Sharpton, Mel Watt Queried on Choice of Edwards
A day after Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., was named to the ticket, the John Kerry for President campaign this afternoon deployed Congressional Black Caucus member Mel Watt, D.-N.C., and the Rev. Al Sharpton to take questions from black journalists in a 45-minute conference call. The two made it clear that both view the election as being as much about defeating President Bush as electing Kerry-Edwards.
“The black media has to redefine what experience is,” Sharpton said at one point. “We’re fighting a new world — a world that Bush and Cheney are totally unfamiliar with.”
“I’m as pro-Kerry and pro-Edwards as I am anti-Bush and anti-Cheney,” Sharpton concluded as the call ended, reminding listeners that he debated Kerry and Edwards 31 times during the primaries.
Over the course of the call, journalists repeatedly indicated that they believed black people wanted proof that the Democrats were not taking them for granted and that their concerns were being listened to.
“We have to get out what they’re working for,” Sharpton agreed, citing Kerry’s health care, economic program and education policies. “But don’t underestimate what we are voting against. We should not act like this is just some intellectual exercise.”
Blacks are disproportionately dying in Iraq, Sharpton continued, and, referring to the victories blacks are celebrating with the anniversaries of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board decision and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, said, “we can lose what we’re celebrating right now. . . . cynicism is not the answer,” he said.
Watt said he had held meetings with Edwards even before his fellow North Carolinian started the primary campaign, and it was no accident that Edwards included Martin Luther King references in his stump speech. “A Southerner who has been exposed to African American people and poor people is in a unique position to articulate a message. He understands the divisive racial politics this administration and the Republicans have played,” Watt said.
Sharpton said Edwards shows “a sensitivity rare for a Southern white.”
“What the administration fears more than anything else,” Watt added, is low-income people and people of color coming together. “There are more of those people if they are not divided, than there are of the elite people that the Bush administration caters to.”
Among those asking questions were Joe Davidson of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and bet.com; Joyce Jones of Black Enterprise magazine; James Muhammad of the Final Call; Roland Martin of BlackAmericaToday.com; Hamil Harris of the Washington Post; Charles Traylor of WVKO-AM, Columbus, Ohio; Denise Barnes of the Washington Informer; Arelya Mitchell of the Mid-South Tribune in Memphis and Monique Conrad of Black Entertainment Television.
Sharpton parried three questions from Muhammad that attempted to compare Kerry’s position that reparations for African Americans are impractical with Kerry’s support for Israel, with Sharpton replying that “Kerry has said on any number of occasions that he stands with the African American community” and that “those of us [supporting] reparations are pretty comfortable with the positions that Kerry’s outlined.”
Black journalists on the Kerry campaign list were among the first to be told Tuesday that Kerry had picked Edwards. One million subscribers to Kerry’s listserve got an electronic message, but telephone calls went out early yesterday to journalists on the campaign’s list of media contacts.
Wil Haygood Hooks Up With Denzel Washington
When was the last time the work of a newspaperman of color was picked up by a Hollywood studio? In fact, was there ever such a time? It’s just happened to Wil Haygood, Style section writer at the Washington Post.
Variety, the show-business bible, reports that Denzel Washington will direct the life story of entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., and that Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment have optioned screen rights to Haygood’s “In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr.”
The movie is to be produced by Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Washington, who is not planning to act in the film, the story by Michael Fleming said.
“Alliance came about after Washington brought Grazer the book. The pair are lensing ‘Tru Blu,’ a Grazer-produced crime drama directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Washington and Benicio Del Toro. Universal will release that pic June 3.
“Haygood will write the first draft of the script based on his sprawling book that traces Davis’ career back to age 4, when he began singing and dancing with his father on the vaudeville circuit.
“While Davis helped shatter race barriers in Las Vegas, he aroused the ire of racists by dating white actresses including Kim Novak, hindering his film career. He was also a Rat Pack member who rubbed elbows with everyone from Frank Sinatra to President Kennedy to Martin Luther King Jr.
“The Sammy Davis Jr. project is the first one Washington was proactive in setting up specifically to direct.
As Journal-isms said in January, Haygood’s book is most likely the best book by a black journalist published in 2003, both for its reporting and writing, and its adoption of a black point of view, which aroused the ire of some white reviewers.
The movie deal must be doubly sweet, as a competing Davis biography by a white writer, “Gonna Do Great Things: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr.” by Gary Fishgall, was released at the same time.
Haygood said in today’s “Reliable Source” gossip column in his newspaper: “In my discussions with Mr. Washington, it was easy to see and feel his passion for the book and project. I’m quite touched.”
The Variety piece added: “‘In Black and White’ becomes the second Davis project in the works. Producer David Permut has been working with the singer’s widow, Altovise Davis, on a film based on his memoir ‘Yes I Can.’ Eddie Griffin has been attached to star.”
Haygood also wrote a biography of the flamboyant and pioneering congressman Adam Clayton Powell, “King of the Cats,” and a book about his own family, “The Haygoods of Columbus.”
Knight Ridder Ranked 30th Best Firm for Minorities
“Knight Ridder has been recognized by Fortune magazine as one of its ’50 Best Companies for Minorities,'” the media company announces.
“The company ranked No. 30 on the 2004 list overall, which appeared in the magazine’s June 28 issue. Knight Ridder also made the lists in 1999 and 2002. This year, Knight Ridder was the only media company to receive this honor,” a news release notes.
“To compile the ranking, Fortune surveyed 1,000 companies and the 200 largest privately held firms. Companies were judged on more than a dozen measures, including their overall diversity programs, management accountability and minority representation throughout an organization, including boards of directors and top executives.
“Knight Ridder’s work force is 41 percent female and more than 29 percent people of color. In 2003, more than 53 percent of Knight Ridder new hires were women and 30 percent were people of color. Knight Ridder has doubled the number of minorities in top editor jobs since 2002, continually striving to make newsrooms more reflective of the communities on which they report. Knight Ridder was also cited for its Scholars Program, grooming college-bound students for internships and accelerating their progress to jobs at Knight Ridder when they graduate.”
We asked Larry Olmstead, vice president/staff development and diversity, for a list of editors and managing editors of color at the company.
He named:
- Executive editors: Humberto Castello, El Nuevo Herald (Miami); Carolina Garcia, Monterey County (Calif.) Herald; Sherrie Marshall, Macon (Ga.) Telegraph; Debra Adams Simmons, Akron Beacon Journal.
- Managing editors: Andres Cavelier, El Nuevo Herald (Miami); Michael Days, Philadelphia Daily News; Liza Gross, Miami Herald (presentation and operations); Tonnya Kennedy, Columbia (S.C.) State; Mike McQueen, Macon (Ga.) Telegraph; Chris Lopez, Contra Costa (Calif.) Times; Cathy Straight, Saint Paul Pioneer Press (features and sports).
Roland S. Martin to Help Lead Chicago Defender
Roland S. Martin, a print, broadcast and Web-based commentator, has been named to a three-month stint as editorial consultant for the Chicago Defender.
“My duties include managing the day-to-day editorial operations of the paper. I have also been charged with assessing the current editorial team and operations, as well as leading the re-design of the newspaper. I will commute on alternate weekends to Dallas,” he told members of the National Association of Black Journalists listserve today.
As reported in May, the company that last year bought the Chicago Defender, Michigan Chronicle, New Pittsburgh Courier, Memphis Tri-State Defender and Michigan Front Page has hired Angelo Henderson, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1999 while at the Wall Street Journal, to help upgrade the African American newspapers.
Henderson told Journal-isms today that Martin’s three-month stint might be extended. “We were looking for someone with energy,” he said, “who could come in and get the people together, create a newsroom flow, set up systems . . . to have a redesign, with more entry points [on the page], more sky boxes” and the like. Martin’s experience in the black press was a plus, said Henderson, who added that the changes were being guided by CEO Clarence Nixon of the parent company, Real Times.
The paper currently has no editor or managing editor after the ouster of publisher and editor David Milliner.
The Chicago Tribune wrote last month: “A year and a half after a new ownership group took over, the Defender is going through a particularly painful period. Sixteen positions have been eliminated since the new owners arrived, leaving behind a staff of 30.”
Colin Powell to Address NABJ at Unity
“Secretary of State Colin L. Powell will participate in NABJ-specific programming at the UNITY: Journalists of Color Convention set for Aug. 4-8 at the Washington Convention Center,” the National Association of Black Journalists announces.
“Secretary Powell will give remarks during a program tentatively entitled ‘A Conversation with Secretary of State Colin Powell’ on Thursday, Aug. 5. Moderated by Gwen Ifill of PBS, the program will include a panel on issues of openness with the media versus national security and whether the government is sharing less information post 9/11. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice addressed NABJ last year during a similar program on the war in Iraq.”
Powell spoke at NABJ’s convention in New York in 1989, when he was chairman-designate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
QVC Race Discrimination Case Ends in Mistrial
“The federal trial of the race and sex discrimination lawsuit against QVC by former host Gwen Owens ended today in a mistrial, with the jury deadlocked on the last issue it was considering,” Joseph A. Slobodzian wrote Thursday for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“The hung jury means the likely retrial of the undecided issue — was QVC’s 1998 firing of Owens motivated by race? — and possibly the entire lawsuit.
“Lawyers for Owens and QVC said they would file post-trial motions challenging the verdict: Owens of the questions on which the jury found against her and QVC of $67,537 in back pay the jury awarded her after determining QVC violated the federal Equal Pay Act by paying her less than a comparable male host,” his story continued.
Barney Frank, Same-Sex Unions Are Talk at NLGJA
“It’s been over three months since the San Francisco Chronicle controversially removed two lesbian journalists from the same-sex marriage beat, but the decision was still a hot topic at this past weekend’s National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) convention in Brooklyn, N.Y.,” Carl Sullivan writes in Editor & Publisher.
“The nearly 700 attendees at the NLGJA convention seemed to be divided over the question.”
Also at the convention, “Gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said he would run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in a 2005 special election if Kerry wins the presidency this year and if Republicans retain control of the House,” the New York Blade reported.
“He said becoming chair of the House financial services committee would give him an unprecedented opportunity to help shape U.S. policy on a wide range of domestic and international issues, including housing, banking and urban development. Thus, if Democrats win control of the House, Frank said, he would forgo a run for the Senate.”
Adweek Launching Marketing y Medios
Adweek magazines has scheduled a September launch for Marketing y Medios magazine, a “monthly English-language publication [that] will cover marketing, advertising and media that target the U.S. Hispanic/Latino population. The print edition will be supplemented with a dynamic web site and a daily push email newsletter,” says an announcement from the publication.
“Editorially, Marketing y Medios will explore the unique challenges encountered by marketers and media serving the Hispanic/Latino population, including the distinctions between Spanish-dominant and Spanish-English households as well as between recent immigrants and more-acculturated Hispanic Americans.
“Marketing y Medios will be distributed to brand marketers, advertising agency executives and media buyers on a controlled basis with a minimum initial circulation of 18,000.”
Guatemala Admits Guilt in Journalist’s Death
“Guatemala on Monday admitted responsibility in the 1993 slaying of a leading journalist and politician who had repeatedly accused the military of rights violations,” Tatiana Lopez reports for the Associated Press.
“Gunmen killed Jorge Carpio Nicolle, 60, and three associates as they drove in a caravan along a rural highway in the highlands province of Quiche.
“Addressing the San Jose-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Guatemala representative Estuardo Meneses said his country ‘publicly recognizes its guilt for the death of Jorge Carpio Nicolle and regrets the loss his family has suffered.’
“Carpio Nicolle was editor and publisher of the Guatemala City daily newspaper El Grafico and ran for president in 1985 and 1992, finishing second both times.”
Cincinnati’s Stephen Hill Negotiating Plea Deal
“Former WCPO-TV (Channel 9) reporter Stephen Hill is negotiating a plea deal after his attorney today asked for another continuance in his sex-crimes case,” Kimball Perry writes in the Cincinnati Post.
“Ken Lawson, Hill’s attorney, asked Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge David Davis for a continuance. Davis reset the case for July 22 for a possible plea.
“Hill’s Aug. 23 trial date remains but may not be needed.
“Hill, 45, is accused of eight counts of sexual battery and four counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor. He is weighing an offer that would result in his pleading no contest to the charges in exchange for a lighter prison sentence, possibly eight years.”
$2,000 More for Hampton Student Editor
The June 30 column noted that Talia Buford, the student editor of the Hampton Script at Hampton University, was piling up honors in the aftermath of a school year in which the Hampton administration confiscated the student newspaper.
Another honor has come to our attention: The Richmond SPJ, SDX Educational Foundation, an affiliate of the Virginia Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, gave $2,000 merit scholarships in May to Buford and to Tanja Zlatkovic of Richmond, a rising senior at Virginia Commonwealth University, both students committed to careers in journalism.
Minn. Papers Showcase Work of Multicultural Teens
Sixteen high school students — African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Egyptian American and Caucasian — had their work showcased on two pages of both the Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press on Tuesday, a product of their participation in the 2004 Urban Journalism Workshop at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.
“Through the Minnesota Media Collaborative, professional journalists, faculty and staff work with high school teachers and students, particularly minority students, to promote interest in journalism. Volunteer journalists work closely from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, KSTP, WCCO, KARE, KMSP, as well as Twin Cities Black Journalists and other media outlets,” the collaborative says on its Web site.
Lynda McDonnell, the program director, told Journal-isms that black, Asian American and Hispanic journalists from the newsrooms at the dailies, as well as members of the Twin Cities Black Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association chapter and National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association chapter served as mentors, teachers, chaperons and fund-raisers.
McDonnell said she thought it important, since the program directors are white, to bring in role models of color. For 10 days, the students write newspaper stories. For the rest of the time, half the teen-agers are exposed to broadcast; the other half to layout and design.
