Maynard Institute archives

U.S. Frees Mexican Journalist Jailed 7 Months

by richard0496

Lawyer Credits New "Political Winds" in Washington

A Mexican journalist was released Thursday from a U.S. immigration jail after seven months’ detention, the result, his lawyer told Journal-isms, of the change in presidents from George W. Bush to Barack Obama.

At an El Paso news conference, Mexican journalist Emilio Guti?©rrez Soto shows a permit that allows him to stay in the U.S. At left is his lawyer, Carlos Spector. (Credit: Victor Calzada/El Paso Times)Emilio Guti?©rrez Soto had been jailed since June, when he and his 15-year-old son crossed the U.S. border in Antelope Wells, N.M., a remote crossing about 200 miles west of El Paso, and asked U.S. authorities for protection, as Alicia A. Caldwell reported¬†for the Associated Press.

Guti?©rrez’s detention was part of "an organized plan by the Bush administration" to discourage asylum-seekers, lawyer Carlos Spector told Journal-isms. And it worked – "I had 10 other Mexican clients, and the only one who stuck it out was Emilio."

It was no coincidence, Spector continued, that "right after Obama is elected, the bureaucrats in charge of his freedom saw the political winds. It was a war of attrition they were running," the "Guantanamo-ization of the immigration policy."

He said Obama’s transition team issued a report critical of such practices.

Moreover, the release of Guti?©rrez came "within two or three hours" after CBS-TV’s "60 Minutes" inquired about doing a piece on Guti?©rrez, Spector said.

Leticia Zamarripa, public affairs officer for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, told Journal-isms, "it’s ICE policy not to discuss individual cases."

The Associated Press story continued, "Guti?©rrez claimed he was receiving daily death threats for nearly two years because of his reporting on Mexican soldiers he said were abusing civilians while they searched homes for drug cartel members. He fled after a group of heavily armed men identifying themselves as soldiers ransacked his home.

"His case has garnered international attention and support from media groups.

"In a statement issued Friday, Reporters Without Borders, a press freedom group in Paris, argued that forcing Guti?©rrez to return to Mexico would be a virtual death sentence."

After a news conference in Spector’s El Paso office, Guti?©rrez answered questions over a speakerphone as Spector translated. Asked if there was anything he would say to fellow journalists, he declared, "It’s a daily challenge for not only journalists in the United States and Mexico, but throughout the world to maintain solidarity.

"Freedom of expression is being attacked in Mexico, Venezuela, Afghanistan and through the world.

"I was abandoned by the Mexican press," he said, by reporters who are subject to the "same repression. They fear for their own safety" because of the control of the Mexican press by various political entities.

"What saved us is the solidarity of the American press," he said. He thanked Reporters Without Borders and other international press freedom groups.

Should he win asylum, Guti?©rrez said, he would seek employment in the U.S. Spanish-language media. "That’s my business," he said.

Gutierrez’s son, Oscar, was released from a juvenile detention center in August and has been living with relatives in El Paso.¬†

Eloy O. Aguilar, "Journalistic Legend" at AP, Dies at 72

"Eloy O. Aguilar, an award-winning Associated Press bureau chief who mentored a generation of journalists in Mexico and Central America as he covered civil wars, disasters and political upheaval, collapsed and died Friday. He was 72," Niko Price reported from Mexico City for the AP. 

"Aguilar was the face of AP in much of Latin America for more than a quarter-century, enthusiastically leading efforts for press freedom and the improvement of journalistic standards in both English and Spanish. His wisdom and his generosity kept many journalists safe amid dangerous guerrilla warfare in the 1980s in Central America.

"When a devastating earthquake hit Mexico City in 1985 and destroyed the AP office, Aguilar set up a command center in his damaged apartment. With one working phone, he sent reporters and photographers into the streets, then chartered a Learjet to deliver a computer full of stories and a bag full of film to Texas, giving the world the first comprehensive account of the disaster that killed some 10,000 people.

"Aguilar was legendary for getting the news out. In Nicaragua, he convinced a 20-something government censor that AP stories – unlike others – didn’t need to be checked. In El Salvador, days after the military expelled him, Aguilar returned and persuaded an officer – over a bottle of whiskey – to reconsider.

"When the United States invaded Panama in 1989, Aguilar had gotten a tip from a military source and was in place to alert the first bombs falling from a pay phone. An editor asked Aguilar what the source was; he held up the phone so the explosions could be heard.

"Aguilar died while on his way to address a conference of U.S. journalism school deans, when he collapsed and hit his head.

"’Eloy embodied the very best of the AP, leading by example with hard work, impeccable journalism and unflagging kindness,’ said Tom Curley, AP’s president and chief executive.

"’Eloy is a journalistic legend whose values and principles should nurture reporters forever,’ said Edgar Fonseca, director of the Costa Rican newspaper Al Dia." [Added Jan. 31.]

L.A. Times to Lay Off 70 More in Newsroom

The Los Angeles Times announced plans Friday to lay off 300 people – including 70 newsroom workers – and fold its California section into the main news pages," Martin Zimmerman reported in Saturday’s Times.¬†

"The layoffs announced Friday at The Times are the fourth round of staff cutbacks at the paper in the last 12 months and represent an 11% reduction in its current newsroom staff of around 650. At its peak in 2001, The Times newsroom had 1,200 employees.

"In remarks to the staff, Editor Russ Stanton said it was not clear yet when the layoffs would occur. One hold-up: The Times’ parent company, Tribune Co., is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and the proposed severance plan for laid-off workers still needs to be approved by the bankruptcy court."

Meanwhile, "Dallas-based A.H. Belo Corporation, which owns the Dallas Morning News and three other daily newspapers, announced Friday it would cut approximately 500 jobs "in response to continued revenue declines," the Dallas Morning News reported on Friday. The story did not specify how many would be in newsrooms. [Added Jan. 31.]

To Some Cartoonists, Obama’s Lips Are Electric Blue

The Toronto Star killed Patrick Corrigan's Obama caricature. 'People want to know about racial stereotypes and whether cartoonists are being pressured to draw him a certain way,' Daryl Cagle says. (Credit: Daryl Cagle) "Patrick Corrigan, the cartoonist for the Toronto Star, sent me this caricature of Obama that his editor refused to run, because it was too much of a ‘racial stereotype,’" Daryl Cagle, whose syndicate distributes editorial cartoons, wrote Jan. 22 on his blog. He was of course speaking of President Barack Obama.

"I asked Patrick about the blue lips, because I’ve noticed that Thomas ‘Tab’ Boldt, of the Calgary Sun and Cam Cardow of the Ottawa Citizen, also draw Obama with blue lips. Patrick told me that everybody in Canada, in the winter, has blue lips.

"’I’ve gotten a lot of questions recently on drawing Obama; people want to know about racial stereotypes and whether cartoonists are being pressured to draw him a certain way. When I was working as an illustrator I was often given clear guidelines on how I was supposed to draw African-Americans: with small noses and thin lips. I was instructed to make any crowds of cartoon characters racially diverse, but only diverse in color, not in facial features."

On Wednesday, Michael Cavna, who writes a column called "Comic Riffs" for washingtonpost.com, picked up the theme:

"For every Steve Benson or Mike Luckovich who is zeroing in on a swell, spot-on Obama, there seems to be a cartoonist who invokes ‘caricature’ in the most grotesque sense of the word. Obama’s lips have been rendered in such unnatural tints, and at such dimensions, that somewhere, even R. Crumb would blush."

As one example, he cited a cartoon by Ken Catalino of Creators Syndicate, showing a Obama with a light purple complexion and large lips.

"At first glance, this Obama caricature didn’t immediately stop me – but then my eye wandered over to the ‘non-lipped’ figure speaking to Obama. Looking at them side-by-side, suddenly Obama’s mouth seems utterly out-of-whack in its conspicuous prominence. We’re left to wonder: Why?

"Are too many cartoonists not subtly skilled enough to draw a deft caricature of our first African American president? I seriously doubt that’s it. When you truly study art, you delve deeply into all shapes and sizes and learn to ‘see’ – and learn to see skin not as one single hue, but often as more than a dozen hues (subtle reds, flecks of green, etc.). Of course, perhaps a few cartoonists aren’t looking deeply enough at Obama."

White House Expects Delay in Digital TV Conversion

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that the administration expects the delay in the changeover to digital television to pass Congress next week, and that the president would be ready to sign it once it did, John Eggerton reported for Broadcasting & Cable.

In the House, "’The bill passed with an overwhelming majority, but not with the necessary two-thirds. The Senate last night took the bill up again and passed it. I’m told that the House will vote next week,’ he said, getting the bill’s lineage right."

Nielsen Media Research has reported that 94 percent of households are ready for the digital switch, but close to 10 percent of African-American and Hispanic households are "totally unready."

Time to Unleash Reporters to Cover Race?

Sam Fulwood III"I’ll be the first to admit that I’m obsessed with American race relations and that I became a journalist because of it," Sam Fulwood III wrote¬†Wednesday for the Nieman Watchdog site. "But I’m also compelled to acknowledge that my fascination with the issue rarely has been shared by editors, reporters and others in many of the newsrooms where I’ve worked.

". . . Aware of my fixation on all things racial, since last November’s election, I’ve received numerous queries from editors wanting to know if this is a signal moment in American race relations. Some have wanted to know how to approach [Barack] Obama’s mixed-race heritage. They want to know whether black Americans are going to follow this president. Are whites changing their attitudes because of Obama? The questions are endless ‚Äî and maddening!

"How the hell do I know? Why not put reporters on the streets and find out. I mean, after all, isn’t that what journalism is all about? I’ve been waiting a career lifetime for this moment.

"People — black and white Americans, as well as the rainbow of humanity around the globe — are talking about what it means to have a black president. Maybe now, with a black man in the Oval Office, is the time that editors in newsrooms across America stop being so sensitive and begin to unleash reporters to look at the subject as it surrounds them.

"A race-reporting beat shouldn’t be special pleading for any group. Rather, it should be an honest, open and sincere effort to listen to the conversations that are taking place with an ear cocked to find the personalities, trends and issues that motivate human lives."

  

"’We found it to be a shocking image, but at the same time a poignant and heartbreaking one,’ Jonathan Wolman, Detroit News editor and publisher, said of the photo of the frozen corpse that ran on Thursday’s front page. (Credit: Max Ortiz/Detroit News)

Front Page Photo Shows Homeless Man Frozen in Ice

"Who the dead man encased in ice is remains a mystery," Charlie LeDuff wrote Friday in the Detroit News, a day after the News published a striking front-page photo of a dead homeless man frozen in ice, accompanying a story by LeDuff.

"The Detroit News reported¬†Thursday that a man had either fallen or was thrown down an elevator shaft in an abandoned building on the city’s west side. All that could be seen of the man were his legs jutting out from the ice at the bottom of the shaft. As it happens, many people had seen the legs but failed to report it to authorities," LeDuff reported.

"It took three calls to 911 over 24 hours to have the man extracted.

"The man was removed from the ice late Wednesday by a crew of police officers and firefighters using chainsaws, ladders and guide ropes. The rescue crew worked with a rotting freight elevator hanging over their heads and five feet of frigid water beneath the ice.

"Almost nothing is known about the man, except that he was indeed a man who wore dark sneakers, fresh white socks, a tan jacket and brown work gloves. He appeared to be about 5 feet 10 inches tall with an average build. Not even his race can be ascertained as his skin was the color of charcoal from frost bite."

[On Saturday, LeDuff reported that the man was identified as Johnnie Redding, an African American.]

In a story¬†headlined, "Indifference to Dead Body Symbol of Detroit’s Ills," Corey Williams of the Associated Press wrote, "Detroit News Editor and Publisher Jonathan Wolman told The Associated Press on Thursday that the decision to put the photo on the front page ‘was not made lightly.’

"’We found it to be a shocking image, but at the same time a poignant and heartbreaking one,’ Wolman said. ‘I felt telling the story was profoundly respectful of this victim’s life and death, yet a difficult story to tell. What it says about the community, I’ll leave that to others.’"

Baltimore Examiner, Free Paper, to Fold on Feb. 15

"The Baltimore Examiner newspaper will be closing after several months of looking for a buyer, a spokesman confirmed today," Liz F. Kay wrote Thursday for the Baltimore Sun.

"The last issue of the paper, which is distributed free to homes and through boxes and hawkers on street corners, will be delivered on Sunday, Feb. 15.

"According to a news release, the paper’s Denver-based owner, Clarity Media Group Inc., expected ‘strong revenue synergies’ when launching the Baltimore Examiner because of its market proximity to the Washington Examiner."

Gregory Kane, a Baltimore Sun columnist who joined the Examiner last year after taking a buyout at the Sun, told Journal-isms, "I’ll continue to teach a writing course at Johns Hopkins University and have just contacted reachmedia about doing more stories for blackamericaweb.com, where I also have a column." The small staff included another black journalist, Regina Holmes, an assistant managing editor.

The FishBowl DC Web site published a staff memo from Clarity Media CEO Ryan McKibben saying the Washington Examiner, a sister paper, was increasing its "news hole" to accommodate several improvements.

"We are encouraged that the basic model underpinning the Washington Examiner and San Francisco Examiner has been successful," he said.

Juan Williams Is Comic’s "’Bama of the Week"

Fox News commentator Juan Williams was named "’Bama of the Week" by the comedian known as Huggy Lowdown Friday on radio’s syndicated "Tom Joyner Morning Show" in light of Williams’ recent comments about Michelle Obama.

Williams beat out Elizabeth Hasselbeck of ABC-TV’s "The View," impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Joyner and "Wall Street ‘Bamas."

On Fox News’ "O’Reilly Factor" on Monday night, Williams said of the first lady, "She’s got this Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going. If she starts talking . . . her instinct is to start with this blame America, you know, I’m the victim. If that stuff starts to coming out, people will go bananas and she’ll go from being the new Jackie O. to being something of an albatross."

Williams maintained Wednesday on the Joyner show that he was simply pointing out an image of Obama that was exemplified by an infamous cover of the New Yorker magazine last summer.

"When I heard that ‘Bama on the show," the comic told Joyner co-host Sybil Wilkes, "I know you wanted to give him a prostate exam."

"’Bama" is a term for rube, derived from "Alabama."

Hispanic Group Seeks Probe of Cable "Hate Speech"

"In a petition to the FCC this week, the National Hispanic Media Coalition claims that hate speech is ‘prevalent’ on national cable news networks and wants the government to do something about it," John Eggerton wrote¬†for Broadcasting & Cable.

"That was one of the assertions made by the group in a formal request that the commission open a notice of inquiry into ‘the extent, the effect, and possible remedies’ to what it said was a pervasive problem, and not just on conservative talk radio.

"NHMC, a nonprofit LA based media advocacy group, cited a 2007 Media Matters study that concluded ‘the alleged connection between illegal immigration and crime’ was discussed on 94 episodes of CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight, 66 times on Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor, and 29 times on Glenn Beck’s Headline News show."

Blacks Found More Religious Than General Population

"While the U.S. is generally considered a highly religious nation, African-Americans are markedly more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as a whole, including level of affiliation with a religion, attendance at religious services, frequency of prayer and religion’s importance in life," the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life reported¬†on Friday.

"Compared with other racial and ethnic groups, African-Americans are among the most likely to report a formal religious affiliation, with fully 87% of African-Americans describing themselves as belonging to one religious group or another, according to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted in 2007 by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Latinos also report affiliating with a religion at a similarly high rate of 85%; among the public overall, 83% are affiliated with a religion.

". . . Compared with other groups, African-Americans express a high degree of comfort with religion’s role in politics. In fact, a summer 2008 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum shows that African-Americans tend to closely resemble white evangelical Protestants on that score, with roughly six-in-ten among both groups saying that churches should express their views on social and political topics, and roughly half saying that there has been too little expression of faith and prayer by political leaders."

Short Takes

  • In Chicago, "News producers, writers and editors at NBC-owned WMAQ-Ch. 5 were told Wednesday they must reapply for new multi-faceted positions, the demands of which reflect the station’s efforts to provide content not just for TV but the Internet, mobile devices and other emerging platforms," Phil Rosenthal reported¬†for the Chicago Tribune. "The new jobs ‚Äî with titles such as platform manager and content producer ‚Äî are to be posted beginning Thursday, not just for internal candidates but outsiders as well."
  • Christina NormanMTV’s former president, Christina Norman, is joining the most powerful woman in media to launch OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network." Patricia Sellers wrote¬†for Fortune magazine. "Winfrey’s CEO appointment, announced Thursday afternoon, caps a talent hunt that’s been going on quietly since May 2007 when Discovery Communications . . . CEO David Zaslav pitched Winfrey on the idea of her own cable-TV network. The network is supposed to launch early next year in at least 70 million homes. "’This is the job I’ve been working toward my entire career,’ said Ms. Norman, who spent 17 years with MTV Networks," Jon Lafayette reported Thursday for TV Week.
  • Reporters Without Borders wrote Thursday to the new U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder, calling¬†for the federal government to take over the investigation into the fatal shooting of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey. A year and a half after Bailey was gunned down in Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 2, 2007, his murder is still unpunished.
  • Michael D. JonesMichael D. Jones joined PBS’ staff on Jan. 5 as chief operating officer, the network announced Wednesday. "Working closely with PBS President and CEO, Paula Kerger, Mr. Jones is charged with ensuring that all PBS services and activities are strategically aligned with the organization’s vision and mission and that resources are allocated effectively to meet financial objectives, system priorities and marketplace challenges and opportunities. Until his retirement in 2008, Mr. Jones was the Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA, formerly NASD the National Association of Securities Dealers), the largest non-governmental regulator for securities firms in the United States."
  • Johnathan Rodgers, CEO of TV One, won a Trumpet Award¬†in the "corporate" category; and Danny J. Bakewell Sr., publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel and Cathy Hughes, CEO of Radio One, were named to the "Walk of Fame" when the honors were presented Sunday. The awards were created "to herald the accomplishments of Black Americans who have succeeded against immense odds."
  • "A week after he toasted the inauguration of President Barack Obama at the Heineken- and Hennessey-sponsored Hip Hop Inaugural Ball. . . hip-hop oligarch Russell Simmons has a new gig: Editor-in-chief of Global Grind, a Web site that touts itself as presenting, ‘The World According to Hip-Hop,’" Matt Haber wrote¬†Wednesday for the New York Observer.
  • Gregory Seay, a staff writer and former assistant business editor at the Harford Courant who took a buyout in 2007, has landed as Web editor at the Hartford Business Journal. "I spent 15 months freelancing for various news outlets, including AP and The Courant," Seay told Journal-isms. "My wife, Gina Seay, was promoted this week to features editor at The Hartford Courant. She was previously deputy editor," he added.
  • "A January 27 New York Times story, ‘The Epidemic That Wasn’t,’ brought the news that researchers following children prenatally exposed to cocaine have found ‘the long-term effects of such exposure on children’s brain development and behavior appear relatively small’ and are ‘less severe than those of alcohol and are comparable to those of tobacco,’" Janine Jackson wrote¬†for Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. "Though the Times makes it sound like breaking news, the fact is many reputable people disbelieved the whole ‘crack baby’ phenomenon from the beginning."
  • "A sculpture of an enormous bronze-coloured shoe has been erected in Iraq to honour the journalist who threw his shoes at ex-US President George W Bush," the BBC reported. "The sofa-sized artwork was formally unveiled in Tikrit, hometown of late Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein."
  • Ersa H. Poston, 87, who in 1990 accepted an award inducting her late husband, pioneer New York Post journalist Ted Poston, into the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Black Journalists, died on Jan. 7, the Washington Post reported. In 1977, she became the first black woman appointed to the federal Civil Service Commission.
  • A memorial service for Lionel C. Barrow Jr., the former dean of the Howard University School of Communications who died Jan. 23 at age 82, is scheduled for Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. in Andrew Rankin Chapel at the university. Jannette Dates, the current dean, is scheduled to give the eulogy.

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