Bush Campaign Wanted to Know Photog’s Race
“President Bush’s re-election campaign insisted on knowing the race of an Arizona Daily Star journalist assigned to photograph Vice President Dick Cheney,” C.J. Karamargin reported Saturday in Tucson’s Arizona Daily Star.
“The Star refused to provide the information.
“A rally organizer for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign asked Teri Hayt, the Star’s managing editor, to disclose the journalist’s race on Friday. After Hayt refused, the organizer called back and said the journalist probably would be allowed to photograph the vice president.
“‘It was such an outrageous request, I was personally insulted,’ Hayt said later.
“Danny Diaz, a spokesman for the president’s re-election campaign, said the information was needed for security purposes,” the story continued.
“. . . Diaz repeated that answer when asked if it is the practice of the White House to ask for racial information or if the photographer, Mamta Popat, was singled out because of her name. He referred those questions to the U.S. Secret Service, which did not respond to a call from the Star Friday afternoon.
“‘One has to wonder what they were going to do with that information,’ Hayt said. ‘Because she has Indian ancestry, were they going to deny her access? I don’t know.’
“Popat, a photographer with six years’ experience, was on assignment Friday and unaware of the controversy. But she said she was glad the Star refused. ‘My race shouldn’t have anything to do with my job,’ she said.”
If Charges Are True, What Was He Thinking?
“Let’s face it: It’s one thing to discretely head down to ‘the track,’ that well-known stretch of drug and prostitution trades on Metropolitan Avenue, in an unmarked vehicle, and quite another to ride down there in your boss’s car — especially when your boss is a major media outlet whose name is emblazoned all over said vehicle.”
Thus began Alyssa Abkowitz’s story in Atlanta’s Creative Loafing alternative newspaper, next to a picture of a dreadlocked cameraman for Atlanta’s CBS affiliate, who ended up, the story said, charged with reckless driving and solicitation for an illicit sexual act, both misdemeanors, and released on bail.
“The vehicle sped off recklessly on a residential street in a CBS 46 news truck,” the report states, according to her story.
Reached by phone, Edward Stephens said the whole thing was a misunderstanding and refused to comment further before his Aug. 10 court date, Abkowitz reported. “I don’t want to say anything that may jeopardize me,” he said.
“He would not say whether he was still employed at the news station.
“The police report says the CBS 46 van was released to the station manager. The manager, Sue Schwartz, didn’t return CL’s calls,” Abkowitz wrote.
Paper Duped by Story of Homeless Girl’s Success
“The story of a teenage homeless girl who had overcome a life spent in and out of foster homes, and won a full four-year scholarship to Spelman College, inspired many who wanted to help and encourage her,” writes Sarah Rohrs in the Times-Herald of Vallejo, Calif.
“But a foster care advocate who took in the girl said the donations that poured in after the Times-Herald ran a story on Channell ‘Candy’ Carney July 16 are being returned though she adds the teen needs help now more than ever.
“College officials say Carney, who was living in a San Francisco homeless shelter before coming to [the California city of] Benicia two weeks ago, is not enrolled at the school, and has not received a scholarship.
“Lori Cohee, who founded Foster a Dream in Benicia to help foster care youth, said she raised $3,000 for Carney since July 16.
“Cohee said Carney’s desperate need to believe her dream of going to Spelman is a byproduct of the abuse and neglect she’s experienced growing up in the state foster care system since birth. She said she doesn’t believe Carney was trying to ‘pull a scam’ because the teen didn’t seek her out for help. Cohee said she went to her and offered assistance.
“The July 16 Times-Herald story spread through Spelman College’s alumni organization, prompting numerous college graduates across the country to pledge money.”
The Quotable Charlie Rangel, on George W. Bush
Tennis star John McEnroe might not have much experience in news, but during the Democratic convention in Boston last week, McEnroe knew how to get a good quote for his CNBC show.
He sent his correspondents to the convention Thursday to ask Democrats to think of one thing they like about George Bush. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., said:
“He’s done more to destroy the myth of white supremacy than anyone I know.”
Newspaper Diversity Numbers Could Be Even Lower
It is likely that the total number of journalists of color is actually lower than the census figures reported each year by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, according to Christopher Callahan, associate dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, writing in the American Journalism Review.
“The problem lies in what pollsters call non-response bias -? the likelihood that those who decline to participate in a survey are in some way significantly different from those who do respond.
“ASNE Executive Director Scott Bosley says he is confident that non-response bias is not a factor in the survey because of the high response rate, which is traditionally nearly two-thirds of all U.S. dailies and higher for the bigger newspapers. ‘Of course, we’re not sure with certainty, but we’re very comfortable with our numbers,’ Bosley says. ‘We’re pretty sure it’s a good figure because of the high response.’
“ASNE accounts for the newspapers that do not respond to the survey by assigning to those papers the average number of minorities in newspapers within their circulation category. However, an AJR analysis of the data shows that often, the papers that do not respond to the survey historically have minority employment levels far below their category averages.”
Readers Knock “N.Y. Times-Is-Liberal” Column
On July 25, New York Times public editor Daniel Okrent’s column ran with the headline, “Is The New York Times a Liberal Newspaper?” to which he answered, “Of course it is.”
Yesterday, Okrent wrote that “few Public Editor columns have attracted reader mail as intense.” And he ran letters challenging the premise of his column.
“Where the left looks for empirical evidence to support its views, the right already has the theological received wisdom that brooks no contradiction. Why give the right’s views the same weight as the left’s? Why present religiously based arguments as equally valid?,” wrote Robert Glatzer of Spokane, Wash.
“During the civil rights movement, it was not incumbent upon newspapers to run articles about the risks of African-Americans drowning in public swimming pools as arguments against desegregating those pools,” wrote Laura Newman of Astoria, Queens.
AAJA Seeking $2 Million Endowment
The Asian American Journalists Association is launching what it calls its most ambitious fundraising campaign ever — “a $2 million endowment that would serve as a stabilizing force in the organization’s future and giving it the ability to weather economic downturns and further consolidation in the news industry.
“The endowment campaign will be formally launched during a gala event planned for this fall in New York City. The campaign and similar gala events will be taken across the country, culminating in 2006 in Los Angeles, the birthplace of AAJA,” a statement says.
In announcing the endowment, AAJA President Mae Cheng “pointed out that it will ensure that even during the worst economic years, AAJA will be able to continue offering needed programs to meet the organization’s goals of fair and accurate coverage of the Asian American communities and greater representation in America’s newsrooms,” according to the statement.
GOP Stingy With Credentials for Ethnic Media
“Gaining access to the Republican National Convention has become a tortuous struggle for a slew of local ethnic publications, even though there are 15,000 media credentials available for domestic and international media,” Xiaoqing Rong reports in New York’s City Limits weekly.
“While the ethnic press had little trouble accessing the Democratic Convention, at least 10 publications, including major Haitian, Bangladeshi, Polish and Muslim newspapers, all had their applications for press credentials turned down by the Republican National Committee. Only under pressure from the New York chapter of the Independent Press Association, an umbrella organization for local ethnic publications (where this reporter was once a fellow), did the Republicans eventually reconsider,” Rong wrote.
Telemundo Teaching Actors to Speak Like Mexicans
“Until about a year ago, Spanish-language television network Telemundo was getting obliterated in the ratings by its giant rival, Univision Communications Inc.,” writes Frank Ahrens in the Washington Post. “In markets where the two networks went head to head, four of every five viewers watching Spanish-language television were watching Univision.
“Now, heading into the fall prime-time season, Telemundo has chipped away at Univision’s ratings lead, bringing it down to about 3 to 1. The difference? [ Telemundo President James M.] McNamara said the network now produces its own telenovelas and teaches its actors — whether they hail from Cuba, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru or Chile — to speak like Mexicans.
“Mexican television news anchors, to be precise.
“For the past year, Telemundo has been employing on-set dialogue coaches to ‘neutralize’ the many national and regional Spanish accents of the network’s actors.”
Columnist Scolds Station Over Reporter’s Love Life
In July, we reported that a San Antonio city councilman had been accused by his girlfriend, KSA-TV police reporter Gina Galaviz, of pointing a gun at her the night after he threw an apple at her, leaving a bruise on her lower back.
The story continues. An editorial in the San Antonio Express-News notes that San Antonio police officers are accused of downplaying this incident of domestic violence, mislabeling it as a civil disturbance call, allegations the editorial calls “troubling.”
And Express-News columnist Ken Rodriquez raises questions about a police reporter being allowed to date a councilman in the first place.
“KSAT won’t say why it permitted an ethical breach between a reporter and a news source. But here’s what the station’s silence implies: It didn’t care, doesn’t care and won’t care if it happens again,” Rodriquez writes.
“If the station cared about reporters dating sources, management would have called meetings, issued warnings or written memos prohibiting such activity after the Galaviz-[Ron] Segovia dispute became public.
“Two KSAT reporters say management remained reticent after Galaviz made headlines. ‘There was no memo sent,’ one reporter says. ‘There was nothing.’
“The reporter says the station has no policy prohibiting reporters from dating sources, but adds, ‘If you knew someone was dating a source, you’d say, ‘You can’t do a story on that person. It’s not ethical.'”
Of course, many journalists can cite examples of journalists dating and marrying public figures, recusing themselves when the public figure makes news.
Black Gays to Advertise Cause in Black Press
A black gay group is planning to spend $100,000 in advertising in the black press to oppose amendments to prohibit gay marriage, said spokeswoman Jasmyne Cannick of the National Black Justice Coalition.
“This campaign marks the first time an African American gay and lesbian advocacy organization has ever launched a pro-equality ad campaign in African American newspapers,” an announcement from the group says.
“NBJC’s advertisements urge African Americans to reject injustice and discrimination and to oppose conservative attempts to tamper with state constitutions and the Constitution. The ads feature pro-marriage equality statements from Coretta Scott King, Rep. John Lewis and the Hon. Willie Brown. The first round of NBJC’s ad campaign will reach 500,000 African-Americans in the following markets and newspapers: Los Angeles (Sentinel, Wave), Baltimore/Washington D.C. (Informer, Afro-American), Atlanta (Voice, Daily World and Inquirer) and Detroit (Michigan Chronicle).”
The initial outlay will be $100,000, but “the campaign will last as long as the funds do and black gay and lesbian couples are treated differently and refused the right to marry,” Cannick told Journal-isms.
Arab, Muslim Journalists Start News Service
“Arab American Media Services, a coalition of Arab and Muslim journalists based in the United States and the Middle East, has launched a ‘News Wire’ service to make news and feature articles and press releases on Arab and Muslim topics available to the mainstream American news media,” the group announces.
“The service is free and Internet-based at http://AAMS.blogspot.com.
“We are working with a team of Palestinian journalists who work for major newspapers in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and also with Arab and Muslim American journalists who work in the United States,” said Ray Hanania, Chicago-based coordinator and founder of the National Arab American Journalist Association, one of the sponsoring organizations.
“‘We want to take this huge untapped talent and make it available to the mainstream American media and to the American public.'”
Reporter Ti-Hua Chang Exits New York’s WNBC
“Ti-Hua Chang is not at WNBC/Ch. 4. Sources say he was dropped earlier this week,” Richard Huff reports in the New York Daily News. “The Peabody Award-winning correspondent ‘is no longer reporting for Ch.4,’ said a station spokeswoman. ‘We wish him well.'”
According to his bio, Hua-Chang had been with the station since October 1993, “often traveling around the globe,” and in 1996, won the Peabody Award for a series on accused drug-dealing murderers who escaped to the Dominican Republic.
In Hawaii, a Third-Generation Sportscaster
Kanoa Leahey, 26, a third-generation sportscaster, will leave KITV to become sports anchor and sports director at top-rated KHON,” the Honolulu Advertiser reports.
“Leahey is the son of Jim, long-time voice of University of Hawai’i sports for K5, and grandson of Chuck, who was voice of Hawai’i sports in the 1960s and ’70s.
“‘A lot of people assumed that my dad coached me at a young age,’ Leahey said. ‘To tell you the truth, it’s only been in recent years that my dad has bought into the fact I’m in the same business as him.'”
