Only Online, Ethnic, Alternative Media Growing
“Journalism in 2004 is in the midst of an epochal transformation that is complicated by cost-cutting and a public mistrust of the media, a study released today concluded,” the Associated Press reports.
“Online, ethnic and alternative media are the only sectors seeing growth. The circulation of Spanish-language newspapers has tripled in the past decade, as English-language newspaper readership shrinks,” the story reports.
“The study, by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, is intended to be the first of an annual look at electronic, print and online journalism.
“It painted a picture of a business going through fragmentation and convergence at the same time. For example, Americans are turning to more and different sources for news, yet outlets are increasingly owned by a few giant companies.
“More people are competing to tell stories but, as witnessed by the repetition of cable news networks, fewer stories are actually being told.
“Others are usurping the traditional role of journalist as gatekeeper at the same time there’s a need for it, said Tom Rosenstiel, the project’s director. One recent example is how newspapers chased Internet and talk radio stories about John Kerry’s alleged affair, which was later denied by all parties.
“‘We don’t have one role any more,’ Rosenstiel said. ‘We have multiple roles, and it changes depending on the story.'”
“The so-called old media — newspapers and television — are generally chasing smaller audiences, the study said.”
A spokeswoman for the Project told Journal-isms that although racial and ethnic groups have different viewing habits, the study did not break out the conclusions by those demographics. The study does not consist of original material — it is a compendium of surveys already done, she said.
On ethnic media, the report said:
- “The Asian Press: “Without one common language, a single owner is unlikely as is a concentrated advertising push. And without that infusion of advertising cash, it is difficult for these outlets to grow beyond their current state. We hope to look more in depth at this area in the future.”
- “The Black Press: “While African Americans are very likely to read mainstream publications — they are the second-largest group of mainstream daily newspaper readers behind whites — they nonetheless have a vibrant ‘ethnic’ press at their disposal.
- “Spanish-Language Press: “Among the various ethnicities, the Spanish-language media stand out for their remarkable growth and for having solid national figures that are measurable. Numbers from recent years show a newspaper market that is quickly maturing and a television market that is booming.
“While advertisers have an interest in trying to reach the entire population (that large block of same-language consumers is, in fact, its primary appeal), there may be questions around programming. What is ‘news’ is guided by more than the language. The issues of the day for a Puerto Rican in New York might be very different than the issues for a Mexican in Texas. How those gaps will be bridged remains to be seen.”
Jayson Blair Plays Race Card at Black Bookstore
Jayson Blair is finding some sympathy from African Americans as he portrays himself as a victim, even identifying himself as a “house negro” to a Harlem bookstore audience Friday night, in keeping with his book’s title, “Burning Down My Masters’ House.”
“Blair found a warm embrace at Hue Man Experience, the nation’s largest black bookstore,” Simon Houpt wrote from New York in the Toronto Globe and Mail.
“In interviews and in his book, Blair admits that he can’t be certain what role race played in his rise and fall at the Times, but here in Harlem, flanked by displays of books by Angela Davis and Howard Thurman, he readily played the race card for a receptive audience.
“During a reading and public interview with a critic for the local Amsterdam News, one of the few who had extended him and his book any compassion, Blair spoke of his expectation as a young black man in America that he would have to, ‘run twice as fast and jump twice as high as others to be taken seriously.’ Affirmative murmurs echoed through the room. ‘I don’t excuse him, but I’m empathetic to him as an African-American person who’s felt that pressure to succeed,’ Carmen Thompson, a graduate student at Columbia, said later.
“Painting a portrait of an Ivy League old-boys’ network that he said dominates the Times, Blair unconsciously lapsed into a southern slave accent. One man picked up on the book’s incendiary title, which evokes American slave imagery, and asked Blair if he, ‘was the field negro or the house negro’ -? the latter term referring to slaves who loved their masters and helped keep the oppressive status quo in place. Blair nodded enthusiastically and said, ‘Oh, definitely the house negro.'”
Clara Villarosa, owner of the Hue-Man store, confirmed this account for Journal-isms today.
But she added that the gathering of 30 to 40 people consisted mostly of journalists and that she sold only 10 to 15 of Blair’s books that night. “Most black people are indifferent” about Blair, she said.
Other African American reaction:
- In an online chat today at washingtonpost.com, author Hugh Pearson, who reviewed Blair’s book for the Post, said:
“I think Blair deserves sympathy only in the sense that I’m convinced that all African American journalists deserve it. Which is to say that we all operate in environments where our intelligence is suspect (for instance, in 1989, when I first appeared at The San Francisco Weekly, the editor-in-chief took one look at my freelance clips from New York Newsday, and asked, ‘How much of this is you, and how much of it is the editor?’). If we make one false move, then there’s always someone in a position of authority ready to say, ‘See, I told you he or she was probably stupid . . .’ And I continue to be amazed at the extent of the callous indifference of most Caucasians I meet, to the manner in which insidious racism pervades this culture. Almost no one wants to put themselves in the shoes of the designated other. Beyond that, though, I felt no sympathy for Blair.”
- In the Chicago Tribune, syndicated columnist Clarence Page wrote that, “Blair is an embarrassment not just to black journalists, but to all journalists in this country.
“I feel a mixture of anger and sympathy for him inasmuch as I sympathize with anyone who is mentally ill.”
- In the Washington Post, freelance journalist Sharon J. Chambers wrote a letter to the editor saying enough of Blair, writing, “Only in America can a person lie, cheat, steal and lose the trust of peers, family, friends and the public and still earn a paycheck. Meantime, the decent, honest and hardworking black journalists and writers have to now look over their shoulders and concern themselves with the repercussions that Blair left behind.”
- But in the New York Amsterdam News, Jamal E. Watson pronounced the book well-written and said, “while efforts to demonize him will continue, it?s also clear that if there is any group of people who understand the importance of redemption and forgiveness, it?s Black people.
“And just by standing up and agreeing to face the wolves by offering what is certainly a sincere apology, it seems that Blair certainly deserves a bit of that forgiveness.”
- And on The Black Commentator.com, Margaret Kimberley, “a writer living in New York City,” wrote that:
“Blair went where he did not belong. The gleeful outrage over his case results from the belief that Black people don?t deserve to be at the Times. If some of us are lucky enough to be in places that are considered off limits we aren?t allowed to fail. If we do our failures are the worst and most unforgivable and we are asked to prove over and over again that we are sorry.
However, she added: “His story is a powerful cautionary tale about human frailty and the cost of cutting ethical corners. He should not be seen as a success because he has a six-figure book deal. Jayson Blair can be truly successful if he does real, serious confessing in a way that can be healing for him and for others who can learn from his story.”
- As expected, the Times reviewer — Jack Shafer of Slate magazine — joined the overwhelming majority who panned the book.
“Whether Blair got away with it because he was a clever cheat, or because The Times patronizes African-American employees, or because Gerald Boyd and Howell Raines were guilty black and white liberals, or because the newspaper became too invested in Blair’s recovery from drugs and alcohol, is beyond the scope of this review. The Times is a flawed, human institution that deserves every brick tossed at it except this one. Jayson Blair is a confessed con man, and ”Burning Down My Masters’ House” is just another installment in his ongoing con,” Shafer wrote.
Native Tales From Lewis and Clark Trail Compiled
“Everyone’s heard of Lewis and Clark.
“Not everyone’s heard of the Nez Perce woman who spoke up and told her tribe to let the starving explorers live. Nor do most know the name of the Mandan chief who advised Meriwether Lewis on how to conduct himself on the trail,” begins the introduction to a project by Native journalists, including Rob McDonald, Mary Annett Pember and Mark Anthony Rolo.
“Odds are your history teachers may not have pressed home the point that Lewis never quite understood the ways of doing business in Indian Country. For instance, when the expedition hired local Natives to carry their bags, customs for contracting help were a little different. The law of the land was that for their service, workers were allowed to reach into the bag they carried to extract an item they deemed as fair pay.
“Lewis called them thieves.
“As the 200-year commemoration rolls out, many tribes along the trail are concerned about protecting sensitive cultural sites that could be trampled by over-eager fans of the trail. For other tribes along the trail, many have been moved far from their aboriginal homes that had been on valuable waterways. Others can only mourn their homelands, which are now flooded by dams that transformed rivers into lakes.
“In a joint effort between the Native American Journalists Association and the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, this Native Delivered News wire service was made possible.
“The intention is to provide a collection of American Indian perspectives on the current events surrounding the Lewis and Clark observances.
“‘Many Nations: News From the Lewis and Clark Trail’ will strive to cover news from the Native perspective, both modern and historical. . . . The project will rely on American Indian writers and editors . . . These stories will be available on this Web site.”
Jesse Jackson Son Bidding for Chicago Sun-Times
“Yusef Jackson, the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s No. 3 son, is making a play for the Chicago Sun-Times,” Steven R. Strahler reports in Crain’s Chicago Business.
“People close to the situation say that Mr. Jackson, a lawyer who heads an Anheuser-Busch Cos. distributorship in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, bid for the paper with supermarket billionaire Ronald Burkle, whose Los Angeles investment firm once controlled Dominick’s Finer Foods Inc.
“The amount of Mr. Jackson’s bid couldn’t be learned. But a newspaper industry analyst who helped Mr. Jackson evaluate the Sun-Times calculates the paper’s value at about $440 million, or nine times projected cash flow this year.
“Mr. Jackson is interested only in the Sun-Times and none of the 90-odd other local publications of Chicago-based Hollinger International Inc. that also are on the block.
“That’s a significant hurdle because of ownership’s preference, for tax and other reasons, to sell Hollinger’s more than 150 papers around the world in one piece.”
Jackson, president of River North Sales & Service, is not commenting on the report, a spokesman told the Associated Press today.
Media Compare Gay, Civil Rights Movements
The news media have begun to discuss how much the gay-rights movement can be compared with the civil rights movement, in light of forceful rhetoric comparing the two movements and pointing out their differences.
The Rev. Joseph Lowery, who founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr., told Allen G. Breed of the Associated Press that “homosexuals . . . may have been scorned, but they have never been enslaved and declared less than human.”
Since then:
- ABC News, in a March 13 piece by Steve Osunsami, noted that “In a new television campaign aimed at the hearts and minds of average Americans,” the Log Cabin Republicans, “a conservative gay group, . . . uses civil rights imagery to make its point. The powerful images of white-only public facilities invoke the righteousness of the civil rights struggle.”
- Columnist Howard Manly, writing in the Boston Herald, said: “The biggest difference in the discrimination against African-Americans was that it was more than just a matter of social custom. Slavery in America existed for nearly 250 years and was followed by nearly a century of legalized discrimination that perpetuated black subordination. With the exception of anti-sodomy laws, no anti-gay laws were ever passed on either federal, state or local levels that were as onerous for gays as those for blacks. Even when the government tried to do the right thing during Reconstruction and the Great Society era, African-Americans for the most part got only promises — broken ones at that.”
- In the Chicago Tribune, a piece called “Gay debate splits black community” by Ron DePasquale quotes the Rev. William Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, which is based in Boston:
“‘We have supported civil unions for decades, and we are strongly in favor of civil marriage as a civil right,’ Sinkford said. ‘As Martin Luther King said, an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'”
- In the Los Angeles Times, media critic Tim Rutten found a demographic similarity in the two movements:
“The climate surrounding same-sex marriage resembles that of the civil rights movement in another interesting way: the demographic distribution of public opinion,” Rutten wrote March 6. According to CNN political analyst William Schneider, “a leading scholar of public opinion, ‘support for same-sex marriage is almost a perfect function of age. The only place in American society where you currently find majority support for same-sex marriage is among people under 30. Among people over 60, don’t even ask. That’s why every year, opposition to these unions goes down a percentage point or so. Also, as was the case with civil rights in the 1960s, support for same-sex marriage is strongest among young people who have been to college. The difference is that, now, that’s the majority in that group.'”
Cincinnati Reporter Out of Job After Indictment
Cincinnati television reporter Stephen Hill, indicted in connection with alleged sex crimes with teen-agers, no longer has a job, his general manager announced Thursday.
The statement didn’t indicate whether Hill was fired or resigned.
“Consistent with station policy, WCPO-TV will refrain from further comment on Mr. Hill’s employment, or the ending of his employment,” the statement from Bill Fee read.
Hill was not a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, known as AFTRA, and the executive director of the Cincinnati local was not available to discuss how due process applies in his situation.
John Lewis Joins Civil Rights, Press Discussion
John Lewis of Georgia, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement, is joining Hodding Carter III and 19 journalists who covered the civil rights movement at the Syracuse University symposium marking the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court?s Brown v. Board of Education ruling and the 40th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Lewis is to speak on Sunday, April 25, said Charlotte Grimes, Knight chair in political reporting at Syracuse’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and coordinator of the symposium.
E&P Piece Boosts Interest in Black Media Directory
An article on the Editor & Publisher Web site has boosted interest in the “Black Press Yearbook: Who’s Who in Black Media,” senior editor DC Livers tells Journal-isms.
The book, which Livers said would include more than 400 newspapers and organizations, with verified contacts, addresses, phone and fax numbers, and Web addresses, already includes advertising from both the Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns, she said.
“Herb Lowe, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, wrote the foreword. The directory also provides a timeline of the black press in America, plus a section on Movers and Shakers,’ that identifies organizations and journalists of all races who have contributed to newsroom diversity,” Mark Fitzgerald wrote in E&P.
“Information about the yearbook is available from the Washington, D.C.-based foundation at 202-452-7450, and online at www.blackpress.org.”
TV One Airing Documentary on Reparations
TV One, the new cable network targeting adult African Americans, is premiering “Reparations,” a one-hour original production, on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern time.
The documentary, postponed from an originally scheduled February date, “explores the history of those who have fought for and against reparations over the decades, and examines current lawsuits seeking redress from Fortune 500 companies whose tainted past actions tie them to the slave trade,” a news release says. The program repeats that night at midnight and repeats Sunday, March 21, at 7 p.m. and Thursday, March 25, at 9 p.m. and midnight, all times Eastern.
Included are Ron Walters, director of the University of Maryland?s African American Leadership Institute; Douglas Egerton, chairman of the History Department at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y.; Christopher Edley of Harvard Law School and founding co-director of Harvard?s Civil Rights Project; Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich.; and Randall Robinson, former head of the TransAfrica lobby and author of “The Debt.”
The broadcast was produced for TV One by New Millennium Studios Television; the executive producer is Tim Reid and the project was written and produced by Karen De Witt, the release says.