Maynard Institute archives

Writer Hints at Comcast Payoff to Sharpton

by richard0544

Updated July 28

Activist Was Early Backer of Acquisition of NBC

NABJ Picks New Orleans for 2012; Will Precede Unity

Two Years After Layoff, Norma Martin Is a Managing Editor

White Household Wealth Dwarfs That of Blacks, Latinos

GOP Makes Gains, but Only Among White Voters

Trio of African Americans in Top Posts at D.C. NPR Station

Carlton Hargro Leaving as Editor at Charlotte’s Alt Weekly

Keith Reed Named Senior Editor at ESPN The Magazine

As  His “Passion Project,” Rick Sanchez to Announce Sports

Angie Clemmons Leaving Denver Post, Plans Rethinking

Short Takes

Activist Was Early Backer of Acquisition of NBC

A Comcast spokesperson told the Daily Beast that Comcast has given $140,000 to the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network since 2009. (Credit: National Action Network)“Eight months after Al Sharpton signed a pivotal agreement that helped Comcast and NBC secure Federal Communications Commission approval for their $30 billion merger, MSNBC appears poised to reward him with a prime-time news show,” Wayne Barrett, who long covered Sharpton for the Village Voice, wrote Wednesday for the Daily Beast.

“While Sharpton is a soundbite success and entertaining TV guest, his three prior attempts at hosting a show have flopped badly, with the most recent, his ballyhooed ‘Education SuperHighway,’ dying after a single episode last fall. His anchor forays in 2004 and 2005 — ‘I Hate My Job’ and ‘Sharp Talk’ — ended after seven and 12 episodes respectively, while his 2004 presidential-campaign performance was so widely seen as vacuous and uninformed that it earned him remarkably puny support, even among black voters. In fact, until recently, Sharpton has been a Fox favorite, schmoozing with Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity 16 times in recent years, while appearing on Keith Olbermann’s old show only once.”

Barrett continued, “It’s gone remarkably unnoticed that Sharpton was the first major black leader to endorse the Comcast merger, which met fierce resistance.

“. . . A Comcast spokesperson told The Daily Beast that Comcast has given $140,000 to Sharpton’s National Action Network since 2009 — the same year the merger was first proposed. Though MSNBC president Phil Griffin was honored with a top prize at the April 2011 annual conference of NAN — and he, Chris Mathews, and other NBC notables had a table at NAN’s dinner — NBC would not answer questions about how much it’s given Sharpton.

“Comcast also insisted in an email to The Daily Beast that the company ‘pledged we would not interfere’ with NBC news operations, and ‘we have not and we will not,’ a response similar to the only answer we got from NBC. Neither, however, directly answered the question of whether there was any connection between Sharpton’s merger role and his anticipated selection for the show.”

The piece included no comment from Sharpton.

However, Brian Stelter reported in the New York Times:

“In a telephone interview this week, Mr. Sharpton said there was no connection between his past support for Comcast and his current role as a host for MSNBC. ‘How could there be a connection?’ he asked, noting that at the time of the merger review, there were no open time slots on the channel.

“In April, Mr. Sharpton presented a National Action Network award to Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC. Mr. Sharpton dismissed any connection there, too: ‘The year before, we honored Jeff Zucker,’ he said, referring to the former chief executive of NBCUniversal. ‘Did Zucker give me “S.N.L.”?’

“Mr. Sharpton said that if he were to join MSNBC, he would not leave the National Action Network, but would abstain from decisions that conflicted with his position in television. “

In April 2010, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists joined other groups in opposing the proposed acquisition of NBC by Comcast, saying that “this massive media consolidation will lead to fewer journalism jobs, less coverage of the Latino community, less diversity of voices, and excessive control for one company over the country’s media.”

Comcast Corp. and NBC Universal later announced a series of new and/or expanded diversity commitments.

Meanwhile, syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. wrote Wednesday that the discussion of the lack of journalists of color hosting prime-time cable shows hit a nerve.

“Here’s my pet peeve,” Navarrette wrote Wednesday in his column for the Washington Post Writers Group. “Too often, those who push for more opportunities for African-Americans pretend that they’re advocating for all ‘people of color’ when really their agenda always boils down to the advancement of one minority group.

“African-Americans want a black host in prime time. Fine. But Latinos are starting from scratch. They don’t have a presence at CNN in daytime, prime time, or anytime. The same goes for other minorities, such as Asians and Native Americans.”

Navarrette was talking not only about the prospect that Sharpton may be hired as the 6 p.m. host on MSNBC — which actually is not considered prime time — but also complaints by the NAACP and the National Association of Black Journalists that only whites were chosen to fill the prime-time anchor slots on CNN in a recent reshuffling.

Meanwhile, Melissa Harris-Perry, a professor of political science at Tulane University, is guest hosting in prime time this week on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.” Watch here. 

NABJ Picks New Orleans for 2012; Will Precede Unity

The National Association of Black Journalists has chosen New Orleans as the site for its 2012 convention, the first stand-alone NABJ conference to be held in a year when Unity: Journalists of Color is meeting.

The Unity convention is scheduled from Aug. 1-4 in Las Vegas. NABJ’s will be June 20-24.

“NABJ had selected New Orleans to host its 2014 convention. The board’s convention search committee reviewed proposals from other cities and decided it was more beneficial to move up the New Orleans convention to 2012,” a news release said.

“NABJ is excited about going to New Orleans next year. It is a fabulous city with the right mixture of a prime location, hotel price, convention space, and leisure activity to make a great convention for our members,” NABJ President Kathy Y. Times said in the release. “NABJ has not been to New Orleans since 1983. We look forward to our return, and partnering with a city rich in culture and tradition.”

The release continued, “New Orleans is still rebuilding from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The New Orleans Association of Black Journalists (NOABJ) has also been rebuilding since the chapter was decimated by the disaster.”

NABJ voted in April to withdraw from Unity: Journalists of Color, the coalition of the journalist-of-color associations, because “as a business model, UNITY no longer is the most financially prudent for NABJ and its membership.” Remaining are the national associations of Hispanic, Asian American and Native American journalists.

It remains to be seen whether Unity and NABJ will be competing for sponsors or whether sponsors will choose to support both.

Maurice Foster, NABJ’s executive director, has not responded to questions about how much sponsorship NABJ has lined up for 2012.

Onica N. Makwakwa, executive director of Unity, told Journal-isms on Monday, “We typically will announce commitments when agreements have been signed by all parties involved. That said, we are in the middle of sponsorship presentations and negotiations and plan to announce on a rolling basis as . . . agreements are executed.”

It may be too early for media companies to have made such decisions.

Peter Tira, communications director of the McClatchy Co., said Thursday, “McClatchy has sponsored and participated in every NABJ convention and every UNITY convention for many, many years. We don’t expect that to change next year — although as of now we aren’t officially ‘committed’ or inked to any specific contracts or proposals, etc.”

Virgil L. Smith, vice president/talent acquisition and diversity for Gannett Co., Inc., told Journal-isms last week, “We are hopeful that UNITY and NABJ will work things out for the 2012 UNITY Conference. If NABJ decides to not go to UNITY we will evaluate and make a decision as to the course of action we will take giving consideration to our employees and our longstanding commitment to diversity.”

At NBC News, spokeswoman Meghan Pianta said last week, “As you know, NBC News has a history of supporting diversity conventions and we anticipate continuing to do so. We’re excited about our plans for the 2011 NABJ convention next month, and will plan our sponsorships for 2012 as it gets closer.” [Added July 28]

Two Years After Layoff, Norma Martin Is a Managing Editor

Norma Martin When Norma Martin was assistant managing editor for features at the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune, circulation 83,199 during the week; 97,812 on Sundays, she laid off staffers. Then it was her turn to be pink-slipped. That was two years ago. On Monday, she started work at the Killeen (Texas) Daily Herald. It’s smaller — circulation 16,534 daily; 20,547 Sunday — but she’s back in the business, and she’s managing editor.

Martin’s layoff came in 2009, the year American Society of News Editors reported that American daily newspapers had shed 5,900 newsroom jobs, the largest one-year decline in employment in the history of the ASNE census, which began in 1978. “Of the journalists who departed newsrooms, 854 were minorities according to ASNE’s 2009 census,” ASNE reported.

For Martin, the years since that tremor haven’t been easy, but she knew what she had to do.

“You’re going to have to find a way to keep your foot in the business if you want to come back into the game,” she told Journal-isms in a telephone interview. “Figure out a way to enhance your skills.” For Martin, 48, that meant completing a master’s degree and learning Internet and multimedia operations.

Martin had already started a graduate program at the University of Missouri School of Journalism while in Tacoma. She finished her master’s thesis, “Female Newspaper Editors in Daily Newspapers in Mentoring.” It examined the role mentoring played as these executive editors and managing editors ascended the career ladder.

“I wasn’t finding a whole lot of literature on it,” she said. Interviewing those who had been editors from the 1960s on, Martin found mentoring to be essential. If there were few women mentors available in daily journalism, as was true in the earlier years, women found male mentors or people in other professions. Martin was awarded her degree in the summer of 2010.

Martin also did freelance work for MSN.com, freelanced for public relations agencies and worked for six or seven weeks for an online magazine, Colors NW, until it folded. There, “I learned how to manage an online publication, load videos, load photos,” she said. “I was looking for other Internet things to do.

“I have to give it to my editors at MSN,” she continued. “They were willing to teach me the technical stuff I didn’t know how to do. All of that taught me things that I will bring to this job,” where her responsibilities will include the online edition.

“What caught their eye is the Internet skills I had in my background,” she said. “And that master’s degree didn’t hurt.”

Killeen services Fort Hood and a young, military population comfortable with the Internet.

Martin said she makes no brief that the last two years have been easy. But the key, she said, was knowing what employers were looking for. And, she adds, “good friends and a good family will get you through.”

White Household Wealth Dwarfs that of Blacks, Latinos

“The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available government data from 2009,” Rakesh Kochhar, Richard Fry and Paul Taylor reported Tuesday for the Pew Research Center.

“These lopsided wealth ratios are the largest since the government began publishing such data a quarter century ago and roughly twice the size of the ratios that had prevailed between these three groups for the two decades prior to the Great Recession that ended in 2009.

“The Pew Research Center analysis finds that, in percentage terms, the bursting of the housing market bubble in 2006 and the recession that followed from late 2007 to mid-2009 took a far greater toll on the wealth of minorities than whites. From 2005 to 2009, inflation-adjusted median wealth fell by 66% among Hispanic households and 53% among black households, compared with just 16% among white households.

“As a result of these declines, the typical black household had just $5,677 in wealth (assets minus debts) in 2009, the typical Hispanic household had $6,325 in wealth and the typical white household had $113,149.

“Moreover, about a third of black (35%) and Hispanic (31%) households had zero or negative net worth in 2009, compared with 15% of white households. In 2005, the comparable shares had been 29% for blacks, 23% for Hispanics and 11% for whites.”

GOP Makes Gains, but Only Among White Voters

“As the country enters into the 2012 presidential election cycle, the electorate’s partisan affiliations have shifted significantly since Barack Obama won office nearly three years ago. In particular, the Democrats hold a much narrower edge than they did in 2008, particularly when the partisan leanings of independents are taken into account,” the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press reported on Friday.

“Notably, the GOP gains have occurred only among white voters; a 2-point Republican edge among whites in 2008 (46% to 44%) has widened to a 13-point lead today (52% to 39%). In sharp contrast, the partisan attachments of black and Hispanic voters have remained consistently Democratic.

“While Republican gains in leaned party identification span nearly all subgroups of whites, they are particularly pronounced among the young and poor. A seven-point Democratic advantage among whites under age 30 three years ago has turned into an 11-point GOP advantage today. And a 15-point Democratic advantage among whites earning less than $30,000 annually has swung to a slim four-point Republican edge today.”

Trio of African Americans in Top Posts at D.C. NPR Station

Caryn G. Mathes, general manager of WAMU-FM in Washington, has been elected to the board of directors of NPR, effective in November, the station announced Friday. The announcement perhaps will give visibility to a trio of African Americans in top posts at the general-interest NPR station in the nation’s capital.

Mathes, 56, is joined in senior management by Jim Asendio, news director, and Anthony V. Hayes, director of corporate marketing.

Jim Asendio, left, Caryn Mathes, and Anthony Hayes“WAMU 88.5 nationally ranks among the top five public radio stations for total listening, with an audience of more than 740,000 in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and an aggregate audience of 769,000 across analog, HD Radio and online platforms,” according to Mathes’ station bio.

“Under her leadership, a multi-year trend of contributor loss was halted, with the number of individual donors increasing by more than 18,000, or 57%, between Fiscal Year (FY) 05 and FY 11. She led the station through a lengthy contractual process to acquire state-of-the-art technology to manage the contributor database, a strategic move which will bear fruit for many years to come. She also energized the Major Individual Philanthropy program, chartering a volunteer Development Advisory Council to shepherd new donors to WAMU 88.5 and increasing the professional staffing in Development which has resulted in a 63% increase in the number of gifts of $1,000+ and an 85% increase in contributions since 2007.”

Benae Mosby, WAMU communications manager, added that since the arrival of Hayes, 45, in 2005, “sponsorship revenue has increased from slightly more than $3.8 million to nearly $9.4 million.” Hayes signed “209 new corporate clients; increasing national sales by $540,000; and increasing sales to new sponsors by $3.2 million.”

Among the accomplishments of Asendio, 59, Mosby listed “Expanded coverage of local and regional news with the creation of a beat system that added full time reporters to cover D.C., Maryland, Virginia, the Eastern Shore, Education and the Environment…and part time reporters to cover Labor issues, Transportation issues, Education issues, Environmental issues, Arts and Culture and Capitol Hill,” “Diversification of the newsroom staff with respect to cultural and racial backgrounds and sexual orientation,” the “addition of three full-time digital journalists to enhance the newsroom presence on WAMU.org, the station’s website,” and “expansion of the WAMU Youth Voices student journalism program via a partnership with Youth Radio and D.C.’s Latin American Youth Center.”

She concluded, “Our total national audience on all platforms in Fall 2010 was 769,000 weekly listeners, a record audience for WAMU that includes 10,800 listeners on WRAU 88.3 in Ocean City; 15,600 listeners to HD-2 Bluegrass Country; and 75,000 listeners accessing the WAMU webstream. Our total audience in Fall 2005 (the year Caryn started) was 624,000 listeners. In five years, the station has increased its audience on multiple platforms by 23 percent.”

[Mathes added on Thursday, “I’m also very proud that in our latest Corp. for Public Broadcasting Station Activities Survey, WAMU 88.5 was able to show that our African-American full-time staff increased by 21% between 2009-2010 and our staff is currently 59% female (up a percent from 2009).”]

Carlton Hargro Leaving as Editor at Charlotte’s Alt Weekly

“Carlton Hargro, editor-in-chief of Creative Loafing Charlotte for more than four years, is leaving the weekly tabloid next month to pursue other interests, he and the company’s publisher confirmed Friday,” Glenn Burkins reported Friday for Charlotte, N.C.’s Qcitymetro.com.

Carlton Hargro“Hargro, 40, said his last day would be August 31. His departure, he said, is voluntary.

” ‘There is no kind of animosity on their part or my part,’ he told Qcitymetro.com in an exclusive interview. ‘They wish me well and I wish the company well.’ “

Hargro is believed to be one of two African American top editors at alternative newspapers. The other is W. Kim Heron at Detroit Metro Times. The Association of Alternative Newsmedia counts 130 member papers.

Hargro told Burkins he had added more than 24 bloggers, podcasts and coverage of more exclusive events, and that page views quadrupled under his leadership.

“Hargro said he also was pleased with his efforts to connect the newspaper more with African Americans as well as with Charlotte’s lesbian, gay and transsexual community,” Burkins wrote.

Hargro told Journal-isms, “I will undoubtedly be doing more writing about topics like music and culture — but from my perspective as an African-American. I’m also working on a comic book project (which also focuses on issues of diversity), and some other stuff I can’t really mention just yet.”

Keith Reed Named Senior Editor at ESPN The Magazine

Keith Reed, who edited Catalyst Ohio,Keith Reed a quarterly nonprofit magazine that focused on urban public education in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati and recently folded, has been hired as senior editor at ESPN The Magazine, ESPN confirmed on Wednesday.

Reed, a board member of the National Association of Black Journalists, worked as a business reporter for the Baltimore Business Journal, the Boston Globe and the Cincinnati Enquirer.

“Reed will assign and edit short and long form articles along with working on the digital platforms for the magazine,” Marcus Vanderberg wrote Monday for SportsNewser.

As His “Passion Project,” Rick Sanchez to Announce Sports

Rick Sanchez, who was ousted as a CNN anchor in October, will be announcing Rick SanchezFlorida International University football this season on the radio with Tony Calatayud, David J. Neal and Justin Azpiazu reported Wednesday for the Miami Herald.

“They have one of the most diverse enrollments in the country,” Sanchez told Journal-isms by email. “Both my boys will be going to school there this fall and this will give me an excuse to spend more time with them.

“They asked me to help them and i want to give back, while i continue to work on my own projects to empower those of us who are too often left without a voice in the media. I’m not taking a penny. I don’t need the money. I just believe in what they are doing and i’m treating this as a passion project.”

Angie Clemmons Leaving Denver Post, Plans Rethinking

Angie Clemmons, sports copy chief at the Denver Post and a former board member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, is leaving the newspaper this week and plans “to rethink how I want to spend the next phase of my work life.

Angie Clemmons

“I’ve decided to move to North Carolina, where my boyfriend is located,” she told Journal-isms by email. “In fact, we are running off to NYC to get married next week! I will also be a part-time stepmom to three kids. He runs a few coffeehouses down there called Joe Van Gogh.

“And the newspaper business is just not improving, it’s got me down. So much work and fewer people to do it. I need a fresh start to go about doing what I want to do, in an efficient and inspired manner.

“I’m going to try to rethink how I want to spend the next phase of my work life. I will probably start freelancing as a writer and copy editor; continue my work with NAHJ in that region and with the Sports Task Force as a volunteer, now that my Region 7 directorship is over; and also look into picking up some teaching in any journalism department that will have me in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. I feel strongly that after 22 years in the business, and with standards and practices getting a little loosey-goosey (in my opinion), that it’s a responsibility of mine to reach out to the next generation of journalists.

“It’s tough to leave my position as Sports Copy Chief. I think it’s a position that I think I’ve brought a lot of valuable insight and experience to as a woman and as someone with a Latino background.”

Short Takes

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