Ciprián-Matthews Exits as CBS News President
NAHJ Charges for Covering Whole Convention:
Event Is Money-Making Venture, Leader Says
Latino Voters Both Targeted, Ignored, Panelists Say
Thompson to Help Build WaPo’s ‘Third Newsroom’

Short Takes: CNN job cuts; Vic Carter; federal government ad contracts; settlement in raid on Marion County (Kan.) Record; effect of abortion ban on Black women; Christopher Franklin; capitalizing “B” in Black upsets some; new IRE officers; false reporting on Michael Jordan’s ex-wife; impact of overdose deaths on Black children; Eric Deggans and ‘The Bachelor’; Latin America’s most famous journalism film; Kenyan police culpability in Pakistani journalist’s death; underreported refugee and migrant deaths in Africa; continuing conflict-related sexual violence in South Sudan; AllAfrica.com.

‘Press Freedom in Black-Run Countries’ Set Aug. 1

Homepage photo: Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, president of CBS News, pays tribute to journalists who have been killed and those still in harm’s way during her First Amendment Award acceptance speech in March in Washington, D.C. (Credit: Radio Television Digital News Association)

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“No journalist wants to ‘be’ the news, especially me,” said Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews (Credit: CBS News) .

Ciprián-Matthews Exits as CBS News President

Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, a three-decade veteran of CBS News who was born in the Dominican Republic, abruptly announced Wednesday that she will step down from her role of CBS News president as the news organization’s parent company prepares for a complex merger.

Her departure reduces by one the number of top mainstream television news executives of color, following the departure of Kim Godwin in May as president of ABC News and Neeraj Khemlani as president and co-head of CBS News and Stations, preceding Ciprian-Matthews in the job. Khemlani was born in Singapore with Indian ancestry; Godwin is African American.

Remaining are George Cheeks, CBS president/CEO and one-third of the recently formed “Office of the CEO,” who is biracial; and Rashida Jones, president of MSNBC, who is African American.

“No journalist wants to ‘be’ the news, especially me. But today, I have some news of my own to share,” Ciprián-Matthews announced in a memo to employees. “After much consideration, I’ve decided this is the right time to step away from my current role at CBS News and begin to write my next chapter.

“We all know our industry and company are going through a transformation and a number of short- and long-term decisions need to be made,” she wrote. “I do not want to be disingenuous with any of you about who should drive those decisions. I’ve always leaned into my integrity and my values and I felt it was important to be transparent at this juncture about my plans.”

” ‘Wendy McMahon, chief executive of CBS News and Stations, said in a separate memo to staffers that Ciprián-Matthews will move into a newly created role as senior editorial adviser helping to guide the outlet’s politics coverage during the election,” Oliver Darcy reported for CNN.

“The announcement also comes days after Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News, accepted an offer from Hollywood production studio Skydance Media that will see the two companies merge. Following the merger, Skydance Media plans to install its own leadership team.”

Ciprian-Matthews has been the subject of New York Post stories reporting from “sources” that she had “been accused of using her clout to promote minorities while unfairly sidelining white journalists at CBS, leading to several employee complaints and a major internal probe in 2021,” with one January headline calling her “woke.”

However, McMahon, Ciprian-Matthews’ supervisor, said in a statement to the Post then, “Any claims of discriminatory behavior are simply false. Like so many others at CBS News, I not only enjoy working with Ingrid but I am inspired by her care for her colleagues and the culture of CBS News.”

Deadline published memos Wednesday from Ciprian-Matthews and McMahon.

Winston Cho, Hollywood Reporter: CBS Sued by Former Anchor Jeff Vaughn Over Alleged Racial Quotas (July 3)

NAHJ Charges for Covering Whole Convention

Event Is Money-Making Venture, Leader Says

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NBCUniversal delivers a 40th Anniversary Video Message for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. (Credit: YouTube)

Event Is Money-Making Venture, Leader Says

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists, meeting in Hollywood, Calif., for its 40th anniversary, is now charging reporters who want to cover its convention for more than one day, breaking with the practice at most advocacy media organizations eager to get their message out.

[In a terse email Wednesday responding to an inquiry, the Asian American Journalists Association announced a similar policy — “We provide a one day complimentary pass to approved press. Those who wish to attend for more than one day must register as a regular attendee”. It did not elaborate.]

In defending NAHJ’s decision, outgoing president Yvette Cabrera said, among other rationales, “This is a conference that is a money-making [venture] for NAHJ.”

For journalists who are not NAHJ members, on-site registration for the five-day meeting is $599, plus an additional $80 or $125 for attending additional newsmaking events such as awards dinners.

The NAHJ conference, which attracted about 1,600 registered attendees, including about 382 recruiters, according to Executive Director Yaneth Guillén-Díaz, is also preparing to elect a new board of directors. Dunia Elvir (pictured), a news anchor at Telemundo 52 in Universal City, Calif., is running unopposed for president. No offices are contested, but bylaws changes are on the ballot. Guillén-Díaz said NAHJ collected $300,000 in registration fees.

Elvir is Los Angeles chapter president and national Spanish at-large officer. Part of her candidate’s statement says, “As a member of the L.A. chapter, we achieved strategies to present issues regarding more visibility and equality in our newsrooms, we created a series of panels that offer tools for bilingual journalists, attacking all fronts to better support them, including Spanish speakers. As a strong collective, we can achieve this by working together.”

NAHJ spokesperson Andrew Sherry, who performs a similar function for AAJA, was asked for an official explanation of the press-coverage policy. He said, “The policy existed last year but was not consistently enforced; this year NAHJ management asked for it to be consistent. Most NAHJ conference attendees are journalists attending in a professional capacity and their registration fees support the organization.”

4 Questioned at a board meeting Tuesday as the convention opened, Cabrera (pictured) modified the new policy by saying that reporters could attend public events on days other than the one for which they have permission, such as a “town hall” Tuesday evening, a membership meeting and a board meeting. Workshops where issues are discussed (scroll down) are still off-limits without registration.

Other board members asserted that requiring reporters to pay registration fees was “standard,” asked that it be noted that student journalists were covering the convention, though none were at the Tuesday board meeting, and that any journalist attending could claim to be covering the event.

Outside of NAHJ, those queried by Journal-isms differed. “This will only hurt journalists from small pubs,” messaged Robin Blinder, editor of Editor & Publisher magazine. “I say this because journalists from larger pubs will be more likely to have [budgeted] $$ to spend on conferences, travel, etc. Journalists from smaller pubs and solo journalists don’t have the financial backing and may have to pay out-of-pocket.”

A former journalist messaged, “When I was at [a nonprofit membership association], we didn’t charge journalists for covering our annual conferences. It wasn’t an extra cost to us to have a few dozen extra bodies in the facilities among the 4k attendees. I believe we did charge them for meals at awards dinners/luncheons serving meals. They were free to decline a meal and would not be charged.

“I recall one year [one part of the organization] tried to charge journalists for its popular annual meeting because the section claimed some attendees were trying to ‘sneak’ in for free with journalist’s credentials. The . . . Media Relations department fought it, and the section caved and continued admitting journalists for free – though it placed a limit on the number of journalists per media outlet.”

NAHJ staged a special virtual candidates forum on June 26. (Credit: YouTube)

Dan Shelley, president and CEO of the Radio Television Digital News Association, messaged, “While RTDNA comps working journalists wishing to cover our events, we have no comment on any other association’s policies regarding press coverage. Each organization should make its own decisions consistent with what it believes is appropriate.”

At the Indigenous Journalists Association, Executive Director Rebecca Landsberry said, “The large majority of our members are working journalists so there’s always a benefit to attending as a paid participant, but for those there to independently report on the event, IJA is happy to offer media credentials and grant access to workshops, sessions and special events at no cost.”

The National Association of Black Journalists’ statement on press credentials is relatively detailed, but addresses the contention that all journalists attending are in truth media reporters. It says, “Credentials do not replace convention registration and do not grant access to attendee benefits, meal functions, or services. All credential holders are expected to provide active coverage during the event.”

The Asian American Journalists Association, like NABJ, is not believed to have charged working journalists for covering its conventions.

That is also true internationally.

Scott Griffen, who heads the International Press Institute, a press-freedom group based in Vienna, Austria, messaged, “We don’t have this written down in stone anywhere, but our practice is that we do not charge journalists who want to cover our Congress a registration fee. We give them a free press pass.

“However, I would say that in most cases, we usually indicate in our media advisories a handful of main sessions where we invite journalists to cover. So I think it really depends on the purpose. If the journalist is coming to cover a specific session or part of the Congress, we’ll give them a free press pass. But if they are actually coming to attend as participants, then we would charge a registration fee.

“But this is just our general practice, as I said we don’t have a policy written down on this.”

One exception: the Online News Association said it has required working journalists to pay up. “Since the ONA conference is an event for journalists, we do not offer press passes,” Karolle Rabarison, ONA’s director of communications, said, “We’ve provided complimentary registration through volunteering and fellowships for people who want to get involved and to expand access to the training, networking, and other professional development resources we deliver through the event.”

If revenue and spreading the message of advocacy were the purposes, the Los Angeles Times, largest newspaper in the area, is providing neither. “The LA Times does not cover the NAHJ convention,” said spokesperson Hillary Manning. Nor were other mainstream news organizations — or even niche ones — in evidence at the board’s meeting.

NAHJ’s 40th anniversary celebration was to have been at a joint convention with NABJ in Chicago, but NAHJ pulled out last year, saying it wanted to celebrate on its own.

Asked in April whether NABJ had been made whole after NAHJ eventually agreed to convene at the Chicago Hilton in 2025 — NABJ Executive Director Drew Berry had said “We will not be left holding the bag” — Berry said, “When we have something to say about that, we will. There’s nothing we have to say about that at this point.”

National Association of Hispanic Journalists: NAHJ launches #MoreLatinosInNews campaign to celebrate 40th anniversary

From left, moderator Elian Ziban of Univision; Factchequeado co-founder Laura Zommer; Alfredo Corchado of the Puente News Collaborative; Juan Espinoza of UnidosUS and Christian Arana of the Latino Community Foundation. (Credit: X)

Latino Voters Both Targeted, Ignored, Panelists Say

Latino voters, whose targeting for election disinformation and misinformation has been reported in numerous news stories, are also underestimated by political campaigns, find themselves the target of so-called “pink slime” fake-news operations and are not taken seriously enough by the Justice Department, which is charged with protecting Spanish-language speakers as well as others under the Voting Rights Act.

Those were assertions from panelists at a “town hall” Tuesday at the 2024 National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention.

The discussion at Loew’s Hollywood hotel, site of the conference, attracted perhaps 300 attendees, overwhelmingly conference participants.

Jean Guerrero, a former Los Angeles Times columnist, wrote last week in The New York Times, “In a November poll by Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, only 51 percent of Latinos ages 18 to 34 said they were ‘extremely likely’ to vote in the 2024 election, compared with 62 percent of white youths. Fewer than one-fifth of surveyed youths said they’d heard from a political party or community organization in the past year.”

Guerrero’s piece was referenced by Christian Arana, vice president of civic power and policy at the Latino Community Foundation, which recently hired Julian Castro, former presidential candidate and secretary of housing and urban development in the Obama administration, as CEO.

At the foundation, Arana said, he fields questions such as, “If I turn in my ballot to a drop box, is it really going to count?”

Responses to such misinformation are “going to be a continuing thing” leading up to the November election, Arana said. As it has been.

Christine Fernando and Anita Snow reported in April for the Associated Press, “In addition to radio, much of the news and information Latinos consume is audio-based through podcasts or on social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube. Content moderation efforts in Spanish are limited on these platforms, which are seeing a rising number of right-wing influencers peddling election falsehoods and QAnon conspiracy theories.

“The types of misinformation overlap with falsehoods readily found in other conservative media and many corners of the internet — conspiracy theories about mail voting, dead people casting ballots, rigged voting machines and threats at polling sites.

“Other narratives are more closely tailored to Latino communities, including false information about immigration, inflation and abortion rights, often exploiting the traumas and fears of specific communities. For example, Spanish speakers who have immigrated from countries with recent histories of authoritarianism, socialism, high inflation and election fraud may be more vulnerable to misinformation about those topics.”

However, the AP reporters noted, “The Spanish-language fact-checking group Factchequeado is building partnerships with dozens of media outlets across the country to provide training and free Spanish fact-checking content.”

The “town hall” at Loew’s Hollywood hotel, site of the convention, attracted perhaps 300 attendees, overwhelmingly conference participants.

They quoted Factchequeado co-founder Laura Zommer, who was also on the NAHJ panel, titled, “Election 2024: Empowering Hispanic Voters as AI Amplifies Misinformation.”

” ‘Disinformation is at the same time a global phenomenon and a hyperlocal phenomenon,’ Zommer said. ‘So we have to address it with local and national groups uniting together. ‘ ”

Conversations about the 1965 Voting Rights Act, whose effectiveness has been narrowed by recent Supreme Court decisions, often overlook the act’s relevance to Spanish speakers.

“The language minority provisions of the Voting Rights Act require that when a covered state or political subdivision provides registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other materials or information relating to the electoral process, including ballots, it shall provide them in the language of the applicable minority group as well as in the English language,” the Justice Department states in a summary of the legislation.

But Juan Espinoza, senior civil rights adviser for UnidosUS, which describes itself as ” the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization,” maintained that “DOJ has had very few enforcement actions on the right to have information in our language.”

UnidosUS has called on Congress to pass three pieces of legislation on the subject: the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act, the AI Transparency in Elections Act, and the Preparing Election Administrators for AI Act.

“AI-generated deepfakes can further exacerbate existing misinformation targeting Latinos: turbocharging Spanish-language misinformation, expanding deceptive ads about what candidates are saying or doing, simulating voices of candidates in Spanish and other languages, geotargeting materially deceptive AI-generated content by country-of-origin or region, and even creating false portrayals of election interference and voting.

“Without proper safeguards, AI used to distort reality may be further weaponized to effectively deter Latino voters and undermine faith in our democratic systems,” it said.

[A Justice Department spokesperson responded Wednesday:

[“The department is committed to using every tool at its disposal to safeguard voting rights.

[“The department has filed lawsuits and secured consent decrees in New Jersey and Rhode Island regarding violations under Sections 203 and 208 of the Voting Rights Act related to Spanish language election materials and assistance at the polls.

[“The department has conducted election monitoring nationwide to ensure compliance with federal voting rights law. Cities include Queens, NY; Union County, NJ; Prince George’s County, MD; Berks County, PA; Philadelphia County, PA; Milwaukee, WI; Providence County/Pawtucket, RI; Prince William County, VA.

[“The department has issued new guidance on voting protections for language minority citizens in English and Spanish. The department also issued a Know Your Rights Guide, which now is available in 15 languages.”]

Alfredo Corchado, who took a buyout from the Dallas Morning News‌ in January after covering U.S.-Mexico issues there for 31 years, now does the same kind of work with the Puente News Collaborative, bolstering journalism along the border. The area “has become like a piñata for politicians” and is “the largest news desert there is.”

Corchado noted the problem of “pink slime” news, a pejorative term first given to meat by-products used in some foods as low-quality filler. In journalism, it has meant far-right websites and fliers designed to look like newspapers.

In June, an Illinois judge ruled that the publishers of the so-called “pink slime” publications must remove registered voters’ full birthdates and street addresses from their websites, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“Pink slime is AI,” Corchado said. “In the end, truth is the best defense.”

Thompson to Help Build WaPo’s ‘Third Newsroom’

Krissah Thompson (pictured), managing editor for diversity and inclusion at The Washington Post, “will run the newsroom process building the third newsroom,” Matt Murray, interim executive editor at the Post, announced Monday.

Murray has defined the “third newsroom” as “a way to think about innovation and new audiences and going off platform, and finding new ways to bring the Post to different kinds of readers and groups.” Under this “reinvention,” the opinion section is the “second newsroom.”

Thompson wrote Sunday on LinkedIn, “For the first time, The Washington Post had a presence on the multifaceted program at hashtag #essencefestival, the largest global gathering centered on Black culture. It was a great opportunity for two of our star journalists, Personal Finance Columnist Michelle Singletary and Senior Critic-at-Large Robin Givhan, to lend their expertise and for The Post to engage with new audiences. . . . The festival was also an exceptional reminder of the convening power of resonant media organizations.”

The New Orleans event closed Sunday with attendance at the Caesars Superdome at approximately 26,000 for Frankie Beverly and Maze, following the 45,000 or so who turned up for Usher on Saturday, Keith Spira reported Sunday for NOLA.com.

“Krissah, a two-decade-plus veteran of the Post, is uniquely qualified to shepherd us,” Murray said. “You all know her substantial leadership skills and the influence she has across the newsroom.”

Thompson added on LinkedIn, “I’m hoping to harness collective brainpower and creativity as we launch. Ideas welcome!”

Short Takes

“CNN’s top leader announced 100 job cuts on Wednesday as well as a digital strategy that would include a new subscription-only digital offering by the end of the year,” John Koblin reported for The New York Times. “The company is laying off around 100 people, or about 3 percent of its work force. The layoffs would come ‘across the company,’ Mark Thompson, the network’s chairman, said in a memo to employees. CNN last had significant layoffs in late 2022. . . .”

“Vic Carter (pictured), a fixture on WJZ-TV’s news broadcasts for nearly three decades, is leaving the station later this month to pursue other opportunities,” Christian Olaniran reported Monday for WJZ in Baltimore. “He said he will continue to try to make a difference in the lives of others, and ‘may even return to broadcasting in some form.’ ‘It’s time for me to focus on the future,’ Carter said. ‘I’ll cherish the great memories of my career, the places I’ve been, the people I’ve met, and the opportunities I’ve had.’ Vic Carter will officially leave WJZ on July 25. . . .”

“A new report released this month has revealed that the federal government spent $14.9 billion on advertising contracts over the last 10 fiscal years to inform the public about various programs and services,” Stacy M. Brown reported July 3 for the National Newspaper Publishers Association. “However, despite the government’s mandate to provide contract opportunities to businesses owned by minorities, women, and other socially or economically disadvantaged groups, significant disparities persist. The report found that contracts with those businesses represented about 14% of total federal advertising spending, amounting to $2.1 billion from fiscal years 2014 to 2023. . . .”

“Almost one year after the authorities raided The Marion County Record, a Kansas weekly newspaper, a former reporter has reached a $235,000 settlement as part of a lawsuit she filed over the search, which set off a national discussion about press freedoms,” Emmett Lindner reported for The New York Times. “The settlement, dated June 25, brought an end to a lawsuit filed by the former reporter, Deb Gruver, against Gideon Cody, who resigned as the Marion city police chief in October in the face of mounting pressure. . . .”

“It’s been more than two years since the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion, “PBS News Hour co-host Amna Nawaz reported July 2. “Since then, nearly two dozen states have banned or restricted access to the procedure and abortion pills. Special correspondent Sarah Varney traveled to Tennessee to report on the disproportionate impact abortion bans are having on Black women.”

“Christopher Franklin (pictured) has been named president and general manager of WATN-WLMT Memphis, Tennessee, the Tegna-owned ABC-CW duopoly. He’s been interim general manager since earlier this year and starts in the official role immediately,” Michael Malone reported June 26 for Broadcasting & Cable.

“I hear from large numbers of people on both sides of our ever-widening political divide,” Chris Quinn, editor and vice president of content for cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer, wrote Saturday. “The use of white as a race descriptor remains lower case, and a lot of people who write to me don’t accept that. I’ve explained that white is not a descriptor of ethnicity, but for the people who object, they see nothing but unfairness in capitalizing Black but not white except to be discriminatory. That sentiment is widely held. . . .I get the same sentiment about the evolving use of pronouns, particularly the use of the word ‘they’ as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. . . . “

Investigative Reporters and Editors elected five new board members on June 27: Alejandra Cancino, investigative reporter based in Chicago; Mary Hudetz (pictured), ProPublica reporter based in Albuquerque, N.M.; Andrew Lehren, director of investigative reporting at City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism; Paroma Soni, data and graphics reporter at Politico; and Marina Villeneuve, legal reporter at Salon. Brian M. Rosenthal, investigative reporter at The New York Times, was reelected president.

“Amy Jacobson, co-host of Chicago’s ‘Morning Answer,’ is in some hot water over some false reporting,” J.R. Gamble reported July 1 for the Shadow League. ” Michael Jordan’s ex-wife Juanita Vanoy is extremely unhappy about Jacobson stating in a now-deleted post on X that Vanoy had been carjacked outside her home in Chicago by two black men and had some of her valuables ripped off as well. The 65-year-old made it clear that the story is totally fabricated by whomever the original source is. . . . “

“A recent report by federal researchers provides the fullest picture yet of the sprawling impact of overdose deaths on Black children in Los Angeles and other cities — and what we can do about it,” Jerel Ezell wrote July 2 for the Los Angeles Times. “From 2011 to 2021, the report found, more than 321,000 American children lost a parent to a drug overdose. Black children experienced the highest increases in the rate of such losses during those years, compounding a long-standing public health crisis across Black America. Like much of the United States, Los Angeles has seen drug overdoses soar in recent years, with disproportionate losses among the city’s Black adults. . . .”

” ‘The Bachelor’ producers acknowledge ‘vicious cycle’ of racism in the franchise,” read a headline over a June 26 story by Greg Braxton in the Los Angeles Times. “Why does it seem that ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette’ have such a hard time dealing with racial issues in-depth?” asked National Public Radio‘s television critic Eric Deggans (pictured), referencing the fiery controversies surrounding the first two Black leads — Rachel Lindsay and Matt James — that culminated with both personalities bolting from the franchise. . . . It was ‘the silence that seemed to speak volumes,”’ Deggans later wrote. ‘… The show’s producers have never found a way to grapple with how white-centered the show is, how difficult that centering makes it for people of color who appear on the program and how that failure leaves them unable to respond well when problems involving racial issues arise. ‘ ”

“The most famous films about journalism are from the U.S., repeating the dominance that Hollywood exercises over the global film industry,” André Duchiade reported July 1 for LatAm Journalism Review. “In the south of the continent, however, films are also made with journalism as a guiding thread, whether specifically about the journalistic craft or using reporters and editors as central elements of the plot. In a global ranking prepared by the project Periodistas en el Cine, only one Latin American film made it into the top 10: 2002 Brazilian movie ‘Cidade de Deus'(City of God), by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, which portrays the aspiring photo reporter Buscapé using images to carve out a path for himself in the midst of violence. . . .”

“The Committee to Protect Journalists said it “welcomes a Kenyan court’s Monday ruling that Kenyan authorities violated Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif’s (pictured) right to life and that his death was arbitrary and unconstitutional. “Sharif was shot and killed by police on the night of October 23, 2022, in a remote area outside the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in what police claimed was a case of mistaken identity. Sharif’s wife, Javeria Siddique, who sued the Kenyan government, believes her husband was targeted for his journalism. . . .” (Photo credit: Facebook)

“Refugees and migrants continue to face extreme forms of violence, exploitation and death on sea and on land across Africa as they move through the continent, UN agencies said on Friday, in an appeal to border authorities to do more to protect them,” the United Nations reported Friday. “Data from a new report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) highlights the often under-reported perils facing vulnerable people on the move on dangerous land routes.”

A mobile court in Mayom, Unity State, South Sudan, which recently recorded the first rape prosecutions since independence. (Credit: Peter Bateman/United Nations Mission in South Sudan)

“Behind the UK-led commitments to end conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), a Guardian investigation reveals that in reality South Sudan received little funding or support to catalyse change. High-profile perpetrators remain in public office.” Mark Townsend reported July 4 for the Guardian. Townsend also wrote, “In the past year armed groups have raped women, and children as young as six. At least one woman has died from her injuries. Tasked with tackling such depravity is a hotchpotch of community groups, committed but with little money. . . . ”

“Two co-founders of AllAfrica Global Media — Dr. Tami Hultman and Reed Kramer — were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards during the 2024 African Media Leaders Summit in Nairobi, Kenya in May,” Olubunmi Oloruntoba reported July 2 for AllAfrica.com. “The two were recognized for ‘exceptional contributions to media development in Africa’ along with other winners of Excellence Awards, including Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, veteran African media practitioners and young journalists from a number of countries. AllAfrica was launched in 2000 to provide visibility for news from and about Africa on the then-expanding internet. Spearheaded by co-founder Amadou Mahtar Ba, the organization forged relationships with news outlets across Africa, aggregating content from over 100 African media partners and national and international non-governmental organizations, and producing original reporting from Africa for an African and global audience. . . .”

‘Press Freedom in Black-Run Countries’ Set Aug. 1

Please click here for larger image of flier/poster

The Journal-isms Roundtable will hold a panel discussion, “Press Freedom in Black-Run Countries,” in Chicago while the National Association of Black Journalists convention takes place in that city.

The Roundtable will not officially be part of the convention; instead it will be hosted at the offices of Chicago Public Media on Thursday, Aug. 1, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Central time. Chicago Public Media offices are on Navy Pier, at 848 East Grand Ave., Chicago, Ill., 60611.

The event is co-hosted by the NABJ Global Journalism Task Force. Those who are not in Chicago may join by Zoom. All are invited. To register for either in-person, Zoom or to watch on Facebook, please email blackruncountries (at) gmail.com.

After Black French journalist Olivier Dubois was held hostage last year for 711 days in Mali, West Africa, the press-freedom group Reporters Without Borders said, “To be a journalist in the Sahel means enduring the growing presence of radical armed groups who do not hesitate to kill reporters or kidnap them and use them as bargaining chips,” and more.

More recently, the rising authoritarianism around the world includes Africa as well as the United States. That most often means finding a way to tamp down, even silence, the press. Haiti’s existential crisis has been extensively reported, less so the state of journalism there and in the rest of the Caribbean.

Discussions about the African diaspora most often do not include press freedom, and journalism sessions in the U.S. about Black people often do not include a global view.

Panelists:

Zahra Burton, 18 Degrees North, Jamaica; Global Reporters for the Caribbean – founder and principal, Kingston, Jamaica

Muthoki Mumo, Committee to Protect Journalists – Africa program coordinator, based in Nairobi, Kenya

Garry Pierre-Pierre, Haitian Times – founder and publisher, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Nompilo Simanje, International Press Institute — Africa advocacy and partnerships lead, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

John Yearwood, Politico – editorial director – diversity and culture; formerly global chair of the Vienna, Austria-based International Press Institute and world editor of the Miami Herald

Richard Prince, Journal-isms columnist, moderator.

It’s not too early to RSVP to < blackruncountries (at) gmail.com > whether or not you will be at the NABJ convention.

Update:

(Credit: Wallace House/YouTube)

Exiled Haitian journalist, NABJ honoree, joining Roundtable

Roberson Alphonse, this year’s recipient of the Percy Qoboza Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, has agreed to join the special Journal-isms Roundtable Aug. 1 in Chicago on “Press Freedom in Black-Run Countries.”

“I’m honored by your invitation to join that panel,” Alphonse messaged. Commitment to “ringing the bell on press freedom, democracy in this era of disinformation, populism and the rise of authoritarian regimes is priceless. We have to deal with those issues while our profession is facing [an] existential crisis. We are in surviving mode in Haiti. It’s almost the same for local press here in the US.”

NABJ said, “This award recognizes a foreign journalist who has done extraordinary work while overcoming tremendous obstacles that contribute to the enrichment, understanding, or advancement of people or issues in the African Diaspora.

“Alphonse, one of Haiti’s most respected investigative journalists, is not only a fearless journalist but a brave soul. He survived a shooting attack in 2022 that left him wounded in both arms on his way to work at a Port-au-Prince radio station. Now a University of Michigan Knight-Wallace Fellow, he boldly continues to heal and continues his work as the News Editor for Le Nouvelliste and Information Director at Magik9.”
—

You can see a video detailing Alphonse’s story and journey to Wallace House here.

Ajabu Adolphe, New Humanitarian: How Congolese journalists covering the M23 war are being forced to pick sides

Committee to Protect Journalists: Three journalists disappear, 3 media outlets suspended in Burkina Faso

Committee to Protect Journalists: Malian journalist Yeri Bocoum missing after covering banned protest (June 27)

Global Press Journal: ‘Unwilling to Stop’: What it Takes to Be a Local Reporter in Haiti

Mark Heywood, Daily Maverick, South Africa: The defence of journalism and journalists is a social justice issue (June 30)

International Federation of Journalists: Kenya: Journalists attacked by police during protest in Nairobi

Media Foundation for West Africa: Ghana’s ruling party’s thugs invade radio station, attack rival faction communicator (June 17)

Media Foundation for West Africa: Liberia Stands at Crossroads: CEMESP [Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding] issues call to action on World Press Freedom Day (May 6)

Premium Times and Agency Report, Lagos, Nigeria: Nigerian govt threatens to jail whistleblowers who leak govt documents

Radio Amazuj: Sudanese journalist released after detention in Shendi

Reporters Without Borders: More than 70 obstacles to reporters’ work in three years: journalism at a crossroads in Senegal (June 6)

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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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View previous columns (after Feb. 13, 2016).

View previous columns (before Feb. 13, 2016)