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April Ryan Says Sanders Should Be Fired

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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

Short Takes


(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?” ]

April Ryan

“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.


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.

The News 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.” (Credit: WOSU)

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.

Janet Cho

“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.

Marcia Pledger

“ ‘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.


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. . . .”

In 2015, protesters wanted to close Karnes County Residential Center in Texas. It used to hold up to 800 parents and children at a time. ICE last month started to release families until they were all gone from Karnes. (Credit: WeAreUltraViolet/flickr/cc)

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. . . .”

Azka Sharief inside the WBEZ studio, where she recorded her podcast. (Credit: WBEZ)

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. . . .’ ”

“Commuted,” a proposed documentary telling 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, is receiving $100,000. (Credit: blogtalkradio.com)

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)

Juby Mayet (Credit: Drum staff/Baileys African History Archive/Africa Media Online/File)

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