David Ng Named No. 3 at N.Y. Daily News
As the news spread Monday about Davig Ng’s appointment as executive editor of the New York Daily News, the No. 3 newsroom job, Ng’s e-mail account grew by 100 e-mails. They came “from Asian Americans around the country, and non-Asian Americans,” he told Journal-isms Monday.
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The significance of the appointment “is not lost on me,” said the native New Yorker. “In the back of my mind, I knew this would reverberate throughout the community.”
Esther Wu, national president of the Asian American Journalists Association, said, “he is one of the highest ranking Asian editors in this country and he’s a leader at one of the nation’s top newspapers. Everybody is just excited. Everybody is thrilled. I could not think of a more deserving person. He’s one of those people who truly cares about the craft and he’s never lost sight of the people who’ve helped him along the way. I’ve never heard an unkind thing said about David.”
Other top editors on AAJA’s list of members who are top newsroom managers – Peter Bhatia, executive editor at the Oregonian in Portland; William Church, executive editor at the Star-Gazette in Elmira, N.Y., and Don Wyatt, executive editor of the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader – are at smaller papers.
The News claims to be the largest paper in New York and the sixth largest daily paper in the nation, with a daily readership of 2,695,100 and Sunday readership of 2,807,500.
A story in today’s Daily News gave Ng’s background: “Ng, 48, a married father of two, is the outgoing assistant managing editor at the Star-Ledger, overseeing deadline production of New Jersey’s largest newspaper. He spent six years at the Star-Ledger.
“He first worked for The News from 1993 to 2000, holding various top editing jobs including metropolitan editor and deputy managing editor.
“He started his newspaper career at the New York Post, working his way from reporter to associate managing editor over a 13-year period,” starting after his college graduation in 1980, when he began work as a dictationist.
Ng, whose parents came to the United States from Hong Kong in the 1950s, has a photo in his office from the Daily News of Sept. 10, 1963, when his mother and his sister were featured on the front page of the “Night Owl” early edition for a back-to-school story.
Martin Dunn, deputy publisher and editor-in-chief, also announced the promotion of Executive Editor Bob Sapio to senior executive editor. “I’ll report to Bobby,” Ng said.
A priority will be news from the two boroughs east of Manhattan. On May 23, the paper debuted 40-page weekly sections, Brooklyn News and Queens News. “If you want to read about Bosnia, in a lot of papers you can get that,” Ng told Journal-isms, but local news is the paper’s franchise.
Star-Ledger Editor Jim Willse, a former Daily News editor who assumed the Newark job in 1995, has seen two other journalists of color on his staff leave for top newspaper jobs. Glenn Proctor, an associate editor, was named editor of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch in October; and M. David Goodwin, who was city editor, became editor of the Middletown (Ohio) Journal in 2003. Both are African American. “It’s a testament to Willse,” Ng said, “that myself, Glenn and Dave – that when people go looking for people to run their newsrooms, they go looking for Willse’s people.”
- James Hibberd, Television Week: Bravo’s ‘Tabloid Wars’ Goes Inside New York Daily News
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Vargas Said to Feel “Betrayed” by Ouster
Elizabeth Vargas, who left as co-anchor of ABC-TV’s “World News Tonight,” said she was doing so after consulting doctors monitoring her pregnancy. But a lengthy piece by Joe Hagan in New York magazine today on how Charles Gibson became solo anchor of the show tells a different story.
Referring to ABC News President David Westin, he wrote, “When Westin gave her the news, Vargas was taken by complete surprise, say people close to her. Having been assured by Westin that she would retain her job when she returned, they say, she felt betrayed.
“Westin has a different memory of Vargas’s reaction. ‘Surprised?’ he says. ‘No, I’m not sure it is right. She had raised with me her concerns about her health and family. We made a mutual decision. I don’t think so, but you need to ask her.’
“Asked to comment, Vargas describes her reaction as ‘complicated,’ but says her pregnancy had caused her to reevaluate her life and career. ‘I hope I get another chance to do this job, maybe at another time,’ she adds. ‘It doesn’t mean it might not work out in a few years.'”
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Global Campaign Supports Journalists in Iraq
“Member unions of the International Federation of Journalists from Japan to Cyprus are signing up” for a “global campaign to highlight the crisis facing journalists in Iraq where the unprecedented scale of killings of journalists has prompted calls for international action to curb the violence against media,” the federation said Friday.
The International Committee for the Defence of Iraqi Journalists plans to issue an appeal on June 15, Iraqi National Press Day.
“. . . The IFJ says that the Global Day of Action will focus on practical measures including more safety training and more protective equipment for media staff, humanitarian help to those most in need and a vigorous campaign to stop political interference in media,” the group said.
“. . . At least 129 journalists and media staff have been killed in Iraq since the war broke out in March 2003. At least 80% of the victims, more than 100, are Iraqis.”
- Associated Press: Grenada Father of Cameraman Slain in Iraq Calls for End to War
- NBC: Family, friends mourn CBS cameraman killed in Baghdad
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In Haiti, Journalists’ Killers Have “100% Immunity”
“As attention focuses understandably on the deaths of Paul Douglas and James Brolan, the CBS cameraman and soundman, in Iraq, it is easy to forget that, in some parts of the world, it is the local reporter who runs the greatest risk,” Duncan Campbell wrote today in London’s Guardian.
“In countries such as Haiti, Colombia and the Philippines, journalists face threats and violence on a daily basis from politicians or businessmen whose paths they have crossed.”
The story quoted Guy Delva, a Reuters correspondent in Haiti, saying, “Killers of journalists enjoy 100% immunity. Jailing and beating journalists is normal.” Three journalists were murdered there last year and Delva has been active in trying to bring to justice those who carried out the murders, Campbell said.
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D.C.’s Post Leads in Front-Page Iraq Stories
The Washington Post led all U.S. newspapers with 132 front-page articles on Iraq in the first five months of this year, according to the results of a database search reported Sunday by Timothy J. McNulty, public editor of the Chicago Tribune.
His column asked, “Has the Iraq war disappeared from the front page?”
“In the first five months of this year, Chicago Tribune editors placed Iraq on the front page on average every third or fourth day – there were 41 Iraq stories in 151 days,” McNulty wrote. “In the same period last year, there were 74 Iraq articles on Page 1. There were 138 stories in 2004.
“How does that compare to other newspapers? My colleague in the Tribune research center, Alan Peters, checked the January-to-May numbers for a dozen other newspapers. He looked for news stories with ‘Iraq’ in the headline and in the first paragraph and then checked that they were substantive articles. He found a wide variety of front-page coverage but a consistent drop in the number of articles year over year.”
The Post’s number for 2006 was down from the 161 articles on the front page in the same period of 2005. The Post ran twice as many stories in early 2004 as it has in 2006, the column said.
Other figures: USA Today, 21 Page 1 articles on Iraq in the first five months of this year, 22 the year before and 42 the year before that.
The New York Times, 113 (2006), 143 (2005) and 216 (2004). The Los Angeles Times, 127, 155 and 238. The Boston Globe’s count was 32, 65 and 143.
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- Rhonda Criss Lokeman, Kansas City Star: War opponents’ words ring truer by the day
- Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: Searching for the real al-Zarqawi
Some Free Press Staffers Balk at “Mainstreaming”
The idea of compiling a diverse list of news sources has been a staple of Gannett newspapers for more than 20 years, but when the idea was broached at a meeting last Tuesday at Gannett’s recently acquired Detroit Free Press, some staffers balked.
Enough did to warrant a story in the New York Times today by Katherine Q. Seelye.
The story named none of the balkers, but said, “Some in the newsroom objected, saying sources should be quoted because they were the most credible on a topic or the most articulate, not because they fit an ethnic profile. They said they feared the day they might have to delete an insightful quote from a majority source in favor of a less useful quote from someone who would help the newspaper meet corporate goals.”
One staffer, who did not want to be quoted, told Journal-isms, “most of the concerns were about the use of said list.” Another noted that the morning Free Press, which was owned by Knight Ridder, considered itself a competitor of the afternoon Detroit News when it was owned by Gannett. “Freepers used to ridicule anything the News did and some older Free Press employees are loath to acknowledge and implement similar ideas,” this person said.
George Benge, news executive at Gannett Co., told Journal-isms:
“Gannett newspapers have a long-standing commitment to daily news coverage that reflects the diverse people and cultures of the communities they serve. This practice, known as mainstreaming, is a core value in Gannett newsrooms. It started with the All-American program in 1984 and continues to this day.
“Source lists that contain the names, contact information and areas of expertise of diverse people throughout the community are an invaluable tool in establishing and maintaining an inclusive daily news report.
“We have learned over time that newspapers that maintain a minority source list get a much broader number of experts to draw on than newspapers that don’t. As a result, we’ve come to expect that the newspapers that are best at being inclusive and at reaching out to a greater audience will have such lists.
“This assures that the voices and faces of all people – experts and regular citizens alike – are represented in Gannett newspapers.”
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Bee Series Follows Up on Vietnam Escapees
“A quarter century ago, 45 people waited on a remote Vietnam beach, yearning to escape. Today, they and the six crew members who piloted the boat called the Peace at Sea are our neighbors. They live and work in Sacramento, Stockton, San Jose and Half Moon Bay, where they have found what they dreamed of in April 1980: freedom.”
So began a series Sunday in the Sacramento Bee, “Sea of Change.”
“Last spring, after reporter Stephen Magagnini learned of the Peace at Sea’s epic saga from one of the captain’s daughters, Thuy ‘Ann’ Nguyen Shimasaki, The Bee set out to track down as many of the 51 shipmates as possible to learn of their experiences in what they call ‘the freedom land,'” the paper said.
“Magagnini and photographer Manny Crisostomo, with assistance from Vietnamese American reporter Thuy-Doan Le, went to the 25th annual Boat Reunion in Elk Grove in May 2005, attended by nine of the passengers.
“Over the following year, The Bee conducted more than 300 hours of in-depth interviews with 31 passengers, who shared recollections of their odyssey from Vietnamese communism to American liberty.”
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Bright Picture Seen for Hispanic Journalists
“The growth of the Hispanic population bodes well for Hispanic journalists,” Debra Kaufman wrote today for Television Week.
“Station managers have been quick to realize the importance of their growing Hispanic communities. ‘I think every market in the country, when they’re looking to fill positions, would take every opportunity they could to hire Hispanic journalists,’ said Barbara Frye, VP of talent placement services for Frank N. Magid Associates, a TV media research and consulting company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. ‘When I get calls for employment, they emphasize that if I have Hispanics, make sure they’re included. They want to see all minorities.’
Julie Kraft, a senior consultant with Frank N. Magid Associates, said in the piece that a Hispanic journalist who decides to enter Spanish-language TV can look forward to moving from a small to large market in much shorter time than an English-language colleague.
However, “The potential sale of Univision is one of the biggest issues facing Hispanic journalists today, said Iván Román, executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, which holds its annual conference this week in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ‘There is some uncertainty in Spanish-language TV at the moment because we don’t know what will happen,’ he said. ‘Nobody knows who is going to buy it and how that will impact journalists and their jobs.'”
- Tom Stieghorst, South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Hispanic journalism event worth millions to Broward businesses
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Headlines Aid Backlash Against Latinos?
A sampling of headlines about Hispanic workers in New Orleans, from Marisa Trevino Saturday on her Latina Lista blog:
“Hispanics Take Over New Orleans”
“Hispanics swept in after Katrina and Rita forced others out”
“Hispanics migrated to Gulf Coast Post-Katrina”
“Hispanic workers likely to affect NO culture”
“Study Sees Increase in Illegal Hispanic Workers in New Orleans
“And we wonder why there’s a backlash against the Latino community?” Trevino asked.
She continued: “The following are headlines that fulfill journalism’s mission of reporting the news:
‘New state takes shape after hurricanes’
‘Rebuilding New Orleans: Undocumented workers often face physical risks and financial exploitation.’
‘Immigrants face low pay, hazards in New Orleans’
‘Illegal Workers Face Hardship in Big Easy’
‘Hurricanes change complexion of disaster areas’
“Is it just coincidence that none of these headlines specifically use the term ‘Hispanic’?”
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Newborn Traces NABJ Exit to Lack of Contract
Bryan Monroe, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, told members last week, “As you may remember, on March 6, Tangie Newborn resigned as NABJ’s executive director after questions were raised about her management of the association’s finances.
“At the January board meeting, Newborn reported to the treasurer, the finance committee, the board and me a 2005 year-end surplus of about $40,000. After a subsequent investigation, however, that report turned out to be inaccurate.
“. . . What began to emerge was evidence of sloppy financial management at the national office. Bills were not being paid and checks had gone undeposited for months, all while NABJ was sitting with more than $1.7 million in the bank. We thought we had ended 2005 with a $40,000 surplus, but in reality it was looking like NABJ had closed the year with an operational deficit of more than $200,000.”
After Monroe’s statement was posted on Wednesday, members began receiving copies of the spring issue of the NABJ Journal, in which Newborn commented for the first time on her departure.
“When I left the annual convention last August, I too understood it to be the board’s intention to offer me a new contract,” Newborn said in an e-mail exchange, Demorris Lee wrote. “But nearly six months later, I was working without one and it appeared that a contract renewal was not forthcoming. Since I had accomplished many of my goals at NABJ, I decided it was time to move on.”
The article concludes:
“To Newborn taking a much needed break, former NABJ president Herbert Lowe chuckled because that was something he said he encouraged her to do while he was president. Lowe said there shouldn’t be any raised eyebrows at Newborn’s departure.
“‘We kept an executive director for five years and that’s pretty good,’ Lowe said. ‘There’s no requirement that someone stay as executive director for the rest of their lives. There is no reason that anyone would be looking on this but as a person having a good run as the executive director of an association that had an equally good run.”
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Short Takes
- “The English-language Al-Jazeera International TV network faces enough hurdles to make Olympic champion Edwin Moses tremble,” David Bauder wrote from New York Sunday for the Associated Press. “It has missed its target launch date and won’t set another, has no public commitments by anyone to show it in the United States, saw its closest competitor beat it to the market and is the target of a pressure campaign by a group hoping it never airs here.”
- “Highlighting the occasional pitfalls of being a monthly political magazine during a 24-hour news cycle, the July/August issue of the Atlantic was delivered to readers over the past weekend with a cover story about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi written before the Al Qaeda terror leader in Iraq was killed late last week,” according to the MediaBistro blog. “But looking past the slight embarrassment of having a cover and article with incorrect tensing from the moment it hits the newsstands, the lengthy profile actually arrives at the perfect moment for Americans looking for in-depth information on the recently deceased Jihadist. The mag’s Web site has quickly edited up the article and made it free for non-subscribers.”
- “MSNBC’s ‘Weekends with Maury & Connie’ is being cancelled, TVNewser has learned,” Brian Stelter wrote Friday on the TVNewser site. “The program, hosted by Maury Povich and Connie Chung, will end its run next week. The husband and wife team taped their second-to-last show on Friday.”
- “The Cartoonists Rights Network (CRN) has given its Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award to the 11 Danish artists who drew the Prophet Muhammad,” Dave Astor reported Saturday from Denver in Editor & Publisher. “Two of CRN’s 15 affiliate members resigned to protest the Danish cartoonists being honored, CRN Founder/Executive Director Robert Russell told E&P Saturday at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists convention here.”
- “There will be two parades taking place during September’s Advertising Week: a march of ad icons and a procession of Madison Avenue’s leading executives to testify at hearings on the issue of their agencies’ poor records in hiring black employees,” Lisa Sanders wrote today in Advertising Age. “Among those subpoenaed are DDB CEO Chuck Brymer; Mary Baglivo, CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi, New York; Christoph Becker, chairman-chief creative officer, FCB, New York; and Ogilvy’s Co-CEO North America Bill Gray.
- The South Florida Black Journalists Association was to present its annual Scholarship and Awards Luncheon Sunday at the Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort in Sunny Isles Beach. The event, presented by CNN, was to feature keynote speakers Soledad O’Brien of CNN and the Miami Herald’s Dave Barry, the Miami Herald reported Thursday.
- “In September, Vibe will debut V-Style, a stand-alone lifestyle supplement for progressive African American men that will cover the best in fashion, footwear, cars and spirits,” Stephanie D. Smith reported today in Mediaweek. “The supplement will be polybagged with 200,000 copies of Vibe’s October issue, and mailed to Vibe’s male subscribers over 21.”
- Armando Betancourt, an independent contributor to Nueva Prensa Cubana, was placed in preventive detention at Cerámica Roja de Camagüey prison, on 5 June 2006, accused of ‘public disorder’,” Reporters Without Borders reported on Thursday. “Others who were arrested with him were released while awaiting trial.”
- Allegra Bennett, a Baltimore-based former editorial writer at the Washington Times, has been transformed “from a newly-single, self-confessed ‘repair ignoramus’ into Renovating Woman, do-it-yourself home renovation diva and cottage industry as a magazine publisher, author of three books aimed at teaching the gospel of home repair to other women, and the public face of a major utility company,” William Douglas reported today on BlackAmericaWeb.com.
