Articles Feature

Musk Brings Back Writer of Racist Comments

by richard0534

V.P. Vance Swipes at Journalists Who Broke Story
L.A. Times Cuts Frequency of Left-of-Center Columnists
Analysis: DEI Hasn’t Brought Much Change at Top
Eugene Robinson Is Latest Trump Says Should Be Fired

CBS Finds Pattern of Police Misconduct in Ill. County
Woman Held After Death of Super Bowl Reporter
Super Bowl ‘a Rejection of Trump’s Vision’

. . . Super Bowl Becomes ‘Experienceship’ for HBCU Students
ESPN Covers NBA Game With All-Black Staff
Tim Tooten Dies, Baltimore TV Reporter, Pastor
Detroit’s Al Allen Dies; How Much Progress?

Short Takes: Sandra Stevenson; Cynthia Hudson, Penny Manis and CNN Espanol; cultivating prison newspapers; sole Indigenous reporter in Mississippi

Updated Feb. 10

Homepage photo: From left, JD Vance, Marko Elez and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

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V.P. Vance Swipes at Journalists Who Broke Story

The Elon Musk staff member who resigned from his quasi-government role after The Wall Street Journal found that he had written posts last year declaring, “I was racist before it was cool” and “normalize Indian hate” will be reinstated, Musk said Friday.

“ ‘To err is human, to forgive divine,’ Musk said in a repost to X of a post from Vice President JD Vance that also supported the staffer’s reinstatement,” Jason Abbruzzese reported for NBC News.

“Vance made the comments on X, reposting a poll from DOGE head Elon Musk asking if the staff member, 25-year-old Marko Elez, [who] resigned from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), should be brought back.

“ ‘I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life,’ Vance wrote. ‘We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever.’

“ ‘So I say bring him back,’ Vance continued. ‘If he’s a bad dude or a terrible member of the team, fire him for that.’ “

Tim Dickinson wrote in Rolling Stone, “Vance, it should be noted, is married to a woman of Indian heritage. And one of Elez’ odious posts reportedly said: ‘Normalize Indian hate,’ and, ‘You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity.’ (From left, Vance, Elez, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who is Indian American and has challenged Vance on keeping Elez.)

“Elez also reportedly posted against the H1-B visa, used by tech companies to employ skilled foreign programmers — a program defended by Musk even in the face of the MAGA anti-immigrant crusade. Elez reportedly wrote in December, ‘99% of Indian H1Bs will be replaced by slightly smarter LLMs,” referring to artificial intelligence large language models, “adding: ‘They’re going back don’t worry guys.’ ”

Ryan Mac and Kate Conger added in The New York Times that “President Trump, asked about the calls for reinstatement later Friday at a news conference with Japan’s prime minister, said he was not familiar with Mr. Elez’s posts. But after confirming with Mr. Vance, who was in the audience, that the vice president had called for Mr. Elez’s reinstatement, Mr. Trump said [he] agreed with whatever the position his Vice President took.

“Mr. Elez did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but soon after Mr. Trump’s remarks, Mr. Musk posted online that he would be returning. . . .

“Mr. Musk had appeared to favor Mr. Elez’s reinstatement, and led a campaign calling for the author of the Journal story to be fired for publishing private information. The Journal did not publish private information and simply linked Mr. Elez’s pseudonymous posts to his real name.

“On X, Mr. Musk posed a question to his more than 215 million followers: ‘Bring back @DOGE staffer who made inappropriate statements via a now deleted pseudonym?’

“The answer, from 78 percent of the more than 385,000 users who cast votes in the poll, was a resounding yes.”

Dickinson wrote for Rolling Stone, ‘Elez, a 25-year-old programmer and alum of Musk’s rocket company SpaceX, has been at the center of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s intrusion into sensitive payments systems at Treasury.

“While DOGE’s mission at Treasury is opaque, Democratic senators are concerned Musk and his deputies seek the ability to shut off federal payments, down to the level of an individual Social Security check. (Elez was recently named in a federal court order limiting DOGE’s access, establishing that only Elez and a DOGE colleague can access Treasury records, on a ‘read only’ basis.)”

In Vanity Fair, Katie Herchenroeder added Saturday, “Reporting from Forbes revealed that another employee, Gavin Kliger, 24, reposted white nationalist Nick Fuentes, shared content from self-declared misogynist Andrew Tate, and called Hillary Clinton a slur.

“After Jose Ibarra, the man convicted of murdering Laken Riley, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Kliger suggested that Trump and Musk use a military tribunal to execute him, writing, ‘Make it happen.’ He’s also defended both Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer found guilty in the death of George Floyd, and Daniel Penny, who was recently acquitted on charges of killing Jordan Neely on a New York Subway in 2023.”

On KTTV’s “The Issue Is,” in October 2022, Los Angeles Times columnists Gustavo Arello and LZ Granderson discuss a racially charged L.A. City Council scandal that made national news. Leaked audio from a 2021 meeting revealed offensive language that displayed “these politicians’ thoughts about who they wanted to take power from,” Granderson wrote.

L.A. Times Cuts Frequency of Left-of-Center Columnists

Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, whose blocking of an editorial page endorsement of Kamala Harris for president began an effort to move the paper to the right, has now ordered cutbacks in the frequency of columns by two of its three staff columnists, who all are considered left-of-center.

The three are Robin Abcarian (pictured), Jackie Calmes and LZ Granderson, the Black journalist among the three.

Abcarian and Calmes confirmed an account of the cutback, but Granderson messaged Journal-isms Sunday, “I cannot speak for the other writers but it’s not true for me.

“I’m on family medical leave and haven’t written since the day of my surgery hip replacement surgery in November. As you know, it’s illegal for my employer to reduce my workload or pressure me to take a buyout while I’m on sick leave or to do so upon my return.”

Soon-Shiong used a letter critical of a Granderson column to declare the need for the newspaper to be more “fair and balanced,” Sharon Knolle reported for The Wrap in November..

“Proud that we posted this letter from one of our readers on X,” he wrote after retweeting a letter to the editor from a white woman in Oxnard, who did not vote for Trump, but objected to LZ Granderson’s column, ‘There’s no mystery. White women handed Trump the election.’

Left of center or not, the former sports commentator is squarely in the mainstream of Black thought.

Before he took time off to undergo hip replacement surgery, Granderson wrote Nov. 5, “I voted for Kamala Harris to be our next president as soon as I could.

“I am so sick and tired of the division and hate. Not just during this election cycle but what we’ve allowed to persist in this nation for so long because of a lack of trust in one another.”

Harris carried Black voters by 86 percent, according to CNN exit polls.

Granderson’s most recent column, Nov. 25, carried the headline, ” ‘Record of the year’ can’t begin to capture Kendrick Lamar’s brilliance in a dark 2024.”

Media writer Oliver Darcy wrote Thursday on his Status website that he had learned “that three of the left-leaning opinion columnists — Robin Abcarian, Jackie Calmes (pictured), and LZ Granderson — were recently directed to reduce their output. They all usually write at a cadence of about two times a week. But they have now been restricted to a single piece a week, I’m told.”

Abcarian confirmed the cutback, adding in a Saturday message, “But I should also note that we are the only staff columnists. The conservative columns we run are either from contract writers like Jonah Goldberg and Josh Hammer, or one-offs from freelancers.

“Or how could [I] forget: Scott Jennings!

“The three of us, all of whom came to the opinion page through different channels (LZ came from Sports, Jackie from our DC buro and I was writing a column in the news pages before being recruited for Opinion about 5 years ago.) We all just happen to be left or left-of-center (which is how Jackie describes herself.) We are not political operatives (like Scott Jennings, for example) and come by our positions honestly, with lots of reporting to back them up.”

While Soon-Shiong did not say explicitly that he was reducing their output because of their points of view, “he’s been talking a lot about ‘balance’ in the opinion pages…and at the same time, our editors have been pushing staffers to be more productive, so it doesn’t really make sense other than that he wants to hear less from us,” Abcarian said.

Calmes messaged about the Darcy piece, “It was correct (though I describe myself as ‘left of center’!). The reason is that in keeping with the owner’s desire for’ ‘balance — i.e., more Trump-friendly commentary — those of us who are left of center . . . and critical of Trump should do one column weekly instead of two, at least until they can find credible voices on the right. I’m just explaining not endorsing.”

James Rainey wrote for the Times in December that after Soon-Shiong (pictured) blocked the Harris endorsement, “he suggested the newspaper had become an ‘echo chamber’ for the political left. And, this month, he announced The Times would create a digital ‘bias meter’ to alert readers about the ideological tilt of the paper’s content.

“An estimated 20,000 subscribers dropped The Times after the non-endorsement in the presidential race and its aftermath. Soon-Shiong’s pledges of a more ‘fair and balanced’ approach triggered more dismay from many and charges of a capitulation to President-elect Donald Trump. But the new stance also brought praise from others for what they saw as a long-overdue recalibration of coverage in the West’s most prominent newspaper.”

Granderson messaged Saturday about his health. “As for recovery, I had a minor setback and need a second surgery. But I’m moving much better than before the surgery, so I am grateful.”

In 2021, “Nearly four of every five survey respondents said the new efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have positively affected the journalism industry,” reported the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University. (Credit: Medill School)

Analysis: DEI Hasn’t Brought Much Change at Top

“Corporate diversity pledges and DEI programs have generated a lot of controversy. They haven’t generated as much diversity,” Inti Pacheco, Elizaveta Galkina and Theo Francis reported Friday for The Wall Street Journal.

“Big companies are retreating from initiatives to diversify their workforces amid a legal and political backlash, and the Trump administration is rooting out such practices in the federal government. DEI opponents argue those initiatives and practices amount to reverse discrimination.

“Yet such policies haven’t radically changed who advances up the corporate ladder in the short time they have been in place, a Wall Street Journal analysis of 13 million workers at S&P 500 companies found.

“After George Floyd’s murder in 2020, businesses stepped up efforts to broaden the mix of workforces and leadership teams. These diversity, equity and inclusion — or DEI — practices can include various approaches, from ensuring candidates for jobs come from a variety of backgrounds to using executive pay incentives to increase representation of specific groups in specific roles.

“In the four years since then, the workforces of the biggest public U.S. companies have become slightly less white, and Asian and Hispanic employees have made modest gains, according to 2023 data provided by research firm DiversIQ. The numbers are drawn from reports companies provide on their U.S. workers to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“The picture is more lopsided in the upper ranks of these companies. White men have lost a little ground but still occupy half of all senior manager roles. White women — a bigger focus of corporate diversity efforts before 2020 — have experienced the least change since then. The share of senior managers who aren’t white, meanwhile, rose to 26% from 22%.

“A closer look at specific job categories shows Black and Hispanic employees still make up a small fraction of executive and other higher-paid professional jobs. In 2023, one in 20 senior managers was Black — less than half the share of Black workers in the broader U.S. workforce. Hispanic managers make up a similar share, well below their numbers in the total labor force. . . .”

Robinson Is Latest Trump Says Should Be Fired

“Donald Trump on Friday called for Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson (pictured) to be ‘fired immediately,’ after the writer was heavily critical of the president and Elon Musk,” Sean Burch reported for The Wrap.

“Robinson, in a [column] titled ‘These Republicans Should Be Ashamed of Themselves‘ out Thursday afternoon, said Trump ‘tramples’ on the Constitution and is making ‘unacceptable choices’ for his administration, but congressional Republicans are too scared to push back. The longtime WaPo writer and editor then ripped Musk — whom he called ‘Trump’s moneybags enforcer’ — for his push to cut trillions of dollars in government spending. . . .

“Robinson, who is also a political analyst for MSNBC, did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment, nor did he post a response on X, where he has 413,000 followers.

“ ‘Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist with a 45-year record of integrity, professionalism and scrupulous reporting and commentary,’ a Washington Post spokesperson told TheWrap. ‘The Washington Post stands behind Gene – just as it stands behind all journalists and news organizations dedicated to independent coverage and a free press.’ . . . ”

“CBS News presented 50 abuse complaints to Sheriff Paula Crouch, who was appointed after the fallout in the wake of Massey’s death,” Jericka Duncan reported. “The allegations include violations of due process, excessive tasing, the rape of a woman who called 911 for help, and arrests made with no legal grounds as tools of harassment or intimidation. The sheriff’s office disputed each one of these accusations.”

CBS Finds Pattern of Police Misconduct in Ill. County

“The Sangamon County [Ill.] Sheriff’s Office said Sonya Massey’s fatal shooting by a deputy was an isolated incident, but a CBS News investigation found a pattern of alleged misconduct, with dozens of complaints over the past 20 years,” Jericka Duncan (pictured) reported Feb. 5 for CBS News.

“They include at least eight deaths in the custody of Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office deputies and corrections officers, in addition to Massey’s fatal shooting. . . .

“None of the officers involved in the eight deaths or other misconduct allegations have been criminally charged. In each case, the sheriff’s office and the officers denied any wrongdoing, even in cases settled in civil court by the county. . . .”

As reported by the Chicago Tribune, “Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, was killed in July when deputies responded to a call about a possible prowler at her home in Springfield, Illinois. She was shot three times during a confrontation with an officer.

“Sean Grayson, who is white, was fired. He is charged with murder and other crimes and has pleaded not guilty.”

Coincidentally, two days after Duncan’s report aired, the Chicago Sun-Times and WBBM-TV each reported that Massey’s family is in line to receive $10 million in a settlement with the county.

“The agreement is set for a vote by the county board at its monthly meeting Tuesday. Massey’s family agreed not to file a civil lawsuit as part of the settlement,” the Sun-Times reported.

(Credit: Facebook)

Woman Held After Death of Super Bowl Reporter

“Two days after a Kansas City Telemundo reporter visiting New Orleans to cover Super Bowl LIX was found dead in his hotel room, Kenner police announced the arrest of a woman seen leaving his room and later using his credit cards at several local stores,” Michelle Hunter reported Friday for NOLA.com.

“Danette Colbert, 48, of Slidell, is only facing fraud and theft charges, said Deputy Chief Mark McCormick, of the Kenner Police Department.

“But authorities noted that she has a criminal history that includes allegations of drugging men, theft and credit card fraud. Colbert has convictions in Jefferson and Orleans Parish for targeting tourists on Bourbon Street and illegally using credit cards, according to authorities.

” ‘She was stopped quite frequently in the French Quarter, and she’s known for these fraud schemes,’ Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley said Friday.

“Adan Manzano, 27, of Topeka, Kansas, was working as a sideline reporter for KBKC, Kansas City’s Telemundo affiliate, according to the station.

“He was found dead in a hotel room in Kenner on Wednesday afternoon, police said. His cause of death has not yet been determined. The Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office is awaiting the results of further testing.

“But authorities have said there were no signs of obvious trauma to his body. . . .”

Super Bowl ‘a Rejection of Trump’s Vision’

“After three weeks of destruction and despair, this was the Super Bowl many Americans needed,” columnist Nancy Armour wrote Monday for USA Today.

“From the pregame festivities featuring a cornucopia of New Orleans music to the not-so-subtle optics of Kendrick Lamar’s red, white and blue flag of Black men to the ads touting science and diversity to the Philadelphia Eagles burying the Kansas City Chiefs, the entire day felt like a repudiation of the sledgehammer President Donald Trump and his minions are trying to take to this country.

“That Trump had a front-row seat for it — until he fled early in the third quarter, that is — made it all the more satisfying.

“ ‘Real heroes are humble. They’re not driven by pride. Pride is a terrible driver,’ Harrison Ford said in an ad for Jeep, as footage of the U.S. soldiers who defeated fascism in World War II played.

“ ‘We won’t always agree on which way to go,’ Ford said. ‘But our differences can be our strength.’

“That’s the opposite message we’ve been hearing since Trump returned to office. Elected to bring down grocery prices and finally fix our broken immigration system, Trump has instead taken us to a place of darkness.

“He and his administration have dismantled efforts to counteract systemic racism and misogyny, claiming diversity makes us weaker and impugning people of color and women as inferior. He is ignoring the rules of law and shredding Constitutional norms. He’s putting a halt to the research and innovation that can improve the lives of all Americans.

“Meanwhile, Trump’s overlord Elon Musk is rummaging through the private data of U.S. citizens and trying to shutter agencies and departments like the king he is not.

“And Trump no doubt came to the Super Bowl expecting the MAGA-friendly Chiefs to win, allowing him to co-opt the victory as more proof of his ‘mandate’ while giving him license to mock the Eagles for spurning his White House invitation in 2018.

“Instead, Trump and everyone watching got a reminder that protest, and progress, are the bedrock of this country. That we are better because of our many colors, races and creeds, our richly layered culture the result of all of our contributions. . . .”

“Join us in celebrating these outstanding students as they make history and represent Dillard University on the biggest stage in sports media!” urges the historically Black New Orleans university. 

. . . Super Bowl Becomes ‘Experienceship’ for HBCU Students

Mass communications students at Dillard University, a historically Black institution in New Orleans, are participating in Super Bowl-related programs targeting HBCU students.

Mass com students Zuri Primos and Ravien Burns, along with film students Cymoine Holmes, Johari Smith and Donovan Ruble have been selected for the inaugural Super Bowl LIX Media Scholars Program, a “groundbreaking initiative [that] provides exceptional young minds from the New Orleans area with unprecedented access to one of the world’s most celebrated sporting events, offering them a unique opportunity to gain real-world experience in the sports media industry,” the university said.

“In addition, we are thrilled to recognize Marcus Bland (Mass Communication), who was selected for the HBCU Experienceship Program! Through this initiative, Marcus is getting a behind-the-scenes look at Super Bowl planning, NFL operations, and a variety of other NFL-related roles. . . .

“We also have students working directly with our program’s Professional-in-Residence, Bernel Davis, and Fox Sports, gaining invaluable hands-on experience in the industry:

“Rayshaun Thomas – Mass Communication; Cody Brown – Mass Communication; Emmanuel Taveras – Mass Communication; Charra Bridges – Film.”

In October, the NFL settled a racial discrimination lawsuit with reporter Jim Trotter, just over one year after Trotter sued the league, in exchange for NFL financial support for a scholarship foundation for journalism students at historically Black colleges and universities. Terms of the settlement were not publicly known.

“NFL Football Operations launched the experienceship program to connect collegiate candidates interested in a career in sports and entertainment with opportunities to develop and to learn about the business through practical learning and shadowing experiences,” the NFL says on its webpage on “strengthening HBCUs.” “The initiative has since expanded and now includes the opportunity to gain experience on other NFL departments.”

ESPN’s celebration of “Black History Always” featured the inaugural all-Black staffed NBA game broadcast on Feb. 5. Key members of that crew sat down with Andscape to highlight their behind-the-scenes works and the importance of diversity there, and to express what the historical moment means to them. (Credit: YouTube)

ESPN Covers NBA Game With All-Black Staff

When asked about ESPN’s inaugural all-Black staffed NBA game broadcast and production team for Wednesday’s game between the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks, ESPN play-by-play announcer Mark Jones became a little emotional when offering words to describe it, Mark J. Spears wrote for ESPN’s Andscape the day before the game.

“ ‘Serendipity. Joy. I would say it would be along those lines,’ Jones, 63, recently told Andscape.’“Prestigious. Serendipity comes to mind because I’ll be in a state of euphoria the whole day. To be able to be side by side with family, with culture, [it’s] just delightfully diverse.’

“The production, a first-ever idea of its kind at ESPN and part of its Black History Always celebration, was conceived by Rodney Vaughn, a remote producer at ESPN. The objective is to highlight African American contributions to sports broadcasting both on-air and behind the scenes, engage students and emerging talent from Clark Atlanta University’s mass media program and to produce a seamless broadcast with compelling elements and a strong companion narrative. . . . “

Andscape published Spears’ Q-and-A with Jones.

  • Independence Hall Association, owner of ushistory.org, Philadelphia: Did you know?

(h/t Tony Reid)

Tim Tooten Dies, Baltimore TV Reporter, Pastor

“Tim Tooten, a veteran Baltimore television journalist and nondenominational Christian pastor who founded a Baltimore County church, has died, WBAL-TV announced Sunday night,” Hallie Miller wrote Sunday for the Baltimore Banner. Neither the Banner nor WBAL reported the journalist’s age, cause of death or where he died, but elsewhere he was listed as 66.

Miller continued “Tooten, one of the longest-tenured and best-recognized education reporters in the region, retired in 2023 after 35 years with WBAL and more than 40 years in journalism. In addition to his roles at the station and at the Harvest Christian Ministries church in Nottingham, Tooten served as an adjunct professor at Loyola University Maryland, where he taught broadcast journalism.

“When he retired, WBAL colleague Deborah Weiner described Tooten in a farewell video as the newsroom’s ‘spiritual center.’ News anchor Jason Newton credited Tooten for showing him how to do the job, calling him a ‘community-loving, people-caring, heart-on-your-sleeve-wearing, all-around good guy.’ Tooten signed off in December 2023.

“On Sunday, Jayne Miller, a longtime colleague who worked with Tooten from 1988 until her retirement in 2022, said Tooten’s sudden loss sent shock waves through the newsroom. . . .

“Tooten told The Banner his most memorable assignment was working on a half-hour documentary shot in Liberia, West Africa, called “Africa’s Maryland.”

“Tooten said the documentary detailed the story of the colonization period when freed slaves traveled from Fells Point to Liberia. He won a National Edward R. Murrow Award and a National Headliner Award Best of Show for it. He also won a National Headliner Award for his ‘East is East’ documentary, a work that “profiled life as an African-American growing up on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. . . .”

Detroit’s Al Allen Dies; How Much Progress?

Al Allen, who became an iconic broadcaster in Detroit after reporting for both mainstream television and Black radio for decades, died Tuesday, Fox 2, his last broadcast home, reported Wednesday.

“A family spokesperson told FOX 2 that Allen passed away at a Metro Detroit hospital Tuesday night. Allen was 79 years old,” the station reported.

No cause of death, funeral home or time for services was given. Allen’s nephew, Kennan Oliphant, vice president’news and station manager at CBS Detroit, messaged Journal-isms on Sunday, “I’ll have all details for everyone by next Thursday.”

When Allen’s memoir, “We’re Standing By,” was released in 2018, Cornelius Fortune of BlackDetroit.com wrote:

“The Arkansas native came to Detroit in the early ’70s working at WJLB as an anchor/reporter and covered important stories and topics such as the Livernois riot of 1975, black alcoholism, black-on-black crime, and so many others, but even with his impressive collection of accolades, one thing seems to stick out for many of his fans – the weather. ‘Out of all the stories I’ve covered – there’s been thousands, I covered – they only remember one,’ Allen says.

“Being out there on the overpass in the snowstorm. That’s the one people remember. ‘Oh, I felt so sorry for you in that cold and snow.’ Everything else? ‘No, I don’t remember that story. I remember seeing you in that cold.’ He might not miss reporting on snowstorms, but there’s definitely a place in his heart for the city. ‘Detroit is one of the greatest news towns in America,’ he says, ‘because you have all the ingredients – the government, the manufacturing, health, education and so forth. You’ve got everything you need to do a newscast, or write a story in the newspaper or magazine, it’s right here.’

Allen also covered the Detroit urban rebellion of 1967, in which, after five days, 43 people were dead, 342 injured, nearly 1,400 buildings had been burned and some 7,000 National Guard and U.S. Army troops had been called into service.

Former FOX 2 anchor Huel Perkins talks about his longtime colleague, Al Allen (Credit: YouTube)

In preparation for a National Association of Black Journalists panel commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Kerner Commission report on the causes of the uprisings, including the lack of Black representation in the news media, Allen told this columnist in 2017:

“I did more research related to broadcast news in the Detroit TV market and very little has changed. First of all, of the 3 major news stations, there are no black general managers. When it comes to news directors, it’s the same, not even assistant news directors. Show producers very few. All this means a lack of editorial decisions when it comes to covering certain stories when it comes to the African American community. The stations are WJBK-TV FOX 2, WXYZ TV ABC AFFILIATE) And channel 4 (NBC AFFLIATE). As a result, what you see may not be a true representation of the African American community.

“Chuck Stokes is the only black editorial director/community affairs director. And he works for WXYZ TV. Detroit is the 13th largest market, but compared to other big cities, we continue to lag behind when it comes to broadcast news and the African American community. As a matter of fact, many of the social issues affecting the black community in 1967, continue to exist today. Often times these issues come up, there is conversation, but that’s all.”

Asked how much things have changed since Allen wrote that, Vincent McCraw, president of the Detroit chapter of NABJ, replied:

“There has been little change in TV. One change worth noting is that Kennan Oliphant, vice president of news and station manager at CBS Detroit, was named to the position a few months ago and he is a nephew of Al Allen. Before Kennan moved to CBS Detroit he’d been news director at WXYZ.

“Chuck Stokes continues to be the only Black editorial /public affairs director. And, at least two of the stations have Black producers, and associate producers

“On the print and digital sides, Nicole Avery Nichols is the chief editor of the Detroit Free Press, the first Black woman to hold the position at the paper. At Outlier Media, the editor-in-chief is Erin Perry and at Outlier Media, Orlando Bailey is the executive director.

“In radio, Jerome Vaughn is news director at WDET, the public radio station.”

Short Takes

    • Sandra M. Stevenson (pictured), deputy director of photography at the Washington Post, is joining Education Week Feb. 25 as managing editor, visuals and immersive experience (VEX), Editor-in-Chief Beth Frerking told staff members Thursday. “At the Post, Sandra helped lead strategic conversations on such significant issues as AI policy (internal and external), visual consistency across platforms, and building the best visuals team for the future. . . . Sandra brings a strong appreciation for coverage of K12 education, coming from a family of Washington-area K12 educators and having herself served on the national board of the American Montessori Society. . . .”

    • “Cynthia Hudson (pictured, at left) is leaving CNN en Español (CNNE) after nearly 15 years at the helm, Veronica Villafañe reported Thursday for her Media Moves site. “Her exit comes amid a company-wide programming, staffing, leadership overhaul and layoffs announced in January. . . . As part of the changes, there will be two newly created CNNE leadership roles reporting directly to CNN’s Global News structure. Penny Manis (pictured, at right), a CNN veteran who began her career at CNNE in 1994 as an intern and held various producer roles over the next five years, will take oversight of the Spanish-language network as Vice President, Editorial & Content Strategy. She will be responsible for the editorial and strategic direction of the network, audience growth, and digital services. The company is also creating a new Director, News Reporting position and will appoint a Bureau Manager for its Mexico City hub. Those roles have yet to be filled. . . . “

Jesse Vasquez, left, executive director of the Pollen Initiative, speaks with Amber Bray, Paper Trail editor at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, Calif. (Credit: Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

    • The Pollen Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating prison newspapers and media centers, was the subject of a Feb. 7 piece by Martha Ross of the Bay Area News Group. It was created “so that incarcerated people can shed light on the prison system in California,” Ross wrote. “Not too long ago, Pollen Initiative executive director Jesse Vasquez “was incarcerated himself with two life sentences for an attempted murder that occurred when he was 17. His final years in prison were spent at San Quentin, where he served as editor-in-chief of the San Quentin News. He gained valuable life and professional experience reporting stories and managing a staff of fellow felons. Vasquez commutes two hours from Oakland to Chowchilla to serve as editorial advisor for the newly created Paper Trail newspaper at the Central California Women’s Facility. The Paper Trail is an 8-page newspaper that publishes once a month and is entirely created by the incarcerated women. . . .”


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