Hampton Provost Appears to Renege on Agreement
The acting president of Hampton University, who was believed to have agreed to abide by the recommendations of a task force that would decide the future relationship of the student newspaper to the school — which could lead to independence from the administration — now has told the students that “as Acting President, it is not within my purview to change the institutional model on which this outstanding paper was founded.”
In addition, task force chair Earl Caldwell, the veteran journalist who is teaching at the journalism school this year, said Dr. JoAnn Haysbert, the acting president and provost, has added three faculty names to the list of task force members, leading to speculation that she wanted to stack the task force in her favor.
Student editor Talia Buford told Journal-isms tonight that she planned to send a letter rejecting the added members, saying “we will go with the original task force.”
The administration confiscated the student newspaper last week after Haysbert demanded that a letter from her be placed on the front page and the students instead placed it on page 3, alerting readers to it on page 1.
The paper was republished in time for Saturday’s homecoming game, with both the letter from Haysbert and a large disclaimer from the students on the front page. (See the front page.)
In their story, the students wrote of the agreement, “In exchange, university officials promised to abide by the recommendations of a task force that will be established to determine the role of the student newspaper at the school.”
Caldwell told Journal-isms that the latest development puts the task force at a standstill.
“The task force cannot do anything if the students and the president’s office are not in agreement about what is to be done with any recommendations. Therefore, we have not and we will not even schedule any meetings until the larger issue is resolved. I am waiting to hear from the two principals — the students and the acting president,” Caldwell said.
He listed the additional faculty members Haysbert put on the task force as Drs. Adolph Brown, a psychology professor; Estella Reynolds, a nursing professor; and Zina T. McGee, a sociology professor.
Meanwhile, opinion writers at both campus and general-circulation newspapers are supporting the students and blasting the administration in a case that could have implications for student newspapers at other historically black colleges and universities.
Links to those commentaries, along with Haysbert’s letter to student editor Buford, are at the end of today’s posting.
Original Hampton U. news release.
Brain-Damaged Reporter Wins Malpractice Case
A Bradenton, Fla., jury awarded $22.5 million to sports reporter Kyrra Casey, a former president of the Sarasota-Manatee Association of Black Journalists, who “fell into a coma and suffered brain damage while being treated at Blake Medical Center in October 1999,” as the Bradenton Herald, where Casey worked, reported.
Casey, 31, was awarded the sum, a record in the county, after a two-week trial. But she “won’t get that amount because her attorneys reached a confidential out-of-court settlement with the hospital and two local doctors just before the jury came back with a decision,” Nevy Wilson reported in the newspaper.
“Her father, who is now her legal guardian, filed the lawsuit against the hospital and three doctors — Dr. Koteshwar Telekuntla, a hematologist, physicians Dr. Bartholomew Vereb and Dr. Sanford Elton,” Wilson went on.
Casey’s attorney, Bill Hahn, “said jurors learned about the vibrant, healthy young woman who left Blake Medical Center unable to care for herself. Casey had been a track star and graduated with honors from Alabama A&M University before working for the Herald, according to Hahn,” the paper reported.
“Casey was admitted to Blake’s emergency room Oct. 23, 1999, with symptoms of weakness, fatigue, headache, dehydration and pain in all of her joints. The ER physician correctly diagnosed her with sickle cell anemia, and she was admitted for further treatment by Elton, according to the lawsuit filed in 2001.
“On the evening of Oct. 24, 1999, Casey was found by hospital nurses in respiratory distress, and she had suffered permanent brain damage, the lawsuit stated. She didn’t leave the hospital until mid-January, Hahn said. Casey was out of a coma, but had suffered so much brain damage that she cannot care for herself,” the story said.
Leon Harris Says He Felt Disrespected by CNN
Anchor Leon Harris, who left CNN for WJLA-TV in Washington after anchoring at the network for nearly 12 years, says he resigned because he felt disrespected by a network panicked by the rise of the Fox News Channel, according to the Washington Times.
“Life at CNN was good until 2001, when panic set in about the rise of flashier rival Fox News Channel,” writes Chris Baker. “Veterans such as Natalie Allen and Lou Waters were pink-slipped. Newcomers such as Paula Zahn and Aaron Brown were given choice assignments.
“Mr. Harris felt the network wasn’t promoting his newscast enough, and he was frustrated that he wasn’t being used more prominently during its war coverage.
“He once found himself sitting on the network’s Atlanta set, ready to go on the air, only to see Ms. Zahn on a monitor reading his copy from CNN’s New York bureau.
“Finally, Mr. Harris confronted his bosses.
“‘I told them, “I feel like your concubine. You put money in my pocket. You put me in nice suits. You don’t tell anyone about me. You only call me when you need me,” ‘ he said.
“In a perfect world, I wouldn’t have to uproot my family to get the kind of respect I’m getting here,” said Harris.
His departure left CNN with no African American male as a weekday anchor for the first time since CNN launched in 1980 with Bernard Shaw. Harris anchors his first WJLA newscast Thursday.
NAACP Serves Notice on TV News Organizations
Kweisi Mfume, president and CEO of the NAACP, “declared yesterday that television news organizations — especially cable news channels — are failing to feature minorities on any appreciable scale, whether as anchors, correspondents, the subjects of interviews, paid consultants or experts. He said he’s serving notice that he intends to pressure the news organizations toward expanding the diversity they offer on the air,” reports David Folkenflik in the Baltimore Sun.
“He made his remarks yesterday at an appearance at the National Press Club to announce the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People’s third-annual study of diversity in the television and film industries,” Folkenflik reports.
“‘None of Fox News, CNN or MSNBC are doing well with diversity or equal opportunity,’ Mfume said. ‘On the cable side, I think it’s just horrendous.’ But he remained critical of broadcast network news shops, too, saying their political shows, newscasts and news magazines fail to reflect the life of minorities.
“‘We don’t believe there’s some great big bogeyman that’s making racist decisions,’ Mfume said, instead citing what he called ‘systemic and institutional racism.’ His organization has not recently done research on the subject, he acknowledged, but Mfume said he first wanted to give industry officials time to meet with him and address the question of diversity,” the Sun story continued.
White Ex-Anchor Sues, Saying Asian Took Job
“More than a year after parting ways with KIRO-TV, former anchorwoman Susan Hutchison is suing the station for abandoning her for a younger woman,” Pamela Sitt reports in the Seattle Times.
“In documents filed Friday in King County Superior Court, Hutchison, 49, claims the station discriminated against her based on race and age when it hired Kristy Lee, 33, an Asian American, to replace her on the 5 p.m. news.
“Hutchison, who is white, claims in the papers that she was fired in December 2002.
“It’s likely KIRO will argue its hiring of Lee brought diversity to a market whose most enviable anchoring slots are dominated by Caucasians,” the story continues.
“Complicating matters, KIRO’s ratings have improved somewhat since Lee arrived, though that also may be attributable to an improved prime-time lineup for the CBS affiliate.”
Guilty Plea in Cyberstalking of Chicago Anchor
A cyberstalking case involving an Indiana man who sent obscene e-mails to Chicago television news anchor Tamron Hall concluded Monday with the man pleading guilty in exchange for mental health probation, authorities said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“Tonny Horne, 32, of South Bend pleaded guilty to cyberstalking. He allegedly sent numerous e-mails to Tamron Hall of Fox affiliate WFLD-Ch. 32 and left a series of phone messages for her,” the newspaper reported.
5 on Brandeis Paper Quit Over Racist Remark
“Five student editors and writers, including the editor-in-chief, have resigned from the Brandeis campus newspaper, The Justice, after a racist remark was published in a sports column last week,” reports Sasha Brown in the Daily News Tribune of Waltham, Mass.
“Sophomore sports columnist Dan Passner ended his sports column about Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker, who is black, by quoting another Brandeis student as having said, ‘The only thing Baker has a Ph.D. in is something that starts with an N and rhymes with Tigger, the cheerful scamp who stole all of our hearts in the Winnie the Pooh series,'” Brown wrote.
NAJA Silent on Journalism Developments
Two major developments took place in Indian Country last week: The Navajo Times won independence from its tribal government and Lori Edmo-Suppah, a former treasurer of the Native American Journalists Association, was fired as managing editor of the Sho-Ban News, the tribal newspaper on eastern Idaho’s Fort Hall Indian Reservation.
The Native American Journalists Association has been silent on these developments, and former NAJA treasurer Ben Winton opines to Journal-isms, “it’s no wonder that Native journalism is in the sorry state that it is — there’s no one looking out for the interests of Indian writers and editors.”
On the Lori Edmo-Suppah matter, Ron Walters, NAJA executive director, explained to Journal-isms that “most comments and details thus far have been sketchy at best and as good rule, we are researching the situation before commenting, but NAJA will eventually release something on the subject.”
He did not comment on the Navajo Times development.
BET Looks at Killing of Jam Master Jay
“To mark the one-year anniversary of the murder of renowned disc jockey Jam Master Jay of the legendary hip hop group Run DMC, BET has announced it will televise a five-part investigative series on the unsolved murder case Nov. 3-7 on BET Nightly News at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT,” the cable network says.
“The series was developed from more than 18 hours of interviews with over a dozen sources over a period of three months, including the immediate family of Jam Master Jay; some of the victim?s closest friends; and a key witness present during the slaying last October in a Queens, New York recording studio owned by the DJ.”
Asked by Journal-isms whether this was the kind of investigative report that produced findings, spokesman Michael Lewellen said the network would broadcast a “series of interviews with key individuals, some of whom have kept silent until now. A variety of theories, motives and issues are raised, and we also provide an update from NYPD as to what’s next with the case.”
J.C. Watts Becomes ‘Tavis Smiley Show’ Pundit
Former Rep. J.C. Watts, Jr., R-Okla., joins “The Tavis Smiley Show” on National Public Radio as a regular commentator, beginning Tuesday, NPR announces.
His commentaries are to air on Tuesdays.
“Watts will join an already diverse group of distinguished commentators on the show, including Princeton professor Cornel West, author and professor Michael Eric Dyson, noted civil rights attorney Connie Rice and Ward Connerly, a member of the University of California Board of Regents,” NPR said.
In the Chicago Sun-Times Sunday, syndicated columnist Robert Novak wrote:
“Former Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, the ex-chairman of the House Republican Conference registering for the first time as a Washington lobbyist, has not started out with the Fortune 500 as his early clients. His client list contains less than household words in American business: Robinson Aviation; Xyant Technologies; Luther Speight & Co., and Syntroleum Corp. Watts also is representing the Oklahoma Heart Hospital, the Golden Hill Pauggussett Tribe and Langston University.
“A footnote: Watts has been urged to run for the U.S. Senate seat left open by the retirement of Republican Sen. Don Nickles, an opening in serious danger of being filled by the Democrats. However, Watts has made clear he has no interest in returning to politics at this time.”
Opinion Writers Side With Hampton U. Journalists
- Mark Ailsworth, Daily Press, Hampton Roads, Va.:
“When a university president attempts to commandeer a student newspaper in an effort to exercise spin control regarding an institutional boo-boo, someone is losing sight of the university’s mission.
“Haysbert’s ham-handed response to the Hampton Script staff’s exercise of editorial independence will not be remembered as a proud moment in HU’s illustrious history. It was certainly not worthy of an institution that, by most accounts, is committed to producing graduates who are prepared to assume positions of responsibility and leadership in the journalistic community. Do wa ditty, what a dumb thing to do.”
- Lauren Bayne Anderson, The Hilltop, Howard University:
“Even though Howard University does not censor The Hilltop, a number of Howard students founded the District Chronicles, the only independent student newspaper at [a historically black college or university].
“The time has come for the students at Hampton to do the same. While it’s wrong for the university to censor the newspaper, under the current setup the Hampton administration holds that right.
“And unfortunately, the administration has proved that it will not allow the students to practice free speech. Instead of allowing The Script to serve its purpose as the student voice of Hampton, it is attempting to use the publication as its own personal public-relations rag.”
- Editorial, Cavalier Daily, University of Virginia, Charlottesville:
“The issue . . . isn’t so much that administrators interjected themselves in the editorial process of the Script. If the paper had printed something arguably libelous, the administration could have made an argument for intervening afterward. The problem is that Haysbert’s objections and justifications for seizing all of the newspapers are foolish, self-serving and completely without merit.”
- Editorial, Daily Press, Hampton Roads, Va.:
“Respected university partners, including the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Knight and Scripps Howard foundations, should use their influence to reinforce the lesson that journalism programs must honor freedom of the press. Seeing how these abstracts shape real decisions is instructive to students — and university leaders. There’s promise in a task force that will shape the paper’s future.
“If it remains the creature of the administration, students should consider starting their own independent paper.”
- Editorial, The Hilltop, Howard University:
“College is supposed to give us all training for the real world; Hampton’s president hindered all students from accomplishing that goal when she made her irrational decision.
“The staff members of that paper did not commit an extreme violation; they just decided that what they had to say was more important than an agenda pushed by their president. It happens in newsrooms all the time. It is a sad day on college campuses when instead of teaching students to pursue higher learning, an official’s imprudent decisions screamed to students that they are not free to speak. “
- Editorial, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot:
“Severely limiting what students can write may prepare them to work for in-house company publications. But student journalists should be trained to be bold, not craven. We can hope that the new panel will adopt guidelines that the school administration can accept but that will allow journalism students to practice real journalism in preparation for real careers.”
- Editorial, Northern Star, Northern Illinois U.:
“Public universities are protected by the First Amendment in terms of censorship. Administrators at NIU couldn?t confiscate our papers, nor could they prevent us from printing something. Even though private universities have the right to censor their student newspaper, we think that students always should have the right to their own voice, and they should be able to print it on whatever page they want.”
- Pearl Stewart, chair, Black College Communication Association:
“By insisting that the students place her letter on the front page instead of inside, where it belonged, Haysbert made it clear that she is neither knowledgeable nor concerned about proper journalism, and that she is interested only in having her wishes carried out. That is a questionable attitude for the chief executive of a university that houses an accredited journalism school.”
Memo From Hampton Provost to Student Editor
Oct. 27, 2003
From: Dr. JoAnn Haysbert
To: Talia Buford
I need not explain to you the unfortunate cloud of miscommunication and misinformation surrounding the operation of the Hampton University Script over the last few weeks. Different constituency groups seeking to explain the delay of the latest edition of the campus paper have attempted to pinpoint blame from “a controlling administration having suppressed the Script,” the “students refusing to adhere to the directives of the faculty advisors,” to “inadequate supervision.” As I recently stated to reporters, in the face of confusion, there is indeed a lesson to be learned from all of this. I remain convinced that research, discussing our differences, and listening to one another, we will uncover valuable insight that will collectively make Hampton stronger.
It is out of that conviction that I now formally appoint you to a task force charged to examine and make recommendations regarding the operation of the current institutional model of the Hampton University Script, founded in 1928. There are many models for a university newspaper. The Hampton University model is designed to allow all students, irrespective of discipline, to learn and to grow by serving on the newspaper staff. This means that students in biology, sociology, history, English as well as from any other discipline may serve as editors, reporters, and staff. The staff does not and should not come from Journalism alone. The Hampton model has been quite successful and has earned many regional and national awards. For example, it has won the Newspaper of the Year award from t he Black College Communications Association as well as an award from the American Society of Newspapers. Additionally, some of the student editors and reporters have won local and state awards. the key to the winning of these awards was attributable to the good work of the students and to the expert guidance by the faculty advisors. As Acting President, it is not within my purview to change the institutional model on which this outstanding paper was founded.
I am, however, charging the task force to make recommendations regarding the roles of the University, the student staff, and faculty advisors as they relate to the operation of the Hampton University Script. Clarification along these lines will lay the groundwork for the Script to operate in the most efficient manner possible.
Let me express my sincere appreciation to you for your willingness to lead this newly formed task force. Please notify me if you are unable to accept this appointment. Hampton has always said that adversity only makes us stronger. On behalf of the Hampton University community, I am challenging the task force to prove that that is in fact the case.
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