Racial Gap Persists in Landing Journalism Jobs

For Second Year, Disparity Widest Since 1988

A gap persists between white and nonwhite holders of baccalaureate degrees when they seek jobs in communications, according to the University of Georgia’s latest survey of journalism and mass communication graduates.

“Since 2001, members of racial and ethnic minorities have had less success in finding a job in the field of communication, and that was true in 2005 as well,” reported the study, authored by Lee B. Becker, TuDor Vlad, Maria Tucker and Renee Pelton of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and released Friday. “In both of the last two years, the gap was 10 percentage points – larger than it has been at any point since 1988.”

The “non-minority” figure for landing a job in communications was 76.9 percent; for “minority” it was 66.6 percent.

This despite the fact that, “Nearly all of the 2005 journalism and mass communication bachelor’s degree recipients who looked for work had at least one in-person job interview in 2005,” the study said.

And that: “The job market for journalism and mass communication graduates continued to improve in 2005, suggesting that full recovery from the sharp declines in the market after 2000 is underway.”

The report did not offer reasons for the racial discrepancy, but in 2002, Becker wrote about the issue for the Freedom Forum:

“The problem isn’t supply, at least in gross terms,” he said. “The problem is that there is not a suitable link between supply and demand.

• “First, minority graduates are not evenly distributed at journalism programs across the country. Our data show that African-American and Hispanic graduates are concentrated in two distinct types of institutions: those historically serving African-Americans and those serving students of Hispanic origin. . . . Employers who want to find minority students will have to develop very close relationships with these institutions.
• “Second, employers have to worry about the minorities who don’t enter the newspaper industry. In 2001, only one in five of the minorities who sought a job with a daily newspaper – again to pick one example – actually took a job with a daily. Three in 10 took another media job. One in five took a job outside the field of communication. And one in five was unemployed six to eight months after graduation.
• “Third, employers have to think creatively. Prospective employees may not have all the skills needed for a specific job. The question is: Can the potential employee be educated and trained for the position? If the applicant has the basics and the interest, other things probably can follow.”

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Census Figures Highlight “Browning” of America

Census figures released Friday confirmed the so-called “browning” of America, and some news outlets localized the findings.

“In a region that began the decade with a largely white population, five of six new residents in the Washington area since 2000 have been people of color, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau,” Lyndsey Layton and Dan Keating wrote Thursday in the Washington Post.

“Broward County attracted more new black residents than any other county in the United States between July 2004 and July 2005, according to Census figures released today,” Lisa Arthur, Trenton Daniel and Tim Henderson wrote Friday in the Miami Herald.

“The continued surge in black residents is being driven by immigrants from the Caribbean, some of whom move to Broward after short stops in Miami-Dade, say demographers. After getting established, they look north for better job prospects and quality of life in Broward.”

The census figures also showed that in nine states and the District of Columbia, the population under age 5 was estimated to be 50 percent or more Hispanic or nonwhite on July 1: Arizona (56.9 percent), California (69.9), D.C. (81), Florida (52.5), Georgia (50.4), Hawaii (83.3), Maryland (50.0), Nevada (55.3), New Mexico (69.6) and Texas (63.7). It topped 40 percent in 10 more states: Alaska (45.2), Delaware (43.7), Illinois (46.7), Louisiana (47.7), Mississippi (49.2), New Jersey (48.3), New York (49.4), North Carolina (42.1), South Carolina (43.1) and Virginia (40.6).

Nationally, the non-Hispanic white population is projected to comprise just 50.1 percent of the total population in 2050, compared with 69.4 percent in 2000.

The American Society of Newspaper Editors has set as a goal that by 2025 or sooner, “At a minimum, all newspapers should employ journalists of color and every newspaper should reflect the diversity of its community.” Newspaper newsroom professionals are at 13.87 percent people of color, according to the latest ASNE figures, while the country is at 33 percent.

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Black Vote a Factor in Lieberman Reelection Race

The black vote could be key in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Connecticut, in which Sen. Joseph Lieberman is facing the toughest challenge of his career, according to Hartford Courant columnist Stan Simpson.

“In recent weeks, race has become an integral part of these highly competitive state primaries. The black vote in particular is being heavily courted as Tuesday’s election approaches,” Simpson wrote on Saturday.

“Actor Danny Glover will be in the state today to support New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, who also had recent visits from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. DeStefano’s gubernatorial primary opponent Mayor Dan Malloy of Stamford countered with state Treasurer Denise Nappier, former New Haven Mayor John Daniels, New Haven state Rep. William Dyson and Hartford minister the Rev. Alvan Johnson on his black VIP list. Lamont has had Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Sharpton and Jackson in state talking him up. Lieberman trumped them all by bringing in [Bill] Clinton – the first black president – for the Waterbury stop,” Simpson wrote, referring to novelist Toni Morrison’s famous characterization of Clinton in a 1998 New Yorker magazine piece.

“Here’s the thing for Connecticut’s African American voters, who make up about 11 percent of the population: Though Dems have historically taken for granted the black vote, these primary candidates need it in a big way to win. The support this time should be leveraged for an agenda that includes more resources for better public schools, economic development – even promises of a diverse administrative staff,” Simpson wrote.

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Media Get Restricted View of Mideast Fighting

“More than three weeks into the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Israeli military has just begun to allow embedding of journalists with ground troops in southern Lebanon, and for television crews only,” Nick Madigan reported Saturday in the Baltimore Sun.

“The Israel Defense Forces has kept at bay many reporters seeking firsthand accounts of the army’s incursion into southern Lebanon, where the fighting continues. For most journalists, daily briefings by military brass are the only source of hard details about the conflict.

“The restrictions are a far cry from the Israeli authorities’ eagerness to show reporters the carnage wrought in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and elsewhere by suicide bombers in years past.”

• Sheera Claire Frenkel, Jerusalem Post: Reuters admits doctoring Beirut photo
• Suzanne Rosenberg, Editor & Publisher: U.S. Press Can Learn from Israeli Press
• Ron Walters, National Newspaper Publishers Association: Invade Lebanon and Deepen the Mid-East Crisis

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L.A. Times Uncovers Records of Vietnam Atrocities

A once-secret archive, assembled by a Pentagon task force in the early 1970s, shows that confirmed atrocities by U.S. forces in Vietnam were more extensive than was previously known, Nick Turse and Deborah Nelson reported Sunday in the Los Angeles Times.

“The documents detail 320 alleged incidents that were substantiated by Army investigators – not including the most notorious U.S. atrocity, the 1968 My Lai massacre,” their story said.

“Though not a complete accounting of Vietnam war crimes, the archive is the largest such collection to surface to date. About 9,000 pages, it includes investigative files, sworn statements by witnesses and status reports for top military brass.

“The records describe recurrent attacks on ordinary Vietnamese – families in their homes, farmers in rice paddies, teenagers out fishing. Hundreds of soldiers, in interviews with investigators and letters to commanders, described a violent minority who murdered, raped and tortured with impunity.

“Abuses were not confined to a few rogue units, a Times review of the files found. They were uncovered in every Army division that operated in Vietnam.

“The records were declassified in 1994, after 20 years as required by law, and moved to the National Archives in College Park, Md., where they went largely unnoticed.

“The Times examined most of the files and obtained copies of about 3,000 pages – about a third of the total – before government officials removed them from the public shelves, saying they contained personal information that was exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.”

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“Colorblind” Process Selects NBC News Interns

“The Daily Nightly,” the blog started by anchor Brian Williams “to provide a narrative of the broadcast day and the editorial process at NBC Nightly News,” is featuring entries from the show’s summer interns.

A photo of the interns posted by Williams July 28 shows the intern class not to be a very diverse group, at least racially.

“We don’t interview candidates for the unpaid summer internships in person,” NBC News spokeswoman Barbara Levin told Journal-isms today, asked whether any of the interns were of color. “The process is done by phone, and candidates are evaluated by the strength of their resumes and essays. The process is colorblind.”

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Juan Williams: “Reporters Have . . . Opinions”

Juan Williams, senior correspondent for National Public Radio, put forth some strong opinions about black leaders today on NPR’s “Morning Edition” as he promoted his new book, “Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America – and What We Can Do About It” (Crown, $25).

Some of those views targeted people Williams reports on.

Asked host Steve Inskeep: “I mean, is the word corrupt too strong a term to use here?”

“WILLIAMS: No. The word corrupt, for some people, not all, the focus, the spotlight turns on some. And so you get people like a Sharpe James in Newark, or you get a Marion Barry in Washington.

“INSKEEP: Two long-time mayors who were criticized —

“WILLIAMS: Two long-time mayors who had many people in their cabinet, in their government, go to jail for corrupt activity.

“INSKEEP: You in this book write quite a lot about the Rev. Al Sharpton, who, as many people know, started his career as a very controversial civil rights activist. The standard story is that over time he cleaned up his act somewhat. He became a much more respected and accepted figure and even ran for president in 2004.

” . . . INSKEEP: That’s the standard story, but you write, nope, still a fraud.

“WILLIAMS: We have a tradition of great leadership in the black community. But when you start to talk about people like Sharpton, I think that they see an opportunity to simply, you know, kind of like a pale reflection of that past leadership, and for the most part, it’s about personal ambition.”

Williams went on to say that “the concept of black leader, of course, is itself in transition. In the political mode I think Barack Obama is just a glowing example of someone who’s getting it right and trying to build bridges, offer positive messages that bring people together and say we can address issues like poverty.”

Journal-isms asked Williams how he reconciled expressing strong opinions while having to report on those same public figures.

“Reporters have brains and opinions,” Williams replied.

“I wrote editorials and a column for the Post for years,” he said, speaking of the Washington Post. Referring to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, he added: “I wrote Eyes on the Prize and a biography of Justice Marshall, both of which present strong views on American history. At Fox News my job is to analyze politics. At NPR my job as senior correspondent is a mix of reporting and analysis. In all these roles my credibility rests on being honest about the facts and complete as well as fair in presenting all sides of the story.”

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Miami Herald Reports from Cuba With No Byline

“Illegal but relatively widespread on this communist-ruled island, . . . TV satellite dishes are giving many Cubans some light relief and a view of the momentous events here very different from the government-monopolized media’s propaganda,” the Miami Herald reported Saturday in an unbylined story from Havana.

”’We watch the soap operas. We love Don Francisco, Sábado Gigante,’ said Jorge, a rail-thin 34-year-old. `And on the newscasts, we get the other points of views.’

“Such broadcasts are widely and easily received throughout Latin America, the equivalent of DirecTV in the United States.

“But in Cuba, TV satellite dishes are illegal without an almost impossible-to-obtain government permit. So people here build their own and often sell the signal to neighbors through homemade nets known as telarañas – spiders’ webs.”

As Katharine Q. Seelye reported today in the New York Times, “While Cuba granted The Sun-Sentinel, in Fort Lauderdale, a presence, it has withheld such permission from The Miami Herald (owned by the McClatchy Company). Miami is home to the largest population of Cuban exiles in the country.”

• Gregory Kane, Baltimore Sun: If Castro exits, who waits in the wings?
• Roland S. Martin, Creators Syndicate: Celebration of Castro’s Demise Is Unseemly
• Ana Menendez, Miami Herald: Lost generation continues wait of a lifetime
• Les Payne, Newsday: It may be time for Castro’s exit
• Gregory Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times: Cuba Libre! Cuban Americans will have to craft a new identity if the island turns democratic

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Mel Gibson Remarks Continue to Spark Commentary

Actor Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic remarks continue to prompt commentary.

“What I can control is how I react to the Mel Gibsons of the world. And that means forgiveness – forgiveness in the sense of refusing to let these hate-filled hearts have any power over me, Macarena Hernandez wrote Friday in the Dallas Morning News. “I think of my own e-mail attackers . . .”

“Under the influence of drink Gibson probably just let slip what far too many Americans let slip when they think there are no Jews within hearing distance,” Stanley Crouch wrote Thursday in the New York Daily News.

Gibson would be well advised to confront his bigotry, Leonard Pitts Jr. added Friday in the Miami Herald. “Not to rescue his career, but rather, his humanity. If he does so forthrightly, he will offer a redemptive example to everyone who struggles with the demon of bigotry. Which is to say, everyone. At some level, I think, we’re all bigots. Some of us are just bigots in recovery.”

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Short Takes:

• Jerome Solomon, the Boston Globeâ??s Patriotsâ?? beat writer and the paper’s lone black sportswriter, confirmed on Thursday that he will be returning to his hometown paper, the Houston Chronicle, after just one full season on the Patsâ?? beat, David Scott reported Thursday on Boston Sports Media Watch.
• The Cherokee Phoenix and the Navajo Times are models of press freedom that delegates to this week’s Native American Journalists Association convention in Tulsa, Okla., might look to, Judy Gibbs Robinson wrote on Sunday in the Oklahoman of Oklahoma City. “Cherokee Chief Chad Smith and Tom Arviso Jr., publisher of the Navajo Times, will participate in Friday’s panel discussion on press freedom in Indian Country.”
• The Magazine Publishers of America is sponsoring “No More Excuses: The ‘How to’s’ for Developing a Multicultural Magazine Staff” on Sept. 14 in New York. Speakers include Keith Clinkscales, ESPN Publishing; Jacklyn Monk, Real Simple; Joseph Gibbons, Future Work Institute; Sheryl Hilliard Tucker, Time Inc. and Nisid Hajari, Newsweek International. For more information, contact MPA Events at (212) 872-3755 or at mpaevents@magazine.org
• The Asian American Journalists Association last week announced public release of a DVD to encourage Asian Americans to look at broadcast journalism as a rewarding career choice.
• Republican Thomas Kean and Democrat Lee Hamilton say in their book “Without Precedent” that the 9/11 panel was too soft in questioning former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani due to newspaper editorials – and that the 20-month investigation may have suffered for it, Editor & Publisher reported Friday. “Commission members backed off, Kean and Hamilton said, after drawing criticism in newspaper editorials for sharp questioning of New York fire and police officials at earlier hearings. The editorials said the commission was insensitive to the officials’ bravery on the day of the attacks.”
• “Peter Castro has been appointed managing editor of People en Español. He will take the helm of the magazine Aug. 7,” Nancy Ayala reported Wednesday in Marketing y Medios. “Castro has been with sister publication People for 18 years, most recently as executive editor overseeing the magazine’s entertainment coverage,” she wrote.
• “BET News today launches a month-long series of daily news briefs and testimonials capturing life in the aftermath” of Hurricane Katrina “for Louisiana and Mississippi as the rebuilding continues,” the network announced today. “Noteworthy participants in the series include actress Holly Robinson-Peete; rappers David Banner and Ludacris; gospel duo Mary Mary; hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons; religious leader Bishop Paul Morton; New Orleans activist Kalamu ya Salaam; Mary Joseph of the New Orleans Children’s Defense Fund; and many others.” The series concludes with a 30-minute special on Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times.
• “If you rely on the basic definition of news – something unusual, unprecedented or unexpected – you would think the mainstream media would have considered the Morehouse commencement worthy of extraordinary coverage,” Deborah Mathis wrote on BlackAmericaWeb.com Sunday about the nearly 600-strong class that graduated in May. “You can rest assured that there will be no such oversight in the case of the murder of young Carlnell James Walker, Jr., who was beaten to a pulp and left to die in the trunk of a car, allegedly by friends who ultimately netted $20. . . . Fact is, the case deserves pull-out-all-the-stops treatment. . . . But wouldn’t it be wonderful, just once, to have seen the other Morehouse story too?”
• In Burkina Faso, “A decision by a judge to drop charges against the suspect in the case of slain journalist Norbert Zongo . . . ‘is a scandal and a disgrace to our justice system,’ said Jean Claude Meda, president of the Association of Burkina Faso Journalists,” Inter Press Service reported on Friday.
• In Botswana, “The police were once again spectators” when suspects in court assaulted photojournalist Tsele Tsebetsame,” the Reporter wrote on Friday. The suspects demanded that he erase the pictures he had taken, saying he had invaded their privacy, the story said.