Ex-L.A. Times Writer Says He’s Vindicated on Tupac Killing
Sharpton, West in Rematch Before Black Press on Friday
Bakewell to Step Down as Leader of black Press Group
Emerge Magazine Revived as Small Business Publication
Sandra Thomas to Direct Univision Local, Affiliate News
Ex-L.A. Times Writer Says He’s Vindicated on Tupac Killing
“Former Los Angeles Times investigative reporter Chuck Philips, whose career was ruined when the Times published a rare front-page retraction of his March 17, 2008, article about the infamous 1994 shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur, is demanding that the newspaper apologize and take back its retraction of his story, ‘An Attack on Tupac Shakur Launched a Hip-Hop War,’ ” Simone Wilson and Dennis Romero reported Wednesday for LA Weekly.
“Philips’ demand comes several days after his key unnamed source in the Shakur story revealed himself ories/news/archive/2011/06/15/22790289.aspx and corroborated Philips’ 2008 reporting.
” ‘I want them to run a front-page retraction,’ Philips, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, tells L.A. Weekly. ‘Same size, same place.’
“Times management has not responded to requests by the Weekly for a comment. A front-page retraction is exceedingly rare in journalism.
“On June 15, Dexter Isaac, imprisoned in New York for murder, admitted to participating in the 1994 attack on Shakur that set off the East Co
ast–West Coast rap war. The Times has ignored Isaac’s corroboration of Philips’ reporting, covering it dismissively the next day with short wire stories.”
“. . . The 2008 Times story ruined Philips’ career, he says, when FBI documents referenced throughout the story turned out to be fakes created by con man James Sabatino. Although the FBI documents were bogus, they had been attached to a case in federal court.
“. . . Philips believes Isaac’s admission vindicates him — and he wants his reputation back. During nearly 20 years of reporting for the Times, ‘I never had a major error in a story before,’ Philips says. ‘I had a couple small corrections. No serious drama.’ ”
Cornel West, above, and the Rev. Al Sharpton clashed on an April 10 MSNBC special, “A Stronger America: The Black Agenda,” hosted by Ed Schultz. (Video)
Sharpton, West in Rematch Before Black Press on Friday
The Rev. Al Sharpton and Cornel West, the high-profile Princeton University professor, plan to revisit their highly publicized disagreement over President Obama’s commitment to African American concerns Friday at the National Newspaper Publishers Association convention in Chicago.
George E. Curry, the NNPA columnist and veteran journalist, is to moderate the discussion.
He told Journal-isms the back story in this edited email:
“May 21, on my regular Friday appearance on Sharpton’s radio show, I mentioned that seeing the exchange between him and Cornel on MSNBC’s ‘A Stronger America: The Black Agenda http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42422469/ns/msnbc_tv/t/stronger-america-black-agenda/ ,’ moderated by Ed Ed Schultz, had been ‘extremely painful’ — those were my exact words. Sharpton replied that he, too, was pained, particularly since he and Cornel had been friends for two decades. On air, I said a discussion on Blacks and the Obama administration still needed to be held and that I would reach out to Cornel to see if that could be arranged.
“I offered to moderate the discussion. Sharpton said that was a good idea and he would be willing to participate. I sent an e-mail to Cornel . . . and he called me within a day or two, agreeing to my proposed June 24 date. I called Danny Bakewell,” president of the NNPA, “who was excited about the idea and offered to alter the convention schedule to accommodate such a discussion.. . . Sharpton was scheduled to deliver a luncheon address on Friday, but we changed that to the discussion with Cornel.”
“Because Cornel and Al always preach Black unity, I thought it was critical for them to demonstrate to Black America that the could come together after that acerbic exchange on MSNBC.”
Bakewell to Step Down as Leader of black Press Group
Danny J. Bakewell, Sr. the fiery chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, who gained 
a national reputation for challenging corporate America over the advertising dollars it spends in the black press , has announced he will not seek re-election at the end of his tenure this week, Hazel Trice Edney reported on Wednesday for her Trice Edney Newswire.
“ ‘Over the past two years, as promised, I have moved us toward the goal of returning NNPA to its rightful place as one of the most powerful and influential institutions in Black America,’ Bakewell wrote in a May 19 letter to the more than 200 Black newspaper publishers also called the Black Press of America. ‘It is my hope that the vision of responsible fiscal stewardship and securing advertising for all publishers, which the board of directors and I established and implanted during my administration, will continue with the next administration.’ ”
“. . . NNPA member sources told Trice Edney News Wire that Bakewell, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel, has endorsed the candidacy of Cloves Campbell, publisher of the nearly 45-year-old Arizona Informant and former member of the Arizona House of Representatives.”
Emerge Magazine Revived as Small Business Publication
Emerge magazine, an iconic magazine of the black politics, life and culture of the 1990s, has been revived by new owners as a publication catering to small businesses.
“Emerge showcases the companies and individuals that transform ideas into solutions and embody the contemporary entrepreneurial experience. We cover the achievements of start-ups, small businesses and success. Through our content, we provide industry insights and credible solutions to small businesses whether they are start-ups or have been operating successfully for years. Emerge illuminates stories and content to inspire the entrepreneurial spirit,” the magazine says on its Website.
The original Emerge was launched in 1989 by Time Inc. and was later purchased by BET, as theRoot.com recalled this year. “Emerge earned widespread respect for capturing black life and culture. The articles, which spanned the globe and won awards like Amnesty International USA’s Media Spotlight Award, never ran away from controversial topics. BET turned over publishing control to Vanguarde Media in 2000, and the following year, the publishing house decided to combine Emerge with a new magazine: Savoy.”
It was edited first by the late Wilmer C. Ames Jr., then by George E. Curry.
The new Emerge was named last week as one of “the 30 Most Notable Launches of 2010” by Samir Husni, an expert on magazine journalisms known as “Mr. Magazine.”
“This magazine is like taking a page from the Harvard Business Review and adding a unique, emotional personal touch to its pages,” he wrote.
The magazine has a New York address, but calls this week to its Atlanta telephone number reached only a voice mail that said the company also publishes Savoy. The website is registered to Atlanta businessman Lapink Green.
Sandra Thomas to Direct Univision Local, Affiliate News
“Univision news veteran Sandra Thomas has been named to the new position of senior director of local and affiliate news at the Spanish-language giant,” Michael Malone reported Wednesday for Broadcasting & Cable. “She will be based in San Francisco and report to Daniel Coronell, vice president, Univision News, and Kevin Cuddihy, president, Univision Television Group.
“Univision also announced that Marco Flores has been named news director at KMEX Los Angeles, reporting to Thomas and KMEX general manager Alberto Mier y Terán.
” ‘. . . Thomas will oversee all news content for Univision affiliates and will “serve as the nexus with network news,’ said Univision in a statement. Since March of 2009, she has been Univision Television Group’s news operations group regional news director supervisor and news director of KDTV San Francisco, a position she held since 1997.’
Short Takes
- “Sixteen ideas that push the future of news and information will receive $4.7 million in funding as winners of the Knight News Challenge, an international media innovation contest funding digital news experiments that inform and engage communities, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced on Wednesday. “The ideas come from leading Internet entrepreneurs including Tim Hwang and Jesse James Garrett, and top legacy newsrooms like the Associated Press and Chicago Tribune, and originate in North Carolina, Chile and the U.K. Together, they employ a range of techniques for delivering news and information in the digital age.”
- Journalists of color accompanying first lady Michelle Obama and family members in South Africa include Darlene Superville of the Associated Press, Krissah Thompson of the Washington Post, freelancer Lola Ogunnaike and Kristin Welker of NBC, Thompson told Journal-isms.
- Seven entries were recognized “for their organizations’ ongoing commitment to covering the cultural diversity of the communities they serve” in the 12th Annual RTDNA/UNITY Awards jointly sponsored by the Radio-Television Digital News Association and Unity: Journalists of Color. Topics ranged from obesity in Mississippi to Muslims in Michigan. Watch or listen to the winners here.
- “On Wednesday, SavetheNews.org launched ‘Change the Channels,’ a new campaign focused on exposing the new face of media consolidation. Across the country, hundreds of TV stations have quietly merged newsrooms, circumventing the Federal Communications Commission’s media ownership limits at the expense of independent, local journalism,” the activist group Free Press announced. .
Wishing a happy 70th birthday to her late husband, CBS News correspondent Ed Bradley, Patricia Blanchet e-mailed this photo to friends and colleagues and said, “While he would no doubt have hated yet another decade, we all know he would have been just as hip and fly and compelling and engaging as ever.” Bradley died at age 65 in 2006.
- “Brian Lam, editor of Gizmodo, is leaving Gawker’s popular gadget and technology blog,” David Carr reported Wednesday for the New York Times. “Mr. Lam, a journo-technologist with the soul of an artist — his ocean-centric sideline site is called The Scuttlefish — is not precisely sure what he is going to do next, although he has been in talks with Atlantic Media about helping develop the Washington-based media company’s coverage of technology.”
- Jozen Cummings, arts and culture reporter for Blackvoices.com, now part of the Huffington Post Media Group, left the company suddenly as Black Voices continues its transition under Huffington Post leadership. “As for what I would like to do next, I want to continue to work in online journalism like I have been for the better part of five years,” Cummings told Journal-isms Wednesday. “What matters to me most is being at a publication where I can grow, learn, and contribute.”
- “Telemundo network news anchor José Diaz-Balart will substitute anchor [for] Contessa Brewer this week on ‘MSNBC Live,'” Veronica Villafane reported for her Media Moves site. “José will also anchor ‘Noticiero Telemundo’ live from New York this week, making him the first journalist in U.S. television to anchor both an English and a Spanish-language newscast in two networks simultaneously.”
- Associated Press Sports editors and Association for Women in Sports Media will co-sponsor a convention next summer in Chicago, APSE President Phil Kaplan told members last week. The two groups “partnered together for the first time in April to co-host a panel discussion on the challenges women continue to face in our industry. It proved to be a springboard for future joint events.”
- “Africa, specifically the southern region, is going through a transition much like the U.S. did several years with the change-over from analog to digital transmission,” Franklin McMahon reported Tuesday for Broadcast Engineering. “Africa is moving toward the European DVB-T2 digital standard and has several deadlines to move things along. The timetable for the region targets the end of 2013, which provides breathing room to make the switch and incorporate the digital technology. The real deadline however is a bit later, in 2015, when the International Telecommunication Union will no longer support analog TV transmissions.”
- In Mexico, “Reporters Without Borders is shocked to learn that Miguel Ángel López Velasco, an editor and columnist with the local online daily Notiver, was shot dead along with his wife and his son in their home in the east coast city of Veracruz early yesterday, just seven days after a reporter was found murdered in the northwestern state of Sonora,” the press freedom group said Tuesday.
- Reporting on Congo, Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday it “is deeply saddened by yesterday’s murder of Kambale Musonia, a journalist working for Radio Communautaire de Lubero Sud in Kirumba, in the eastern province of Nord-Kivu. Aged 29, Musonia was shot three times in the chest at close range at around 7:30 p.m. by three unidentified men who were waiting for him outside his home as he returned from work.”
- “The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Ethiopian authorities today to immediately release journalist Woubshet Taye . . . who has been held since Sunday,” the group said Tuesday. “Police picked up Taye, deputy editor of the leading independent weekly Awramba Times, at his home in the capital, Addis Ababa, at 3 p.m. and confiscated several documents, cameras, CDs, and selected copies of Awramba Times, local journalists told CPJ. The newspaper covers politics in-depth. . . Ethiopia’s press law prohibits pre-trial detention of journalists, but two journalists of the state-controlled national broadcaster have been held on vague criminal charges for over a year.”
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