Washington Post’s “Metro Seven” Hold 30-Year Reunion
J-Study Gives Credit to Black, Hispanic Colleges
Though they granted only 6.9 percent of the total undergraduate degrees in journalism and mass communication in 2000-2001, historically black colleges and universities and members of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities granted 31.4 percent of the degrees to African Americans and 31.1 percent of the degrees to Hispanics, according to the Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication of the University of Georgia.
However, African Americans who attend HBCU institutions and Hispanics at HACU institutions have more difficulty landing full-time jobs in the communications field than do African American and Hispanic students from other institutions.
The study, “The Role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions in Journalism Education,” by Lee B. Becker, George L. Daniels, Jisu Huh and Tudor Vlad, also found that:
— The HBCU and HACU institutions granted 3.2 percent of the master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication in 2000-2001, but 12.2 percent of the master’s degrees granted to African Americans and 13.6 percent of the degrees granted to 2001, but 12.2 percent of the master’s granted African Americans and 13.6 of the degrees to Hispanics.
— At the doctoral level, the three HBCU and HACU institutions that granted doctoral degrees awarded 47.1 percent of the doctoral degrees to black students and 40 percent of the degrees to Hispanic students, though they granted only 14.1 percent of the total number of doctoral degrees in journalism and mass communication.
— HBCU and HACU institutions are less likely than other universities with a journalism and mass communication program to have a campus newspaper appearing at least once a week, a campus television station or a campus radio station.
— HBCU and HACU institutions have a more favorable student-faculty ratio than other journalism and mass communication programs.
Washington Post’s “Metro Seven” Hold 30-Year Reunion
Members of the Washington Post “Metro Seven,” reporters who filed a discrimination complaint against the paper in 1972 before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, reuniting over the weekend, were told that their action was significant because they “took a chance on the side of justice.”
The speaker was Clifford Alexander Jr., chairman of Moody’s Corp., parent of bond-rating firm Moody’s Investors Service, lawyer to the seven journalists who from 1967 to 1969 was chairman of the EEOC. He told the group that he kept the photo of the Seven at their March 23, 1972, news conference in his den next to the pen Lyndon B. Johnson gave him after signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and beside photos of his family.
“You took a chance on the side of justice. You helped provide opportunities for a whole host of people – minorities and women,” Alexander said, adding later, “and caused far better coverage of the news.”
The six members present – LaBarbara Bowman, now diversity director of the American Society of Newspaper Editors; Ivan C. Brandon, advocate for programs offering energy assistance to low-income people; Leon Dash, journalism professor at the University of Illinois; Michael B. Hodge, a New York-based board member of the Screen Actors Guild; Penny Mickelbury, Los-Angeles-based novelist; and Richard Prince, “Journal-isms” columnist and part-time foreign desk copy editor at the Post; met at Brandon’s Washington, D.C., home. The seventh member, Ronald A. Taylor, a copy editor at the Bureau of National Affairs, attended an earlier gathering of five of the Seven on March 23.
The Metro Seven sought affirmative-action goals and timetables from Post management. They didn’t achieve that, but won other concessions. Perhaps more significantly, the case prompted African Americans and women at other news organizations to take action at their workplaces, culminating in a case at the New York Daily News, where a jury in 1984 found against the newspaper and The News was reported to have agreed to pay $3.1 million to the four black newsroom employees who filed suit.
Robert C. Maynard and Roger Wilkins, Washington Post staff members at the time of the Metro Seven case, wrote a letter Executive Editor Benjamin C. Bradlee on March 14, 1972, that was signed by 25 other African Americans in the Post newsroom. A portion appears at the end of today’s posting.
N.Y. Times Will Begin Reporting Gay Couples’ Ceremonies
Starting next month, the Sunday Styles section of The New York Times will publish reports of same-sex commitment ceremonies and of some types of formal registration of gay and lesbian partnerships, the newspaper announced. On occasion, the “Vows” column will be devoted to a same-sex couple, the Times said. Bob Steele, ethics director at the Poynter Institute, told the Boston Globe that the Times’s decision is ”both a journalistic and an ethical issue.” He also thought the move might carry weight in the newspaper industry because ”when The New York Times moves, it’s like an elephant moving inside a building.”
Howell Raines, Times executive editor, said: “In making this change, we acknowledge the newsworthiness of a growing and visible trend in society toward public celebrations of commitment by gay and lesbian couples – celebrations important to many of our readers, their families and their friends. We recognize that the society remains divided about the legal and religious definition of marriage, and our news columns will remain impartial in that debate, reporting fully on all points of view. The Styles pages will treat same-sex celebrations as a discrete phenomenon meriting coverage in their own right.”
CNN Exec Says Media “Censored” Afghan Coverage
U.S. news organizations “censored” their coverage of the war in Afghanistan in order to be in step with public opinion in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a CNN senior executive has claimed, reports the Press Gazette in Britain.
Coverage of the war in Afghanistan was shaped by the level of public support that existed for U.S. action, Rena Golden, the executive vice-president and general manager of CNN International claimed.
Speaking at Newsworld Asia, a conference for news executives in Singapore, Golden said: “Anyone who claims the U.S. media didn’t censor itself is kidding you. It wasn’t a matter of government pressure but a reluctance to criticize anything in a war that was obviously supported by the vast majority of the people.
“And this isn’t just a CNN issue – every journalist who was in any way involved in 9/11 is partly responsible.”
Larry Olmstead Heads Knight Ridder Diversity
Larry Olmstead, Knight Ridder’s assistant vice president/news, has been named the corporation’s vice president/staff development and diversity effective Sept. 1. He replaces Jacqui Love Marshall, who is stepping down for health reasons.
Mary Jean Connors, Knight Ridder senior vice president/human resources, said of Marshall, “This was a hard decision for her; Jacqui has devoted full energy to making Knight Ridder a best practice in diversity and people development. But her doctor has said this will help her recuperate from a chronic respiratory disease.
“Larry led Knight Ridder’s diversity efforts as assistant vice president/diversity from 1994 to 1996, before moving to The Miami Herald to serve as managing editor. He has been in his current role since February 2001. And, in that role, he has helped Knight Ridder not only strengthen, but also diversify its newsrooms and editorial leadership,” Connors said.
Jack White, Cassandra Clayton to Join Howard U.
Jack E. White, who retired last year after 29 years at Time magazine, including as its “Dividing Line” columnist, is joining Howard University in Washington, D.C., as writer in residence at its School of Communications this fall. His wife, Cassandra Clayton, formerly a reporter at NBC News, plans to teach a course in broadcast journalism.
Univision Names Two to Oversee News
Maria Lopez-Alvarez, vice president and director of news/entertainment programs, and Sylvia Rosabal-Ley, VP and director of news coverage, have been named to jointly oversee Univision Network’s news division, Electronic Media reports. Both will become vice presidents and co-news directors, effective immediately. They will remain based in Miami and will report to Ray Rodriguez, president and chief operating officer, Univision Television Networks.
Dawkins: McGowan “Knows Next to Nothing About Journalism or Us”
Wayne Dawkins, who as author of ” The NABJ Story ” is the unofficial historian of the National Association of Black Journalists, says the recent NABJ convention in Milwaukee left several impressions.
William McGowan, the “Coloring the News” author, wasn’t present:
“What a coward. After backing out, McGowan suggested that my colleagues might give him a verbal mugging. This was evidence that he knows next to nothing about journalism or us. For example, when Time magazine digitally altered O.J. Simpson‘s face on a cover and people cried foul, the editor came to our convention to discuss the decision. That showed integrity and courage. McGowan chose not to do the same.”
Then there was the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, who was paired with academic Michael Eric Dyson to debate reparations: “There probably are compelling reasons for blacks not to pursue reparations, but those at the convention were not going to hear anything useful from Peterson,” writes Dawkins.
Miles, Robeson Add to Lawrence Young Remembrance
Friends, family and colleagues gathered in Dallas, Friday at a memorial service for Lawrence Young, the managing editor of the Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif., who died July 20 after an apparent heart attack. Young, 47, enjoyed a 20-year career at several newspapers, including the Dallas Morning News and the Arlington Morning News in Texas.
Young was remembered as a caring, sensitive and “authentic brother” who maintained his journalistic integrity while making sure he was a positive force for change in the newsroom, reports Roland S. Martin, news editor of Savoy magazine. Young also was a graduate of the Maynard IJE program, and was a frequent participant in the Dallas Fort-Worth Association of Black Communicators high school journalism workshop.
The service was a testament to Young’s favorites, jazz and Paul Robeson. Local musicians Freddie Jones and Len Barnett played several Miles Davis tunes, including “All Blues,” “Kind of Blue” and “Four.” Robeson (1898-1976) was a favorite of Young’s, who admired the life and work of the actor, orator, athlete, singer and statesman, Martin reports.
Robeson’s valedictory to the Rutgers University Class of 1919 was read by actor Haskel Craver. That speech was considered stirring because of its subject, “The New Idealism,” in which Robeson challenged the predominantly white audience to fight for a government where “character shall be the standard of excellence.”
Also read was well the last speech of Shakespeare’s “Othello,” considered to be Robeson’s greatest performance.
Among those speaking were Bob Mong, president and editor, Dallas Morning News; John Wiley Price, Dallas County commissioner; Cheryl Smith, NABJ Region VII director; Todd Wills, staff writer, Dallas Morning News; Rolanda “Trina” Terrell, former NABJ student representative; and Janeane Anderson, a senior at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Mong said he was impressed with Young from the first time they met. When Young eventually left the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for the Dallas Morning News, Mong said Young walked into his office and said that the company’s new employee class could be improved and asked for a chance to do so. When that was granted, Mong said Young retooled it. Young’s document is still being used today at the Dallas Morning News and at other companies.
Among the most telling stories was one from Anderson of Mizzou. She recalled that when she was working at a seafood restaurant, unsure of her future in journalism, Young would visit each week and order the same items: a bowl of gumbo, crab cakes and and two Irish coffees. He would give her an encouraging word, and slide her a $20 tip on his way out, even when she wasn’t his waitress. She said the gesture showed that he cared about her and wanted her to keep her spirits up and to stay the course and become a journalist. She did.
Smith reminded the audience that Young was indeed jewel of journalism, but wasn’t the only diamond. She urged Belo and others to seek out young, promising black talent, cultivate them and eventually promote them to what Young always aspired to: publisher.
Contributions are being accepted to the
Lawrence E. Young Memorial Scholarship Fund
c/o DFW/ABC
A.H. Belo Building
Communications Center
Lock Box 11
Dallas, Texas 75265
From Maynard Letter to Washington Post’s Ben Bradlee
“The lack of participation in the shaping of the news about the society in which they play so vital a role has led to unfortunate distortions of the basic posture of the community on such vital questions as crime in the streets and the busing of school children,” Maynard wrote. “The complexity of those issues has been masterfully distorted by politicians for political ends in ways that reflect almost nothing of the stake of the black community in those vital questions.
“We are in a time when the entire black community is seeking to determine more about how its interests and activities are portrayed by the mass media. The questions raised by the Metropolitan 8, as they have come to be known [before they became the “Metro Seven”], go directly to that larger question of how a minority’s interests are portrayed in a mass media in which that minority plays so [minuscule] a role. It is this that we believe must be changed in the interest of achieving that free society toward which this newspaper has committed itself.”
