Newspaper Article Prompts Violence Killing More Than 100
Street violence between Muslims and Christians flared for a third day in the Nigerian city Kaduna and spread to the capital, Abuja. More than 100 people had died in the fighting, local Red Cross officials said — all triggered by a newspaper article, reports the Washington Post.
The three days of violence were triggered Wednesday by an article in a national daily newspaper, Thisday, that suggested that the Prophet Mohammed would have approved of the Miss World pageant to be held in the capital. Islamic clerics in the country’s mainly Muslim north have opposed it as “a parade of nudity.”
The newspaper’s office building in Kaduna was burned down Wednesday by angry Muslim mobs that accused the newspaper of blasphemy.
“What would Mohammed think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from among them [the contestants],” Thisday columnist Isioma Daniel wrote in the Saturday edition of the paper.
The newspaper has subsequently published daily apologies for the article.
Political TV Spots in Spanish Set Record
Political candidates in the national elections this month spent more than $16 million on Spanish-language television stations to reach Hispanic voters, according to a study by Johns Hopkins University.
In all, some 16,000 commercials spots aired around the country on television, which is more than three times as many than in any previous election, according to Adam Segal, director of the Hispanic Voter Project at Johns Hopkins.
Media Week reports that biggest spenders on Spanish-language TV were New York Independent gubernatorial candidate Tom Golisano, who spent $2.4 million; Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, with $1.8 million, Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez, $1.8 million; California Gov. Gray Davis, $1.7 million; and New York Democratic gubernatorial candidate Carl McCall, $1 million.
2 Detroit Stations Merge News, a Third Drops It
Detroit’s local television news coverage is about to shrink come early December — but experts are divided how it will affect viewers, reports the Detroit News.
Channel 62, Detroit’s CBS-owned station, will drop its local news at 11 p.m., which was provided by UPN Channel 50, in favor of “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Meanwhile, its twin sister, Channel 50 — both owned by media behemoth Viacom — will merge its 10 p.m. news operations with Channel 7, an ABC outlet owned by Scripps Howard.
The bottom line for the TV viewer? Less competition, reduced coverage and more confusion in the already tumultuous Detroit news business, say a range of local and national critics.
Dick Kernan, vice president of industry relations for Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts, said he was “just amazed” that CBS, with a towering news tradition stretching back to Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, won’t have a local newscast in the city.
Tavis Smiley at NPR: “Black, but Not Too Black”
“NPR listeners make more money than anybody in the country,” says Tavis Smiley, discussing his National Public Radio show in the Philadelphia City Paper. “So, that makes sense — you got more education, you make more money. They have the whitest audience and so I have to do a show every day that is designed to bring in more people of color to the network and to raise those issues for those listeners of NPR who happen to be persons of color, who’ve not had a show that addresses their concerns.
“So, my mission and mandate is to bring in more people of color, but again, that means I have to be authentically black, but not too black.
“At BET that was never a problem. It was never a problem at BET how black I wanted to be and at NPR it’s a balancing act every day to make sure we raise issues that are important to everybody. So, really, it’s vastly different. The bottom line is one’s a black audience, one’s a white audience and you have to address that without changing who you are.”
BET to Mark World AIDS Day, Update Crack Epidemic
On Friday, Nov. 29, BET says it will begin special programming leading up to World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, including special segments on “BET Nightly News” and “Teen Summit” and simulcasts of MTV’s World AIDS Day concerts in Seattle and in Cape Town, South Africa, that will feature Alicia Keys, Missy Elliot and Dave Matthews.
“BET Nightly News” begins the programming with a special segment focusing on the progression of HIV/AIDS over the past 20 years and its impact on African Americans, the network says.
On Monday, Dec. 2, “BET Tonight” is devoted to “Saving Our Sisters: What Black Women Must Know About HIV/AIDS,” and on Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern time on “The Naked Truth,” a group of young African American men from various regions and backgrounds discuss a variety of topics from AIDS and peer pressure, to the ongoing debate of the media’s role in promoting premarital sex.
Also, top-rated music program “106 & Park” plans “live” telecast dedicated to HIV/AIDS and what it means to young people. Recording artists Ashanti and Jill Scott are to join the show to discuss their own involvement in combating the disease. “106 & Park” will premiere a public service announcement, “One Second of Warped Security,” featuring Scott and inspired by a friend of hers.
In addition, BET.com (www.bet.com) and “BET Nightly News” have teamed up to produce a week-long special series entitled “Crack: Up In Smoke” beginning Monday, Nov. 25. The series plans to chronicle the impact the epidemic has had on African Americans and dispel the myth that the crisis is over. During the week of Thanksgiving, BET.com says it will provide visitors with interactive daily content to be supported by a special feature each evening on “BET Nightly News.”
Company Would Start Spanish Station in Birmingham
Mediaworks International is hoping to put the first Spanish-language TV station on the air in Birmingham, Ala., sometime next year, reports Broadcasting & Cable in a piece available only to subscribers.
Seattle Times Targeting Generation Y
Starting in January, the Seattle Times plans to woo Seattle’s fickle and pomposity-averse under-25 set with its own Sunday page of Gen-Y commentary, produced by 15 to 20 freelancers, all between ages 17 and 25, says the Seattle paper The Stranger. It is a small step, admits Colleen Pohlig, the 30-year-old Times assistant editorial page editor in charge of the effort, given the dimensions of the problem.
