Articles Feature

Santorum Insult Inflames Native Americans

by richard08021

Don’t Work at CNN or Apply There, Group Urges
Gannett Latest to Be Faulted on Pay Equity
Anchor Found Nude, Asleep Behind the Wheel
N.Y. Post Writer Quits Over False Harris Story
Cop Report Shows Why Editors Want Active Voice
Facebook Pledges $5 Million to Local Journalists

Short Takes

Support Journal-isms

Don’t Work at CNN or Apply There, Group Urges

The Native American Journalists Association is strongly cautioning Native American and Alaska Native reporters from working with CNN or applying for jobs there “in the wake of continued racist comments and insensitive reporting directed at Indigenous people,” the association said Wednesday.

It was part of a strong reaction from Indian Country to remarks from CNN commentator Rick Santorum, former Republican U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, who told an April 23 audience at a Young America’s Foundation conference, “We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here. I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.“

In fact, the U.S. Constitution itself is said to have been inspired by the constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy.

“Founding Fathers such as Benjamin Franklin were in regular contact with the Iroquois Confederacy, and Great Council leaders were invited to address the Continental Congress in 1776,” Alaka Wali, curator of North American Anthropology for the Negaunee Integrative Research Center, wrote in 2016.

“We are a nation built on the ideals of many, and Native North American contributions to our collective culture and society are immeasurable.”

The flap is reminiscent of the media descriptions of several mass shootings a few years ago as “the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history,” ignoring the mass killings of African Americans and Native Americans in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Santorum’s statement, which has drawn no response from CNN, is just the latest to irk Native leaders.

The election night characterization of Native Americans as “something else” (above) inspired such memes as the one below.

“During its live Election Night coverage in November, CNN labeled Native American voters as ‘something else.’ When asked by NAJA to issue an apology, CNN refused,” NAJA said.

“Last week, a CNN host incorrectly identified Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, as a white woman. The network has yet to correct its mistake. . . .”

Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians, provided a more extensive rebuke to Santorum.

In a statement published Monday on indianz.com, Sharp wrote, “To correct the record, what European colonizers found in the Americas were thousands of complex, sophisticated, and sovereign Tribal Nations, each with millennia of distinct cultural, spiritual and technological development. Over millennia, they bred, cultivated and showed the world how to utilize such plants as cotton, rubber, chocolate, corn, potatoes, tomatoes and tobacco. Imagine the history of the United States without the economic contributions of cotton and tobacco alone. It’s inconceivable.

“As far as contributions to American culture, it is impossible to capture the significant influences from individuals with Native ancestry. How do you quantify the impact of Will Rogers in film and popular culture? Maria Tallchief, the country’s first major prima ballerina? How do you ignore Olympic gold medalists like Jim Thorpe and Billy Mills, who changed sports forever?

“How ignorant do you have to be not to realize the impact of Native American art on every imaginable facet of American culture, from architecture to furniture making to painting, sculpture, and writing?

“But most importantly, how can anyone ignore what is arguably the single most important philosophical development of human history: environmentalism.

“The very concept of man as but one animal within a complex ecosystem, needing to live in harmony with nature and sustainably use natural resources. No idea is more fundamentally Native American and more explicitly spread by Native American peoples. There would be no National Park system without Native American influence. . . .”

(Credit: News Guild)

Gannett Latest to Be Faulted on Pay Equity

“Journalists who are women and people of color tend to earn lower salaries than their male and white counterparts in more than a dozen newsrooms run by the largest newspaper chain in the U.S., according to a new pay study conducted by the chain’s employees,” Dave Jamieson reported Tuesday for HuffPost.

The results echo findings at other news organizations. The News Guild has said, “As a group, women in the U.S. had to work through most of March 2021 to catch up to men’s earnings for 2020.

“For women of color, it takes even longer. Women’s Equal Pay Day is set for March 24. Asian Women’s Equal Pay Day will be observed March 9. Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is Aug. 3. Native Women’s Equal Pay Day is Sept. 8. Latina Equal Pay Day is Oct. 21.”

It is also noteworthy because the executive who led Gannett to prominence, Allen H. Neuharth, put a priority on diversity, inspired by the way his mother had been treated. At a memorial service in 2013, Judy Woodruff of PBS said she secured Neuharth’s help in creating the International Women’s Media Foundation. “Long before Sheryl Sandberg,” the author of the then best-selling “Lean In,” about women and mentoring, “he was championing women,” Woodruff said.

Another woman, Maribel Perez Wadsworth, is president of Gannett’s USA Today Network and publisher of USA Today.

Jamieson wrote, “A group of reporters employed by Gannett undertook the analysis of salaries in 14 newsrooms operated by the news giant. They found that the median salary of a woman was 83% that of a man, or $9,800 less, while the median salary of a journalist of color was 90% that of a white journalist, or $5,200 less.

“The authors noted that those disparities may be partly explained by the fact that women and people of color likely skew younger in the newsrooms, but they found gender and racial pay gaps persisted once they controlled for age and tenure.  

“The demographic data also showed that staffers at all but one of the 14 newsrooms in the study were whiter than the communities they covered.

“The anonymous pay data for nearly 450 employees was obtained from the company by the journalists’ union, the NewsGuild-CWA, which represents workers at 41 Gannett properties.

“In an email, Gannett spokesperson Lark-Marie Anton called the study a ‘misleading document’ based on ‘a small subset of Gannett’s more than 250 newsrooms.’ She said the company ‘strongly disagree[s] with its methodology and its findings.’ In particular, she said, the study did not account for employees’ roles and responsibilities, which could explain lower or higher pay. . . .”

Jamieson also wrote, “The study included newsrooms for The Indianapolis Star, The Florida Times-Union, The Memphis Commercial Appeal and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Employees in non-journalism roles were not part of the analysis.”

Kerry Flynn added for CNN that Rebekah Sanders, a reporter at The Arizona Republic and chair of the newsroom’s guild, “and other employees interviewed for the study criticized Gannett for committing to diversity improvements but not pay equity.

“Last August, Gannett announced an initiative to have its workforce match the diversity of the United States by 2025. That effort included sharing diversity data of the overall company and individual newsrooms.

“‘ ‘We believe there’s a serious problem when Gannett is making lots of admirable diversity pledges, but failing to address pay fairness,’ Sanders said. ‘We don’t believe that the company will be successful if it doesn’t address the problems of very low starting pay, pay scales that are not tied to experience and pay disparities for women and people of color.’ “

Feven Kiflegiorgis, known as Feven Kay, tells Las Vegas viewers, “I have learned from this and I continue learning, and I think you for your support.” (Credit: YouTube)

Anchor Found Nude, Asleep Behind the Wheel

“A local news anchor was arrested last month after she was found passed out behind the wheel of her car, according to a police report released Tuesday,“ Sabrina Schnur reported Wednesday for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“Feven Kiflegiorgis was arrested around 7:30 a.m. March 20 after she was found naked and asleep behind the wheel of her Audi, according to the report from the Metropolitan Police Department.

“Kiflegiorgis, or Feven Kay, is the early morning weekday anchor for Fox 5 Las Vegas.

“Her car was found in the travel lane on Matthew Avenue, near Paradise Road and East Windmill Lane, police said.

“Kiflegiorgis told police she didn’t remember how she got to Matthew Avenue and stumbled out of her car. Officers reported a distinct smell of alcohol coming from her but she declined to submit her blood.

“ ‘Many of you have noticed I’ve been off air for a few weeks,’ Kiflegiorgis said in a statement aired on Fox 5 last week. “As I move forward, I want you to know I have learned from this and I will continue learning.’

“Kiflegiorgis was charged with reckless driving with a disregard for the safety of a person or property and sentenced last Wednesday to a $1,000 fine and driving school.”

N.Y. Post Writer Quits Over False Harris Story

“The article splashed across the cover of Saturday’s New York Post seemed designed to enrage Republicans who railed against the Biden administration’s immigration policies,” Michael M. Grynbaum reported Tuesday, updated Thursday, for The New York Times.

“Under the tabloid-ready headline ‘KAM ON IN,’ The Post, which is controlled by the conservative media baron Rupert Murdoch, claimed that copies of a children’s book written by Vice President Kamala Harris were provided at taxpayer expense in a ‘welcome kit’ for unaccompanied migrant children at a shelter in Long Beach, Calif.

“The story whipped around conservative media and elicited denunciations from leading Republicans, including the party chairwoman. A reporter for the Murdoch-owned Fox News, which published its own online article about the claims, asked about it at a televised White House press briefing. . . .”

Grynbaum also wrote, “On Tuesday, the author of the original Post article, Laura Italiano, wrote on Twitter that she had resigned from the paper, describing the Harris article as ‘an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against.’ She added, ‘I’m sad to leave.’ “

Initial report on George Floyd’s murder from Minneapolis police.

Cop Report Shows Why Editors Want Active Voice

“Now that Derek Chauvin is a convicted murderer, it’s chilling to read the original police report describing the scene of his crime,” Jeffrey Barg, writing his “Angry Grammarian” column in the Philadelphia Inquirer, told readers Wednesday. “Most disturbing are the verbs.

“They’re a how-to guide in shifting blame by shifting between active and passive verbs.

“Replacing passive voice with active voice improves most writing. Active verbs are more direct and compelling, and crucially, their subjects are precise. With passive verbs, accountability gets muddy.

“Unfortunately, that’s sometimes the point.

“In the readout of the George Floyd (pictured with daughter Gianna, courtesy Stewart Trial Attorneys) killing, the police start in active voice: ‘Officers from the Minneapolis Police Department responded. … Two officers arrived and located the subject.’ So far, so good.

“After that, the cops are mostly done with active voice. Their victim — not so much.

“ ‘[Floyd] was ordered to step from his car.’ The passive voice gives no indication that the police were the ones ordering, but for Floyd, they spare no active verbs: ‘After he got out, he physically resisted officers’ — a claim that, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey would later say, was not true. . . . “

Barg also wrote, “The problem is pervasive. Amid last summer’s protests for racial and economic justice, articles from every news outlet you can imagine — from the New York Times to hyperlocal news blogs — wrote about how ‘protesters marched and looted,’ while passively mentioning that ”tear gas canisters were fired’ and ‘protesters were shot.’ The officers who shot those protesters were mentioned belatedly, if at all.

“As with the Floyd report, these initial accounts subtly shape readers’ perceptions of guilt and responsibility. Each passive verb is a tiny nudge; in the aggregate, they’re a deadly force. . . .”

The Facebook campus at Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters.

Facebook Pledges $5 Million to Local Journalists

Facebook Inc on Thursday said it will give $5 million to pay local journalists in multiyear deals as part of its new publishing platform to help independent writers attract an audience and make money through the social media network,” Sheila Dang reported Thursday for Reuters.

Dang also wrote, “Independent journalists in the United States can apply to the program beginning on Thursday, and priority will be given to reporters who plan to cover ‘Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian or other audiences of color,’ in locations that lack an existing news source, Facebook said. . . .

“Facebook said it would partner with the Washington-based International Center for Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists to evaluate applications, and would give the journalists selected access to experts and services to help them build a news business. . . . “

Short Takes

  • “India lost 45 journalists to COVID-19 in the past week, according to reporting from BBC India correspondent Soutik Biswas Wednesday,” Lana Green reported Wednesday for Mediaite. “The increasing number of deaths comes as India struggles with a rapidly rising infection rate, reporting more than 300,000 cases in a single day. . . . The Press Emblem Campaign documents more than 100 journalist deaths from Covid-19 in India. Deaths in 68 countries have risen to at least 861 journalists, according to the campaign.” The South Asian Journalists Association said Friday, “One way to support them might be to subscribe to outlets like Scroll, The Print, The Wire, The News Minute, and Polis Project to name a few.”

  • Report for America Tuesday “announced the placements of some 300 journalists for its 2021 reporting corps. The cohort, which includes a number of corps members returning for a second or third year, will join the staffs of more than 200 local news organizations across 49 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam. The corps is diverse — with 135 journalists of color — at 45%, more than double the percentage found in the majority of America’s newsrooms.” Separately, the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune and the Fresno (Calif.) Bee reported how the corps members would report on undercovered areas in their circulation areas.

  • In a new poll from the Pew Research Center on President Joseph R. Biden’s early days in office, racial inequality is the topic that the highest percentage of Americans say is getting too much attention, the center reported Wednesday. “Three-quarters of those who get their news only from outlets with right-leaning audiences say the subject of racial equality gets too much attention, far more than among those with a mixed-audience media diet (41%) and a left-only diet (13%).” Pew also said, “the sense overall is divided, with 28% saying the issue is getting too little attention and 35% saying the level of coverage given to racial inequality is about right.”

Jordan Brown, Morgan State University student and features editor for The Spokesman, works on a story about vaccinations. (Credit: Jonathan Brown )

  • “Rehan Aslam (pictured) today was named vice president and news director of ABC-owned WABC New York, effective May 3,” Mark K. Miller reported Thursday for TVNewsCheck. “He joins the station from ABC’s KTRK Houston, where he was VP of news and assistant news director before that.” Miller also wrote, “He says he is a proud South Asian/Pakistani American journalist passionate about diverse representation in a news department and believes that representation matters and increases awareness and understanding in the diverse communities that news stations serve.”

  • The group Military Veterans in Journalism [PDF] Wednesday announced seven six-month paid fellowships for veterans, to commence this fall. “This is an awesome opportunity for those of you who are emerging journalists or career switchers. A fellowship will offer the opportunity to explore the field of journalism at a publication while making connections, landing bylines and creating a name for yourself,” the group said.

  • “Fox News host Juan Williams cited two false news stories that have been pushed on his cable news network in the last week as his reason for skepticism about allegations involving former Secretary of State John Kerry,” Lee Moran reported Wednesday for HuffPost. “During Tuesday’s broadcast of ‘The Five,’ Williams responded to a report that Kerry had discussed Israeli intelligence with Iran’s foreign minister. Kerry, now the Biden administration’s special climate envoy, tweeted Tuesday that the allegations, which have gained traction in right-wing circles, were ‘unequivocally false.’ ”

  • “From day one, The 19th has punched above its weight on the national news stage,” Emily Ramshaw, co-founder and CEO of The 19th, wrote Friday. “Now we’re taking it to the next level, with the hiring of Flora Peir (pictured) as our first news editor.” Peir is an 18-year veteran of The New York Times and graduate of the Asian American Journalists Association’s executive leadership program. “At The 19th, she’ll oversee our daily news operation and find the gender lens on the nation’s biggest stories with our forthcoming breaking news team.”

  • “Here’s why you haven’t seen that 30-second “Good Morning Beautiful’ promo for WCPO-TV’s Good Morning Tri-State newscasts recently,” John Kiesewetter reported Tuesday for WVXU public radio in Cincinnati. Two of the Black journalists prominently featured in the video – Jasmine Minor (pictured) and Timyka Artist – have left the station. ‘For now, I plan to spend lots of quality time with my family/friends and traveling as much as I can until I am ready for my next big adventure,’ Artist says. ‘This show may be over, but as we say in the broadcasting business, stay tuned.’ “‘ Minor says she’s “heading to a new opportunity and taking another step in this beautiful journey,” according to her Facebook post.

  • In Indianapolis, DuJuan McCoy’s (pictured) Circle City Broadcasting owns CW affiliate WISH and MyNetworkTV outlet WNDY. “WISH is all in on local news. McCoy was born and raised in Indianapolis, and graduated from Butler University,” Michael Malone wrote April 13 for nexttv.com. “He jumped at the chance to own a station in his hometown. He said the station’s 82 hours of news a week may be tops in the nation.” Malone also wrote that the station offers 250 podcasts, which boost traffic on WISHTV.com.

  • . . . Malone also wrote, “The 69,000-square-foot WISH headquarters will be home to Multicultural News Network, a venture involving Circle City and Cox Media Group. McCoy is aiming for a fourth quarter launch, hiring around 150 staffers for the 24-hour network.’ We’ll aggregate all the multicultural groups in one network,’ said McCoy, who stressed that MNN will be a network with affiliates and not a channel.” As John Eggerton reported Nov. 18 for nexttv.com, “McCoy has teamed up with Cox Media to launch the Multicultural News Network (MNN). ” It is is billed as “an unbiased national forum for the voices of America’s underserved multicultural communities.” McCoy said it will be a national cable network ‘just like CNN and Fox News.’ . . . “

  • “ The Poetry Foundation has chosen Michelle T. Boone (pictured) as its new president, the first time a woman and a person of color will be leading the wealthy, Chicago-based institution that oversees the century-old Poetry magazine, organizes workshops and other programs, and distributes millions of dollars in awards and grants,” Hillel Italie reported Wednesday for the Associated Press. ‘”Boone, 59, has extensive experience in government and foundation work. . . .”

  • “The calls come out of the blue. He’ll be relaxing on a weekend afternoon, wrapping up work on deadline, or chatting with friends on a Zoom call,” Spencer Buell wrote Wednesday for Boston magazine. “And then all of a sudden, his phone will buzz, and yet again he’s fielding questions about preteen birthday parties, school trips, and roller blade rentals. They’re reasonable topics you might expect to discuss if you worked the phones at Roller World in Saugus, the beloved rink that’s been serving up disco-ball lit fun for the whole family since 1981. Except this barrage of calls is not going to Roller World. For more than 13 years, they’ve been going to Zolan Kanno-Youngs (pictured), White House correspondent for the New York Times. . . . After all these years, you’d think he’d simply screen his calls. But reporters often don’t have that luxury, as every call from an unknown number might just lead to the scoop of a lifetime. So he answers every last one. . . .”

Nigerian journalist Frederick Olatunde Odimayo is seen in a hospital after he was beaten on April 16. (Credit: Frederick Olatunde Odimayo)

  • “Nigerian authorities should thoroughly investigate the attack on journalist Frederick Olatunde Odimayo and hold those responsible to account,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. “On April 16, in Lokoja, the capital of the northwestern state of Kogi, five men attacked Odimayo, a freelance reporter and editor with the privately owned broadcaster Grace FM, beating him until he lost consciousness, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. Odimayo said he was at a car repair shop at about noon when the group of men approached him and accused him of destroying their drug trafficking business with his reporting. They proceeded to beat him for about 15 minutes, until one of the journalist’s colleagues intervened and stopped the attack, according to that colleague, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. . . .”

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Richard Prince’s Journal-isms originates from Washington. It began in print before most of us knew what the internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a “column.” Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity. Send tips, comments and concerns to Richard Prince at journal-isms+owner@groups.io

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