Press Secretary Tries to Minimize False Statement
Sirius XM Host Off Air After Altercation
Plain Dealer Loses a Third of Its Newsroom
Castro Does Better When Latino Sample Sizes Grow
U.S. Is ‘Full,’ but Space Remains at Detention Halls
Chicago Public Radio Fulfills a 5-Year-Old’s Wish
Projects Indicting Justice System Win Grants
(Credit: New York Times) (video)
Press Secretary Tries to Minimize False Statement
“CNN political analyst April Ryan called for the firing of White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Thursday, claiming Sanders ‘lied’ to the media following the release of the Mueller report,” Joseph A. Wulfsohn reported Thursday for Fox News.
“In May 2017, following the turbulent firing of FBI Director James Comey, Sanders told reporters that ‘countless’ FBI agents had lost confidence in Comey despite one reporter’s assertion that the ‘vast majority’ of them supported his leadership. According to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office, Sanders told investigators her claim was a ‘slip of the tongue’ and was ‘in the heat of the moment,’ admitting that it was not founded on anything.
[But as Anderson Cooper asked Friday night on his CNN show, according to CNN’s Brian Stelter, “Why didn’t she correct herself a minute later or an hour later or a day later or a week later?” ]
“Ryan, who is also a White House reporter for the American Urban Radio Networks, blasted the press secretary on Thursday night for ‘lying’ to the American people.
“ ‘Not only does she not have any credibility left, she lied,’ Ryan told CNN anchor Erin Burnett. ‘She outright lied and the people, the American people can’t trust her. They can’t trust what’s said from the president’s mouthpiece, spokesperson, from the people’s house. Therefore, she should be let go. She should be fired. End of story. When there is a lack of credibility there, you have to start and start lopping the heads off. It’s ‘Fire Me Thursday’ or ‘Fire Me Good Friday,’ she needs to go.”
“The CNN pundit suggested that since President Trump ‘won’t take the fall[;] . . . that Sanders might instead.
” ‘Sarah plays a dangerous game in that room… The game is dangerous because she is lying to the American public,’ Ryan continued. ‘Then, on top of all that, she says the press is fake when she’s faking reports from the people’s house. She’s calling us fake? We’ve had colleagues who’ve had to move from their houses because of threats. I have to have security because of being called ‘fake’ and a ‘loser’ and all sorts of things from that White House. It’s time for her to go.’ . . .”
On Twitter, Ryan engaged in a back and forth with Sanders’ father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee over Ryan’s comments.
- “Bonchie,” Red State: CNN’s April Ryan Says Sarah Sanders’ Head Should Be “Lopped Off”
- Bob Garfield with Eric Umansky, “On the Media,” WNYC-FM, New York: Post-Mueller Report: Revisiting Our Breaking News Consumer’s Handbook
- Dahleen Glanton, Chicago Tribune: Demand for Trump’s tax returns shouldn’t bar him from running — a better candidate would keep him from winning
- Michael Harriot, the Root: Mueller Report Reveals How Black Activists, White Tears and Racism Helped Trump Become President
- Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman, New York Times: Sanders’s ‘Slip of the Tongue’ Would Be a Problem in Some White Houses. Not Trump’s.
- Carlos Lozada, Washington Post: The Mueller report isn’t just a legal document. It’s also the best book on the Trump White House so far.
- Mackenzie Nichols, Variety: HBO Fires Back at Trump’s ‘Game of Thrones’-Inspired ‘No Collusion’ Tweet
- Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: Exonerated? We’ve only just begun, Mr. President
- Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: Only Congress can hold Trump accountable now
- Brian Stelter, CNN: Sarah Sanders admitted she lied to the White House press. Does she have any credibility left?
- Reis Thebault, Washington Post: On live TV, instant Mueller report takes reveal the challenges of real time reporting
- Al Tompkins, Poynter Institute: Mueller proves ‘fake news’ to be true
Video shows Afrika, left, an activist, challenging Mark Thompson of Sirius XM and MSNBC, followed by Thompson hitting Afrika in reaction to insults. (Credit: YouTube)
Sirius XM Host Off Air After Altercation
“Veteran progressive Sirius XM radio host Mark Thompson has been off the air for more than a week. The move came soon after a physical, videotaped altercation that took place in Newark, when an activist approached him after a community event and called him an ‘Uncle Tom’ and a ‘sell out coon,’ “ Eric Boehlert wrote Wednesday for the Daily Kos.
“Activists with ties to the far right quickly seized on the video and are reportedly using the incident in an attempt to get Thompson fired from his Sirius XM radio show. The dispute stems from a larger campaign by black advocates to target a number of black progressives, including Joy Reid, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Roland Martin, Malcolm Nance, and the Rev. William Barber, among other Trump critics.
” ‘If Thompson is purged on such a thin basis, it will encourage further mischief,’ warned columnist Richard Rosendall in the Washington Blade. Thompson has hosted the show Make It Plain for 18 years, and his was among the first talk shows hosted by XM Satellite Radio when it debuted in 2001. (XM merged with Sirius in 2008.) He became the first black person in the U.S. to host a daily, national show on a progressive/liberal talk format. In 2013, Thompson was honored at the 104th Annual NAACP Convention in July 2013 ‘for 25 years of crusading journalism and outstanding leadership in furthering the work of civil and human rights.’ (Full disclosure: I’ve been a fan of Thompson’s show for years and have appeared on it many times.)
“The somewhat obscure group at the center of the conflict is called ADOS, which stands for American Descendants Of Slaves. They are a pro-reparations collective that’s active online. Thompson himself has long been in favor of reparations. But while appearing on MSNBC he criticized the group’s tactics for their exclusive focus on Democrats, which then made him a target of ADOS’s attacks. . . .”
Sirius XM spokespeople did not respond to an inquiry from Journal-isms.
- Talib Kweli Greene, medium.com: Why #ADOS Is Trash. Receipts Attached. (April 10)
- Isheka N. Harrison, moguldom.com: Why Is SiriusXM Considering Firing Talk Show Host Rev. Mark Thompson?
- Cristina López and Timothy Johnson, Media Matters for America: What to know about ADOS, a group targeting Black progressives
- YouTube: More videos about the confrontation
Plain Dealer Loses a Third of Its Newsroom
The Plain Dealer in Cleveland began the month with 14 fewer people — the result of a layoff — with more to come. The 14 included at least three people of color — business writers Janet Cho and Marcia Pledger — and sportswriter Elton Alexander.
Setting the stage for the reductions, Editor George Rodgrigue wrote readers on March 15, “The essence of a reduction in force like this is that good people lose their jobs, through no fault of their own. That is a kind of tragedy, and one that will be deeply felt by everyone at The Plain Dealer.
“The planned layoffs are in addition to changes we announced in December, involving the shift of page-production work from our free-standing production desk to a centralized system. That new production system is planned to start in early May.
“Necessity has driven both moves. . . .”
Cho messaged Journal-isms Friday, ” I was among 14 people laid off on April 1 — after 20 years at the paper. Another 20 people at the Plain Dealer will lose their jobs next month. So I am job-hunting, open to new opportunities, but looking for a way to stay in journalism.”
Pledger had been on the business desk for more than 23 years, Chris Roush reported for his Talking Biz News site on April 2.
“Pledger had volunteered to be part of the layoff,” Roush wrote.
“ ‘I’ve had a lot of great opportunities during my career at the Plain Dealer,’ said Pledger in an email to Talking Biz News. ‘The people I’ve met and the experiences they’ve shared have prepared me to move forward with my next chapter.
“ ‘I’ve spent so much of my career covering the ups and downs that small business owners face, and I’m looking forward to freelance opportunities, particularly in the fast-growing marijuana industry,’ she added. ‘I’ve covered so many industries throughout the years, and I love sharing stories of passionate business owners.’. . .”
Alexander tweeted his goodbye on April 1 with a video of Kenny Loggins‘ “This Is It,” adding, “Plain Dealer career has come to a bittersweet end. Loved every minute of it, save for a few leatherheads.”
The departures represent about a third of the Plain Dealer newsroom, according to the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild, Local 34001.
A written statement from the Guild reiterated that the Plain Dealer is planning in May to outsource 20 union editing and design jobs, along with those of their managers.
“This means the end of local journalists handling the editing, design and illustration of Ohio’s largest newspaper,” the Guild said.
“With the April layoffs, The Plain Dealer lost more than 475 years of vital institutional knowledge about the community in a single day,” the Guild continued.
- Editorial, Crain’s Cleveland Business: Crain’s editorial: Local matters (April 7)
- Darrielle Snipes and Annie Wu, WOSU-FM, Cleveland: Plain Dealer Staff Awaits Monday Layoff Notices (April 1)
Budding political prognosticator Ethan Kelly, 16, of Bowie, Md., has speculated about a proposed 2020 matchup between Julián Castro and President Trump, state by state. He has done the same with other potential matchups. (Credit: YouTube) (video)
Castro Does Better When Latino Sample Sizes Grow
“For Julián Castro, the more Latinos surveyed in polls of the 2020 Democratic presidential field the better,” Suzanne Gamboa and Stephen Nuño-Pérez reported Thursday for NBC News.
“A poll released this week of national Latino voters had Castro, a former U.S. housing secretary and mayor of San Antonio, in fourth, with 45 percent. The poll was conducted by Latino Decisions for the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Educational Fund, a bipartisan group.
“That was much better than Castro, 44, the only Latino in the 2020 race, has fared in other polls on the Democratic primary race that polled fewer Latinos.
“Leading the poll was former Vice President Joe Biden (59 percent), followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, independent from Vermont (58 percent) and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke (48 percent). The three have led other polls of the crowded 2020 field.
“The poll released Tuesday was ‘specifically designed to have a large and accurate sample of the Latino community, offered in English and Spanish, and weighted to match the correct census demographics,’ said Matt Barretto, founder and [principal] of Latino Decisions, which has done work for Democrats. ‘No other poll in 2019 which has reported a Latino sub-sample has done that.’
“Latino Decisions surveyed 606 Latino registered voters nationwide from April 9-15. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent. . . .”
Gamboa and Nuño-Pérez also wrote, “But the number of Latino or African American voters included in many national polls often are small leading to higher margins of error for those groups. That raises questions about whether candidates of color are at a disadvantage if they have heavy support in minority communities.
“ ‘What we learned in Nevada in 2010 was that when the so-called mainstream polls have small or inaccurate Latino samples, it skews the overall results,’ Barreto said.
“ ‘In Nevada, we noticed other polls were missing critical support numbers for Harry Reid and they wrongly predicted he would lose in 2010,’ he said, referring to the former senator. . . .”
- Dan Balz, Washington Post: Buttigieg has been the surprise of the Democratic field. Where does he go next?
- Rekha Basu, Des Moines Register: Pete Buttigieg makes an impressive start but it’s time to get more granular
- Charles M. Blow, New York Times: The Complexities of the Black Vote
- Rachel M. Cohen, the Intercept: Julián Castro Got Off Easy for Ethics Trouble in the Last Presidential Campaign (April 10)
- Ben Collins and EJ Fox, NBC Asian America: Andrew Yang’s campaign and supporters struggle to push away extremists, leaked chats show
- Lauren Easton, Associated Press: AP announces political team for 2020 (April 12)
- Natalie Gontcharova, Refinery29: The Real Reason America Has Never Had A Female President (April 12)
- Yamily Habib, Al Día, Philadelphia: What distinguishes Julián Castro from the rest of the Democratic candidates? (April 12)
- Yamily Habib, Al Día, Philadelphia: Can Julián Castro be the first Latino in the White House? (March 15)
- Suzette Hackney, Indianapolis Star: Pete Buttigieg makes 2020 presidential bid official; GOP throws shade
- Astead W. Herndon and Matt Flegenheimer, New York Times: Should a White Man Be the Face of the Democratic Party in 2020?
- Charles Lam, NBC Asian America: Cory Booker leads Dem presidential candidates in campaign contributions from Asian Americans
- Latino Decisions: New National Poll Shows Biden, Sanders, O’Rourke, and Castro Ahead With Latino Voters in Lead Up to 2020
- Latino Rebels: Why Are More People Not Outraged About How Bernie Sanders Frames His Views on Immigrants?
- John McNamara, Capital Gazette, Annapolis, Md.: Bowie teen’s already a political operative (April 25, 2018)
- Phillip Morris, Plain Dealer, Cleveland: Has Joe Biden been caught in the crosshairs of his own hugs? (April 7, updated April 8)
- Jim Naureckas, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting: Which Candidates Are Mentioned Most Often on TV News? (April 14)
- Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post: Cory Booker, a would-be bachelor president, says Americans are ‘open to lots of different types of families’ in the White House (April 12)
U.S. Is ‘Full,’ but Space Remains at Detention Halls
“President Donald Trump has warned that Central American families are staging an ‘invasion’ at the U.S.-Mexico border. He has threatened to take migrants to Democratic strongholds to punish political opponents. And his administration regularly complains about having to ‘catch and release’ migrants,” Nomaan Merchant reported from Houston Friday for the Associated Press.
“At the same time, his administration has stopped using one of three family detention centers to hold parents and children and left almost 2,000 beds unused at the other two. It says it does not have the resources to transport migrants to the centers.
“Immigrant advocates accuse the administration of closing off family detention to further the perception of a crisis.
“The Karnes County Residential Center in Texas used to hold up to 800 parents and children at a time, who would usually be detained before an initial screening to judge whether they qualified for asylum.
“But ICE last month started to release families until they were all gone from Karnes. Advocates who work there say ICE is now restricting legal access to the roughly 400 adult women being detained there.
“The population at the family detention center in nearby Dilley, Texas, was also reduced and remains at roughly a quarter of its 2,400-person capacity. A 96-person facility in Pennsylvania had only 18 immigrants this week.
“Meanwhile, the numbers of parents and children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border have surged, leading immigration officials to declare the situation a crisis. More than 50,000 parents and children were apprehended by the Border Patrol in March, setting a monthly record. . . .”
- Maya Averbuch and Kevin Sieff, Washington Post: Hundreds of Africans tried to reach the United States. Now they’re stuck in Mexico.
- Elvia Díaz, Arizona Republic: Trump should shut down the U.S-Mexico border to trade and travel, too (April 1)
- Editorial, Boston Globe: A long-awaited expansion for Boston’s immigrant defense fund
- Editorial, Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago, a great sanctuary city of immigrants, is anything but ‘full’
- Editorial, Miami Herald: Judge right to block Trump’s TPS move
- Emil Guillermo, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund: Trump’s sanctuary dump and the mischaracterization of California’s law to protect immigrants
- Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., National Newspaper Publishers Association: The Politics Behind Trump’s Empty Border Threats (April 10)
- Caitlyn Yates, Lawfare: A Case Study in the Outsourcing of U.S. Border Control (April 11)
Chicago Public Radio Fulfills a 5-Year-Old’s Wish
“When Make-A-Wish Illinois announced it was going to grant the wish of Azka Sharief — a 5-year-old living with a rare metabolic disorder — no one could have guessed what she would request,” Paula Hendrickson wrote Friday for current.org. “Not even her parents.
“Nearly half of the state’s wish recipients opt for a family vacation to a Disney property. But Azka said she wanted to make a podcast.
“ ‘I was looking for her to ask for a vacation trip,’ said Fatima Sharief, Azka’s mother. But looking back, there were clues to what she would want to do. Some time ago, after watching a segment about podcasting on a children’s TV show, Azka declared that she wanted to be a podcaster. ‘Then her big sister, Afifa, helped her make podcasts on my phone.’
“Make-a-Wish officials turned to WBEZ in Chicago in mid-March with an unusual request ‘to make a podcast with a 5-year-old,’ said Kevin Dawson, managing director of content development. ‘We of course were more than happy to help. . . .’ ”
Projects Indicting Justice System Win Grants
“Three projects that indict the American criminal justice system have been chosen as winners of PitchBLACK, an interactive pitching session that culminates Black Public Media’s 13-week 360 Incubator+ for broadcast programs, web series and virtual reality projects,” Black Public Media, formerly the National Black Programming Consortium, announced on Monday.
“The Black Public Media (BPM) incubator and talent development program, designed to identify and pipeline quality black content while honing the skills of brilliant makers, awarded a total of $320,000 in funding. . . .
“The broadcast project Commuted, by Nailah Jefferson (mentor Yoruba Richen), wins $100,000. The documentary program tells the story of Danielle Bernard Metz, a mother of two who was sentenced to triple life plus 20 years for her role in her husband’s drug ring. Metz’s sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2016, and the film follows her fight to reconcile her present life with past regrets.
“The 3,000 Project by Keith McQuirter (executive producer LaNora Williams-Clark, mentor Chris Hastings) explores how Wisconsin — one of the most incarcerated states in the nation — is grappling with parole reform; the broadcast documentary program wins $100,000.
“The VR experience Points of View (POV) by Alton Glass (producer/visual effects producer Donovan DeBoer, mentor Michael Premo) is set in Los Angeles in 2025, where weaponized police drones govern the skies, raising questions around how much privacy we will surrender as law enforcement technology develops. POV will be awarded $60,000 for its community engagement campaign.
“The fourth winner, Heroes of Color by David Heredia (mentor Kimson Albert), is a vibrant, illustrated educational web series designed to create a more inclusive — and historically accurate — K-12 curriculum and inspire pride among youth. The project, which targets younger audiences, a demographic BPM has set its sights on, will receive $60,000 toward production of its first season. . . .”
Short Takes
(Credit: Netflix)
- “On Friday, Netflix released the trailer for ‘When They See Us,’ Ava DuVernay’s four-part series about the five black and Latino teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of raping a white female jogger in New York’s Central Park in 1989,” Bethonie Butler reported Friday for the Washington Post. “The trailer arrives 30 years to the day of the brutal attack at the center of the case, which became sensationalized in a city plagued by crime and simmering racial tensions. Four of the accused teenagers, who were between the ages of 14 and 16 at the time of their arrests, falsely confessed after being interrogated for hours. The teens, who became known as the Central Park Five, would later say police had deprived them of food, water and sleep over the course of the interrogations. . . .” The film premieres May 31. As reported in this space in 2013, the press have not apologized for its hyperbolic prose encouraging a rush to judgment.
- “A warrant is out for the arrest of a journalist,” KRQE reported Friday from Santa Fe, N.M. “Records show alcohol was found in her system after a recent DWI arrest. During that arrest, she claimed she was a victim of police brutality. Jenni Monet was arrested for DWI earlier this month at a Santa Fe liquor store on Old Pecos Trail. Deputies were called after the store refused to sell her wine, claiming she appeared drunk. According to the incident [form] on Tuesday, she tested 13 times. Results show she failed five times and missed two tests. Monet claimed all she had was a Cesar salad.” In social media posts over the weekend and on an “In the Thick” podcast Tuesday with journalist Maria Hinojosa (25:25), Monet denied she had been drinking, saying her eyes were red because she had been crying, and attributed the arrest to racial profiling. Asked about answering the warrant, she told Journal-isms Sunday, “I don’t know enough about my warrant to comment yet.”
- “Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Wednesday that his office would drop its challenge of a judge’s ruling in convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal’s case, clearing the way for Abu-Jamal to again argue his appeal before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court,” Chris Palmer reported Wednesday for the Philadelphia Inquirer. “The long-running appeals battle has gained renewed attention in recent years, as Abu-Jamal’s lawyers contend he deserves another shot before the high court due to a recusal issue involving former Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille. . . .”
- “Life has admittedly not been easy for hip-hop media pioneer Dee Barnes, but perhaps things will start to get a little brighter with the help of talk show host Wendy Williams,” Dara Sharif reported Thursday for the Root. “Barnes appeared Thursday on Wendy: The Wendy Williams Show, where the talk show host offered to publish the book Barnes has in the works on Williams’ Hunter Publishing imprint. Williams also said she would produce a movie based on the book. . . . On Thursday, Barnes revealed that she and her younger daughter were now homeless, staying with friends or at short-term Airbnb rentals and that times had been tough. . . .”
- Princeton University’s Program in Journalism named eight distinguished journalists as visiting professors for the 2019–2020 academic year, the program announced Wednesday. They include Errin Whack, the Associated Press’ national writer on race and ethnicity; Kushanava Choudhury, veteran journalist and author whose work has appeared in the United States and India; and Kimbriell Kelly, investigative reporter at the Washington Post.
- “Genealogy company Ancestry.com recently issued an apology for [its] latest slavery-inspired advertisement entitled, ‘Inseparable,’ ” Soraya Joseph reported Friday for thegrio.com.”The commercial portrays a Civil War era, interracial couple, romanticizing running away to the North. A Black woman named ‘Abigail’ can be seen gazing in the eyes of a White male, who is holding a ring, seemingly proposing that the two get married. . . . Needless to say, the ad, which went live on both television and digital networks on April 15, was met with heavy Blacklash for what many felt was the company whitewashing slavery. . . .”
- “The American Society of News Editors is accepting applications for the four Emerging Leaders Institutes, which will take place in various locations throughout the year, with the goal of training up-and-coming news leaders with diverse backgrounds, and helping them develop core leadership and strategic skills,” ASNE announced Wednesday. Locations: June 7-8 at Loyola University Chicago; Aug. 6-7 prior to the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Miami; Sept. 4 at the Excellence in Journalism conference of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Society of Professional Journalists and Radio Television Digital News Association in San Antonio; Sept. 7-8 prior to the News Leaders Association (ASNE-Associated Press Media Editors) conference in New Orleans.
- Joe Davidson, author of the “Federal Insider” column in the Washington Post, and Julianne Malveaux, labor economist, author and commentator, are to be inducted into the D.C. Hall of Fame on April 28, the Washington, D.C. Hall of Fame Society announced April 5. Rochelle Riley was inducted into the N.C. Media and Journalism Hall of Fame on April 12, in part for her work as columnist for the Detroit Free Press. In Cincinnati, longtime former WCPO-TV co-anchor Clyde Gray is to be inducted June 27 with his co-anchor Carol Williams into the Greater Cincinnati Journalism Hall of Fame, John Kiesewetter reported Wednesday for Cincinnati’s WVXU.
- “Through a new teaching partnership with The Washington Post, the Poynter Institute will expand its annual Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media,” Mel Grau announced for the institute Wednesday. “The Diversity Academy is a transformative program designed to train journalists of color working in digital media to advance in their careers and ascend to the highest levels of newsroom leadership. The 2019 Academy — which will have an increased class size of 30 participants— will be held at Poynter’s campus in St. Petersburg, Florida October 13-18. Applications are now open.”
- “TEGNA Inc. announced Wednesday that the TEGNA Foundation . . . has approved a slate of grants ‘to support training for the next generation of diverse journalists and education and development opportunities for journalists and other professionals in the media field.’ ” Recipients of the media grants include the major journalist associations of color. “TEGNA is committed to a diverse workforce that represents the communities we serve. Providing hands-on training and support ensures that students entering our field, journalists and professionals are able to gain valuable skills and thrive in our industry,” Dave Lougee, president and CEO, TEGNA, and chairman, TEGNA Foundation, said in a news release.
- “In a case that sounds like it’s right out of the scenes [of] MTV’s ‘Catfish,’ Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman has been booted from the dating app Tinder for trying to meet people through a false profile,” Melanie Eversley reported Friday for theGrio.com. “Zimmerman, the self-appointed neighborhood watchman who fatally shot unarmed Black teen Martin in Sanford, Fla., in 2012, was caught on Tinder advertising himself as ‘Carter,’ a 35-year-old self-employed consultant, according to screenshots published by Creative Loafing Tampa. . . .” CNN added, “This isn’t the first time Zimmerman has ventured into online dating — Bumble banned him from the platform in December.”
- Abby Phillip maintained her composure as a lizard climbed on her while she was reporting on live television, CNN reported Friday on “New Day.” (video)
- ” ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’ are coming back to TV, live and for one night only,” Lynn Elber reported Friday for the Associated Press. Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei will play Archie and Edith Bunker, with Jamie Foxx and Wanda Sykes as George and Louise Jefferson.
- KABC-TV in Los Angeles compiled a highlight reel of reporter Marc Brown’s most noteworthy appearances April 16 as he celebrated 30 years with the station.
- Joan Fuller, a former reporter with WESH-TV in Orlando from 1997 to 2002, died Wednesday as a result of cancer, WESH-TV in Orlando reported Thursday. She was 60. “She was surrounded by family in her home of Robbins, Illinois. Joan was a member and Hall of Fame Inductee into the Central Florida Association of Black Journalists and a dedicated member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. . . . Joan taught mass communications at Bethune-Cookman University and regarded her students as her children. . . .” the station reported.
- “Before we go back [to] Washington politics, let’s please take one more minute to recognize the list of 2019 Pulitzer winners and finalists as a celebration of the role of local journalists to expose those who would abuse their power,” Kelly McBride wrote Friday for the Poynter Institute. She also wrote, “I don’t want to diminish the work of national publications, because they are amazing. But local journalists are heroes. They have fewer resources and greater demands. Their very viability is threatened. And yet, they press on. Because they care about their communities where they live. . . .”
- “Ex-Fox News co-host Eboni K. Williams claimed her former network was founded on ‘one thing and one thing only: “the demonizing of the other,” ‘ ” Caleb Ecarma wrote Thursday for Mediaite. ” ‘Fox has a reputation for being bigoted and racist all for very good reason,’ Williams remarked [in] an interview with the New York-based radio show The Breakfast Club. ‘To understand Fox News you have to understand… Roger Ailes. He is the founder and visionary behind Fox News,’ said Williams, who was a co-host on the short-lived Fox News Specialists show that aired in 2017. ‘[In Ailes’] book, this man plainly — in plain sight, says he is forming a network to speak to one thing and one thing only: the demonizing of the other.’ . . .”
- As “a reporter for some of South Africa’s most influential publications in the 1960s and ’70s, [Juby] Mayet, who died Saturday, wrote stories that captured black life under apartheid in bright color,” Ryan Lenora Brown reported April 17 for the Christian Science Monitor. “This simple rebellion was also a dangerous one — giving texture, shape, and joy to the very worlds apartheid was trying to flatten. . . .” Mayet was born in Johannesburg and was 81, according to South Africa’s Sunday Times.
- “Journalists around the world are seeing increased fear and violence in their line of work as media freedom faces further decline, according to data published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Thursday,” Hillary Leung reported for Time. “The 2019 World Press Freedom Index categorizes the media climate in more than three-fourths of the 180 countries and territories studied as ‘problematic’, ‘difficult’ or ‘very serious.’ Just 8% have a media climate considered ‘good’. The U.S., Venezuela, Brazil, Iran and China saw their rankings drop. . . .”
- “Hundreds of Nicaraguans opposed to President Daniel Ortega took to the streets on Wednesday in protests deemed illegal by the government and several dozen were arrested, according to an opposition group, although police denied anyone was detained,” Ismael Lopez reported for Reuters. He also wrote, “Journalist Abixael Mogollon, from Nicaraguan digital outlet Aritculo 66, was covering the protests on Wednesday and said he was among those detained but was later released. ‘I was in the midst of a live broadcast and (the police) ordered me to stop and then they took me into a vehicle and began hitting my chest and legs,’ Mogollon told Reuters. . . .”
- “When Nigeria’s incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari won re-election this year, he campaigned (as he did in 2015) on an image of good governance and anti-corruption . . .,” Jonathan Rozen wrote Monday for the Committee to Protect Journalists. “Under Buhari’s first elected term, CPJ documented detentions, assaults, and harassment of the press. In one particularly grave case, Jones Abiri, editor of the Weekly Source, was detained without charge in 2016 and denied contact with his family or a lawyer, for over two years. . . . CPJ spoke with five Nigerian journalists about their views on press freedom and the potential challenges in Buhari’s second elected term. . . .”
- “Today, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, in Los Angeles, unsealed a civil lawsuit against former Sri Lankan Defense Minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a dual U.S.-Sri Lankan citizen, seeking damages for his alleged involvement in the 2009 killing of journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga, according to CPJ’s review of the complaint,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. “The suit was filed under seal by Ahimsa Wickramatunga, the journalist’s daughter. . . .”
When you shop @AmazonSmile, Amazon will make a donation to Journal-Isms Inc. https://t.co/OFkE3Gu0eK
— Richard Prince (@princeeditor) March 16, 2018
Facebook users: “Like” “Richard Prince’s Journal-isms” on Facebook.
Follow Richard Prince on Twitter @princeeditor
View previous columns (after Feb. 13, 2016).
- Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2018 (Jan. 4, 2019)
- Book Notes: Is Taking a Knee Really All That? (Dec. 20, 2018)
- Book Notes: Challenging ’45’ and Proudly Telling the Story (Dec. 18, 2018)
- Book Notes: Get Down With the Legends! (Dec. 11, 2018)
- Journalist Richard Prince w/Joe Madison (Sirius XM, April 18, 2018) (podcast)
- Richard Prince (journalist) (Wikipedia entry)
- February 2018 Podcast: Richard “Dick” Prince on the need for newsroom diversity (Gabriel Greschler, Student Press Law Center, Feb. 26, 2018)
- Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2017 — Where Will They Take Us in the Year Ahead?
- Book Notes: Best Sellers, Uncovered Treasures, Overlooked History (Dec. 19, 2017)
- An advocate for diversity in the media is still pressing for representation, (Courtland Milloy, Washington Post, Nov. 28, 2017)
- Morgan Global Journalism Review: Journal-isms Journeys On (Aug. 31, 2017)
- Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2016
- Book Notes: 16 Writers Dish About ‘Chelle,’ the First Lady
- Book Notes: From Coretta to Barack, and in Search of the Godfather
- Journal-isms’ Richard Prince Wants Your Ideas (FishbowlDC, Feb. 26, 2016)
- “JOURNAL-ISMS” IS LATEST TO BEAR BRUNT OF INDUSTRY’S ECONOMIC WOES (Feb. 19, 2016)
- Richard Prince with Charlayne Hunter-Gault,“PBS NewsHour,” “What stagnant diversity means for America’s newsrooms” (Dec. 15, 2015)
- Book Notes: Journalists Follow Their Passions
- Book Notes: Journalists Who Rocked Their World
- Book Notes: Hands Up! Read This!
- Book Notes: New Cosby Bio Looks Like a Best-Seller
- Journo-diversity advocate turns attention to Ezra Klein project (Erik Wemple, Washington Post, March 5, 2014)
- Book Notes: “Love, Peace and Soul!” And More
- Book Notes: Book Notes: Soothing the Senses, Shocking the Conscience
- Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2015
- Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2014
- Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2013
- Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2012
- Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2011
- Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2010
- Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2009
- Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2008
- Book Notes: Books to Ring In the New Year
- Book Notes: In-Your-Face Holiday Reads
- Fishbowl Interview With the Fresh Prince of D.C. (Oct. 26, 2012)
- NABJ to Honor Columnist Richard Prince With Ida B. Wells Award (Oct. 11, 2012)
- So What Do You Do, Richard Prince, Columnist for the Maynard Institute? (Richard Horgan, FishbowlLA, Aug. 22, 2012)
- Book Notes: Who Am I? What’s Race Got to Do With It?: Journalists Explore Identity
- Book Notes: Catching Up With Books for the Fall
- Richard Prince Helps Journalists Set High Bar (Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com, 2011)
- Book Notes: 10 Ways to Turn Pages This Summer
- Book Notes: 7 for Serious Spring Reading
- Book Notes: 7 Candidates for the Journalist’s Library
- Book Notes: 9 That Add Heft to the Bookshelf
- Five Minutes With Richard Prince (Newspaper Association of America, 2005)
- ‘Journal-isms’ That Engage and Inform Diverse Audiences (Q&A with Mallary Jean Tenore, Poynter Institute, 2008)
