America. < Julie Millican | Media Matters for America >

Charles Whitaker, dean of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.< https://www.medill.northwestern.edu/directory/faculty/charles-whitaker.html >

Griff Witte, who heads the Democracy team in the Washington Post newsroom.< Griff Witte named editor of The Post’s Democracy Team – The Washington Post > 

YouTube video < https://youtu.be/GrpB06VoJq0 >

Column: < https://tinyurl.com/4957z2wy >

 

Dec. 3, 2023

 

“Cuba: Victim, Villain or Both?”

Cuba has consistently been denounced by press-freedom and human rights groups as a repressive country that persecutes independent journalists, Black and white alike. Yet it holds a fascination for some journalists who visit, find community in the rich culture, especially of Afro-Cubans on the island, and come back to the United States to denounce the U.S. embargo with public thanks from Cuba’s rulers.

How do we reconcile these two views of Cuba?

With a translator to help navigate, we discussed this with:

— Serafin Moran, Afro-Cuban journalist who won exile in the United States
https://tinyurl.com/4e8y7hs7
https://fundamedios.us/rsf-y-fundamedios-usa-agradecen-asilo-concedido-a-periodista-cubano/

— Rocio Baro, Afro-Cuban native who is director of communications for “Fondo de Arte Joven,” a platform that supports young Cuban artists in music and visual arts. She is in the U.S. as a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
< https://cronkite.asu.edu/global-initiatives/humphrey-journalism-program/fellows/ >

— Dagmar Thiel, CEO of Fundamedios < https://www.fundamedios.org/>, who in 2021 moderated and helped organize National Press Club Forum, “Latin American Press Under Siege”
https://www.padf.org/democracy-governance-and-human-rights/press-under-siege/

— Darcy Borrero Batista, journalist and human rights defender. She was part of a cross-border investigation in 19 countries, including Cuba, “Violence During Quarantine,” which just won a One World Media Award.

She wrote on LinkedIn, “WE WON:) all Cubans… especially the more than 1000 women who, as a result of this research, raised their voices to tell their birth experiences. I celebrate for them [including my mother] and for us authors, especially for those who created the enormous project that is Partos Rotos. Thank you for inviting me to collaborate! Cuban journalism is celebrating despite censorship, intimidation, harassment and exile. Congratulations to all!”
https://www.linkedin.com/in/darcy-borrero-batista-870262140/

Also see:

An Independent Afro-Cuban Journalist’s Statement to the Journal-isms Roundtable < https://tinyurl.com/4yz6fd6s > by Julio A. Rojas

Cuba has been in the consciousness of many Americans at least the rise of Fidel Castro and the Bay of Pigs invasion, and through every presidential election in which the Cuban American vote has been part of the story.

Co-organizers for this Roundtable were Ivan Roman, who is on our Roundtable organizing committee, and is a former executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and has made three reporting trips to Cuba, and Zita Arocha, a native of Cuba who is about to publish a memoir, “Guajira, the Cuba Girl,” which has already won a book prize from the Inlandia Institute. She is founder of Borderzine.com, a Poynter Institute project consultant, and a professor emeritus of communication at University of Texas El Paso. Some  know Zita from her work with NAHJ. Bio: https://borderzine.com/author/zarocha/

YouTube video: < https://youtu.be/jtHuUfjZrGg >

Column < https://www.journal-isms.com/the-embargo-made-them-do-it/ >: The Embargo Made Them Do It: Journalists Accuse Cuba’s Rulers of Scapegoating

Spanish:  El embargo les obligó a hacerlo: Periodistas acusan a los gobernantes de Cuba de ser chivos expiatorios <  https://www.journal-isms.com/el-embargo-les-obligo-a-hacerlo/ >

Nov. 19, 2023

Malcolm Nance

We toasted Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins, first Black woman to become president of the Society of Professional Journalists.

(Photo: In September, incoming SPJ President Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins, right, speaks with Laura De la Garza Garcia in Las Vegas about the decision to not hold an SPJ conference in 2024. < https://tinyurl.com/28t6zjae > (Credit: SPJ)

We toasted the new NABJ – Philadelphia chapter, with Michael Days, president, and Melanie Burney vice president. (Photo: Melanie Burney at the lectern, with other members of the new NABJ – Philadelphia, at the Oct. 27 NABJ board meeting in the city, at which the chapter was approved.  Credit: Curtis Brown)

“In the House”:

Christopher​ Shell, fellow, American Statecraft Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who has surveyed African American attitudes toward the Israel-Hamas War gave a sneak preview of the results.

Video: Journal-isms Roundtable with Malcolm Nance, Nov. 19, 2023 (edited+) – YouTube

Column: Blacks Led Whites in Supporting Cease-Fire – journal-isms.com

Oct. 1, 2023, 1 p.m. EDT — “When the Authorities Abuse Journalists”

A hybrid Zoom and in-person session at the Washington, D.C., home of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press < http://www.rcfp.org/about.html >

 

With special guest: Roy Wood Jr., “”American humorist, stand-up comedian, radio personality, actor, producer, podcaster, and writer best known for his correspondent appearances on The Daily Show.” He entertained at last spring’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner < https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2398653/bio/ >

and:

— Earl Caldwell, veteran journalist whose dilemma over a government demand to reveal his sources in the Black Panther organization < https://tinyurl.com/2p9t35wm > prompted the Reporters Committee’s founding in 1970 < https://www.rcfp.org/our-history/ >

— Veteran First Amendment lawyer Lee Levine, who is writing a book about Caldwell and his press-freedom case < https://tinyurl.com/ytxafufn >

— Amr Alfiky, Egyptian photojournalist apprehended by the New York Police Department in 2020 in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood while filming NYPD officers. He is one of five photographers who on Sept. 5 won a settlement with the NYPD to improve its treatment of members of the press and improve reporters’ access to a protest to be able to record and report. < https://tinyurl.com/ypv835fy >

— Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the National Press Photographers Association and visual journalist, a negotiator of the Sept. 5 agreement with NYPD. < https://nationalpress.org/speaker/mickey-h-osterreicher/ >

Also “in the room”:

Eduardo Beckett, immigration lawyer who in September helped secure, after 15 years, U.S. asylum for Mexican journalist Emilio Gutiérrez Soto. < https://tinyurl.com/y3uxy2c5 >.

Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/feds-targeted-black-reporter-author-says/ >

YouTube video: < https://tinyurl.com/yc89enk4 >  

Full Earl Caldwell interview < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eHwz52fdek >

Column on Roy Wood’s appearance:  < https://tinyurl.com/27m63bhw >

Aug. 20, 2023

How the Democrats Plan to Wage the 2024 Presidential Campaign

 

Cedric Richmond (pictured), co-chair, Biden-Harris campaign

Michael Tyler, newly named communications director for the Biden-Harris Campaign
https://tinyurl.com/4jba8chr

and Quentin Fulks, principal deputy manager of the reelection campaign. Democratic strategist most recently serving as campaign manager for Sen. Raphael Warnock’s 2022 successful reelection campaign in Georgia.

https://iop.harvard.edu/fellows/quentin-fulks

Also “in the room”:

Leroy Chapman, editor, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jessica Fulton, interim president, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Judy Kang, program manager, USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative

Nikole Killion, congressional correspondent for CBS News

Dominik Whitehead, vice president of campaigns, NAACP

and a toast to Alex Mena, newly named executive editor of the Miami Herald.

YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNikKeYZH80

Column: https://www.journal-isms.com/dems-say-theyll-lift-up-voters-of-color/

July 31, 2023:

“Have the media improved their coverage of crime since the case of the Central Park Five, now the Exonerated Five?

David P. Kreizer, attorney for Korey Wise of the Exonerated Five, formerly the Central Park Five
https://kreizerlaw.com/david-p-kreizer-esq/

Carroll Bogert, president, The Marshall Project

Susan Chira, editor-in-chief, The Marshall Project

Letrell Crittenden, Ph.D, director of inclusion and audience growth, American Press Institute
https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/author/lcrittenden/

Diamond Hardiman, reparative journalism program manager, Media 270, Free Press
https://www.freepress.net/about/staff/diamond-hardiman

Dan Shelley, president and CEO, Radio Television Digital News Association | RTDNA Foundation

Elinor Tatum, publisher & editor in chief, New York Amsterdam News

Collette Watson, director, Media 270 project, Free Press; vice president of cultural strategy, Free Press

www.mediareparations.org
www.freepress.net

We toasted Andale Gross, race and ethnicity editor at the Associated Press, who has been named managing editor of the Kansas City Star. < https://tinyurl.com/4t9b6s6t >

Video:  < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72PB4dRrsKs >  Column: <A Belated Apology for Notorious Crime Coverage – journal-isms.com >

June 25, 2023, simulcast on Facebook at < https://www.facebook.com/RPjournalisms/ >

 

“How U.S. Ambassadors of Color See the World.”

A PBS documentary was titled ““The American Diplomat: FIRST-CLASS PATRIOTS ABROAD. SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS AT HOME.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says, “During my confirmation hearing, I said that I would judge the success of my tenure, in part, by how well I lead the Department to be more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible. Together, we will make the Department a more effective organization, better equipped to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century.”

Panelists:

— Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, who is leaving her position as the State Department’s first chief diversity and inclusion officer.

— Ambassador (ret.) Charles A. Ray, chair, Africa Program and trustee, Foreign Policy Research Institute; former board member, Association of Black American Ambassadors; has been posted to Cambodia and Zimbabwe.

— Prof. Michael L. Krenn, history professor, Appalachian State University. His 1999 book, “Black Diplomacy: African Americans and the State Department, 1945-1969,” was the inspiration for “The American Diplomat.” and he appears in the film.  < https://tinyurl.com/muxncxj >

— Ambassador (ret.) Aurelia Brazeal. “Serving 41 years in the United States Foreign Service, Ambassador Aurelia Erskine Brazeal was the first African American woman to be appointed ambassador by three presidential administrations.” < https://tinyurl.com/2p87d88n >

We also toasted:

— Claire Smith, winner of the 2023 Red Smith Award. “She is the first African American woman to win the award, given annually by the Associated Press Sports Editors to a writer or editor who has made major contributions to sports journalism. Smith is the sixth woman and fourth Black journalist to win the award,” which is “regarded as the highest sports journalism honor in the United States.”

— Nicole Avery Nichols, new editor of the Detroit Free Press.

— Yvette Walker, new vice president and editorial page editor at the Kansas City Star.

Column:  < https://www.journal-isms.com/like-a-minefield-being-the-black-u-s-diplomat/> Video < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnk47MHRACo >

May 21, 2023 

 

The 2023 Pulitzer Prize winners. Pulitzer column here: < https://www.journal-isms.com/pulitzers-illustrate-many-facets-of-race-class/>

Among those in the discussion:

James V. Grimaldi, Wall Street Journal, part of the team that won in investigative reporting for “sharp accountability reporting on financial conflicts of interest among officials at 50 federal agencies, revealing those who bought and sold stocks they regulated and other ethical violations by individuals charged with safeguarding the public’s interest.”

Marjorie Miller, Pulitzer Prize administrator.

Ron Nixon, the Associated Press’ vice president, news and head of investigations, enterprise, partnerships and grants and a Black journalist. The AP won the award for public service for “courageous reporting from the besieged city of Mariupol that bore witness to the slaughter of civilians in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Toluse Olorunnipa, co-winner with Robert Samuels for their book, “His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice, “An intimate, riveting portrait of an ordinary man whose fatal encounter with police officers in 2020 sparked an international movement for social change, but whose humanity and complicated personal story were unknown.”

Kyle Whitmire of AL.com, Birmingham, who won “for measured and persuasive columns that document how Alabama’s Confederate heritage still colors the present with racism and exclusion, told through tours of its first capital, its mansions and monuments–and through the history that has been omitted.”

We also heard from Merrill Brown, editorial director at G/O Media, who will be hiring the next editor of The Root. See: < https://tinyurl.com/424asn6a > (second item), and Hank Klibanoff’s update on his Cold Case project.  < https://www.wabe.org/shows/buried-truths/ >

Video: < https://youtu.be/pOvUtBtaR44 > Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/sweet-home-alabama-then-not-so-much/  >

April 17, 2023

What we can learn from Randall Robinson

< https://tinyurl.com/3akfb7he >

Cecelie Counts, formerly TransAfrica’s chief organizer and strategist.

Gwen McKinney, communications strategist who represented TransAfrica; creator and campaign director of Unerased: Black Women Speak < https://unerasedbws.com/>

with journalists:

Allison Davis
Courtland Milloy Jr.
Randall Pinkston

Brenda Wilson

Joe Davidson’s interview with Randall in 1983 for the National Leader:
< https://blackagendareport.com/interview-randall-robinson-third-world-advocate-1983 >

and African American journalist Terrell Jermaine Starr, who has been with us before to discuss Ukraine, tweeted from Israel:

“You can’t comprehend what Palestinians are experiencing until you come here and see it for yourself.”

More in Terrell’s Twitter feed: < https://twitter.com/terrelljstarr >

Background video: Marc Lamont Hill, “Why Black People Should Care About Palestinian Liberation” (The Root, 2020) < https://tinyurl.com/359xyuv5 >

We toasted Ju-Don Marshall, just named president and CEO of WFAE, the public radio station in Charlotte, N.C. < https://tinyurl.com/j4z63ran >.

Narrative, part 1: < https://tinyurl.com/ykbns7vv > Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/do-media-tailor-reporting-to-the-powerful/> Video:  < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Jr-3ZOKws >

March 28, 2023

By now, most of us have heard about the concerns that artificial intelligence prompts both in journalism and for people of color, and we discussed them both at this Journal-isms Roundtable.

— Renée Cummings of the University of Virginia, who joined the School of Data Science in 2020 as the School’s first Data Activist in Residence. “She is a Criminologist, Criminal Psychologist, Artificial Intelligence Ethicist, Therapeutic Jurisprudence Specialist, and Urban Technologist. Her areas of research interests include artificial intelligence, political science, and criminology. She studies the impact of artificial intelligence on criminal justice, specifically in communities of color and incarcerated populations,” according to her bio. https://datascience.virginia.edu/people/renee-cummings

— Calvin D. Lawrence, a distinguished engineer at IBM and member of IBM’s Corporate AI Ethics board as well as its Academy of Technology. His forthcoming book is “Hidden in White Sight: How AI Empowers and Deepens Systemic Racism.” https://hiddeninwhitesight.com
In his book, “Lawrence reveals startling evidence of the technology used by policing and judicial systems that contain in-built biases stemming from human prejudices and systemic or institutional preferences. However, he attests, there are steps AI developers and technologists can do to redress the balance.”

— Nicol Turner Lee of the Brookings Institution, where she is “a senior fellow in Governance Studies, the director of the Center for Technology Innovation, and serves as Co-Editor-In-Chief of TechTank. . . . She is an expert on the intersection of race, wealth, and technology within the context of civic engagement, criminal justice, and economic development.” (and she has a lot to say about the need for anti-racism within the artificial intelligence field.

— Angle Bush, founder, Black Women In Artificial Intelligence < www.blackwomeninai.com >

We also toasted Jim Trotter, the NFL reporter whose contract was not renewed after questioning NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about NFL diversity (see < https://tinyurl.com/8rw8x5k9 > and Leroy Chapman Jr., incoming editor-in-chief at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. See: < https://tinyurl.com/yc3zhzz3 >

Video: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwpqaR0hiSA > Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/how-journalists-can-blunt-the-racism-algorithm/ >

Narrative, part 1: < https://tinyurl.com/2s3wy8xs >; narrative, part 2: < https://tinyurl.com/3ah5ehdy >

Short clip of Jim Trotter appearance by Rebecca Aguilar: < https://twitter.com/RebeccaAguilar/status/1640875076781309952 >.

Feb. 19, 2023

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., assistant House Democratic leader, returns after joining us in January 2021. (Photo by Sharon Farmer/sfphotoworks)

Also:  Dennis Brownlee, founder of the African American Irish Diaspora Network https://www.aaidnet.org/

Video: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_fZdrw5NgI >

Column: “At Journal-isms Roundtable, Clyburn Lauds Carter on Judgeships, Showing ‘How to Lose’ ” < https://tinyurl.com/yckn2kxt > (2nd item) (Feb. 19)

Column: Don Lemon Remains Off Air: To Clyburn, Haley’s Age Isn’t the Problem (Feb. 20)

Column: Shamrocks to Sprout at Black Colleges: Irish, African Diaspora Have Complicated History (March 16) 

Column: Clyburn Renews Push to Honor ‘Lift Every Voice’ (March 29)

Narrative Part 1: < https://tinyurl.com/5xnjr3y8 > Part 2: < https://tinyurl.com/4kxtjykb >

Feb. 6, 2023

Our first hybrid in-person and Zoom Roundtable, hosted by American University.

The guest was Dr. Julius Garvey, a surgeon and son of the legendary Black nationalist and Pan Africanist Marcus Garvey — who used journalism to communicate his message via his newspaper, The Negro World, from 1918 to 1933.

Senghor Baye, a longtime leader of the current iteration of Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association, also spoke. “The journalism piece is critical,” he had said, speaking of Garvey’s movement.

Paula Laura Alberto, who edited the recent “Voices of the Race: Black Newspapers in Latin America, 1870-1960,” discussed the Black Press in Latin America and the influence of The Negro World among Afro-Latin American thinkers and journalists.

We toasted Joy Thomas Moore, mother of new Maryland Gov. Wes Moore — only the third elected Black governor in the nation’s history — and received an update from the principals behind the proposed Center for Black Excellence and Culture in Madison, Wis.

Video:< https://youtu.be/xegpENXEGbs >. Column: < https://tinyurl.com/5y9sv9b3 >. Narrative (Facebook): <http://tinyurl.com/mzzhxu5f >

Jan. 30, 2023

“Who’ll Pay Reparations on My Soul?”

— Ellis Cose, journalist and author of “Race and Reckoning: From Founding Fathers to Today’s Disruptors.”

— Katie Galioto, Star Tribune, Minneapolis, who has been covering city hall in St. Paul for the past two years and is following this story she reported:
St. Paul forms permanent reparations commission in move toward ‘real racial justice’

— Rachel Swarns, journalist, author and journalism professor at NYU. In 2016, Rachel broke the story about Georgetown University’s relationship to slavery. Her forthcoming book — The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church — will be published by Random House in June.

— Nkechi Taifa, lawyer and reparations advocate who has just published “Reparations on Fire: How and Why it’s Spreading Across America“

— Alvin B. Tillery Jr., Ph.D., professor of political science and director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy. He is leading a study of reparations developments in Evanston, Ill. “On March 22, 2021, the Evanston City Council passed an ordinance, introduced by Alderman Robin Rue Simmons, to earmark the first $10 million from a 3% tax on legalized cannabis sales to fund a reparations program for Black residents.”

Also in the “room”:

A member of the St. Paul city council’s reparations legislative advisory committee
https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/st-paul-city-council-establishes-permanent-reparations-commission/

— Trahern Crews, founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota,
https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/derek-chauvin-trial-verdict/card/yGMknGmLLRXkfiPniDVY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q_ZnOuPZjg
https://www.gp.org/trahern_crews_2021_sc_candidate

and:

Ruben Navarrette Jr., syndicated columnist (“Mexican Americans are not seeking reparations“)

YouTube video: <  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUV1rVGoKhY  > Column: <  https://www.journal-isms.com/wholl-pay-and-what-are-reparations-anyway/ > Narrative part 1, < https://tinyurl.com/mw3jsyts >; part 2: < https://tinyurl.com/2p9ed9v2 >

 

 

 Dec. 18, 2022

What Journalists Need to Know About Africa

Melvin Foote, president and CEO of the Constituency for Africa, < https://dominiontv.net/an-interview-with-melvin-p-foote-president-and-chief-executive-officer-of-constituency-for-africa/>

Emmanuel K. Dogbevi, managing editor at Ghana Business News and executive director at NewsBridge Africa. He wrote “In Ghana, Only a Handful of Journalists Are Able To Do Critical Reporting” for Nieman Reports while at Columbia last summer on a Knight-Bagehot Fellowship. < https://niemanreports.org/articles/ghana-democracy-pres-freedom/ >. Emmanuel is back in West Africa, and messaged, “Most journalists practicing in the West have no idea what it takes to practice journalism in Africa. I see that all the time when I am working on collaborative projects.”

Milton Allimadi, teaches African history at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, publisher, the Black Star News, Ugandan-American.  Last year, Journal-isms ran “How the Western Media Demonized Africa,” an excerpt from his book.
https://www.journal-isms.com/2021/07/how-the-western-media-demonized-africa/

Karen Attiah, columnist and former global opinions editor, Washington Post; former Fulbright scholar to Ghana, has reported from Curacao, Nigeria, Ghana; author of “
It’s not just Trump: Western media has long treated black and brown countries like ‘shitholes’ (2018) < https://tinyurl.com/mssaf9ks >

Kiratiana Freelon, international correspondent in Rio de Janeiro; co-chair, NABJ Global Journalism Task Force.

Rodney Sieh, editor-in-chief and publisher, investigative publication FrontPageAfrica, Liberia,

J. Siguru Wahutu, PhD, NYU assistant professor, media, culture and communication; faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. (Research subjects: – Sociology of Knowledge; Sociology of Media; Data Privacy; Media Manipulation; Human Rights Violations; Genocide and Mass Atrocity; Sub-Sahara Africa)

Timed to follow the U.S-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, Dec. 13-15 < https://www.state.gov/africasummit/ >

Press Freedom to Be Topic at U.S.-African Summit < https://tinyurl.com/3y67cdfa > (scroll down)

Column: < ‘Dancing to the Tune of Whiteness’ – journal-isms.com >. YouTube video: < https://youtu.be/xUc9TpkKlSA > Narrative: < https://tinyurl.com/sh55dv8s >

Nov. 20, 2022:

Oct. 16, 2022:

Dean Baquet (pictured) stepped down as the first African American to lead the New York Times newsroom, and it was widely viewed as a successful editorship. He joined us in his new role leading a local investigative Times fellowship. < https://tinyurl.com/4pzzhwpx >

With him were the new co-managing editors Marc Lacey and Carolyn Ryan.  We also toasted Don Hudson (pictured), named new editor of Newsday. < https://tinyurl.com/4s9pybrd > (scroll down), who joined the conversation. YouTube video: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQx-SVqBjcc  > Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/not-your-parents-new-york-times/ > Narrative, Part 1: < https://tinyurl.com/yckkmdhk >
Part 2: < https://tinyurl.com/u9tm5rv7 >

Sept. 26, 2022:

How do historians of color look at the state of U.S. democracy in 2022, and how should journalists frame their first rough drafts of history?

With, in alphabetical order:

—Philip Deloria, first specialist in Native American studies on the Harvard faculty. https://bit.ly/3SZvUfT . Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History; Traditional Territory of the Massachusett People

— Stewart Kwoh, a co-founder and co-executive director of the Asian American Education Project https://asianamericanedu.org/ and founder and president emeritus of Asian American Advancing Justice – LA

— Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Ford Foundation Professor of History, Race and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Directs the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project and is former director of New York’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/k…

— Aimee M. Villarreal, Ph.D, assistant professor, Department of Anthropology, Texas State University; focused on restorative justice and racial reconciliation processes related to public representations of history and identity in the U.S, Southwest. https://bit.ly/3xjjeas [PDF]

In addition, Ray Suarez, journalist and podcaster, formerly of the “PBS NewsHour” and author of “Latino Americans: The 500-Year Legacy That Shaped a Nation,” returned to help moderate. He is now teaching at NYU Shanghai! https://bit.ly/3QTSVyF

We presented a brief remembrance of the late broadcast journalist Bernard Shaw, with a discussion among his journalist friends Kenneth Walker, Clarence Page, Lynne Adrine and Eugene Robinson.

And we toasted Ron Nixon on his promotion to VP for investigative, enterprise, grants and partnerships at the Associated Press.

Video:  < (103) Journal-isms Roundtable, September 26, 2022 – YouTube > Column:  Was U.S. Ever a Democracy for People of Color? – journal-isms.com

May 22, 2022

April 24, 2022

With Ukraine the top news story of 2022, and critics asking whether the news media are giving other tragedies around the world their due, we discuss who gets to be a foreign correspondent, how much diversity there is among them, and what it’s like to be one.

We are joined by Terrell Jermaine Starr (pictured), to our knowledge the only African American journalist reporting consistently from Ukraine, doing so since before the Russian invasion.

And panelists:

— Michael Slackman, AME/international for the New York Times

–– Eva Rodriguez, who has just left the Washington Post as deputy foreign editor. (She started April 11 as editor-in-chief of The Fuller Project, “a global non-profit newsroom that focuses on matters and issues that impact women/girls.”)

— Dan Lothian, executive producer, “The World” on public radio.

— Gary Lee, a former Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post and Time, who later reported from more than 60 countries for the Washington Post travel section.

And journalists calling in from South Africa, China, England and Thailand

From South Africa: John Eligon of the New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/by/john-eligon
From China: Dake Kang of the Associated Press.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dakekang/
From England: Selam Gebrekidan, investigative reporter at the New York Times https://www.linkedin.com/in/selam-gebrekidan-1069b752/
From Thailand, Joe Ritchie, New York Times International Edition, Hong Kong

From Mexico, Morris Thompson, retired editor/foreign correspondent, Knight Ridder and Newsday.

Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/the-good-stories-we-miss-abroad/ >; Video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0tVfCjyvog>; Narrative, part 1:  < https://bit.ly/3Ftmp23 >; Narrative, part 2:  < https://bit.ly/3KV84MN >

March 28, 2022

“Askia Muhammad and the Critical Role of the Black Columnist.”

Topic A was Will Smith’s slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards the night before. But we also had on the table such questions as:

Can columnists write whatever they want? Do Black columnists feel pressured not to write “so much” about race? Are there topics more columnists should address? Do Black columnists have a different mandate than others?

Black columnists discussed the environment in which their colleague, the late Askia Muhammad, https://bit.ly/3rYEnUU plied his craft.

Washington’s Pacifica station WPFW-FM, streamed at wpfwfm.org, broadcast a 24-hour tribute to Askia on Monday, March 28, 2022, his birthday.

This radio version of the Journal-isms Roundtable aired from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time.

Participating in the discussion were:

Todd Steven Burroughs, public historian, media consultant and contractor, Black press historian
Monroe Anderson, “cyber columnist,” Chicago
Kevin B. Blackistone, Washington Post sports columnist, professor at the University of Maryland, ESPN panelist
Mary C. Curtis, columnist, Roll Call; contributor, NPR/WFAE Charlotte; senior facilitator/Public Voices Fellowship Program | The OpEd Project

Courtland Milloy, Metro columnist, Washington Post
Barbara Reynolds, former columnist, USA Today and Chicago Tribune.

Michael Paul Williams, columnist, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 2021 Pulitzer Prize winner for commentary

. . . and listener call-ins.

(Column: https://bit.ly/3JgwBLN) (Video: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46JCZ5-C698> )

Photo: A meeting of the Trotter Group of African American columnists in Jackson, Miss., in 2014, where the group visited civil rights landmarks.  Askia is second from left. (Credit: Keith McMillan)

March 20, 2022

Hank Klibanoff, director of the Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project at Emory University (coldcases.emory.edu), a former managing editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and co-author of “The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation,” among other experiences, on the cold cases project. The resemblance of the Ahmaud Arbery story (pictured) to much older murders from the Jim Crow South is impossible to resist, he says. Column: < https://bit.ly/3qFlHsl > Narrative and photos : Part 1: < https://bit.ly/3JKhqvg >. Part 2: <  https://bit.ly/3LgYS6a >  Video: < https://bit.ly/3iE6Qdk >

March 1, 2022

Malcolm Nance, MSNBC analyst and former counterintelligence agent, just back from a month in Ukraine;

Remi Adekoya, Nigerian-Polish journalist who spent 19 years in Poland and teaches politics at the University of York in Britain <https://bit.ly/3M4R9cz >; author of “Biracial Britain” < https://bit.ly/36D3xAd >

Video: < https://youtu.be/1OxThjPmKcc > Column: < https://bit.ly/3MypXTY > Narrative, Part 1, is at: < https://bit.ly/35sr7zI > Part 2 is at < https://bit.ly/35xVZ1B >

Feb. 27, 2022

Photojournalists of color

 Chester Higgins, former staff photographer for The New York Times, will discuss his latest book, “Sacred Nile,” followed by a panel of photojournalists of color:

— Marie D. DeJesus, staff photojournalist at the Houston Chronicle and president of the National Press Photographers Association <  http://www.mariedejesus.com/about-me >;

— Monica Herndon, staff photographer at the Philadelphia Inquirer who is part of its “Wildest Dreams” project < https://bit.ly/3L5XRyw > featuring Black photojournalists;

— Carl Juste; longtime photographer for the Miami Herald and founder of the Iris PhotoCollective < https://irisphotocollective.com/ >;

—  Hyungwon Kang, former photographer or photo editor for the Los Angeles Times, Associated Press and Reuters, preparing his second coffee table book on the history of Korea. < https://www.kang.org/korea >

— Eugene Tapahe, Navajo, designer, artist and photographer who specializes in the landscape and people of the Southwest. < https://tapahe.com/ >.

Chester Higgins said, ” ‘Sacred Nile’ will change the way you think about our history and the central role of Africans in faith making.” He called it “a photographic work 50 years in the making about our ancient work with the spirit.” We discussed why so few photographers of color are working as photographers in major news media outlets, and the need to increase diversity in visuals staffs and in newsroom leadership.

Co-sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association

Video: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0zF_t8qaq4 >  Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/a-sunday-hotter-than-july/ > (second item) Narrative: < https://bit.ly/3B7JhlV > Column: < https://bit.ly/3xf5hdy > (second item) Video: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0zF_t8qaq4 >

Journal-isms is a partner of the American University School of Communication

January 2022

On Jan. 23, we heard from cartoonists of color:

Lalo Alcaraz < https://laloalcaraz.com/ >
Ray Billingsley < http://www.billingsleyart.com/Main-Page.html > (pictured)
Barbara Brandon-Croft < https://inthetrove.com/barbara-brandoncroft >

Hector Cantú < https://to.pbs.org/3f0SNfS >
Walt Carr < http://carrtoonsplus.com/ >
Rob King, former cartoonist, now ESPN exec < https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/king_rob/ >
Angelo Lopez < https://angelolopez.wordpress.com/>, <https://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoonists/lopeza/ >
Marty Two Bulls < http://m2bulls.com/ >

and on “comics journalism,” Josh Neufeld < https://bit.ly/3F6Ry9W >

Video: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf9JqCHRV8w >; column < https://www.journal-isms.com/the-white-gate-keeping-battle-is-real/ >. Narrative, Part 1 < https://bit.ly/3se91Zk > Narrative, Part 2 < https://bit.ly/349OSM0 > Part 3 at < https://bit.ly/3IXDIbZ >

December 2021

Four writers from the forthcoming “Journalism and Jim Crow: White Supremacy and the Black Struggle for a New America,” < https://bit.ly/3q4HRoq >, edited by Kathy Roberts Forde and Sid Bedingfield. The book also covers efforts by the Black press to counter that Jim Crow narrative.

The Roundtable was co-sponsored by the Minorities and Communication Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), journalism professors whose leaders were present. In attendance were industry figures, journalists and activists knowledgeable about the history of racism in American newspapers. Column: < https://bit.ly/3q1rp6C > Video: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX5VzlTekZM  > Narrative and photos: <   >, part 1;  < https://bit.ly/3J6rz5I >, part 2.

November 2021

How Black women’s issues play out in the media. With: Nichelle Smith, enterprise editor for racism and history, USA Today;  Errin Haines, editor-at-large at The 19th; dream hampton, creator of the 2019 “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary series; Yanick Rice Lamb, publisher of fierceforblackwomen.com  and journalism professor at Howard University; and Sonya Ross, former AP journalist and founder of the website blackwomenunmuted.com. (Photo credit: Lifetime/MSN) Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU67ME2zNVE

Narrative and photos on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3cbNYyX (Part 1) and https://bit.ly/3cgC07g (Part 2); Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/dropping-the-ball-on-covering-the-sisterhood/ >.

October 2021

Journal-isms Roundtable hears from Michael H. Cottman, Patrice Gaines, Nick Charles and Keith Harriston, authors of “Say Their Names: How Black Lives Came to Matter in America,” and congratulates Jackie Jones, Amanda Barrett, Nick Charles and Norman Parish.

Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/for-authors-say-their-names-was-personal/> Video: < https://bit.ly/3mH5xMn > Photos by Don Baker/Don Baker Photography Group. Narrative: Part 1 is at: < https://bit.ly/3iNO57B > Part 2 is at: < https://bit.ly/3aq7zLc >

September 2021

Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General @CivilRights tells journalists at the @princeeditor Roundtable they are looking at police reform and accountability and how they deal with #media at protests. #journalism #SB98 pic.twitter.com/WVaaL6j7O2

— Rebecca Aguilar (@RebeccaAguilar) September 28, 2021

 

Justice!

— Vanita Gupta, associate attorney general
https://bit.ly/3m6AnO1

— Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights
https://bit.ly/3kQBh1E

— Amy L. Solomon, acting assistant attorney general for the Office of Justice Programs (oversees the Bureau of Justice Statistics, source of a wealth of information for journalists.)
https://bit.ly/2YdqwxX

— Anthony D. Coley, director, Office of Public Affairs, and senior adviser to the attorney general
https://bit.ly/3maLiXa

— Kenneth A. Polite Jr., assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division
https://bit.ly/2Y113HP

— Ronald Davis, director, U.S. Marshals Service
https://bit.ly/3offHWL

Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/justice-for-the-press-at-protests/ > Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5REUpTTWkhs

August 2021

The United States pullout from Afghanistan, with Malcolm Nance, MSNBC chief terrorism expert, Ozier Muhammad, Ron Claiborne and Randall Pinkston, who covered Afghanistan while they worked for The New York Times, ABC News and CBS News, respectively. Maria Reeve and Katrice Hardy, the new top editors of the Houston Chronicle and Dallas Morning News; and Trey Baker,  White House senior adviser for African American outreach/public engagement, and Erica Loewe, White House director of African American media. Column < https://bit.ly/3koc11o > Narrative and photos < https://bit.ly/2WWEjs5 > (Part 1) and < https://bit.ly/3n5bEvF > (Part 2). Video < https://bit.ly/3jKoVI5 >

July 2021

 

“Straight Talk on TV Hair,” with Rashida Jones, recently named named president of MSNBC, Anzio Williams, senior vice president, diversity, equity and inclusion for NBC Owned Stations; Ava Thompson Greenwell, professor at the Medill School and author of the new “Ladies Leading: The Black Women Who Control Television News”;

Ramon Escobar, senior vice president, talent recruitment & development, CNN Worldwide; Josh Eure, vp/live programming at Black News Channel; and Pulitzer Prize winner Tamara Payne and her brother Jamal Payne, celebrating the honor accorded the book written by their late dad, Les Payne, with Tamara, “The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X.”

They were joined by members of Investigative Reporters & Editors and David Boardman, dean of the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University, who has just announced creation of the Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting. Narrative: < https://bit.ly/3Aq3qSa >; column < https://www.journal-isms.com/straight-talk-on-tv-hair/ > video  < https://bit.ly/3iyyitC >. Photos by Sharon Farmer/sfphotoworks

June 2021

New L.A. Times executive editor Kevin Merida and his wife, writer Donna Britt; DeNeen Brown (pictured) and Gary Lee, who have been on the ground in Tulsa, Okla., site of the 1921 massacre, as well as Tulsa native Roy S. Johnson; new Pulitzer Prize winners Frank Franklin and Michael Paul Williams; and Amber Payne and Bina Venkataraman, representatives of The Emancipator, the new collaboration between antiracism leader Ibram Kendi and the Boston Globe.< https://bit.ly/3itmMjC >. Narrative, part 1: <https://bit.ly/3xK928J>;  Narrative, part 2: < https://bit.ly/3gSbuTJ >; Column: < https://bit.ly/35Mw1DS >; Video: < https://youtu.be/g1b76WQ6_nQ >. (Photo credit: Courtesy Jonathan Silvers/Saybrook Productions Ltd.)

May 2021

 

“Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology): How journalists can better cover environmental justice/environmental racism.”

— Charles Lee, senior policy adviser for environmental justice at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency < https://bit.ly/3bWU46X >

— Mustafa Santiago Ali, formerly of the Hip-Hop Caucus and EPA, now vice president of environmental justice, climate, and community revitalization, National Wildlife Federation < https://bit.ly/3u9CZfX > and < https://bit.ly/3oBi8RW >,

— Dina Gilio-Whitaker, educator and writer on indigenous environmental justice and other indigenous policy-related issues < https://dinagwhitaker.wordpress.com/ >

— Evlondo Cooper, writer with the climate and energy program of Media Matters for America < https://bit.ly/3bGAVFZ >, and

— Heather McTeer Toney, climate justice liaison, Environmental Defense Fund < https://bit.ly/33VzwHd >

We congratulated Dr. Battinto Batts Jr., named new dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. < https://bit.ly/3v4vhVZ > .

Narrative, part 1: < https://bit.ly/3fKgNoY > Narrative, part 2 < https://bit.ly/3wT3S9R > Column <https://www.journal-isms.com/media-play-a-part-in-environmental-racism/> YouTube video: < https://youtu.be/25hlV3xXBo0 >

April 2021

Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, creators of “the Philly Sound” and Philadelphia International Records, along with Robin R. Terry, chair and CEO of the Motown Museum, and with Iris Gordy, a board member of the museum and former Motown executive.

Gamble and Huff are commemorating the 50th anniversary of the label, and the Motown Museum is planning an expansion of its Detroit landmark. Narrative Part 1: < https://bit.ly/3xOmPMf > Part 2: < https://bit.ly/3up8S58 > Column: < https://bit.ly/2SpC9ib >. YouTube video: < https://bit.ly/33dRxQT >
Previews:  Philadelphia International https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGLLqp0YHHk

Motown Museum  https://www.motownmuseum.org/about/expansion/

March 2021

Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands, who drew kudos as House impeachment manager, Monica R. Richardson, new editor of the Miami Herald, Mike Webb, senior vice president of communications of the News Literacy Project, and Al Tompkins, senior faculty at the Poynter Institute, on what journalists can do to counter disinformation. Narrative, part 1: < https://bit.ly/3x3rLfP >; Column: < https://bit.ly/3tu4GRr>; YouTube video: < https://youtu.be/A4reOoouSAg >

February 2021

The pastors of the two historic Black D.C. churches whose Black Lives Matter banners were burned, the Revs. William Lamar IV of Metropolitan AME and Ianther Mills of Asbury United Methodist Church, joined by Susan Corke of the Southern Poverty Law Center. George Derek Musgrove’s new website plotting all of the major Black Power events and organizations in Washington D.C. Jon Funabiki and Valerie Bush on their Renaissance Journalism Project in the Bay Area. Narrative: < http://bit.ly/37pcjPV> (Part 1) < http://bit.ly/3sdnmnx  > (Part 2) <  Column: < https://www.journal-isms.com/will-church-banners-afire-connect-the-dots/ >. YouTube video:<https://youtu.be/QmwLtxomcmo >

January 2021

 

December 2020

 

“How Journalists Can Become Successful Authors ” with Dana Canedy, executive vice president and publisher of Simon & Schuster (pictured) ; Wanda Lloyd, author of “Coming Full Circle: From Jim Crow to Journalism” and co-editor with Tina McElroy Ansa, “Meeting at the Table: African-American Women Write on Race, Culture and Community;” Karen Grey Houston, broadcast journalist and author of “Daughter of the Boycott: Carrying on a Montgomery Family’s Civil Rights Legacy”;  Matt Pearce of the NewsGuild via the L.A. Times; Calvin Reid, senior news editor, Publishers Weekly ; Faith Childs, literary agent; Aminda MarquŽs Gonz‡lez, formerly executive editor of the Miami Herald, now vice president and executive editor at Simon & Schuster,  We toasted Shirley Carswell, incoming executive director of Dow Jones News Fund. Via Zoom Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020, in Washington. Photos by  Sharon Farmer/sfphotoworks.  Narrative: < http://bit.ly/3bp0lsf > Column:  < https://www.journal-isms.com/how-journalists-can-be-successful-authors/>; Video; <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZSJkYu_-QE&feature=youtu.be>

November 2020 

“How Others See Our U.S. Election,” with: Luis Alonso Lugo, who covers Washington for univision.com; Jacqueline Charles, Caribbean correspondent for the Miami Herald;  Anita Li of Toronto, co-founder, Canadian Journalists of Colour; Macollvie J. Neel, managing editor, Haitian Times (New York); Joseph Torres, Alicia Bell and Collette Watson of Free Press, who have released a 100-page essay, “Media 2070: An Invitation to Dream Up Media Reparations”; Congratulations and toasts to: Arthur Cribbs of Howard University, NABJ’s 2020 Student Journalist of the Year; Pam McAllister-Johnson, first Black female publisher of a mainstream paper, the Ithaca (N.Y.) Journal (1982); to be inducted into NABJ Hall of Fame; Fred Sweets, contributing editor, St. Louis American; former photographer and editor at Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Associated Press. To be inducted into NABJ Hall of Fame. Video< : https://fb.watch/1VfPJvoP8C/ >  or < https://bit.ly/3o38XrK > Column: < https://bit.ly/3ldH0vt >

October 2020

Video: < https://bit.ly/2HfYhG9> Narrative < https://bit.ly/3mu7r1g > Column: < https://bit.ly/2G2HndP > September 2020

August 2020

July 2020

June 2020

Prison journalism and the reasons journalists should care about prisons. Speakers were William Drummond of UC Berkeley, investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell and Lawrence Brantley and Keri Blakinger of the Marshall Project. Narratives are on Facebook: < https://bit.ly/3yJkzpb > for Part 1. < https://bit.ly/3f7iHN1 > for Part 2. Video:< https://bit.ly/2zdCOde > Column: < https://bit.ly/3f0whlr >

 

 

May 2020 Homelessness

Speakers included: Chris Arnade, author of “Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America,” Eric Falquero, editorial director, Street Sense, Washington, D.C., Sylvie Sturm, journalist and a recent graduate of San Francisco State University, who compiled and analyzed hundreds of articles and columns published in the Bay Area about homelessness, Joanne Zuhl, executive editor, Street Roots, Portland, Ore., which covers poverty and homelessness, as well as Native American issues, Sheila White, a writer, photographer, filmmaker and advocate in her capacity at Street Sense Media, who just moved into her own place after seven years of homelessness; and Eric Ferrero, new executive director of the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Narrative — Part 1: < https://bit.ly/2TrvuSi > Part 2: <https://bit.ly/3g9GRrS>. Column: <  Are Journalists Too Far Removed to Relate to Homelessness? – journal-isms.com >

April 2020

February 2020

January 2020 Malcolm Nance, former counterintelligence agent and current MSNBC analyst, author of “The Plot to Betray America.” at Jan. 7, 2020, roundtable (Credit: Sharon Farmer/sfphotoworks) Narrative: <http://bit.ly/37PMWV8>. Videos by Janice Temple < https://www.periscope.tv/w/1YqGodAaBEjJv > and Don Baker < https://vimeo.com/38355537 >

December 2019

10th annual Journal-isms Roundtable Holiday Party. Valerie Jarrett was interviewed by April Ryan, and Lawrence Jackson, the only African American photographer in the Obama White House, shared some of his photos from that time, collected in his new book, “Yes, We Did.” The party took place in the Newseum, with its stunning view of the U.S. Capitol, for the last time. The Newseum is moving to points unknown. Narrative: <  https://bit.ly/4dQ4K4S > (part  1)  and < http://bit.ly/3cMAmKy >  (part 2). Janice Temple’s videos:
< https://www.periscope.tv/JaniceTemple/1RDxlNqzwODGL >, with breakouts of April Ryan’s interview of Valerie Jarrett at
< https://youtu.be/7ydacenAhjg >,<https://youtu.be/mrA_L0GnbrA> (part 2) and < https://youtu.be/ZMiFwgdPoW4 > (Part 3).

November 2019

Four people from savejournalism.org discussed how Facebook, Google and other Big Tech companies are taking away journalism jobs. Narrative: < http://bit.ly/33fQsFz > Video: https://www.periscope.tv/JaniceTemple/1BdxYeWLeLBxX and https://www.periscope.tv/JaniceTemple/1vOxwaOQLQEGB .

October 2019

Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, took questions on a wide variety of topics, and Sarah J. Glover, immediate past president of the National Association of Black Journalists, made a surprise presentation to Richard Prince. Narrative and photos: < http://bit.ly/2B8Uoww >Video at < https://www.pscp.tv/w/1mrGmrlAqdqJy >, the Our Voices Periscope Channel, and https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/building-political-power-naccp-president-derrick-johnson-temple on LinkedIn.

August 2019

Relations between Africans and the African diaspora in the United States and Caribbean amid commemorations of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans in the British Virginia colony. Nemata Amelia Ibitayo Blyden, author of “African Americans & Africa,”  and our own journalists Maureen Bunyan and Kenneth Walker were our panelists. Film maker Zadi Zokou took questions from us via Skype. Narrative and photos: < http://bit.ly/2koeq19 > (part 1)  and < http://bit.ly/2lvPZz0 > (part 2). Video by Shevry Lassiter on Facebook Live:  < http://bit.ly/2lyyNZC >  .

June 2019

“Why are African Americans disproportionately arrested in D.C. and elsewhere, and does unconscious bias have anything to do with it?” Photos and narrative < http://bit.ly/2x9LEnB > with Robert A. “Tony” Dixon, president, Washington Metropolitan Chapter, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; Michael Perloff of the ACLU-D.C., co-author of the report “Racial Disparities in D.C. Policing: Descriptive Evidence from 2013–2017”; Howard Ross, partner, Udarta Consulting, expert on unconscious bias; Ron Harris, journalist and co-author with Matthew Horace of “The Black and the Blue.”

April 2019

Though the 2020 presidential election is 18 months away, we discussed racism, sexism and the proper use of such terms as “voter suppression” and “chain migration” in the coverage. Panelists were Laura Barron-Lopez and Nolan Mc Caskill, Politico reporters; Karen Finney, CNN commentator and former Hillary Clinton, Stacey Abrams campaign aide; Albert Morales, senior political director at Latino Decisions and Sudeep Reddy, Politico managing editor. Narrative: < http://bit.ly/2JzXgro > Video: < http://bit.ly/2DWXTYI >

March 2019

Brunch with Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., new chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Narrative, Part One: < http://bit.ly/2T7iD4w > Part Two: < http://bit.ly/2TK76N7> Video: < https://bit.ly/2VZpvTl >. Column: < https://tinyurl.com/3pnh2rh5 >

February 2019

Simba Sana, the guest at our February roundtable, grew up in one of the roughest neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., and is familiar with others like that. He’s written a memoir, “Never Stop.” He also founded Karibu Books, which became the largest black bookstore in the country. Simba was asked to compare those parts of town with the images of them presented in the news media. Narrative: <http://bit.ly/2Pvcb8Q > Video: < http://bit.ly/2GqGpa5 >

January 2019

 

More: 2019: https://bit.ly/4dQ4K4S

2018: https://www.journal-isms.com/2018/05/journal-isms-roundtable-2018/
2017: https://www.journal-isms.com/?p=15468&preview=true
2016: https://www.journal-isms.com/?p=15471&preview=true
2015: https://www.journal-isms.com/?p=15492&preview=true
2014: https://www.journal-isms.com/?p=15478&preview=true
2010-2013: https://www.journal-isms.com/?p=15499&preview=true