People of Color Appearing — Slowly — on Magazine Covers
A survey of 471 covers from 31 magazines published in 2002 – an array of men’s and women’s magazines, entertainment publications and teenagers’ magazines – conducted two weeks ago by The New York Times found that about one in five depicted minority members. Five years ago, according to the survey, which examined all the covers of those 31 magazines back through 1998, the figure was only 12.7 percent. And fashion magazines have more than doubled their use of nonwhite cover subjects.
There are signs that the freeze-out of people of color may beginning to thaw, as the continuing explosion of hip-hop has pushed many black artists into prominence, and as teenagers’ magazines that are less anxious about race are bringing more diversity.
The absence of cover-model diversity could reflect the industry’s racial homogeneity. Four years ago, the trade publication Mediaweek found that only 6.1 percent of the magazine industry’s professional staff was nonwhite.
In the last five years, the nonwhite audience for magazines has increased to 17 percent from 15 percent, according to Mediamark Research Inc.
But in a country with a nonwhite population of almost 30 percent, the incremental progress leaves some people unimpressed. (Savoy magazine is “aimed at black ‘readers,'” editor Roy S. Johnson tells Journal-isms, contrary to its description in the article).
McGowan-Gonzalez Debate Live Tonight on C-SPAN
The National Press Club debate between Juan Gonzalez, president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and William McGowan, author of “Coloring the News: How Crusading for Diversity has Corrupted American Journalism,” is to be broadcast live at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on C-SPAN.
Condace Pressley, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, wrote that “NABJ declined an invitation to participate in this forum because I believe that Mr. McGowan’s 15 minutes are up. There is no legitimate reason why NABJ should continue to engage in a debate over his ideas when it is clear to me that we will continue to agree to disagree.
“To participate in yet another public debate with Mr. McGowan, in my opinion, will only legitimize Mr. McGowan’s argument, and help him to sell more copies of his book. The NABJ Media Monitoring Committee agreed with the decision not to participate.”
Editors, Publishers Offer “Survival Guide for Women Editors”
The American Press Institute has published a “Survival Guide for Women Editors,” a compilation of what came when, one day in Reston, Va., 45 women and five men marched to their computers with the directive to write their advice to women who want to use power effectively and compassionately; to describe their experiences as they found their way to the post of high-level editor or publisher.
As Paula Ellis put it: “to pay tribute, in a sense, to the many men and women who offered me quiet gestures of support throughout my career by passing those gifts along.”
But James Crutchfield says in his essay that in discussing how not to discriminate by gender and how to deal with male managers, the women ignored the problems of black women and gave short shrift to marginalization of all kinds. As a black male, Crutchfield, president and publisher of the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, writes that he felt some of the same emotions – of being interrupted and dismissed, for example – at the conference that he has felt throughout his life.
He calls upon women to use the sensitivity with which they credit themselves and which they contend makes them different from men, to work to end all stereotyping.
Condoleezza Rice on Her Strengths as a Woman
At last Wednesday’s meeting of the William Monroe Trotter Group of African American columnists with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Tonyaa Weathersbee of the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville asked Rice, “What strengths do you bring to your role as a woman?”
Answered Rice: “The most important thing in my job is to be able to take what the president is trying to do in terms of strategic direction — and this is a president who is very strategic. I mean, he simply lays out new strategic ground — as he did on the Palestinian issue or on Iraq or all of these issues — he lays out new strategic ground, and then it’s really our responsibility to come up with policies that can support that and can push that forward. And I’m pretty good at bringing people together, even strong personalities, together. And I won’t say that women are better at bringing strong personalities together — I wouldn’t dare say that,” she said to laughter. “But it is important, when you’ve got strong personalities and strong egos, to try and get people on the same page, and that’s what I do for a living.”
Trotter Group members wrote about last week’s annual retreat and an additional meeting with political figures coordinated by Trotter member Joe Davidson, editor of Focus magazine of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.
Loretta Green, San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News: Rice Stands Firmly with Bush on Iraq
Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe: Rice’s Argument for Sacrifice
Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe: Biden Downplays Election’s Impact
Les Payne, Newsday: The ‘Steel Magnolia’ of U.S. Foreign Policy
Brenda Payton, Oakland (Calif.) Tribune: Adviser Defends Policy on Saddam (news story)
Brenda Payton, Oakland (Calif.) Tribune: Rice Remembers Terror in Alabama
David Person, Huntsville (Ala.) Times: Some of Us Still Hope for the Best
Barbara Robinson, Las Vegas Review-Journal: Crawling from the Wreckage of the Election
Stan Simpson, Hartford (Conn.) Courant: Of Rising And Stalling Careers
Stan Simpson, Hartford (Conn.) Courant: Rice Makes Case For War, Achievement
Gregory Stanford, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Rice’s Belief in the Individual Doesn’t Blind Her to the Group
Cleveland Black Journalists Honor Tom Greer
The Cleveland chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists honored former Plain Dealer editor Thomas Greer in a tribute dinner, reports the Plain Dealer. Greer spent more than three decades as a reporter, sports columnist, sports editor and managing editor at several newspapers, including the Plain Dealer. He retired at the end of last year as vice president and senior editor of the Plain Dealer. The black journalists group honored Greer as a trailblazer for other minority journalists.
Free ‘Metro’ Papers Find Youth Audience
Before the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye and its brethren, another new kind of newspaper was aiming for young readers. Metro International S.A.’s two U.S. papers have gained followings among young readers while putting traditional dailies on the defensive, reports Editor & Publisher.
Gallup surveys show 35.6 percent of Philadelphia Metro’s readers are aged 18 to 34 and that 28 percent of Boston Metro’s readers are 25 to 34.
However, David Shaw, media writer at the Los Angeles Times, is unimpressed: “If this is RedEye’s idea of news that will send 18-to-34-year-olds scurrying to their corner newsstand, I think they can find another use for their obsession with red,” he writes.
Mono Badela Dies, Persecuted for Fighting Apartheid
South African journalist Mono Badela has died at 65. He covered some of the most brutal violence of the apartheid era as a frontline journalist in South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s, reports the Sunday Times of Johannesburg.
“His fearless reportage and investigations made him and his family targets of the apartheid regime. He was detained and put under house arrest, and there were attempts on his life. His closest escape was in June 1985 when a state-sponsored Third Force unit burned his house down late at night, almost killing Badela, his wife, Vivian, and two sons,” the report said.
African Journalists Look to S. Africa
South Africa is the focus of the new generation of African journalists whose perceptions include recognition that it is the nation whose people could lead economic growth for the African continent to concerns about crime levels and policies for combating HIV/AIDS, reports the South African Press Association of Johannesburg.
The African Union of Journalism organized a recent workshop in Cairo attended by journalists from 17 African countries.
Are You Ready for “BlackPeopleLoveUs.com?”
You can’t help but be intrigued, reports the New York Times. “Sally and Johnny, a smiling, chin-chucking white couple, are claiming to have mastered the art of making friends with African Americans. Skeptical? Well, they have proof. Visit http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com, click on ‘Hanging Out’ and you’ll find picture after picture of the couple cavorting with happy, smiling people of color. It’s one big yellow submarine.
“Accompanying other happy photos on the site are testimonials from their black friends. ‘Sally loves to touch my hair,’ writes a woman who is pictured in dreadlocks. ‘She always asks how I got my hair to do this. That makes me feel special. Like I have magical powers.’
“One man writes: ‘Johnny calls me “da man.” That puts me at ease, because I am black and that’s how black folks talk to one another.’
“Yes, it’s a joke. Sally and Johnny are fictional characters portrayed by friends of the site’s creators, and the site is a satire of the racial stereotypes often faced by blacks in predominantly white environments. Though it has only been up for a month, the site has received 600,000 visitors, many of whom have posted their responses, not all of whom got the joke.”
