Village Voice Lays Off Thulani Davis, Tate Cuts Back
The turmoil at New York’s Village Voice that last week claimed one of its two executive editors, Richard Goldstein, who says he was fired, has reached star African American writer Thulani Davis, who was also the paper’s affirmative action coordinator, and who was also dismissed.
Another person of color let go was fact-checker and writer Nita Rao, Davis confirmed. The departures follow the decision a month ago by Greg Tate, another longstanding African American writer at the alternative weekly, to become a contributor rather than a staff writer, writing less often. Tate told Journal-isms that that decision was mutual, as “I’m spending more and more time doing music.” Tate also plays in a rock band, Burnt Sugar.
Davis, author of two novels, writer and narrator of television and radio documentaries and librettist for three operas, including one on Malcolm X, had been at the Voice for 13 years — from the late 1970s until 1990, and again for the last three years. Recently, “the work environment was very difficult and morale was horrendous, at the lowest I’ve ever seen it,” she said.
As James Barron reported in the New York Times today, “The latest change at The Voice was on the masthead. Last Monday, one of its executive editors, Richard Goldstein, left the staff. A spokeswoman for The Voice said he had been ‘laid off as part of a restructuring of the editorial department.'”
But Davis said two black women in the Human Resources Department were also fired; six black people in all in the last year.
As affirmative action coordinator, Davis started a fellowship program that brings in four people of color every three months to help them build up clippings. “I have mentored 20 young writers,” she said.
One of the writers who came through the program, Ta-Nehisi Coates, told Journal-isms that “everybody needs help,” but that the Voice “has done right by me. They’ve always supported me,” even when he’s written some biting criticism of whites, he said.
Among the remaining people of color at the paper are copy chief Jorge Morales and writers Chisun Lee and Kareem Fahim, an Egyptian-American.
Davis said she was looking for another editing job and would try to finish up a book on her great-great grandparents, an interracial couple in Mississippi during Reconstruction.
Those who are leaving or cutting back “were wonderful writers of color. I hope their voices will be heard someplace,” she said.
Another African American writer, Peter Noel, left in 2001 amid accusations that he had become too close to the Rev. Al Sharpton (Editor Don Forst denied that, saying Noel left over an argument over attribution). Tate said he saw Noel recently and he was finishing up a book on Sharpton.
AP Reporter Elected Native Journalist President
Dan Lewerenz, an Associated Press correspondent in State College, Pa., was elected president of the Native American Journalists Association as the group’s board met Sunday. One of his first priorities, he told Journal-isms, will be building up a membership that had fallen to 190 a year ago but is up to 566.
“NAJA doesn’t have the name recognition or the presence that some our Unity partners have,” said Lewerenz, who is 31 and a member of the Iowa tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. “We run into Native journalists who never heard of NAJA.”
He said 225 members are professional journalists and close to 200 are students, two-thirds of them in college and one-third in high school. Another priority will be building the student pipeline and reaching out to other groups, such as College Media Advisers, who might know of potential members.
NAJA needs to become more of a year-round organization and offer more professional development programs, he said, such as skill sessions and a tribal media institute that brings together Native journalists and tribal leaders, promoting tribal media to the tribal governments.
Fund-raising will also be a priority, Lewerenz said. If it did not match a Ford Foundation challenge grant offered to all the journalist of color organizations, it came close, he said. One tactic was offering lifetime memberships for $1,000, an idea of his predecessor, Patty Talahongva. He expected five or six takers, but got 15 people at the NAJA meeting at the convention Friday night.
Lewerenz defeated Frank J. King III, publisher of the Native Voice newspaper, for president, but King was chosen vice president.
In Spanish-Language Media, U.S. Citizens Fare Best
Pay tends to be higher in the Spanish-language media for those who are born in the U.S. or are U.S. citizens, according to a survey by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Yet more than 92 percent of the journalists and 87 percent of the managers were born outside of the U.S. A third are from Mexico, NAHJ said.
In addition, more than 70 percent of full-time employees with contracts depend on their spouse’s insurance.
Yet the study showed that the majority of Latino news media professionals envision working for Latino-oriented media one and five years from now.
“Most of the respondents say their job experience is positive in general, but there are some problem areas. These include lack of satisfaction with promotions, advancement and pay raises. About two in five felt the same about salary and overtime pay, while a third of the managers were dissatisfied with retirement and health benefits,” a news release said.
Read the survey (PDF)
Applause at Unity Becoming Focus of Coverage
For some columnists and correspondents to journalism-discussion Web sites, the reaction of the audience to President Bush and Sen. John Kerry is becoming the story of the Unity convention.
“Journalists’ behavior fodder for bias charges,” ran the headline over a column by Joseph Garcia in the Tucson Citizen.
“‘It’s just unprofessional to show a response, for or against’ is the conclusion I sense building out there,” wrote New York University journalism chair Jay Rosen in his own PressThink blog and in Romenesko’s letters column on Poynter.org.
“But I don’t sense much room for dissent — for diversity — among those who have groaned over the crowd’s display for Kerry. Professionalism isn’t a static thing; and there are various views of responsibility alive out there. Here’s one to toss in the mix: ‘I have a responsibility to remember that I am a citizen, with a political life like other citizens, and I ought to participate in American democracy when I can. And as long as it does not interfere with my professional duties, I shall.’ Such a view is not automatically unprofessional. It wants to refine what being a good professional means. It’s a minority sentiment. That’s why I say Unity has nothing to apologize for.”
“The journalists at the Unity convention failed en masse. Forgetting they were there representing their profession, they cast the whole profession in a negative light,” wrote Erin Stephenson in the Coloradoan.
“I’ve attended ASNE, RTNDA and NAB conventions, and have seen presidents and other newsmakers speak, and I’ve seen those organizations clap, applaud, and laugh,” wrote Roland S. Martin, who had questioned Bush on behalf of NABJ. “Most of these folks are non-minorities. As Heidi Phillips asked me on Friday night on CNN, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” I agreed, but we should not leave the impression that what took place was somehow an isolated event.
Added Isaiah Poole, another NABJ member: “Included in the mix of people at both events were public relations people (for example, the woman next to me at the Kerry speech worked for a union that endorsed Kerry), columnists, professors, students and people who work for avowedly opinionated journals. Even if they were altogether a quarter of the crowd, their reactions would make a difference on the appearance of the entire audience to an undiscerning person.”
“They are individual voters and when they go back (to their newsrooms) they will be professional in their jobs as working journalists,” Unity President Ernest Sotomayor said in the Houston Chronicle. “They have the same rights to free speech that we are advocating.”
Varied Comments on Unity from Journalists of Color
- Donna Britt, Washington Post: Seeing Strength in the Face of Unity
- Martin C. Evans, Newsday: Outsiders inside their newsrooms (news story)
- Indianz.com: Bush tells journalists tribes ‘given’ sovereignty (news story)
- Sam Lewin, Native American Times: Bush under fire for sovereignty comment (news story)
- Dwight Lewis, Nashville Tennessean: Are all audiences as tough for Bush to play as this one was?
- Marcus Mabry, Newsweek: Disunity: Bush rambled where Kerry played to his base
- Myriam Marquez, Orlando Sentinel: Unity a tough sell for Bush
- Frank Moraga, Ventura County Star: United in diversity cause; Unity gatherings grow both in stature and clout
- Ruben Navarrette Jr., Dallas Morning News: America still sees people in color
- Les Payne, Newsday: ‘My Pet Goat’ splits Kerry from Bush
- Albor Ruiz, New York Daily News: Media didn’t see much to like about W
- Bea Shaheed, Asiansinmedia.org (U.K.): Bush speaks to Journalists of colour, but doesn’t impress
- Mark Trahant, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Politicians reminded of diversity of people and interests in the U.S.
- Vanessa Williams, Washington Post: Black Like Whom?
Gays, South Asians Resigned to Unity “Second Tier”
Leaders of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and the South Asian Journalists Association, which had “appealed to Unity for official recognition, say they have gradually come to accept their second-tier status. Both still have a place at the table, they say, although it might not be marked too well,” writes Adrian Brune in the Washington Blade.
“We don’t have that piece of paper that makes us official, but we’re still doing almost everything the main organizations are doing,” Pamela Strother, the executive director of NLGJA, said in the story.
“Right now there is not a push to make it official. Unity is supportive and welcoming of our ideas for collaboration, and we are a presence at chapter events beyond the convention.”
Race Remains the Focus of Journalism Groups (New York Times)
3 Follow-Up Questions on “Legacy” Admissions
President Bush, responding to a question Friday at Unity, said he opposed “legacy admissions,” which benefit the children of alumni.
“How about asking once more, just to make sure?,” writes Barry Sussman on his NiemanWatchdog.org Web site.
Sussman, who in the 1970s was an editor of the Washington Post’s Watergate stories, suggests these questions:
“Q. (For President Bush): Mr. Bush, you said at the Unity conference of minority journalists that you are opposed to a person’s legacy being a factor in admission to college. Is that your position?
“Q. If it is your position, do you have any follow-up action in mind? For example, will you urge colleges to end the practice?
“Q. (For college presidents): Do you yourself favor or oppose ‘legacy admissions?’ If you had to make a trade-off ?- legacy admissions on the one hand, vs. decreases in gifts from alumni if legacy admissions are ended ?- which would you choose, and why?”
Richard Parsons: Fox Features “Crazy People”
“Time Warner Inc. chairman and CEO Richard Parsons said Friday that Cable News Network reports the news, while Fox News Channel offers a TV version of talk radio that allows viewers to watch ‘crazy people’,? Multichannel News reported from the Unity convention.
“Fox News — the self-described ‘Fair and Balanced’ news outlet, which many consider slanted to the political right — has been beating CNN in the ratings. But Parsons said CNN draws more viewers in a typical news cycle,” Ted Hearn wrote.
?Fox News is what I call talk radio brought to television. It?s talk TV,? Parsons said. ?CNN still gets far more viewers.?
Rob King of Philly Inquirer Heads for ESPN
Rob King, deputy managing editor/visuals and sports for the Philadelphia Inquirer, has resigned to take a senior position with ESPN, the Inquirer’s top editors announced to the staff today.
He will be a senior coordinating producer, overseeing the “Outside the Lines” show daily and the ESPN research department from ESPN’s offices in Bristol, Conn., King told Journal-isms.
“We want to tell you what Rob told us about his decision to leave The Inquirer,” said the memo from editor Amanda Bennett and managing editor Anne Gordon. “‘I want to be able to take risks in my life just like my parents have done.’ Anyone who knows Rob knows what powerful and honorable parents he has and anyone who knows Rob knows what he means when he says he wants to strike out in an industry that promises to challenge him in so many different ways.”
King, who was previously a cartoonist, reporter and graphic designer, had been at the Inquirer for seven years.
His father, Colbert I. King, is deputy editorial page editor at the Washington Post, and his mother, Gwendolyn King, now retired, is a former Social Security commissioner.
He said he will start Sept. 1.
AAJA Honors Two for Social Justice Coverage
The Asian American Journalists Association Friday night presented its second annual Dr. Suzanne Ahn award for Civil Rights and Justice to David W. Chen of The New York Times and Rinku Sen, publisher of the magazine Colorlines.
“The award, named in honor of the late Dr. Suzanne Ahn, recognizes excellence in coverage of civil rights and/or social justice for Asian Americans. Both Chen and Sen demonstrate the essence of this award in their careers.
“David Chen was honored for his continuing coverage of the case of David Wong. Wong is an undocumented immigrant from China who is serving 25 years to life in prison for a jailhouse murder. Interviews with prison employees, inmates and the victim’s widow suggest Wong’s innocence.
“Rinku Sen was honored for her coverage of racial and social justice issues. Her stories address the loss of civil liberties protections after 9/11, the fight for affirmative action in California and institutionalized racism after the terrorists attacks.”
Other awards went to Lloyd LaCuesta of KTVU-TV, Oakland, Calif., Samantha Cheng of Washington, D.C.-based Television Production Services, which produces and authors DVDs; and P. Anthony Ridder, Knight Ridder CEO, “for their tireless efforts in diversity.”
$500,000 From Wal-Mart to Aid J-Students of Color
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has announced “a scholarship program for minority college journalism students in an effort to increase the level of diversity in newsrooms around the country,” the company announces.
“This initiative was designed to fill the gap identified in recent surveys by two news industry groups, the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Radio and Television News Directors Association” The announcement was made at the Unity convention.
“The program, offered through the Wal-Mart/SAM’S CLUB Foundation, will run three years for a total financial commitment of $500,000.
“Wal-Mart will award $50,000 to 10 select journalism programs at universities nationwide: Arizona State University, Columbia University, Hampton University, Howard University, Northwestern University, Syracuse University, University of Florida, University of Missouri at Columbia, University of Southern California, and University of Texas at Austin. The universities were selected based on the quality of their journalism programs and student demographics,” the announcement said.
“Each university with an undergraduate journalism program will select four minority journalism students to receive $2,500 scholarships in their junior year.”
In November 2003, Wal-Mart named Esther Silver-Parker as vice president diversity relations. She had been AT&T’s vice president corporate affairs and corporate citizenship.
Rene Sanchez Leaving D.C.’s Post for Minneapolis
Rene Sanchez, for six years the Los Angeles bureau chief at the Washington Post and one of its few Latino national correspondents, is leaving for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where he will cover the region for the paper’s nation/world desk, Dennis McGrath, nation/world editor, told Journal-isms.
Sanchez had been at the Post for 17 years and came to the newspaper right out of college. His wife is from the Minneapolis area, McGrath said, and he will be “taking a look at issues, trends,” and doing stories about life in the region, “like a regional correspondent.”
Gurvir Dhindsa Lands at Rival D.C. Station
“Deposed Channel 9 anchor Gurvir Dhindsa, who was let go by the Gannett-owned CBS affiliate last month, has landed a temporary gig at rival Channel 5 that may well turn into a full-time job at the Fox-owned station,” John Maynard writes in the Washington Post.
“Beginning tomorrow and for at least the next three months, Dhindsa will anchor Channel 5’s early morning newscast at 5 a.m., subbing for Shawn Yancy, who for the past few months has been anchoring the station’s 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts.”
Ed Bradley Weds Artist in Colorado
“60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley married artist Patricia Blanchet in a small, private ceremony July 31 at Bradley’s Woody Creek home near Aspen. Jimmy Buffett provided the wedding music,” reads an item in the Dusty Saunders column in the Rocky Mountain News.
Armstrong Williams: I Wasn’t “Invited” to Unity
Black conservative commentator Armstrong Williams appeared on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” yesterday, noted that he had not been “invited” to Unity, and observed that, “Black journalists, in most instances, are only concerned about issues of race and Africa, and Latino and Asian journalists are the same.”
The comment was a response to this question from host Howard Kurtz: “So are they journalists or activists? Is this the national association of liberal minority journalists?”
Williams replied, “They are activists, and it was quite clear. And the thing is, the reason why they don’t identify with the president goes back to what I said earlier. Black journalists, in most instances, are only concerned about issues of race and Africa, and Latino and Asian journalists are the same.”
Williams did not explain why he did not register for the convention, as did more than 8,000 others.
Oprah Signs Deal to Make It 25 Years
“Oprah Winfrey signed a three-year renewal Thursday that will keep her Chicago-based talk show on the air into its 25th year of syndication,” Robert Feder reported Friday in the Chicago Sun-Times.
“‘The thought of taking the show to its 25th anniversary is both exhilarating and challenging,’ Winfrey said in a statement released by her show’s distributor, King World Productions. ‘The years ahead will allow me to continue to grow along with my viewers and will give my production company the time and opportunity to use the show as a launching pad to create and develop additional projects and potential future shows.’
“In extending her show through the 2010-2011 season, Winfrey also agreed to increase the number of original episodes she produces each year to 140 from 130,” Feder wrote.
What Was That on Rick James’ Head?
In its obituary of funk man Rick James, one line in the Associated Press story read, “With his trademark Jheri curl, James was one of the biggest R&B stars of the 1980s, using danceable rhythms and passionate ballads to gain a wide following,” referring to the chemically processed hairstyle ridiculed as drippy and greasy in Robert Townsend’s movie “Hollywood Shuffle.”
But in a 1996 story for Rolling Stone, reprinted last year in a book collection called “Scary Monsters and Super Freaks,” magazine writer Mike Sager described something quite unchemical.
“The hair concept came from a troupe of Masai Dancers. Their coiffures were elaborate configurations, braided with extensions of horse and lion hair. For $300,” Sager wrote, “James had the troupe’s stylist give him a new look: long, flowing braids and bangs. Then, he saw a performance by Kiss. They wore tight black costumes, had big-time pyrotechnics going on, loud drums on risers 25 feet in the air. ‘I knew then that my concerts would be like the Fourth of July — a big party. I knew what my image would be,’ James says,” the passage continues.
