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Dissing Obama, Parts 1 Through 4

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If Nothing Else, Black Conservatives Exemplify Political Diversity

The black conservative columnist Thomas Sowell on Monday dropped a four-column series excoriating Sen. Barack Obama, giving the lie to a popular conception that all African Americans are supporting the Democratic presidential nominee, while at the same time posing a dilemma for the newspaper editors who select op-ed columns.

"Without commenting either way on the merits of the columns or his arguments, I’m wondering if anyone out there would use four parts of any syndicated columnist in these times?" one editor asked colleagues on the National Conference of Editorial Writers e-mail list. "Our op-ed space has been cut roughly in half, and no one gets that big a piece of what’s left."

While African Americans are lining up heavily behind the Illinois senator, leading to near-libelous claims by some that black journalists are unable to cover him fairly, black conservative columnists — who for the most part are not journalists — are demonstrating at least that African Americans are politically diverse.

"Obama could have allied himself with all sorts of other people. But, time and again, he allied himself with people who openly expressed their hatred of America. No amount of flags on his campaign platforms this election year can change that," Sowell says in his opening shot.

"The old phrase, ‘a man of high ideals but no principles,’ is one that applies all too painfully to Barack Obama today," he writes in part two of his series.

Sowell, 78, is an economist, a prolific author and the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the conservative think tank the Hoover Institution.

A year ago, when the liberal group Media Matters for America surveyed the nation’s newspapers, Sowell ranked No. 17 among the most widely circulated op-ed columnists, used by 163 papers. He was No. 6 among the conservative columnists, and No. 6 in the South.

[On Thursday, his syndicate said he appears in more than 600 newspapers, including Spanish-language publications.]

Obama’s record is certainly fair game for debate. But in Sowell’s latest series, he claims, "Sex education for kindergartners is just one of many issues on which Barack Obama has lined up consistently on the side of arrogant elitists of the far left."

The Washington Post’s Michael Dobbs discredited the same theme when it appeared in a John McCain ad about a bill Obama was said to have sponsored. Dobbs wrote Sept. 11 in his "Fact Checker" column, "As far as kindergartners were concerned, the principal purpose of the bill was to make them aware of the risk of inappropriate touching and sexual predators. Other states, including California and Massachusetts, have passed similar legislation." Also, Dobbs said, Obama did not sponsor the bill.

Sowell is part of a core of black conservative columnists with a bigger following outside the black community than in it. Editorial page editors who run them have said they do so because they add to the mix of ideas, and that some white conservative readers like to see their own ideas validated by black writers.

Some black commentators, such as Armstrong Williams and former congressman J.C. Watts, have said they are torn between their conservative leanings and their pride in Obama’s historic candidacy.

But not all. "Obama offers the George McGovern/Walter Mondale/Al Gore/John Kerry prescription of class warfare and class envy," radio talk-show host Larry Elder wrote in a Sept. 10 column.

Walter E. Williams wrote back in March, "Some pundits ask whether America is ready for Obama. The much more important question is whether Obama is ready for America and even more important is whether black people can afford Obama."

Star Parker appears with others of like mind in Freedom’s Journal Magazine, a publication whose most recent issue is trumpeted with the headline, "Black Conservatives Join to Warn Fellow Believers About Making Skin Color Top Priority in Presidential Election."

Shelby Steele wrote a short book earlier in the year, "A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can’t Win." As Obama won enough contests to lock up the Democratic nomination, Steele said he regretted the subtitle.

Melissa Bobbitt, Sowell’s editor at Creators Syndicate, told Journal-isms that Sowell timed his release of his four-part column to take advantage of this week’s presidential debate.

From the response on the editorial writers e-mail list, the strategy didn’t quite succeed. "One thing I’ll say for Sowell," one editor said, "is that generally when he moves these multi-column packages, the first can stand alone. . . . Frankly I’m getting tired of having to balance one partisan hit piece with another (although I’m sure that neither writer in this case would see his column as such)."¬† [Updated Oct. 9]

Ratings for Tuesday’s Debate Don’t Top Those for VPs

"Last night’s presidential debate averaged a 42.1 household rating in 55 of Nielsen’s 56 local markets. That is way up from the first presidential debate, which averaged a 34.7 rating in the same markets," John Eggerton reported Wednesday for Broadcasting & Cable.

"But the top of the ticket was not able to unseat the VP’s, whose square-off last week averaged a 45 rating in the overnight markets.

"Nielsen suggested that the numbers were up for this presidential debate over the first because it was on a Tuesday rather than the lower-viewed Friday, or perhaps a keener interest in viewers’ political fates due to the tanking of their financial fortunes."

The Public Broadcasting Service projected 2.8 million viewers watched on its network, below that of the vice presidential matchup but above that of the Sept. 26 John McCain–Barack Obama matchup.

Meanwhile, the Economist discussed whether Obama’s pronunciation of "Pah-kee-stahn," and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s of "Eye-rak," were correct.

And Esquire magazine backed Obama for president, its first endorsement in its 75-year history, the Associated Press said.

Chicago Tribune’s Mark Hinojosa Lands at Detroit News

Mark Hinojosa, the highest-ranking Latino journalist laid off at the Chicago Tribune in August, is joining the Detroit News as new-media director, the News announced on Thursday. He was associate managing editor for multimedia at the Tribune, managing convergence efforts online and in television.

Hinojosa, 52,¬†is to oversee the development and production of the company’s Web site, detnews.com, and its distribution of content to mobile devices on m.detnews.com.

"It’s a great opportunity," Hinojosa told Journal-isms. "There are really only¬†maybe 75-100 jobs of this level in the industry, so I feel lucky to be able to steep into one of them this quickly.

"All the better that it is with a staff that is committing to a more aggressive position online and has the support of management.   The staff is talented and enthusiastic, they want to do good work and win in their market.  I believe that my experience will help them achieve those goals.  Historically the News was  the paper readers turned to for breaking news. This tradition translates directly to a successful web strategy and I hope to help them build on that tradition. Also, I love the fact that they are in such a competitive market, nothing sharpens your game like competition. I believe that there are great things ahead for Detroit and for the News and I want to be part of them." 

Jonathan Wolman, editor and publisher of the News, said in the announcement. "Our use of multimedia storytelling is on an upward trajectory and Mark brings extraordinary experience and vision to the detnews team."

 "Hinojosa joined the Tribune in 1991 and served as associate managing editor of photography before moving into the multimedia position. His career includes stints at the Kansas City (Mo.) Star and New York Newsday," the statement continued.

"His many awards include a 2007 NAA Digital Edge award for most innovative multimedia storytelling for the project, ‘A Tank of Gas, A World of Trouble,’ which took users on an oil safari with video and other multimedia elements illustrating the declining world oil supply. The story tracked the gas sold at a suburban gas station to its sources in zones of conflict around the world. In 2006, Hinojosa brokered a co-production partnership between the Tribune and Kartemquin Films that resulted in the award winning documentary, ‘At the Death House Door.’ The film is based on the Tribune‚Äôs investigative reporting about the wrongful execution of Carlos DeLuna" in Texas in 1989.

"He has served on the boards of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Online News Association and Street Level Youth Media, an organization committed to teaching media awareness to urban youth. He is also a founding board member of the Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism."

At the News, Hinojosa succeeds Nancy Hanus, who directed detnews.com for two years and left in August after taking a buyout, the announcement said.  [Added Oct. 9]

Joanne Williams Retiring From TV After 29 Years

"Veteran Milwaukee TV anchor/reporter Joanne Williams is retiring from television next month after nearly 29 years at Channel 6 — 27 of them on the air," Tim Cuprisin reported Monday in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"Her TV news career in Milwaukee stretches back to 1971, when she joined Channel 4 as a film editor.

"While she’s leaving TV as of Nov. 7, Williams will continue working with reporters as vice president of marketing and public relations for Cardinal Stritch University.

"’I was thinking of making it 30 years in February, but this opportunity sort of came out of the blue,’ says the 59-year-old Williams. ‘It was just time do something else. It’s a wonderful opportunity.’"

"Williams is past president of the Milwaukee Press Club and the Wisconsin Black Media Association. She also served as regional director of the National Association of Black Journalists," her new employer noted in its news release.

Plain Dealer to Cut 38 Newsroom Positions

"The Plain Dealer plans to cut 38 unionized newsroom positions by year’s end, further whittling the size of its staff," Sarah Hollander wrote Tuesday for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

"President and Publisher Terry Egger announced the decision to union members Tuesday, blaming worse than expected advertising revenue and hard times ahead for the newspaper industry."

The Plain Dealer reported 15.4 percent journalists of color in the American Society of Newspaper Editors diversity census this year. 

Prejudiced "Know-Nothings" Opining on Financial Crisis

"Let me get this straight. Investment banks and insurance companies run by centimillionaires blow up, and it’s the fault of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and poor minorities?" Daniel Gross wrote Tuesday in a "Newsweek Web exclusive."

"These arguments are generally made by people who read the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal, and ignore the rest of the paper — economic know-nothings whose opinions are informed mostly by ideology and, occasionally, by prejudice.

"Let’s be honest. Fannie and Freddie, which didn’t make subprime loans but did buy subprime loans made by others, were part of the problem. Poor congressional oversight was part of the problem. Banks that sought to meet CRA requirements by indiscriminately doling out loans to minorities may have been part of the problem," he wrote, referring to the Community Reinvestment Act.

"But none of these issues is the cause of the problem. Not by a long shot. From the beginning, subprime has been a symptom, not a cause. And the notion that the Community Reinvestment Act is somehow responsible for poor lending decisions is absurd.

"Here’s why . . ."

Little Love for O.J. After Vegas Conviction

"A few days after O.J. Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, I asked Johnnie Cochran whether the former NFL superstar was going to move abroad to restart his life," DeWayne Wickham wrote on Tuesday for USA Today.

"’No, but he probably should,’ said Cochran, who was Simpson’s lead attorney. But instead of packing up and flying off to the Bahamas or Cayman Islands, Simpson left Los Angeles in 2000 for Miami — a decision that set in motion a series of bad acts that ultimately resulted in a guilty verdict that could put him behind bars for life."

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