Overall Job Loss Largest in History of ASNE Census

“American daily newspapers shed 5,900 newsroom jobs last year, reducing their employment of journalists by 11.3 percent to the levels of the early 1980s,” the newly renamed American Society of News Editors reported on Thursday. 

“The American Society of News Editors, which has conducted a census of newsrooms since 1978 primarily as a means of measuring minority employment, also found that the percentage of minorities in newsrooms stood at 13.41 percent, a decline of .11 percentage points from a year ago.

“Of the journalists who departed newsrooms, 854 were minorities according to ASNE’s 2009 census. The overall year-over-year drop left 46,700 journalists, including 6,300 minority professionals, on newspaper staffs at the end of December 2008. The number of minority journalists stands at the level reported in the 1998 census.

”The loss of journalists is a loss for democracy,’ said ASNE President Charlotte Hall. ‘The loss of people of color from our newsrooms is especially disturbing because our future depends on our ability to serve multicultural audiences. ASNE is committed to keeping newsroom diversity on the front burner even in tough times.’

“The overall job loss was the largest one-year decline in employment in the history of the ASNE census and followed a drop of 2,400 a year ago. Since a modern era peak of 56,400 reported in 2001, newsroom jobs have decreased by 9,700. The highest employment level in the survey’s history was 56,900 reported in 1990.

“In this decade, there has been a net increase of Latino, Asian and Native American journalists and a net decline of Black journalists,” according to the release from the former American Society of Newspaper Editors.

In other findings:

• “458 newspapers responding to the ASNE census had no minorities on their full-time staff. This number has been growing since 2006.
• “The census found 2,300 journalists worked solely online of which nearly 19.6 percent were minority. ASNE started counting online-only journalists in 2007. Then there were 1,900 online journalists of whom 16 percent were minorities.
• “The percentage of interns who are minorities stands at 26.4 percent, a decrease from 28 percent last year.
• “Since 2001, Asian American journalists have increased by 167, Latinos by 23 and Native Americans by 44. The number of Black journalists decreased by 539.
• While the ASNE benchmark for 2009 called for 522 newspapers to have achieved parity with the percentage of people of color in their communities, only 111 have done so.

ASNE canceled its convention this year because of the economy, and has conducted online “Webinars” to announce its results and conduct other convention business.

In the Webinar on the census figures, Bobbi Bowman, ASNE’s diversity director, said she had talked with hundreds of newspaper editors and “many editors across the country have really tried to protect their minority staffers” despite the cutbacks.

Hall agreed. “There’s been a lot of effort by a lot of committed editors,” she said. But she agreed with one caller who pointed out the need for efforts to retain journalists. “I really want to focus on training and retention this year,” she said. She also mentioned partnerships with the journalists of color organizations and with colleges and universities.

Ivan Roman, executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, said some news managers are not giving staffers time off to attend NAHJ’s June convention, which will provide the multimedia training ASNE said it endorsed.

“I would hope editors would see this is important,” Hall replied, recognizing that many staffers are paying their own way to attend as newspapers cut back.

Unlike previous years, the journalist of color organizations did not respond immediately to the ASNE report.

“This is not like previous years,” Rafael Olmeda, president of Unity: Journalists of Color, told Journal-isms, because of “the sheer number of job loses in general.”

Diverse Team to Lead Washington Post Newsroom 

Three journalists of color received key positions Thursday in a major reorganization of the Washington Post newsroom, reporting to a top tier that is also diverse: a white man, a white woman, a South Asian man and an African American man.

“In keeping with our strategic focus on serving readers in and interested in Washington, we will put most news reporters under two senior editors, a National Editor and a Local Editor,” Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli said in a memo. “Much first-line editing, copyediting and production will occur on a new Universal News Desk under another senior editor. Together with the executive editor, the managing editors and the deputy managing editor, these people will form the core leadership of the newsroom.

• “Kevin Merida, now Assistant Managing Editor for National News, will become National Editor.
• “Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, now Assistant Managing Editor for Sports and Weekend Editor, will become Local Editor.
• “Sandy Sugawara, now Assistant Managing Editor for Business, will become Editor of the Universal Desk

“These changes, which become effective May 1, will set in motion other personnel moves.”

Brauchli did not mention diversity in his memo, but he told Journal-isms when he was named in July:

“Diversity of background brings diversity of ideas brings diversity of coverage.” That, in turn, can “improve the vision of the news.”

He also said there was no contradiction between seeking diversity and struggling with tough times.

Of Thursday’s appointments, Merida is a black journalist (and graduate of the Maynard Institute), Garcia-Ruiz is Hispanic and Sugawara is Asian American. A co-managing editor, Raju Narisetti, is South Asian, and Milton Coleman, deputy managing editor, is African American. Liz Spayd is the managing editor with responsibility for hard news. She and Brauchli are white.

In his memo Thursday, Brauchli said, “Today, we are beginning a reorganization to create new reporting groups, streamline editing desks and anticipate the impending integration of our print and digital news operations.

“The changes reinforce our longstanding belief in great reporting and writing as the vital center of The Post’s journalism. We want to empower journalists and encourage them to work across departments and platforms. In addition, we want to simplify the handling of words, pages, images and new media . . . Decisions about space and play must happen faster, both in print and online, and in a way that pulls together our now-separate newsrooms.” 

• Earlier: Liz Spayd, Raju Narisetti Named at Washington Post (Jan. 13)
• Erik Wemple, Washington City Paper: WaPo Re-Org: Holy Shit!

April 15, 2009

More Charges Imminent in Bailey Killing

Detective Accused of Compromising Case Is Sidelined

“Murder charges against former Your Black Muslim Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV and another man in the August 2007 killing of journalist Chauncey Bailey are imminent, law enforcement and other sources said Wednesday night,” Thomas Peele, Bob Butler and Mary Fricker of the Chauncey Bailey Project reported in Thursday’s editions of the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune.

“Devaughndre Broussard, the only person charged with killing Bailey, has agreed to testify that Bey ordered the killing and that Antoine Mackey, another of Bey followers, helped carry out the hit. Bey and Mackey would face murder charges if indicted by a grand jury.

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lamiero said, “We are very close to a point where we are going to be able to hold accountable all of those responsible for Bailey‚Äôs murder.”

Separately, on Tuesday, Peele reported that Oakland police “are moving to fire Sgt. Derwin Longmire in the wake of administrative findings that he compromised the investigation of journalist Chauncey Bailey‚Äôs August 2007 killing, according to a senior officer with knowledge of the situation.”

“Longmire was put on paid administrative leave late Monday. The decision to fire him will be the subject of a mandatory hearing before final action. He is also charged with insubordination.”

Longmire has been criticized by those seeking to unravel the killing of Bailey since he was shot in downtown Oakland that August day.

At the end of December, the Bailey Project wrote:

“As questions continue to swirl around Bailey’s death, the officers said they have concerns about when and if clear answers will emerge.

“Those questions include:

“Why was so much critical evidence that seems to point to a conspiracy to kill Bailey ‚Äî a video of Your Black Muslim Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV mocking the killing, an interview of a bakery worker who said Bey IV bragged that the slaying was a testament to his power ‚Äî not included in lead detective Sgt. Derwin Longmire’s case notes as required by department policy?

“Were Longmire’s mistakes intentional to protect his friend Bey IV as Bey IV himself bragged on a secretly recorded police video? Or were they symptomatic of how badly broken the department is?”

“Why did Longmire’s case notes not include information from a tracking device that showed Bey IV was outside Bailey’s apartment seven hours before the killing?”

Bailey was investigating the bakery at the time of his killing. Bey is jailed awaiting trial on a slew of criminal charges and is suspected of ordering Broussard, one of his followers, to kill Bailey 20 months ago, as Tuesday’s story said. Broussard‚Äôs trial is scheduled for next month.

The Bailey Project is supported by the Maynard Institute and other journalism organizations in order to carry on Bailey’s work. Peele also wrote Tuesday:

“Lt. Ersie Joyner, who supervised Longmire‚Äôs investigation of Bailey‚Äôs killing, and Deputy Chief Jeffrey Loman, who was then a captain and Joyner‚Äôs boss, face discipline for not properly supervising the Bailey case. Loman has been put on leave with pay pending the outcome of an investigation involving sexual harassment.

“Police spokesman Officer Jeffrey Thomason said he could only confirm that Longmire is on ‘paid administrative leave’ pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings. ‘It is against state law to discuss personnel issues,’ Thomason said, citing rules that keep police administrative matters secret from taxpayers.”

Fiona Luis, assistant managing editor for features, says of Boston Globe layoffs, “I don’t want to have to do that again.” (Credit: Suzanne Kreiter/Boston Globe)

Fiona Luis Gives Up Dream of a Top Job at Globe

Fiona Luis, the Boston Globe’s assistant managing editor for features who says she “had wanted to be the first woman minority” on the Globe’s masthead, is instead leaving the paper on May 1, she told Journal-isms on Wednesday.

“The layoffs we had to do . . . were difficult moments for us,” she said. “I don’t want to have to do that again. I’ll be 45 this summer. I’ve spent 22¬? years of my life” at the Globe. “The timing is right. I decided to step off the train.”

Jessica Heslam wrote March 26 in the rival Boston Herald that, “The Globe needed 50 newsroom employees to take buyouts by last Friday but only 24 have signed up. Employees have a week to rescind after applying for the buyout and the final deadline is tomorrow.”

“I signed up for it on the last day possible,” Luis told Journal-isms. “A difficult decision, especially when I looked around and saw so few women in positions of power, much less minorities.” She was effusive in her praise for the 45 to 50 people who work with her in the features department she led for seven years, a job that enabled her to immerse herself among “creative and smart people.” She also regretted the departure of a top-ranking woman, Mary Jane Wilkinson, managing editor/administrator,

Luis said she did not know yet whether her next pursuit would be writing or editing.

The Globe Wednesday announced that Doug Most, editor of the Boston Globe Magazine, would become deputy managing editor of features, a masthead position.

 

Separately, John Hopkins, the Chesapeake court reporter for the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., told Journal-isms he volunteered to take a severance package after 10 years at that paper. Hopkins, 44, said, “I want to try something else” after having been a journalist for 20 years. The paper plans to lay off 40 people paper-wide, Philip Walzer reported last week, including 12 in the newsroom.

On the West Coast, reporter Edwin Garc??a is leaving the San Jose Mercury News for a media relations job at Kaiser Permanente, Veronica Villafane reported in her Media Moves site. Garcia “resigned last week from the paper but will stay on until May 1.

“He says he wasn’t looking for a job, but when a former Merc colleague called him up and asked if he would be interested in exploring the position, he sent his r?©sum?©. Shortly after, the newspaper announced furloughs, a proposed 15% pay cut and Edwin’s second baby was born. So, when he got the offer, he accepted.”

• Atlanta Unsheltered: Ralph McGill stirs
• Jill Geisler, Poynter Institute: The Private Hell of Managers Facing Newsroom Cuts
• Kent Gibbons, Multichannel News: Hindery, Brill Want to Help Make Journalism Pay
• Richard P?©rez-Pe?±a, New York Times: Newspaper Ad Revenue Could Fall as Much as 30%
• Richard Prince and John Trainor of Hoy with Michel Martin on “Tell Me More,” National Public Radio: Ethnic Press Hit By The Recession
• Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune: Sam Zell on Tribune Co. acquisition: ‘I made a mistake, I was too optimistic’

Keri Murakami at a “Zombie” party in Seattle in October (Credit: Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Former Seattle P-I Staffers Going Online . . .

“Laid-off Seattle Post-Intelligencer journalists today launched a nonprofit online news site, Seattlepostglobe.org,” Eric Pryne reported Tuesday for the Seattle Times.

“Former P-I reporter Kery Murakami ‚Äî ‘I guess I’m the publisher’ ‚Äî said he and a half-dozen other former P-I journalists form the core staff, but more than 20 other reporters, photographers and editors have said they intend to contribute.

“Today’s home page features stories advancing the Mariners’ home opener, another setting up this fall’s contest for Seattle city attorney, and a column by a former P-I editorial writer.

“The P-I continues as an online-only news outlet, but it employs just 20 of the 150 or so journalists who had worked for the paper.

“Seattlepostglobe.org has little money ‚Äî about $3,000, with another $3,000 pledged. ‘We’re working as volunteers now,’ Murakami said.

“The site expects to rely to a great extent on reader donations. Murakami said the goal is to get 8,000 people to pledge $10 a month to help pay full-time, part-time or freelance staff.

“Seattlepostglobe.org also intends to sell advertising. Murakami said it has struck a deal with the Seattle Weekly under which the alternative paper will sell ads for the site and keep half the revenue.

“KCTS-TV also is supporting the fledgling venture, providing office space and serving as a vehicle for tax-free contributions. Murakami said Seattlepostglobe.org and the PBS station are discussing other ways to collaborate, perhaps with former P-I journalists providing content for KCTS broadcasts or the station’s Web site.”

. . . While Ex-Hoy N.Y. Staffers Plan for Print Daily

“On April 20th, New York will have one more Spanish-language daily, called N.Y. Al Dia. The paper will be printed in tabloid format and will be sold at 1,800 points in New York at the price of $0.40. Al Dia is the fruit of the ideas of former journalists at Hoy, which was closed in December 2008 by Impremedia, owner of another Spanish-language daily, El Diario La Prensa,” Marion Geiger wrote Wednesday for the Editors Weblog, quoting Portada magazine.

The recent “State of the News Media 2009 report showed that ethnic papers find themselves better off than many mainstream American papers. However some may disagree, considering many ethnic media outlets suffered last year. Hoy was shut down, Asian Week and the San Francisco Bay View went online-only, Siglo21 is down to publishing weekly, Ming Pao Daily is folding, and employees at Ebony and Jet must all reapply for remaining jobs.

“Regardless, El Diario had a relatively steady year according to Alberto Vourvoulias, executive editor of the publication. However, Hoy did not survive the turbulence. With N.Y. Al Dia opening, will New York be big enough for two paid Spanish-language dailies?”

Reports Cite Abuse of Hispanics, Documented and Not

“In a drive to crack down on illegal immigrants, the United States has locked up or thrown out dozens, probably many more, of its own citizens over the past eight years,” Suzanne Gamboa reported Sunday for the Associated Press.

“A monthslong AP investigation has documented 55 such cases, on the basis of interviews, lawsuits and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. These citizens are detained for anything from a day to five years. Immigration lawyers say there are actually hundreds of such cases.

“It is illegal to deport U.S. citizens or detain them for immigration violations. Yet citizens still end up in detention because the system is overwhelmed, acknowledged Victor Cerda, who left Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2005 after overseeing the system. The number of detentions overall is expected to rise by about 17 percent this year to more than 400,000, putting a severe strain on the enforcement network and legal system.”

Separately, Andrew Becker of the Berkeley, Calif.-based Center for Investigative Reporting and Anna Gorman of the Los Angeles Times wrote on Wednesday. “Federal authorities have repeatedly said their priority is to find and remove illegal immigrants with violent criminal histories, but the U.S. government’s stepped up enforcement in recent years has led to the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants convicted of nonviolent crimes, according to a new study.

“Nearly three-quarters of the roughly 897,000 immigrants deported from 1997 to 2007 after serving criminal sentences were convicted of nonviolent offenses and one-fifth were legal permanent residents, according to the study released today by Human Rights Watch.”

Meanwhile, a new analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, said Tuesday that, “Unauthorized immigrants living in the United States are more geographically dispersed than in the past and are more likely than either U.S. born residents or legal immigrants to live in a household with a spouse and children. In addition, a growing share of the children of unauthorized immigrant parents ‚Äî 73% ‚Äî were born in this country and are U.S. citizens.

“In this new analysis, the Center estimates that the rapid growth of unauthorized immigrant workers also has halted; it finds that there were 8.3 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. labor force in March 2008.”

Noting the AP story, publicists for the documentary “A Forgotten Injustice” pointed out that Vicente Serrano, news anchor at the NBC-owned-and-operated Telemudo station in Chicago, “headed a different five year-long investigation that resulted in a documentary, a first of its kind, about similar massive and unconstitutional deportations of the 1930s.”

The film is to be screened at the Chicago Latino Film Festival on Saturday at 9 p.m. and on Sunday, April 26, at 4 p.m.

• Jeffrey Passel of the Pew Hispanic Center with Michel Martin of “Tell Me More,” National Public Radio: New Report Adds Dimensions To ‘Undocumented Immigrant’
  

Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama campaigning in New Hampshire, December 2007.

Obama’s Appearance on “Oprah” Ruled Legit

Oprah Winfrey “inviting then-Sen. Barack Obama onto her show last year did not amount to a political donation to his presidential campaign, the Federal Election Commission has ruled,” Dan Eggen reported Wednesday in the Washington Post.

“William Lee Stotts of Cordova, Tenn., filed a complaint in October alleging that Obama’s appearance on Winfrey’s popular talk show during the Democratic primaries amounted to an unlawful campaign contribution that gave him an ‘an unfair advantage over the other candidates, both Republican and Democrat, who were deprived such an opportunity.’

“But in a decision posted to the agency’s Web site Monday, FEC lawyers determined that Winfrey’s show ‘engages in activities traditionally associated with media entities’ and is, therefore, subject to a ‘media exemption’ that excludes news stories and show appearances from campaign finance laws. FEC lawyers also noted that Winfrey ‘was not a candidate’ and that her show ‘is not owned or controlled by a political party or candidate.'”

• Lauren Drablier, Nieman Watchdog: Obama may have shut up his critics‚Ķfor the moment‚Äô
• Editor & Publisher: Obama’s New Dog Inspires Headline Writers Around the World
• Danny Glover, the Nation: Race and the Obama Administration Comment
• Alyce Hinton, Reuters: U.S. blacks try to turn pride over Obama into gains
• Dwight Lewis, Nashville Tennessean: First lady proves to be first-rate ambassador
• Lenny McAllister, theRoot.com: A Democratic Tough Guy — Who Knew?
• Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: Obama’s kumbaya strategy fails so far
• Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald: The now-beloved first lady
• Terence Samuel, theRoot.com: Polarization We Can Believe In
• Dawn Turner Trice, Chicago Tribune: Michelle Obama teaches London girls that brains are beautiful

Yvette Miley Named Executive Editor at MSNBC

Yvette Miley, vice president of news at WTVJ-TV in Miami, has been named executive editor of MSNBC, NBC announced on Wednesday.

As executive editor, Miley will assist Managing Editor Shannon High in overseeing the editorial content of MSNBC Dayside, the network said.

Miley, a 19-year veteran of NBC Universal, has overseen all of WTVJ’s local and national news coverage, including coverage of Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Wilma, the foreclosure crisis and politics ‚Äî across all platforms, the announcement said.

Short Takes

• Nobody covered the anti-tax tea parties on tax filing day Wednesday quite like Fox News Channel ‚Äî “and that‚Äôs prompting critics and cable news competitors to say that the network is blurring the line between journalism and advocacy,” Michael Calderone wrote for Politico. “‘Fox appears to be promoting these events at the same time it is presenting them in a way that looks like reporting,’ said Stephen Burgard, director of Northeastern University‚Äôs School of Journalism.”
• “Cable pioneer Bob Johnson said Friday he was still looking for a visionary partner along the lines of cable veteran John Malone to back his and Ion Television’s Urban TV proposal, which means to address a ‘clear and present need for additional diversity’ and one not being met by cable today,” John Eggerton wrote from Washington for Multichannel News. “Speaking to an audience of media executives and journalists at a Media Institute here Tuesday, Johnson . . . said that the key to making a minority media play work is to have a major strategic partner like Malone, who put up the first dollars for BET and stuck around as a mentor and personal friend for over 20 years.”
• “The Washington Times is dedicating one page a day to a citizen journalism initiative,” Editor & Publisher reported on Tuesday. “Deborah Simmons, a former Times editorial page [editor], is supervising coverage along with Adrienne Washington, a columnist at the paper. Grace Vuoto, editor of the Times’ BaseNews.com, is overseeing news from the military community.”
• “Erica Bryant is half of an historic first for Charlotte broadcasting,” Herbert L. White reported Tuesday for the Charlotte (N.C.) Post. “Bryant, who on Tuesday was named co-anchor of WSOC-TV‚Äôs Eyewitness News broadcasts at 5, 6 and 11 p.m., becomes part of the first all-black prime-time anchor team in the market‚Äôs history. Bryant‚Äôs new partner is Vince Coakley.”
• “With more channels than ever, the lack of any diversity of opinion is breathtaking. Freedom of the press is enshrined in the Constitution, yet our media largely act as a megaphone for those in power. As we confront unprecedented crises ‚Äî from global warming to global warring to a global economic meltdown ‚Äî there is also an unprecedented opportunity for change,” Amy Goodman, the host of Pacifica Radio’s “Democracy Now!” wrote in celebration of a milestone at the “progressive” network. “On this 60th anniversary of the Pacifica Radio Network, we should celebrate the tradition of dissent and the power of diverse voices to resolve conflict peacefully.”
• “StreetWise, the weekly Chicago magazine conceived as a way to offer an income to the homeless, has fallen victim to a hobbled economy and could be forced to close its doors by June if it cannot replace hemorrhaging foundation support, its managers say,” James Janega wrote Wednesday in the Chicago Tribune. “That support makes up nearly half its $500,000 budget and is down 60 percent. Ad revenues also are in decline and street sales have dropped 20 percent, publishers say.”
• George E. Curry, former editor in chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service, has been selected as AIDS coordinator for a new NNPA-Center for Disease Control partnership that targets the alarming HIV/AIDS rates among African Americans, the NNPA reported. The Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative, announced at the White House last week, partners the CDC with 14 civil rights organizations, including the NNPA News Service. As NNPA AIDS coordinator, “Curry will write a series of 15 HIV/AIDS-related articles that will be distributed exclusively through the NNPA News Service. He will also assist in the organization of an HIV/AIDS awareness event,” the NNPA said.
• Deirdre Childress, Weekend editor for the past three years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, was promoted to Home & Design/Weekend editor. She is secretary of the National Association of Black Journalists.
• Michael Wilbon, the Washington Post sports columnist and ESPN commentator, says that after he and Charles Barkley met Barack Obama in 2004, he told his wife, “This guy‚Äôs going to be president.” But, Wilbon told Harry Jaffe in an interview for the April issue of Washingtonian magazine, “I don‚Äôt expect to see him at all in Washington. I may never see him as president. . . . Most people in the White House ‚Äî not him ‚Äî most people in politics look at sports people as trash. They look at us as secondary people. . . . People in the media ‚Äî people in my own newsroom think we‚Äôre second-class journalists.” He also names the black athletes he considers solid family men.
• Helena Andrews, who left Politico in September to write a book that she calls “my rebuttal to the Washington Post’s ‘Being a Black Man’ series and CNN’s ‘Black in America’ ‚Äî both of which gave young professional black women the side eye” is joining AOL’s forthcoming PoliticsDaily.com as a blogger and reporter. “I do know for sure that I’ll be blogging on pop culture and politics for ‘Woman Up,’ she told Journal-isms.
• “As part of its declaration of a state of emergency on Sunday, the Thai government issued a decree that empowered officials to censor news considered a threat to national security, according to international and local news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the government to immediately rescind this order of censorship,” the press freedom group said on Tuesday.
• “A press freedom drama is being played out in Fiji with its military-led regime deporting journalists as it tightens its control on the island’s besieged media,” Roy Greenslade reported on his blog for Britian’s Guardian newspaper. “The Fiji Times ‚Äî owned by News Ltd, the Australian division of Rupert Murdoch’s global conglomerate, News Corporation ‚Äî has also refused to publish any political stories, and the national television station Fiji One has reportedly done the same.”