Why “Scrubs” Is More Diverse Than “Friends”
“NBC’s approach to diversity is ensemble casting,” says Paula Madison, general manager of NBC’s station in Los Angeles and outgoing diversity chief for the network.
“When people would cite ‘Friends’ or ‘Frasier,’ they came into being before we understood that we wanted diversity in our casting. . . . Now look at the diverse casts of ‘Scrubs’ and ‘ER,’ ” Madison told the Los Angeles Times.
Madison’s new job will be to focus on integrating the staffs and mission of NBC with Telemundo, the second-largest Spanish-language television network in the country, which NBC acquired last year for $2.7 billion. She will also remain president and general manager of KNBC-TV and will lead the entertainment team of the diversity initiative at the network on a temporary basis, until her successor, Michael Jack, gets up and running.
Electronic Media reported last week that the change would lighten the load for Madison, “whose plate is more than full with the integration of NBC’s triopoly of interests [three-station ownership] in Los Angeles. The big initiatives of her diversity leadership were the second-year writer program, which creates spots for new voices during shows’ sophomore seasons, and the supplier diversity program. She is expected to continue her involvement in the Emma Bowen Scholarship program and the network associates program,” Electronic Media said.
Some in Hollywood are critical of Jack’s appointment as diversity chief because he will not be in Los Angeles, but will be running the NBC station in Washington, D.C. Jack replied to the L.A. Times, “There’s the wonder of telephones and planes.”
In Minnesota, Black Faces Don’t Sell Magazine Covers
In April 2002, The Rake, a monthly magazine in the Twin Cities, put a Somali woman on the cover to highlight a top story about strained relations between blacks and Somalis. According to editor Hans Eisenbeis, the issue had nearly twice as many returns as the previous issue, which had Bob Dylan on the cover, writes Clinton Collins, Jr.in The Rake. “That issue was one of our strongest issues editorially. The writing was great. But people just did not pick it up. Tom [Bartel, The Rake’s publisher] warned me that putting a black person on the cover could a problem,” Eisenbeis said. According to Rebecca Sterner, a Minnesota-based publishing consultant, “magazine covers with black faces just don’t sell as well. This is not just a Minneapolis problem. It is a national problem.”
Purchase Keeps Chicago Defender in the Family
John H. Sengstacke oversaw the Chicago Defender’s growth into one of the nation’s best known and most influential black newspapers. But before he died in 1997 at age 84, the paper’s finances and circulation had been in decline for years; he left the paper’s parent company in a trust for Myiti Sengstacke and his other five grandchildren, but he also left an estate tax debt near $ 3 million. That debt led to a running drama over how to assure the Defender’s survival.
Now, the Washington Post reports, the family legacy may continue — but not in the way Myiti vowed. “We don’t agree with any sale, period,” she said. Still, as a member of the paper’s board of directors, she voted to approve it, “because there was nothing else on the table.”
Gamble on Connie Chung Is Set to Start
CNN executives tell the New York Times that Connie Chung is the biggest star the network has ever had. They have gambled on an estimated salary of about $2 million a year in the hope that Chung can help CNN regain its No. 1 status, which it lost to Fox News Channel earlier this year.
But the challenges for Chung, whose CNN show debuts tonight, are formidable. The 8 p.m. slot is one of the most competitive on cable and is expected to become even more so.
Six News Organizations Honored for Diversity
The Radio-Television News Directors Association is has named six winners of its RTNDA/UNITY Award:
ABC News Primetime Thursday, New York, for “The Outsider,” the story of Perry Reese, Jr., who 20 years ago was the first black man to live in the Amish community of Berlin, Ohio.
KRON-TV, San Francisco, for a compilation of some of the 50 stories the station covered last year about race, civil rights and diversity. A multi-ethnic group of staffers and managers meets weekly to identify and discuss story ideas and station issues.
KTUU-TV, Anchorage, Alaska, for “Breaking Point,” a report on a statewide meeting about racism in Alaska. The meeting was prompted in part by an incident involving a group of teenage boys who terrorized Alaska natives on the streets of Anchorage.
BBC Spanish, Washington, for “Cruces,” a series of four programs that were broadcast via radio and Internet. The stories are about U.S./Mexico relations, focusing on Latinos in the border region.
KPCC-FM, Pasadena, Calif., for a collection of work including stories about Pakistani students being detained by the government, the efforts of local Iranians to establish television networks, and Filipino World War II veterans living in Los Angeles.
CBC Radio, Thunder Bay, Ontario, for its reports on the growing Aboriginal population and its impact on the community.
Don’t Give Up, Advises One Who Never Made It to Newsroom
Although four journalists were inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ “Hall of Fame” at NAHJ’s recent convention, judging from the audience’s reaction, the afternoon belonged to inductee Felix Gutierrez, a former executive at the Freedom Forum and newly named journalism professor at the University of Southern California, writes columnist Ruben Navarrette, Jr. in the Dallas Morning News.
“In his acceptance speech, Gutierrez confessed that, all his life, he only had one dream: to become a newspaper reporter.
“In hopes of breaking into the field, Gutierrez earned a master’s degree. But the year was 1967, and while Gutierrez was ready for journalism, journalism was not yet ready for him. Back then, he estimated, less than 1 percent of journalists were Hispanic; 35 years later, the figure has ballooned to just over 4 percent.
“After two years of rejection letters, Gutierrez stumbled onto academia. Putting aside his life’s ambition, he settled for being named assistant dean of students at Stanford. One campus job led to another, years turned to decades, and he never made it into the newsroom — to his profound regret.
“Gutierrez advised the journalism students in the audience to not give up their dreams. And he advised those who might be in a position to hire them someday to not simply settle for cookie- cutter images of what they have become accustomed to, but to search for a “prototype” that might lead the way to the future. Who better to act as a guide to an increasingly diverse society than someone who embodies that diversity, he said.”
The other inductees were Frank del Olmo and Frank Sotomayor of the Los Angeles Times, and Paul Espinosa, an award-winning documentary filmmaker.
Newsday Reporter Honored by South Asian Journalists
Newsday reporter Mohamad Bazzi has been awarded the first Daniel Pearl Award from the South Asian Journalists Association for his coverage of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Bazzi was honored June 15 for his reports about weapons in Pakistan and Internet use by Afghan refugees. The award was presented to a reporter “whose journalism echoes the spirit and high standards of Pearl’s work,” the organization said.
Native Show Tries to Heal Trauma
Not afraid of controversy, “Native America Calling” tackles tough issues facing Indian Country. The show tries to heal some of the historical trauma Native Americans have experienced by opening up the phone lines and confronting the issues, reports the student newspaper Native Voice.
Native Journalism on the Cusp of Something Big
Native journalism has never been better – or more popular on the ‘rez.’ Even mainstream papers are taking notice, says an editorial in the trade publication Editor & Publisher.