Ranks #1 When Comparing Staff With Community
The Gannett Co. is the leading newspaper group when comparing the presence of journalists of color in newsrooms with the population of color in the newspapers? coverage area, according to a Knight Foundation study to be released Thursday, according to the student newspaper covering the American Society of Newspaper Editors convention.
Gannett is followed by Knight Ridder and the McClatchy Co., according to the study by journalists Steve Doig, interim director of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, and Bill Dedman, investigative reporter at the Boston Globe.
In a study the two released at the ASNE convention in 2003, the two reported that “One reason that editors may be making only slow progress toward their goal of employing minority journalists is that many editors believe they’re a lot closer to the goal than they actually are. When the American Society of Newspaper Editors asks them the size of the minority populations in their communities, their estimate is far more often underestimated, not overestimated.”
This year, they ranked the newspaper groups.
Behind Gannett, Knight Ridder and McClatchy were, in order, New York Times, Advance (Newhouse), Cox Enterprises, Freedom Communications, Pulitzer, Tribune Co., Ogden Newspapers, Scripps, Community Newspaper Holdings, Liberty Group Publishing, Washington Post, Belo, Dow Jones, Copley Press, Hearst Newspapers, MediaNews Group, Lee Enterprises, Hollinger International, Media General, Morris Communications, Journal Register and Paxton Media Group.
As reported Tuesday, ASNE has released its annual diversity figures by newspaper and for the industry overall.
Three journalist-of-color associations spoke out yesterday, and today Unity: Journalists of Color, their umbrella organization, added its voice.
“The survey comes in yet another election year where even the top leadership of ASNE?s Diversity Committee conceded that there is an almost total absence of people of color covering the presidential election,” a Unity statement said.
?If newspapers and others in the media want to ensure that Americans get a full, accurate portrayal of what the electorate wants from the presidential campaign, and that their viewpoints are represented in this year?s coverage, then the UNITY alliance believes more people of color must be added to the staffs covering the elections. That is a broad, meaningful step that can and should happen immediately,? said Unity President Ernest Sotomayor, Long Island editor for Newsday.com in New York.
Follow convention in the student-written ASNE Reporter
“Get Into the Heads” of Young People of Color
Newspapers that are most successful at snaring new readers have a higher proportion of female and non-white employees, and a higher proportion of female and non-white employees in positions of influence, among other factors, according to a new round of research.
The research was presented at a joint session today of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Newspaper Association of America, together representing both the editorial and business sides of newspapers. Both conventions are meeting in Washington.
Innovation in publishing, and delivering a more engaging reader ?experience,? can help newspapers boost readership among the key 18-to 24-year old audience, said John Lavine, director of the Readership Institute at Northwestern University.
The data say that “creating this improved ‘readership experience’ requires ‘getting into the heads of young, African-American, Asian and Hispanic readers to determine the most successful way to make, market and deliver a newspaper that these audiences feel has relevance for them,” Lavine told the group.
“The New Readers Survey was three-pronged. It focused on readers of 52 local daily newspapers of all sizes. Questionnaires were completed by 10,800 readers, a 55 percent survey response rate. Surveys also were given to 6,600 newspaper employees. The final piece involved analyzing 33,000 stories, 12,000 ads and 21,000 in-paper promotions,” according to a news release.
The study found that one-third of young readers were heavy newspaper users. It said 18-to-24-year-old readers spend an average of 21 minutes per weekday reading the daily paper, and an average of 51 minutes on Sundays.
Readers 25 and over average 36 minutes per weekday, 68 minutes Sunday, it said.
Clinton: Talk Radio Drowns Out Newspaper Series
Journalists who believe that writing a great investigative series just isn’t enough any more — one must be multimedia — found an ally in Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who spoke before the American Society of Newspaper Editors on Tuesday.
Asked what she would do if she were the editor of a paper, she replied by smiling and saying, wistfully, “One can dream.”
Then Clinton said that a newspaper series doesn’t have the effect it once did. “The echo chamber of talk radio can drown out a three-part series any of you write,” she said, as her words were rendered by Greg Mitchell in Editor & Publisher.
An alternative version: ?The American public deserves the best information they can get. The problem is that the echo chamber that the Republicans have can drown out the stories that papers can deliver,? as the quote was rendered by Nikki G. Bannister in the student newspaper, the ASNE Reporter. (Journal-isms was present, but not taking notes.)
Clinton called on the news media to be more aggressive in light of a secretive administration. “It’s difficult for editors and publishers here to get to the bottom of stories. This administration, to an extent I haven’t seen before, tells the press to go away — and they do, like most people do when told that more than once. . . . Many in this administration are quite expert at saying nothing despite your best efforts to get them to say something,” she said, as reported by Mitchell. The remarks were to be shown over C-SPAN.
Maynard to Train First-Time Managers of Color
“In his opening remarks today at the Newspaper Association of America Annual Convention, NAA Chairman P. Anthony Ridder announced the establishment of the Media Academy, a new training and development program for first-time minority newspaper managers,” a news release announces. “The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, based in Oakland, Calif., will run the program, which aims to increase retention of supervisors of color and increase diversity in newspaper management.”
“In announcing the creation of the Media Academy, the Knight Ridder chairman and CEO said: ‘The point, of course, is to help more people from within our ranks, particularly minorities, to increase their contributions to their newspapers and to become excellent managers. It is also to help us do a better job of retaining talented people over longer periods of time.’ Ridder added: ‘It is absolutely critical for the health and vitality of our business that we do everything in our power to ensure that our papers reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.'”
In their reactions to the new ASNE numbers, the National Association of Black Journalists and the Asian American Journalists Association both expressed their disappointment in the number of supervisors among their constituents.
“The yearlong program, endorsed by the NAA Board of Directors, will provide intense training to ensure new managers are effective in their roles and positioned for advancement,” the release said.
“The Media Academy will target managers on both the business and editorial sides, with emphasis on the business side.
“The Media Academy will select 48 participants each year for the one-year development experience. . . . The cost to sponsoring newspapers will be $2,500 per participant, plus travel expenses to the classroom sessions. Other costs will be picked up by the Academy. NAA will assist with selection and curriculum development.”
More Latinos, Fewer Asians on Television
“A new study on race and gender diversity on television has found that, despite a significant increase in Latino characters on this season’s prime-time TV, Latinos are twice as visible in real life than on television,” reports Children Now, a child advocacy organization.
“The study also found that representations of Asian and Pacific Islander characters declined, Latino and Middle Eastern characters often were typecast and Native American characters were absent. In addition, male characters outnumbered their female counterparts nearly two to one, while females tended to be younger.”
The study, “Fall Colors 2003-04: Prime Time Diversity Report,” is the organization’s fourth such report.
N.Y. City Council Hopes to Aid Black Media
“The New York City Council is hoping to kick-start the campaign for black media to receive a fairer share of advertising dollars,” David Hinckley reports in the New York Daily News.
“Charles Etheridge, co-host of the Sunday night ‘Week in Review’ on WRKS (98.7 FM), says the council has scheduled hearings May 4 with a specific target: the billion-plus dollars the federal government spends annually on campaigns from the military to drug prevention.
“Most of that money is channeled through agencies on Madison Avenue. Etheridge notes Ogilvy & Mather has the anti-drug account, for instance, and the Congressional Black Caucus has expressed concern that little of it goes to black media.
“Several studies in recent years, as well as advertising revenue reports, say black media do not receive ad dollars proportionate to listenership or readership.”
“Air America” Down to One Big-City Station
“All-liberal ‘Air America’ is down to one big-city station — in New York — after falling out for good with the landlord who kicked it off his L.A. and Chicago stations last week,” reports John Mainelli in the New York Post.
“A judge ordered the all-lefty talk network back on in Chicago last Thursday — after a vicious, public fight over leased-time payments — but Air America said yesterday it will go silent there next week.
“It’s been off the air in L.A. since last Wednesday, when the station’s owner kicked the staff out and changed the locks.” The network continues to broadcast over the Internet and in a half-dozen smaller cities.
Rev. Moon Shutting Spanish-Language Paper
The publishing arm of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church is shutting down Noticias del Mundo, a Spanish-language newspaper that circulates in New York City, and laying off staffers across the company.
News World Communications, the owner of The Washington Times, UPI and other publications, said it was firing 86 people, about 6.3 percent of its worldwide workforce of 1,200,” Keith J. Kelly writes in the New York Post.
“Slated to be dumped are 38 people working on the daily Noticias, which is based in Long Island City.
“A Washington, D.C.-based monthly magazine, The World & I, will also close, with 31 people to be let go.
“The biweekly Insight on the News is firing 17 people — about 77 percent of its staff — and dropping back to a five-person skeleton crew.”
Complaint Says Mary J. Blige Uttered S-Word
“Looks like the S-word might be the next profanity in the sites of indecency foes,” writes John Eggerton in Broadcasting & Cable.
“Attorney John Thompson, whose complaints about Howard Stern helped prompt Clear Channel to banish the jock and the FCC to fine the company almost half a million dollars, says he has faxed a complaint to the FCC about Sunday night’s 60 Minutes broadcast, in which singer Mary J. Blige uttered an under-her-breath ‘shit.’
“According to Thomson, he sent the complaint yesterday to FCC Chairman Michael Powell and his senior legal adviser. He did not contact CBS or 60 Minutes and neither had any comment,” Eggerton wrote. “One CBS spokesperson confirmed the word had aired, though another expressed some doubt.”
“Roots” Might Be Too Racy Today
“‘Roots,’ the Emmy award-winning network miniseries from the ’70s, might be too racy for prime-time TV today,” reports Television Week.
“That was one observation offered by First Amendment attorney Robert Corn-Revere during a panel session Tuesday at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas.
“‘I would find it very difficult to advise a client that it would be safe to air “Roots” in this environment,’ Mr. Corn-Revere said. Federal Communications Commission Enforcement Bureau Chief David Solomon, another speaker on the panel, specifically declined to speculate on whether the program, which showed topless African American women and childbirth in its opening scenes, would pass muster,” Television Week reported.
Michael Savage Gets Better Time Slot
Michael Savage might have been driven from MSNBC last July for anti-gay comments, but in New York he’s getting a better slot for his radio show, reports NewsMax.com.
“The national show will be starting in New York City at 6 p.m. Eastern time.
“His network reports that the move was made to ‘meet the unprecedented demand from his audience and his great ratings success,'” the Web site says.
“Currently, Savage’s highly rated program airs every weekday on WOR 710 AM from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“The extra hour will give his New York metropolitan audience more of the ‘Savage Nation.'”
FAMU J-School Name to Be “Gorham/Ruggles”
As reported last month, a dispute over naming a new $20 million journalism school building at Florida A&M University was getting ugly.
The building was originally to be named after Robert Ruggles, who retired as dean this school year after having founded the journalism program in 1974. But others wanted it named after the late Thelma Thurston Gorham, a journalism professor at FAMU who died in 1992 at age 82.
A compromise was proposed, naming it after both, but some on the FAMU faculty began to disparage Gorham. It got ugly because Ruggles is white and Gorham is black.
The dispute now appears to be settled. On Tuesday, the Tallahassee Democrat reports, the Florida House joined the Senate in designating the building the “Thelma Gorham/Robert M. Ruggles Building.”
Film on Late Haitian Journalist Ready to Open
Jonathan Demme’s “The Agronomist,” a documentary about the late Haitian journalist and political activist Jean Dominque, is the occasion for a private screening in New York tonight for the New York Association of Black Journalists, two days before the film opens commercially in the Apple.
“The film is a reminder that while radio personalities in the United States wage mock battles over the freedom to be vulgar, journalists like Dominique and his wife, Michele Montas, risked death and exile. The film is also prescient,” David Gonzalez writes in the New York Times.
“‘The irony is that the film is opening at a moment when, however briefly, attention is focused on Haiti,’ Mr. Demme said in an interview in Manhattan while working on a remake of ‘The Manchurian Candidate.’ ‘What Jean has to say in the film sheds light on today. He is still doing his job,'” Gonzalez’s story said.
