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Michael Steele Cancels NABJ Appearance

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GOP Chairman Was Sure to Be Questioned About Breitbart

Conservative Defends Writing That Sherrod Lied

NABJ Praises NBC on Management; Meredith “Needs Work”

Obama Appearance Gives “The View” Record Ratings

Obama Considers Bypassing Congress on Immigration

Latinos Value Education, but the Results Don’t Match

Why the Race of Essence’s Fashion Director Is at Issue

Tracey Cooper to Oversee News Section of BET.com

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GOP Chairman Michael Steele, shown on a “Meet the Press” appearance in January, came down with food poisoning, according to the Republican National Committee.

GOP Chairman Was Sure to Be Questioned About Breitbart

The advance team for Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele told the National Association of Black Journalists on Friday that Steele was canceling the panel discussion scheduled later in the day at its convention in San Diego because of food poisoning, NABJ announced.

An RNC statement said, “While traveling out West the Chairman came down with a bad case of food poisoning. He is disappointed to miss the opportunity to take part in this valuable dialogue and looks forward to engaging with NABJ in the very near future,” according to NABJ.

“Steele was scheduled to appear at NABJ one day after former USDA Regional Rural Director Shirley Sherrod indicated that she will take legal action against conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, who she said caused her to lose her job. Sherrod, who appeared before hundreds of journalists at the NABJ Convention yesterday, was forced to resign after Breitbart posted a video excerpt of a speech she gave to the NAACP and accused her being a racist.

“Steele is scheduled to appear at a RNC fundraiser with Breitbart in California next month.”

Asked by Elise Durham, the convention chair, “if there was any relationship between his cancellation and the fundraiser, Special Assistant to the Chairman, Joey Smith said, ‘We don’t comment on our finance events and never have,’ ” the NABJ statement continued.

In an interview with Daniel Stone of Newsweek, Breitbart said,  “If I could do it all over again, I should have waited for the full video to get to me” and that “This thing has gotten to a place that’s far beyond where it should be,” adding, “I’d be more than happy to meet with her in private and have a discussion with her.” Yet he said that if Sherrod does sue him, “there will be a legal team.”

NABJ had advertised that Steele “will answer questions about his often controversial statements and other issues as TV One personality and CNN contributor Roland Martin go one-on-one.” He was also scheduled to meet with the Trotter Group of African American columnists.

Steele was sure to be asked about the Breitbart connection.

“Unlike Michelle Obama’s appearance at the NAACP convention, Breitbart’s name is not buried among the assorted GOP luminaries scheduled to participate at the event” in California, syndicated columnist Earl Ofari Hutchinson wrote on Tuesday. “Not only is he billed as one of the headliners, he and Steele will host the opening-night reception. His name even appears ahead of Steele’s on the announcement.

“So why is that? Is it Breitbart’s name and fame, the controversy and curiosity he invariably arouses, the media attention he draws, his staunch GOP troublemaking credentials – and the fact that might be good for a few more bucks in the till – that compel Steele and the RNC to make him the star of their show? The answer, of course, is all of the above. And this makes Breitbart an even more disgusting choice to headline a major event by a major party that claims it is poised to make major gains in the midterm elections and possibly take back the House.”

Earlier this month, some Republican leaders called for Steele’s resignation after Steele said on July 1 that the war in Afghanistan is “not something that the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.” Steele later revised his remarks.

Conservative Defends Writing That Sherrod Lied

“American Spectator columnist Jeffrey Lord, who wrote a stinging piece this week attacking Shirley Sherrod for saying that a brutally murdered relative was ‘lynched,’ says he did so’ to point out her highly political approach,’ Joe Strupp reported Friday for Media Matters for America.

“He also told Media Matters that criticism of the piece from several American Spectator columnists and other conservative writers does not faze him. He cited a past experience with racism in Virginia as a youth as proof that he had true knowledge of racism in America and is qualified to speak about it.”

Lord was described as a former Reagan White House political director and author who writes from Pennsylvania.

NABJ Praises NBC on Management; Meredith “Needs Work”

People of color comprise more than one-third of the U.S. population, but only 12.6 percent of newsroom managers in television news, according to a study of 151 television stations, the National Association of Black Journalists said on Friday.

NABJ reported on the results of its third annual Television Newsroom Management Diversity Census.

“Out of 815 executive producers, assignment managers, managing editors, assistant news directors, news directors and general managers at the ABC, CBS, Cox, FOX, Gannett, Hearst Argyle, Media General, Meredith, NBC and Tribune stations 713 (87.9%) are White, 64 (7.8%) are African American, 24 (3%) are Hispanic/Latino, 13 (1.6%) are Asian and only 1 is Native American,” the association said. “The management teams at 82 of the stations are all White.

” ‘It is disheartening in 2010 that four of the media companies in the report have no African American news directors and so many of the companies have no black news director in some of the most diverse cities in America,’ said NABJ President Kathy Y. Times. ‘It’s time for African American viewers to reconsider their support of media companies that do not appreciate or make diversity a priority.’

“NABJ first began conducting its annual census as a way of encouraging broadcasters to commit to hiring more people of color for editorial positions. Still, the association believes true progress cannot be made unless the companies fully commit to developing talent who can then be promoted from within.

” ‘We began meeting with media company executives shortly after the first report was released in 2008,’ said study author and NABJ Vice President of Broadcast Bob Butler. ‘Some of these companies are now reaching out to NABJ for candidates to fill management openings in their newsrooms.’

“NABJ also applauds NBC television stations for most closely reflecting the diversity of the nation with people of color comprising 24.2% of the company’s newsroom managers.

“That compares favorably to Meredith Corporation where non-Whites comprise only 6 percent of all newsroom managers. Meredith owns 12 stations, some in diverse cities such as Atlanta, Hartford and Kansas City.

“Without commenting specifically on the numbers, Meredith Broadcasting Group President Paul Karpowicz said the company is very supportive of NABJ.

” ‘We’d be happy to work with NABJ and we’ll be in San Diego recruiting for when positions open up in our newsrooms.’

“The organization is launching its own Executive Training Program at the San Diego Convention to prepare the next generation of resourceful and innovative newsroom managers and station leaders.”

Obama Appearance Gives “The View” Record Ratings

“President Barack Obama‘s Thursday appearance on The View drew a total of 6.59 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode in the talk show’s 13 years on the air. The episode, which marked the first time in history that a sitting U.S. president has visited a daytime talk show, was up nearly 7% from its previous [peak] delivery on the day after the 2008 Presidential Election,” Andrea Domanick reported Friday for Broadcasting & Cable.

” ‘A historic interview leads to historic ratings,’ said President, Daytime, Disney/ABC Television Group Brian Frons. ‘It was wonderful to have Barbara Walters back for the interview with President Barack Obama, her first interview since her heart surgery, and together all five co-hosts did what they do best, ask the questions that are on our viewers’ minds.’ “

Obama Considers Bypassing Congress on Immigration

“The Obama administration, anticipating that Congress might not pass comprehensive immigration reform this year, is considering ways it could act without congressional approval to achieve many of the objectives of the initiative, including giving permanent resident status, or green cards, to large numbers of people in the country illegally,” Marcus Stern reported Thursday for ProPublica.

“The ideas were outlined in an unusually frank draft memo prepared for Alejandro N. Mayorkas, director of the federal agency that handles immigration benefits, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS). The memo lists ways the government could grant permanent resident status to tens of thousands of people and delay the deportation of others, potentially indefinitely.”

Latinos Value Education, but the Results Don’t Match

Hispanics value higher education more than Americans as a whole, with 87 percent of respondents stating that a college education is extremely or very important, compared with 78 percent of the overall population, a Univision-Associated Press poll found on Thursday.

But “enthusiasm about higher education hasn’t been matched by results,” Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Trevor Tompson wrote for the Associated Press.

“Census figures show that only 13 percent of Hispanics have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 30 percent among Americans overall.

“The poll revealed some of the roadblocks: Latinos don’t have enough money, yet many are reluctant to borrow. Family obligations intervene. Parents and teachers provide only lukewarm support.

“Fifty-four percent said their own parents either did not expect them to go to college, or did not care either way. . . .

“In the next decade, U.S. companies will have to fill millions of jobs to replace well-trained baby boomers going into retirement. As the nation’s largest minority group, Latinos account for a growing share of the pool of workers, yet their skills may not be up to par. Aware of the challenge, some California State University campuses are reaching out to Hispanic children as early as the fourth grade,” the story said.

Univision Networks President Cesar Conde said the findings “reinforce the importance of our ‘Es El Momento’ campaign and our focus on empowering Hispanic parents and children with relevant information and connecting them with the resources they need to succeed.”

The AP story explained, “The AP-Univision Poll was conducted from March 11 to June 3 by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Using a sample of Hispanic households provided by The Nielsen Company, 1,521 Hispanics were interviewed in English and Spanish, mostly by mail but also by telephone and the Internet. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

“Stanford University’s participation in the study was made possible by a grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.”

Univision said the series “began with a story examining the diversity, views and experiences of Hispanics, followed by a story on the economy, politics and today‚Äôs piece on higher education. Subsequent articles will follow focused on religion, media consumption and Hispanic identity.”

Why the Race of Essence’s Fashion Director Is at Issue

The decision by Essence editor Angela Burt-Murray to hire a white fashion director continues to draw commentary. Among them are pieces on MediaBistro and on Ta-Nehisi Coates‘ blog for the Atlantic.

On MediaBistro, Pandora Young wrote, “All of the major fashion magazines are for white people.

“Allow me to underscore this point with a quick racial analysis of the August issue of Elle. Counting all the images of women’s faces that appear in the magazine, 370 were white, 5 were [L]atino, 9 were [A]sian, 6 were of indeterminate race, and 15 were black. And included in that 15 was Mariah Carey.

“White people make up 75% of the American population ‚Äî but in Elle they were 91%. Blacks are . . . 12.4% of the population. In Elle, only 3.7% of the images were of black women ‚Äî and one of them was Mariah Carey.

“It’s less obvious but just as bad on the mastheads of fashion publications, and that is why a magazine for black women needs a black fashion editor. Because until the fashion world starts giving black women the same opportunities they afford whites, black women need to create them for themselves.

“This is not to single out Elle ‚Äî any of the other major fashion mags would have yielded similar results.”

On Coates’ blog, a writer who uses the initials G.D. wrote, “I think there’s a problematic tendency to conflate the health and robustness of black institutions with the welfare of black people in general. The travails of Essence, or a specific HBCU,” a historically black college or university, “get used as shorthand for larger issues affecting black folks.

“So Essence hires a white woman in a prominent role, and black people can’t never have nothin’ for themselves.

“Essence, of course, isn’t some kind of co-op, nor are its readership and subject matter representative of the diversity of black women and their concerns. But since it’s been out there more or less alone, its importance is perhaps dangerously inflated in the larger cultural conversation.”

G.D. referenced Michaela angela Davis, a former fashion director at Essence who is credited with raising the issue of the new director’s race via postings on her Facebook page.

“There’s no reason there can’t and shouldn’t be other dynamic voices in the conversation so that Essence (and its readers) don’t feel like it needs to be all things to all black women at all times. The paucity of black women in positions of authority at prominent ‘mainstream’ magazines and in fashion, which Davis alludes to, is a really serious issue. But we should also be asking why there aren’t more prominent, black-targeted publications around to hire fashion directors to begin with. No one mag should have all that power.”

Tracey Cooper to Oversee News Section of BET.com

BET officials say that Tracey Cooper, a senior consultant for BET.com, will oversee the “On TV” and News sections of BET.com in the wake of a reorganization that saw six people, including Editor Tanu Henry, laid off this week.

Cooper has been director of content for Interactive One, a division of Radio One Inc., and group director of content and brand development for Community Connect, Inc., which operates three sites, BlackPlanet.com, MiGente.com and AsianAve.com. It is now owned by Radio One.

A memo went to BET staffers Wednesday, signed by Denmark West, president of digital media operations, and Martez Moore, vice president for strategy and business development.  It said, “As you know, we have created a growth strategy for Digital. As of January of this year, we have been keenly focused on a plan that will allow us to deliver significant growth in traffic and revenue.

“Simultaneously, we have been reviewing our structure to ensure that we have an organization that is best positioned to meet the growth objectives and to provide the best content. As a result of this organizational review, we have restructured Digital to allow us to meet our content, traffic and revenue objectives. We want to underscore that we arrived at these decisions carefully and that we gave considerable thought to how each function, channel and individual would be impacted.

“Given these changes, in the interim the Entertainment and Lifestyle team will report to Martez. Kim Osorio will lead Music and Tracey Cooper will oversee On TV and News. As we mentioned earlier this week, beginning August 2nd, Mimi Vald?©s will lead our content efforts as Vice President of Digital Content.”

BET.com is the top-rated Internet site catering to African Americans, according to ComScore, an Internet ratings service. It received 3.5 million unique visitors in June, compared with 2.9 million for AOL Black Voices, 2.3 million for Media Takeout and 1.7 million for Black Planet.

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