“Diversity Summit” Report Greeted by Criticism
A report that a “diversity summit” took place Friday between broadcast news executives and leaders of the journalist of color organizations, held in response to disappointing diversity numbers in broadcast news released last year, is getting critical reviews from members of those organizations — at least if the listserve of the National Association of Black Journalists is an indication.
“In attendance were the presidents of four network news divisions and senior executives of major television and radio ownership groups, as well as representatives of RTNDA, UNITY and its four partner organizations representing journalists of color,” a news release proudly announced — without naming anyone. RTNDA is the Radio-Television News Directors Association.
“It was an off-the-record meeting” by agreement of the participants, explained Barbara Cochran, president of RTNDA. She said that NABJ members who had problems should address them to NABJ President Herbert Lowe, who she said was present. She added that CNN, though it uses cable, was considered a “network” by RTNDA, which consists primarily of broadcast outlets.
Lowe told Journal-isms he intended to share his impressions of the meeting with his board of directors in Miami this weekend, where his comments “will be directed at coming up with a game plan. I certainly want to let the board know who was there, what was said and what wasn’t said,” but, he added, “I want to respect the guidelines” of the meeting. “It’s time to get the numbers and not worry about being friends and being agreeable,” Lowe continued, “and let the powers-that-be know that we will not be satisfied until we have more black journalists in broadcast and online newsrooms. Those who simply want to talk will be hearing from us.”
Despite existing studies on the problem, the news release went on to say that, “The group as a whole agreed that more research is needed to determine the causes of the decline, to study retention rates, and to pinpoint possible solutions. Among the ideas shared within the group were strategies to address diversity in hiring, retention, advancement, training and news content. Those ideas will be shared widely in the near future for use by anyone in the industry seeking new tools and strategies for improving diversity.”
Journal-isms asked Unity President Ernest Sotomayor to respond to two messages posted on the NABJ list.
The first said, “More *research* is needed? After reading that line I had to go to the RTNDA Web site to see whether this message was one of those Internet hoaxes. Sadly, it was not.”
Replied Sotomayor: “As a result of this meeting, RTNDA has said it will seek funds to develop more research to try to better pinpoint the issues affecting people of color and what is driving down our representation in the newsroom. The survey gives us only a few raw numbers which, while startling, don’t provide any reasons. We’ve said before that the RTNDA survey, while it serves a purpose, is too general and needs to be more expansive, and we hope that RTNDA and the industry respond with studies that will start giving us more answers. The kinds of questions we need more answers on are reasons why people are leaving, where they are going, what is being done at the university level to keep students in broadcast journalism training, how a school’s curriculum needs revision to better focus on diversity, etc. While we can say we know the answers anecdotally to these questions and others, we haven’t any authoritative, credible research that will help us make our arguments more forcefully to the industry.”
A second message said:
“‘An (sic) historic meeting?’ Was it covered? Seems to me such a convergence of folks would merit more than a press release. Who were the four network news executives in attendance and who were the other senior level news managers? Beyond the lack of names, where are the quotes from any participant?
“In the absence of more information, this appears to have been nothing more than a hand-wringing session for the white boys.”
Replied Sotomayor:
“This meeting was a closed, off-the-record session that brought together a wide range of high-level broadcasting executives together in a way not done before. We wanted candid discussions that would have probably not occurred if this was the type of open session we normally have at our conventions. We held a town hall session with national network executive at [the National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention], and it indeed was covered by CSPAN and open to the entire convention audience, with moderation by Ray Suarez. We intended this session to provide a forum at which the broadcasters would not only exchange ideas with the people from the associations, but with each other.
“This was a meeting of a few hours that isn’t going to resolve all of our issues, but it was a step forward that allowed us personal contact with companies representing a lot of broadcast outlets around the country, at which our associations could make the best, strongest case for why we need to stop the downward trend and reverse it, and seek their help and offer ours in return. If we can eventually get a few of them to redouble their efforts, start new programs, partner with us, retain more people and hire more, then it was worth the effort.”
Bob Butler, an NABJ member at KCBS Radio in San Francisco, wrote that, “Radio, in which I work, is abysmal. The Ball State survey [for RTNDA] shows there is an average of 1.7 minorities on major market news staffs. News directors will often say they don’t have more people of color because they can’t find ‘qualified’ people. NPR is hiring people they’ve helped train in the student projects. Major network stations could do the same if they had a real commitment to diversity.”
Greg Peppers, NPR’s senior supervisor for newscasts, confirmed for Journal-isms that NPR’s “Next Generation Radio” Project, which works with students at the summer journalism conventions, has produced new hires for both public and commercial radio.
Praising the “diversity summit,” the Asian American Journalists Association released a statement saying:
“‘This is a serious problem that can only be addressed by working in partnership with industry leaders to come up with new programs and ideas,’ said Mae Cheng, AAJA President and staff writer at Newsday. ‘AAJA hopes that the summit was only the first of several steps that will be taken to stop the decline in the percentage of Asian Americans in broadcast newsrooms.’
“‘We won’t be able to increase diversity unless we come up with new ways to address the issue. We can’t keep doing things the same way because those old ways aren’t working’ said Randall Yip, AAJA’s Vice President for Broadcast and a freelance producer at KGO and KPIX-TV in San Francisco. ‘Our challenge is to find new ways to remedy the problem.'”
But broadcast reporter Sheila Stainback, a former NABJ board member and one of those who spoke up on the NABJ list, told Journal-isms:
“Sotomayer is acting as if this were the first meeting of its kind. [As NABJ president,] Sidmel Estes-Sumpter addressed the RTNDA board privately in 1991 and issued a clarion call for change. The response was to give the 4 minority associations ex officio status on the RTNDA board.
“The Unity 2004 folks sought to protect these managers by holding a private session and yet they come out with nothing more than what we’ve had in the past: Promises to do better. They issued the same platitudes and offered to do the same things that they’ve been suggesting since the 1980’s, when we first saw dramatically downward numbers in broadcasting. I think RTNDA is seeking to make peace before Unity arrives at its back door this summer,” holding its convention in Washington. “But that organization is a very small piece of the diversity puzzle and a meeting with station group owners and general managers should be our goal as well.”
And veteran broadcast executive Adam Clayton Powell III, now a visiting professor of journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, told Journal-isms:
“After four decades of fits and starts trying to integrate broadcast and print newsrooms in this country, the last thing we need is more research. We already know full well how to integrate journalism, as well as any other institution in America. All that’s lacking in news organizations is the will to do it.
“Imagine if President Bush said he couldn’t appoint more minorities to federal positions until he had more research. The loudest screams would come, quite justifiably, from the very people who claim they need more research before newsrooms can be integrated.”
Detroit Journalists to Hold Tribute to Ben Johnson
Black journalists in Detroit are holding a Feb. 9 memorial service for veteran journalist Ben Johnson, whose body was found Dec. 22 after a suicide, in order to “try to give young journalists a perspective on what it was like back in the day,” in the words of the chief organizer, documentary filmmaker Ted Talbert.
“At times, Johnson could be overbearing and pushy. But that kind of bluster sometimes was needed in the face of opposition from those who didn?t share his commitment to bringing diversity to newsrooms,” Detroit News senior editor Luther Keith wrote in his Sunday column making mention of the service.
Johnson was founding president of the Detroit chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists in the early 1980s, and Johnson and Talbert worked together at the Detroit Free Press, where Johnson was a night city editor and assistant to the managing editor in that decade.
The noon-to-2 p.m. program is to feature a 30-minute video, “Black Words on White Paper,” a documentary about the black press that helped win Talbert a spot in the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame. It is scheduled for the Joe Louis Room in Detroit?s Cobo Center. Such prominent Detroit black journalists as Betty DeRamus, Susan Watson and Keith are participating. Former NABJ board member Randye Bullock is a co-organizer. For more information, contact Talbert at (313) 222-0594.
Democratic Party Chief Endorses Tavis Smiley Show
Radio and television host Tavis Smiley has received the unusual endorsement of a political party chair — Terry McAuliffe of the Democratic National Committee.
“I look forward to working with Tavis to help promote voter awareness and participation throughout the country. We both share the desire to see the American people informed and engaged in the political process, and his show will provide that forum,” McAuliffe says in a news release congratulating him on his new show for the Public Broadcasting Service.
“Selected by Time magazine as one of America’s 50 most promising young people, Tavis has been a leader within the African American community for years, focused on empowerment and achievement of the community through the Tavis Smiley Foundation, Tavis Smiley Presents and his radio show. I commend PBS and Tavis for launching this landmark new series.”
DNC spokeswoman Daniella Gibbs told Journal-isms that McAuliffe issued the statement because, “to be the first person to have his own show on [both] public radio and television” is noteworthy and because “we just applaud all that he does in trying to increase voter participation.”
Smiley, once an aide to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, a Democrat, has said in the NABJ Journal that he did not consider himself a journalist, but an activist.
Publisher Convicted of Being Agent for Iraq
“A federal jury deliberated less than three hours Monday before convicting a suburban Arabic-language newspaper publisher on charges he acted as a secret agent of Iraq before Saddam Hussein’s fall,” Matt O’Connor reported in the Chicago Tribune.
“The government alleged that since 1999, Palestinian-born Khaled Abdel-Latif Dumeisi provided information to Mukhabbarat, the Iraqi intelligence agency, about Hussein opponents living in the U.S.
“Prosecutors said Dumeisi betrayed the U.S. out of admiration for Hussein’s support for the Palestinian cause and to get money for his cash-strapped publication, though he pocketed only a few thousand dollars.
“Prosecutors Victoria Peters and Daniel Gillogly said Dumeisi also produced news credentials for Iraqi intelligence officers to help them skirt a ban on traveling outside New York City.
“A former associate also testified that Dumeisi once told him he published provocative stories to goad Hussein opponents into complaining to his newspaper — in the process revealing their identities.”
Workplace Intolerance Rises for Muslims
“Complaints about religious discrimination to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission jumped more than 20% in 2002, driven primarily from Muslim employees, and in 2003 have stayed at the same level, according to David Grinberg, an EEOC spokesman. The agency attributes the jump to ‘backlash discrimination’ related to 9/11,” reports Pepi Sappal for the Wall Street Journal’s careerjournal.com.
“Cases range from harassment not addressed by employers to being denied religious accommodation, says Helen Samhan, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Arab American Institute Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on the civic and political empowerment of Americans of Arab descent.
“‘In the aftermath of Sept. 11, companies are increasingly forbidding their employees to pray or display religious objects in the workplace, grow beards, or wear headgear, such as scarves or turbans,’ she says. ‘Managers have even asked women who wear headscarves not to, or [have] moved [them] from the public eye, even though it’s illegal.'”
“Unfair firings also have been reported,” said Joshua Salaam, director of civil rights for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, in the piece.
Alerted to “N Word,” 2 Papers Decline USA Weekend
“The New York Daily News and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale are among the newspapers choosing not to run this Sunday’s USA Weekend after the magazine’s editors revealed that a racial epithet had been inadvertently embedded into the background of an illustration,” reports Joe Strupp in Editor & Publisher.
“Those papers are among 327 dailies contracted to carry USA Weekend that received copies of the insert with the word ‘nigger’ mistakenly placed in a background illustration for a freelance story. The magazine is distributed in 598 newspapers.
“Printing was halted and the offending words were removed from the illustration in about 43% of the copies. Due to the production schedule, 327 newspapers received issues with the offending language.
“The illustration, which appears on page 14 of the magazine, uses text from an article previously published in The New York Times Magazine as background. That included an exchange discussing the problems with the racial epithet. The artist said he did not proofread the selected text and was unaware it contained inflammatory language, USA Weekend said,” Strupp’s story continued.
Two Papers Pull “B.C.” Over “Wong” Pun
“Two New Mexico newspapers won’t be running an upcoming installment of the caveman comic strip ‘B.C.’ because it makes a potentially insensitive pun on a Chinese name, the newspapers’ publisher said,” according to the Associated Press.
“The Jan. 19 strip — by artist Johnny Hart — depicts two cavemen discussing unseen Asian brothers who fail in their attempt to build a working airplane. The punchline: ‘Two Wongs don’t make a Wright.’
“Ray Sullivan, publisher of the Clovis News Journal and the Portales News-Tribune, said his test for publishing the strip was whether the message could be communicated ‘without insulting the person you are making fun of.'”
Native Press Becoming More Professional, Assertive
Coverage of Indian Country is changing, “as the Native press, whether independent or tribe-owned, become more professional and assertive in their own reporting — and challenge local dailies and weeklies for readers,” writes Mark Fitzgerald in Editor & Publisher.
“Four Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) members compiling last summer’s ‘Reading Red’ content analysis of how the nation’s largest newspapers covered American Indians found that most stories fell into predictable categories such as reservation affairs, casino gambling, sports mascots, or entertainment. But almost every paper also published articles about American Indian topics that were so odd that the journalists created a separate category: ‘Curious.’
“Among those cited were a Chicago Sun-Times story about ‘Native Wisdom’ in weather prediction; a Newsday article about alleged cannibalism in Indian ruins that failed to cite contemporary Native American skeptics; and a Los Angeles Times story about a high school athlete whose death was ‘blamed on Red Cloud’s alleged practicing of bad medicine,’ under the headline ‘Little Big Rivalry.'”
Fitzgerald’s piece goes on to interview those in Native and general-circulation newspapers about coverage of Native issues.
Top Native Journalists to Gather for Symposium
Some of the nation’s top Native American journalists all plan to be one place Jan. 26 and 27 as the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication holds a spring symposium, ?Native Americans and the Mass Media: Issues and Answers.?
Ron Walters, executive director of the Native American Journalists Association, and Mark Trahant, editorial page editor at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Maynard Institute board chair, are the keynote speakers.
Among the confirmed panelists are: Kalyn Free, a Choctaw candidate for Congress; George Benge, Gannett Co.; Eddie Chuculate, Albuquerque Tribune; John Shurr, Associated Press; Kara Briggs, The Oregonian; Suzan Shown Harjo, Indian Country Today/The Morningstar Institute; Rod Pocowatchit, Wichita Eagle; Chief Chad Smith, Cherokee Nation; Seth Prince, The Oregonian; Michael Dodson, Citizen Potawatomi Nation; Cloyce “Chuck” Choney, Indian Gaming Commission; Chief Jim Gray, Osage Nation; Harlan McKosato, Native America Calling; Tom Arviso, Navajo Times; Dan Agent, Cherokee Phoenix; Ray Chavez, University of South Dakota; and Edgar Blatchford, University of Alaska.
“Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories” Listed
“An escalating refugee crisis along the border of Sudan and Chad as well as chronic conflicts in Colombia, Chechnya, Burundi, and Democratic Republic of Congo are among the Top 10 Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2003,” according to the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
“The sixth annual list also highlights the lack of media attention paid to the high death toll from malaria this year, ongoing unremitting crises in North Korea and Somalia, a new war in Ivory Coast, and the threats posed by regional trade agreements on poor people’s access to life-saving medicines,” a news release says.
“Few Americans are aware that right now hundreds of thousands of people are seeking refuge from intense violence in Sudan’s Darfur region or that tens of thousands of people have been sent back to a war-zone in Chechnya,” said Nicolas de Torrente, executive director of MSF-USA, in the release. “Yet people we speak to around the country tell us they want to know about these crises so they, too, can speak out and act against them.”
L.A. All-Spanish-Talk Station to be National Flagship
KPLS-AM radio in Anaheim-Los Angeles went from an English-language talk format to a Spanish news/talk format after Radiovisa Corp. acquired the station as flagship of a fledgling national Radiovisa network, as Daisy Pareja reports in Pareja Media Match.
“Radiovisa currently produces and syndicates 24 hour programming including Gerardo Por La Mañana, Deportes Y Más, En Privado, The Juancarlos Show, En El Medio and Notisistema?s hourly news and sports updates. Radiovisa’s programming is aired in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Kansas City among others. Radiovisa aims to be a provider of long-form and short-form talk, news and entertainment programming targeting the Mexican listeners on Spanish-language radio stations nationwide,” she writes.
Laura Santos Becomes VP/News at Telemundo
“Laura Santos, general manager of Telemundo affiliate WTMO-Channel 40 in Orlando, is leaving to take a new job as vice president of news for the Telemundo station group,” Chris Cobbs reports in the Orlando Sentinel.
“Santos, 51, will be based in Miami, but said she expects to be traveling frequently to visit Telemundo’s 16 stations, including affiliates in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Antonio and other cities with sizable Hispanic populations.
“Santos, a native Cuban who later lived in Puerto Rico before attending Florida State University, said her objective is to make the news department at each Telemundo affiliate the best in its market.”
FCC’s Powell Seeks Reversal on Allowing “F-Word”
“Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell asked his four fellow commissioners yesterday to overturn a heavily criticized agency ruling that found a profanity uttered on network television by rock-and-roller Bono was not indecent,” Frank Ahrens reports in the Washington Post.
“If passed by the five-member FCC commission, Powell’s proposal would outlaw Bono’s profanity in almost all instances, singling it out as the one word that would nearly guarantee an FCC fine if uttered between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on radio and broadcast television. Exceptions would include if the profanity is used in a political situation; the FCC’s indecency rules include no mandates that might chill political speech.
“During the January Golden Globes Awards broadcast on NBC, Bono — frontman for the Irish rock group U2 — received an award and exclaimed, ‘This is really, really [expletive] brilliant!’ using the profanity frequently used to describe sexual intercourse.”
New Liberal Network Signs Al Franken, RFK Jr.
“After a year of speculation and rumor, Progress Media, the liberal radio network formerly known as AnShell Media, is finally getting off the ground and finalizing its programming lineup for a spring launch from its Times Square studios,” Media Week reports.
“On Tuesday, the network announced it had signed author and comedian Al Franken to host a daily talk show. It also signed Robert Kennedy, Jr. to co-host a weekly talk show with Mike Papantonio, a leading class-action plaintiff attorney.”
Teen Journalist Wants More Asian Male Role Models
“If presented a check for $100, many teens would likely want to spend it, perhaps at the mall or on video games,” writes Sandra Jill Pennecke in the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk.
“Adam Y. Wong, 16, opted instead to make a contribution.
Adam, who was named Youth of the Year by the Eastern Virginia Chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans, “bought three copies of a book that focuses on the evolution of Asian culture and donated them to the school libraries at Norfolk Academy, where he attends, and his parents’ alma maters.”
An aspiring journalist, “in August, Adam was chosen to fly to San Diego University for the Asian American Journalist Association’s 2003 ‘J Camp.’
“I have a great interest in journalism,” he wrote in his application, “and I have noticed that there are few Asian-American male journalist role models. I would love to see that change.”
Charlotte Photographer James Peeler Dies at 74
“Photographer James Peeler, who captured the civil rights movement and the daily life of Charlotte’s black community, has died, a month after part of his collection was destroyed in a fire,” the Associated Press reports, using material from North Carolina’s Charlotte Observer.
“Peeler died Friday at age 74 following a brief illness, according to a funeral home. His funeral was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Charlotte.
“As owner for 40 years of Peeler’s Portrait Studio, he captured special moments — weddings, proms and family portraits — in the lives of average people.
“But as a freelancer for black newspapers and organizations such as the NAACP, Peeler also chronicled significant episodes in Charlotte’s black community.
“The Afro American newspaper in Baltimore hired Peeler in 1960 to photograph sit-ins at downtown lunch counters.
“In December, a fire in Peeler’s home studio destroyed many of his negatives. Other photographs remain in a separate storage unit, but without Peeler to identify their subjects, friends and survivors fear it may be hard to put them to good use,” the story said.
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