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K.C. Star to Fill Jason Whitlock’s Slot

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Outspoken Sports Columnist Leaves After 16 Years

“Dr. Laura” Ending Radio Show After N-Word Flap

Accuracy Varies in Describing Site of Proposed Mosque

Fareed Zakaria Jumps From Newsweek to Time

Blagojevich Verdict Attributed to Lack of Smoking Gun

Hispanic Immigrants Found to Hold Idealized Views of U.S.

Ishmael Reed Takes on N.Y. Times, Asian-on-Black Crime

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Outspoken Sports Columnist Leaves After 16 Years

Jason Whitlock, the controversial and outspoken sports columnist who ended a 16-year career at the Kansas City Star on Tuesday, will be replaced, the Star’s outgoing sports editor told Journal-isms on Wednesday.

“That’s the plan,” said Holly Lawton, the assistant managing editor for sports. She announced earlier that she was leaving the paper, and on Wednesday denied blog reports that conflicts with Whitlock were the reason. The Star has been running one sports columnist, Sam Mellinger, since Whitlock’s column last appeared in the paper in May. Since then, according to Star employees, Whitlock has been taking vacation and furlough time.

Lawton said she had agreed to stay until her replacement is named.

In a Twitter message, Whitlock said he expected to elaborate on his departure on Kansas City sports radio station KCSP-AM (610 Sports) on Wednesday, but Program Manager Ryan Maguire told Journal-isms that Whitlock would not appear. On Friday, Whitlock praised Steve Miller, managing editor of FoxSports.com, who edited his more expansive Fox column: “Steve Miller has given me room @ FOX 2 do the full me.”

The Star announced Tuesday, “After 16 years of writing thought-provoking and popular columns for The Kansas City Star, Jason Whitlock is leaving the paper to pursue other interests.

“Whitlock joined The Star in 1994 as a general-interest sports columnist after writing for newspapers in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Charlotte, N.C. He immediately struck a chord with local readers and ultimately developed a national audience through his column and work in other media, including radio and television.”

By Wednesday morning, the notice had attracted 288 reader comments, though few if any contacted Lawton or Reader Representative Derek Donovan, those two told Journal-isms.

“If I had spent 16 years at a job then read the posts on here and found they were 20 to 1 very happy I was leaving, I think I would wonder if I did a good job. But then Jason will only pick out the good comments and feel as he has done a GREAT job. Ego, ego, ego,” wrote one reader, who signed himself tommer.

But rcwilson wrote, “I always enjoyed a Whitlock article and it’s too bad he’s leaving. I don’t know what I’ll miss the most – the actual columns or all the outrage generated in the comments section. All of it was entertaining and good for a lot of laughs. I wonder what all the Whitlock haters are going to do with their spare time now? The readers of the Star probably will not be fortunate enough to get another columnist to say exactly what’s on his/her mind.”

Whitlock drew national attention through a separate column he wrote for FoxSports.com, in interviews on the website The Big Lead and through appearances on ESPN television and the ESPN website. He also once had a local radio show in Kansas City.

A 2007 column landed him on an “Oprah” panel after he commented on the uproar after radio host Don Imus’ called the Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy headed ho’s.”

“In my view, he didn’t do anything outside the norm for shock jocks and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$,” Whitlock wrote, referring to coach Vivian Stringer and the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Columnist Betty Baye of the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal was one of many last year who accused Whitlock of “raw sexism” over a piece he wrote for FoxSports.com about tennis star Serena Williams. “God gave Serena everything, including drop-dead looks. She’s chosen to smother some of it in an unsightly layer of thick, muscled blubber, a byproduct of her unwillingness to commit to a training regimen and diet that would have her at the top of her game year-round,” Whitlock wrote. Whitlock, 43, describes himself as 6-foot-2 and 360 pounds “on a good day.”

The commentator has also called out hip-hop, dubbing some of its elements “the Black KKK.”

“You’re damn straight I blame hip hop for playing a role in the genocide of American black men. When your leading causes of death and dysfunction are murder, ignorance and incarceration, there’s no reason to give a free pass to a culture that celebrates murder, ignorance and incarceration,” Whitlock wrote in 2007.

Last month, Whitlock unloaded on the Associated Press Sports Editors, an organization of which Kansas City Star Editor Mike Fannin is a past president, one of many ties between APSE and the Star.

Whitlock criticized APSE’s decision to award Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press its highest honor, the Red Smith Award.

“Associated Press Sports Editors, the political, ass-kissing organization that pretends to be sports writing’s selfless guardian, built King Myth Albom’s throne, celebrating his money-quote-filled narrative schmaltz year after year with enough plaques to build an ark,” he wrote on theBigLead.com.

Fannin did not respond to requests for comment.

If there were any relationship between that column and Whitlock’s departure, it wouldn’t be the first such cause and effect.

“Whitlock’s history with this site is a fun one,” theBigLead.com wrote. “Back in 2006, this memorable interview he did with us ended up with him losing his side-gig at ESPN (PTI on the TV side; Page 2 on ESPN.com).”

“Dr. Laura” Ending Radio Show After N-Word Flap

“Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the conservative talk radio commentator under fire for repeatedly using a racial epithet, announced on Tuesday that she was ending her long-running radio show,” Anahad O’Connor reported for the New York Times.

“Dr. Schlessinger made the announcement on Tuesday night on ‘Larry King Live,’ saying she made a decision not to renew her contract when it expires at the end of the year and suggesting that she did not want her opinions and language, however provocative, to be muzzled.

” ‘I want to regain my First Amendment rights,’ she said. ‘I want to be able to say what‚Äôs on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates, attack sponsors. I‚Äôm sort of done with that.’

“But she stressed that she was not retiring, only ending her show, and would continue to write books and appear at speaking engagements.

‚Äú ‘I‚Äôm not quitting,’ she told Larry King. ‘I feel energized actually ‚Äî stronger and freer to say the things that I believe need to be said for people in this country.’

“No stranger to controversy, Dr. Schlessinger has been under intense pressure in recent days following an exchange with a caller on her radio show last week in which she used the racial epithet ‚Äî the so-called ‘N-word’ ‚Äî 11 times. The caller, a black woman, was complaining that she was married to a white man whose friends and family members frequently made racist comments in her presence. Dr. Schlessinger responded by arguing there was a ‘confusing’ double standard ‚Äî that blacks could use the epithet freely while whites could not.”

On Monday, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Media Matters for America, the Women’s Media Center and Unity: Journalists of Color said jointly: “It’s clear the airwaves are no place for Dr. Laura’s hate speech. By choosing to sponsor her, Dr. Laura’s advertisers are not only funding her offensive radio show, but are implicitly endorsing its content. This week, we will hold these advertisers accountable and find out exactly where they stand.”

Media Matters reported that Motel 6 announced Tuesday that it was severing its relationship with the show and, quoting the Associated Press, that General Motors would do the same.

Accuracy Varies in Describing Site of Proposed Mosque

“There is no mosque being built on the site of Ground Zero. It’s a simple fact, but one that news consumers can be forgiven for missing,” Michael Calderone wrote Monday for Yahoo News.

“In covering the growing controversy over the proposed Islamic community center in lower Manhattan, the national media, led by the big cable networks, have by default shaped the increasingly heated debate by repeatedly referring to the project as the ‘Ground Zero mosque.’

“An MSNBC spokesman said that describing the project is a ‘show-by-show decision,’ while a CNN spokesperson said the network guides anchors in written copy to refer to the project as ‘an Islamic center that includes a mosque that is near Ground Zero, or is two blocks from Ground Zero.’ Of course, political pundits may stray from the network’s phrasing and inaccurately describe the location of the planned building at the center of the furor.

“But Phil Corbett, the New York Times’ standards editor said, ‘Given how politically volatile this discussion has been, we think it’s important to be accurate and precise,’ in explaining the paper’s consistent references to the planned structure being two blocks from the Ground Zero site.

“The ‘Park51’ project, as it’s officially dubbed, is in fact planned for a site two blocks from where the World Trade Center towers fell, amid other lower Manhattan establishments whose names have never featured the words ‘Ground Zero.’ If built, the 13-story community center and mosque project will be one of hundreds of buildings located within blocks of Ground Zero ‚Äî a densely populated area that already includes a couple of mosques, along with less ‘hallowed’ institutions, like strip clubs, bars and Off Track Betting operations.”

[Calderone reported Thursday, “The Associated Press, one of world’s most powerful news organizations, issued a memo today advising staff to avoid the phrase ‘Ground Zero mosque.’ “]

Fareed Zakaria Jumps From Newsweek to Time

Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria will join Time as editor at large on Oct. 1. He will have a regular column and contribute cover stories and features in the magazine and on Time.com, Time Managing Editor Richard Stengel announced on Wednesday.

“The departure of Mr. Zakaria, a well-known columnist and television presence, is another blow to Newsweek, which was sold to Sidney Harman, an audio equipment mogul, at the beginning of the month. Several prominent writers and editors have left the magazine recently, including the editor, Jon Meacham; a columnist, Evan Thomas; and an investigative reporter, Michael Isikoff,” David Carr wrote Wednesday in the New York Times.

Zakaria has also been the editor of Newsweek International since October 2000.

“In addition to his new role at TIME, Mr. Zakaria has renewed his association with CNN, where he will continue to work on his weekly show, ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS,’ and, in addition, will produce several special reports a year. He will also serve as a consultant for HBO‚Äôs documentary unit. TIME, CNN, and HBO are all owned by Time Warner, and the company plans to utilize Mr. Zakaria‚Äôs expertise across these platforms,” the announcement said.

Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S. said in the release, “Fareed has brought unparalleled insight to CNN‚Äôs Sunday morning programming, and his voice will now resonate like that of no other journalist in the world ‚Äî globally, in print, online, and in longform ‚Äî thanks to the unmatched resources of Time Warner. We’re looking forward to continuing to blaze new trails with Fareed and our partners at Time and HBO.”

Zakaria said: “I’m excited at the prospect of writing for TIME’s vast and important audience. Rick Stengel has a compelling vision for the magazine and website and I’m delighted to be a part of it. I will also be doing more at CNN as well as HBO, where I have had wonderful experiences already. This is a unique opportunity to bring together on a common platform, my work on television, print, and the web. I’m grateful for the vote of confidence and look forward to getting to work,” the release said.

Dorothy Tucker of WBBM-TV followed former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to his Ravenswood Manor neighborhood in Chicago after the verdict. She interviewed residents. (Video)

Blagojevich Verdict Attributed to Lack of Smoking Gun

The Chicago media generally received good marks for their coverage of the jury verdict Tuesday in the case of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was found guilty of lying to federal agents. The jury was deadlocked on the other 23 counts, including a charge that he tried to sell President Obama’s former Senate seat.

The verdict “was surprising to some, it was not surprising to me,” Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell said on NPR’s “Tell Me More.” “I must say, all along I’ve said that the problem here was going to be no smoking gun. You know, 500 hours of wiretap information, tapes that people can listen to that clearly show the governor, if nothing else, had a very foul mouth and said some pretty damaging things.

“But, no, you couldn’t connect that to anything that he received. He didn’t get an ambassadorship. He didn’t get any money into his campaign coffers. He didn’t ‚Äî the government could not show what he got for the corruption. So I think that . . . was very critical in his case because it was so complicated. Juries had to see what did he get? And they could not find it. And I think that was the major problem here.”

Media critic Robert Feder wrote, “While the jury of Rod Blagojevich‚Äôs peers may have left a lot of people disappointed, Chicago‚Äôs big five television news organizations performed their duties admirably, blanketing the airwaves with live, compelling and, for the most part, commercial-free coverage for close to three hours Tuesday afternoon.” 

The Chicago Defender, the city’s historic black newspaper, had nothing about the verdict on its website on Wednesday, continuing to spotlight last weekend’s 81st Bud Billiken Day parade.

“Those who attended the 81st Annual Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic Saturday said it lived up to its reputation as being fun and exciting,” it told readers.

Hispanic Immigrants Found to Hold Idealized Views of U.S.

“An Associated Press-Univision poll of more than 1,500 Latinos finds that Hispanic immigrants, many of whom faced huge problems in their homelands, have more idealized views of the United States than Hispanics who were born in America do,” Ileana Morales and Nancy Benac reported Tuesday for the Associated Press.

“It’s an oft-told story in U.S. history, one of immigrants drawn to the land of opportunity and happy with the contrast to their old life. But it’s also one of ethnic groups that settle in only to confront social and economic hurdles that persist from one generation to the next.

“The poll, also sponsored by The Nielsen Co. and Stanford University, turned up stark differences between the hopes of immigrant parents and U.S.-born Hispanics for their children: 77 percent of foreign-born Hispanic parents believe it will be easier for their children to find a good job, compared with 31 percent of U.S.-born Hispanics. Likewise, far more Hispanic immigrants believe it will be easier for their children to buy a house and for their children to raise a family than do Hispanics born in the U.S. . . .

“The country’s economic downturn has taken an especially harsh toll on Hispanics, according to the poll, with 6 in 10 saying it’s hard for them to get ahead financially and nearly half or more expressing intense worry over losing their jobs, paying bills or saving for college.”

Ishmael Reed Takes on N.Y. Times, Asian-on-Black Crime

Ishmael Reed, the novelist, poet and media critic, is criticizing the Bay Citizen, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, “public media organization” that since June has been providing local news content to the New York Times for its weekend Bay Area pages.

“You’d think that with its classy reputation that The New York Times would be different from the trashy representation of Oakland favored by the local press, whose marketing strategy seems to be that of coddling and entertaining its targeted sales demographic by embarrassing blacks,” Reed wrote on his sfgate.com blog. As an example, he cited a new farmers market that has gone uncovered by the Bay Citizen. “The only food stores available to me and my neighbors are liquor stores disguised as grocery stores.There is an important urban farming movement happening in Oakland,” Reed wrote.

Jonathan Weber, editor of the Bay Citizen, replied, “We report news. A nice farmers market is not news. With all due respect your criticism comes off as the standard type of complaining . . . journalists always hear when they don’t report on things the way a particular interested party would like them to. The perception that there is a lot of crime in Oakland is a function of the fact that there is a lot of crime in Oakland. Sorry, but we did not create that fact. And we certainly report lots of news out of Oakland that has nothing to do with crime. If you want to critique The Bay Citizen that’s great but please save your stereotypes.”

In a subsequent post, Reed replied to bloggers who criticized him on racial grounds. “I’m a bigot for pointing out that some Asian American criminals operate in Oakland’s black neighborhoods?” Reed wrote. “The leader of a gang that terrorized my neighborhood for four years was a Vietnamese kid whose activities not only erupted occasionally into gunfire, but he went about calling black middle class women, members of our Neigborhood Crime Watch, by the B word. He was murdered around the corner last year. Do some Asian American criminals bring drugs onto our block? Yes. Do I cast collective blame on the entire Asian American community, 38 culturally distinct groups, for the actions of a few as Oakland’s black American community was blamed for the actions of four blacks, who have been accused of assaulting Chinese Americans, ACTIONS THAT I CONDEMNED IN PRINT!! No! . . . “

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