Gap Is Largest Since University Survey Began in 1997
Cynthia Tucker Leaving Atlanta Paper to Teach at J-School
British Newspapers Back Police in Confronting Rioters
PBS Names Donald Thoms to Programming Post as VP
Amy Holmes Joining Glenn Beck Network
Asian Journalists Convene, Hear Pleas for Tolerance
Heart Attack Killed Sportscaster at 38, Investigator Says
Bounce TV Adds Chicago, Milwaukee
Gap Is Largest Since University Survey Began in 1997
A survey of 2010 graduates of the nation’s journalism and mass communication programs shows that “once again faring worse than anyone in the job market were racial and ethnic minority graduates [PDF], according to a report by the University of Georgia’s James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, Sherrie Whaley wrote Wednesday for the university.
“While minority bachelor’s degree recipients reported no rise in employment — from 48.6 percent in 2009 to a statistically comparable 49.1 percent in 2010 — nonminority graduates saw employment levels improve from 63.9 percent to 67 percent. The gap of 18 percentage points between the level of employment of non-minority and minority graduates in 2010 is the largest ever recorded in the graduate survey,” Whaley wrote.
Overall, “A slight job market improvement for 2010 graduates . . . was tempered by news of stagnant salaries and benefits.
“. . . The job market improvements seen were not even, according to Lee B. Becker,” professor of journalism and director of the Cox Center and the survey. ” ‘Graduates who had specialized in news-editorial journalism actually experienced a dramatic decline in full-time employment levels in 2010 compared with 2009. The fact that only half of them found a full-time job six to eight months after graduation is unprecedented,’ he noted.
“. . . Web work was more prominent with 2010 graduates than with 2009 graduates. Two-thirds of the degree recipients who found work in communication were involved with writing and editing for the web. Eight in 10 of the graduates with communication jobs are researching materials using the web, and more than half are using social network sites in their jobs, a sharp increase from a year earlier.
“Communication technologies also played a larger role for the graduates. ‘They were more likely to be doing non-linear editing, photo imaging, using a video camera and producing content for mobile devices,’ Becker said. ‘All of the differences are small, but the overall pattern is clear enough.’
The annual survey has been conducted in the Cox Center since 1997.
Cynthia Tucker Leaving Atlanta Paper to Teach at J-School
“Cynthia Tucker, one of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s highest-profile columnists for more than 20 years, is leaving the AJC to become a visiting professor at the University of Georgia’s journalism school,” the Atlanta newspaper reported Wednesday.
“Tucker, who won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2007, assumes her new role Aug. 12, the AJC and UGA announced Wednesday.
“They said her position at UGA will be part of a partnership between the AJC and the university’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“Tucker, 56, was editorial page editor of AJC from 2001 to 2009, when she moved to Washington as a political columnist in a realignment of the opinion-editorial department.
“Her last regular column appeared Sunday.
“She said Wednesday she feels ‘a twinge of sadness’ at ending her long run as a columnist.
” ‘But I’m very excited at the prospect of teaching at a university and the opportunity that will give me to write in longer form as well,’ she said, adding when asked, ‘There’s definitely a book in my future.’
“Tucker said she will move back to Atlanta from Washington and commute to Athens, where she expects to start teaching a course in persuasive writing in the spring semester.”
Tucker took the Washington assignment in 2009 mid the excitement of nation’s first black president and the opportunities it was opening for black journalists.
She said then, “This new opportunity not only gives me a chance to witness a historic presidency up close, but it also allows me to focus on what citizens all over the country are focused on — politics out of Washington.”
In a Thanksgiving 2009 column, Tucker described for readers how she had adopted a baby girl who was then 11 months old.
“Being a single mom definitely enters into the picture,” Tucker told Journal-isms on Wednesday. “The university life is a better fit.”
British Newspapers Back Police in Confronting Rioters
“Why? What is driving young people across Britain to loot and pillage?” Roy Greenslade wrote Wednesday on his media blog for Britain’s Guardian newspaper.
“Some newspapers seek to answer that question while others don’t wish to understand motives.
“Amidst the failure to explain there is also a blame game. But all, it appears, agree on one thing — it must be stopped and the police efforts to restore order must be supported.
“So The Guardian editorial’s final words, ‘Right now, this is about control,’ are echoed in every leading article and, to an extent, on increasingly opinionated front pages too.
“But, as one might expect, the right-wing papers have a much more militant demand for ‘control’ and, of course, for the subsequent punishment of rioters.
“A clear example is the Daily Express. Its front page headline ‘Sweep scum off our streets” is backed up with an editorial that says: ‘The British have had enough… of the softly softly treatment of yobs. We do not want to hear about their grievances. We want them to be stopped, arrested, imprisoned… The criminal underclass of skiving welfare dependents has been indulged for too long.’ “
“We go to London to speak with journalist Darcus Howe, a longtime critic of police brutality in black and West Indian communities across the U.K., and author and blogger Richard Seymour of the popular British site ‘Lenin’s Tomb,’ ” she said.
” ‘There is a mass insurrection. And I’m not talking about rioting; I’m talking about an insurrection that comes from the depths of society, from the consciousness, collectively, of the young blacks and whites, but overwhelmingly black, as a result of the consistent stopping and searching young blacks without cause,’ says Howe of the uprising.
“Seymour notes that anti-terror legislation has led to an unprecedented number of stops, predominantly of youth of color, but protests against the stops have been largely ignored by the British media. ‘A political establishment, a media, and a state system that gives people…the impression that they won’t be listened to, unless they force themselves onto your attention, is going to lead to riots,’ says Seymour.”
- BBC: International press reaction to UK riots
- Elizabeth Flock, Washington Post: BBC interview with West Indian writer gives insight into causes of London riots
- Samantha Schaefer, Los Angeles Times: What caused the London riots? And should the U.S. prepare for a similar rebellion?
PBS Names Donald Thoms to Programming Post as VP
Thoms and Beth C. Hoppe, who will hold the same title, “will help implement PBS’ primetime content strategy, a multi-year effort to strengthen the organization’s primetime lineup and deliver on its ongoing commitment to serve the American people with outstanding content that reflects the high quality and diversity of perspective that viewers expect from PBS,” PBS announced on Thursday.
“Both Vice Presidents will report to John F. Wilson, PBS Senior Vice President & Chief TV Programming Executive.
“. . . Working in collaboration with producers, Ms. Hoppe and Mr. Thoms will take a proactive approach to program development from idea generation to air. They will be responsible for finding new ways of engaging audiences across platforms, refreshing existing programs and, as appropriate, commissioning new programs.
“. . . As President of ThomsMediaGroup (TMG) from 2009 until his new appointment to PBS, Mr. Thoms led the multimedia consulting organization, focusing on television production and development, as well as on-air talent development, coaching and casting. His clients include Discovery, WNED, Scripps Networks, Verizon, the Travel Channel and MTV.”
“. . . Mr. Thoms previously served at PBS as Vice President, Program Management from 1993 to 1999, where his accomplishments including the creation of the award-winning series INDEPENDENT LENS, which is preparing for its 10th season year on the air, and The Red Book, the document that established the guidelines for program delivery, which PBS continues to use today.”
Amy Holmes Joining Glenn Beck Network
“Former CNN political contributor Amy Holmes is joining former Fox news host Glenn Beck’s GBTV as news anchor for ‘The Blaze’,” Alex Weprin reported Tuesday for TVNewser. “Holmes will be tasked with anchoring news and information segments during Beck’s two-hour program from 5p to 7p on GBTV, as well as updates throughout the day.
“Holmes contributed to CNN’s political coverage during the 2006 and 2008 elections, and has also contributed to NBC’s ‘Dateline and ‘Nightly News,’ as well as ABC’s ‘The View.’ She left as a contributor to CNN in 2009.”
Holmes’ bio also lists service on Black Entertainment Television, where she interviewed newsmakers as host of “Lead Story” in 2002.
Asian Journalists Convene, Hear Pleas for Tolerance
More than 500 members of the Asian American Journalists Association kicked off their organization’s 30th anniversary convention Wednesday with a reception at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Mich., where they were treated to a generous helping of food, music, greetings from the city’s dignitaries and pleas for tolerance.
Dearborn is “the home of the largest Arab community outside of the Middle East,” Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News, emcee and sponsor of the event, told the assembled.
John B. (Jack) O’Reilly Jr., the city’s mayor, said, “We celebrate everyone in this town” and added, “there are people looking to blame someone,” naming Republicans Newt Gingrich and former Nevada Senate candidate Sharon Angle. Angle said last fall that Islamic sharia law had “taken hold” of some U.S. cities.
“We want you to be informed,” O’Reilly said.
Robert A. Ficano, county executive of Wayne County, which includes Dearborn and Detroit, called his the “most diverse county in the state of Michigan, if not in the Midwest,” and urged the journalists to”believe what you see and not always what you’ve heard previously.”
Census figures show that 26 percent of Dearborn’s population of 88,922 is foreign born, and Arabic writing graces buildings on its major thoroughfares.
Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., publisher of the New York Times, helped AAJA’s J-Camp program for high school journalists celebrate its 11th year, and News Corp. awarded two students $1,500 scholarships. Executives of the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press were present, as was Washington Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli. Other industry leaders came in as part of AAJA’s Executive Leadership Program.
“The Heart of Arab America: A Middle School Perspective,” featuring the work of middle school journalism students telling stories of their lives and their community, is on display at the museum.
Doris Truong, national president, told the group that the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was on the convention agenda, along with a showing of the 1987 film, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?”
Chin was a Chinese American beaten to death in 1982 in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park during a period of anti-Asian sentiment directed at the Japanese, who were blamed for taking jobs from American workers. Chin’s two accused killers were acquitted of all charges in the federal case and received three years probation in the state trial.
Kathy Chow, executive director of AAJA, said it was too early to determine convention attendance figures.
- Oralandar Brand-Williams, Detroit News: Convention draws journalists to Detroit
- Robin Erb, Detroit Free Press: 800 journalists meet in Detroit, aim to share stories [Aug. 11]
- Nick Meyer, Arab American News: Detroit, Arab Americans roll out red carpet for AAJA convention
- Coverage by AAJA Voices student project
Heart Attack Killed Sportscaster at 38, Investigator Says
“WMAQ-Ch. 5 sportscaster Daryl Hawks, who was found dead in his Atlanta hotel room in May while covering the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs, died from an apparent heart attack possibly caused by hypertension, officials said Wednesday,” the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.
“Hawks, 38, was found unresponsive in his hotel room after he did not show up for a morning shoot-around.
“. . . An investigator for the Fulton County medical examiner’s office in Georgia said Tuesday he died from an apparent heart attack possibly caused by hypertension.”
Bounce TV Adds Chicago, Milwaukee
“Bounce TV, the new over-the-air network for African Americans launching Sept. 26, today announced the additions of Chicago (WWME) and Milwaukee (WBME) in a new affiliation agreement with Weigel Broadcasting Co. The news follows the signing of Gannett Broadcasting’s WATL Atlanta last week and Bounce’s signing Toyota USA as the network’s first national advertiser,” TVNewsCheck reported on Monday.
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