Where’s Outrage Over Latest TV Changes? Columnist Asks
When NBC announced that the tanned, well-tailored Brian Williams would take over TV’s highest-rated network newscast in 2004, few critics blinked, writes Eric Deggans in the St. Petersburg Times.
Why Newspapers Shouldn’t Always Note Race in Stories
Buffalo News columnist Rod Watson answers a reader who asks why his paper didn’t say the rowdies at a zoo disturbance were black: “For the same reason that Enron stories don’t say ‘White guys rob pension fund and leave little old ladies destitute,’ or that accounts about the FBI and CIA don’t say ‘White men failed to connect the dots.'”
Residents of Milwaukee, NABJ Convention Site, Fight Inferiority Complex
“When I return to Milwaukee these days, there’s no apology or disappointment connected to the end of my travels,” writes columnist Eugene Kane, who is also president of the Wisconsin Black Media Association. “It took 20 years, but this is the place I call home. “Which means, inferiority complex notwithstanding, there must be something here worth bragging about.”
Should Sun-Times Have Given Cops R. Kelly Video?
“Without the video, police say, the investigation would have languished. The first thing police chief Terry Hillard did at the press conference last week announcing charges against R. Kelly was to thank the Sun-Times for turning over the video,” reports Chicago Magazine.
“But several experts in media ethics say the action by the Sun-Times is dangerous – that there is a risk in a news organization’s becoming, to use a commonly invoked phrase, ‘an arm of law enforcement,’ jeopardizing its independence and throwing in with the prosecution.”
BET Radio Network to Debut in July
Westwood One announces it will launch BET Radio Network on July 8 through a multi-year agreement with Viacom-owned Black Entertainment Television. The new network will offer affiliates exclusive access to BET talent, audio clips of artist interviews, and daily features such as “BET Music News Minute,” “BET Weekly Movie Spotlight” and “BET News Minute.” In addition, the BET Radio Network will offer special concert broadcasts and other live events, reports Mediaweek.
Gonzalez, Garateix Vie for NAHJ President
Marilyn Garateix, assistant metro editor at the Boston Globe, and MJuan D. Gonzalez, a columnist for the New York Daily News and co-host of Pacifica Radio’s “Democracy Now!,” are competing to be president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Follow the NAHJ convention via student coverage in the Latino Reporter.
Univision to Buy Hispanic Broadcasting Corp.
Hispanic media shows its growing clout as Univision, the national leader in Spanish-language television, announced it would pay $3 billion to buy Hispanic Broadcasting Corp., the nation’s largest Latino radio network.
Vicente Fox Tells NAHJ His Immigration Plan Is Going Nowhere
Though efforts to lobby the U.S. for the legalization of millions of undocumented Mexican workers have stagnated in recent months, “we have not renounced any of these goals,” Mexican President Vicente Fox told more than 1,000 gathered in Tijuana for the opening of the 20th annual convention of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
San Diego News Director Sees Job as Helping Immigrants
Lourdes Sandoval has had rats left on her doorstep, been assaulted with a purse, and insulted by a former San Diego chief of police – all because she’s Mexican. But none of those indignities has stopped a genteel, yet assertive, Sandoval from tapping into the communications field to help others, particularly immigrants. She is a native of Mexico City, but recently naturalized U.S. citizen, who has been news director of San Diego’s Spanish-language KBNT/Channel 17 since 1998.
Republicans Launching Spanish-Language TV Show
California Republicans unveil a new Spanish-language television show targeting Hispanics, the state’s fastest-growing voting bloc. The monthly programs on Telemundo and Univision affiliates in Fresno and elsewhere will amount to GOP infomercials dressed up as newscasts.
Sacramento Station Sues to Keep Reporter Ryan Yamamoto
Sacramento TV news leader KCRA loves reporter Ryan Yamamoto so much it has gone to court to stop him from moving to a San Diego TV station. Broadcasting insiders tell the Sacramento Bee that the suit is a “warning shot” to other local TV talents who might be thinking about moving before their contracts end.
PBS Anchor Dalji Dhaliwal Heads to CNN
Daljit Dhaliwal, who’s developed something of a cult following as the anchor of the world news program “Wide Angle,” shown on many PBS stations, is jumping to CNN. At least for the time being, though, audiences in the United States won’t be able to see her. She will begin working for CNN International in Atlanta as anchor of the network’s “World News” and “World Report” programs. Both are seen overseas but not on the U.S. network. More on “Wide Angle”.
