Journos of Color Are “Future of the News Media”
“How Long Must We Wait?: The Fight for Racial and Ethnic Equality in the American News Media” is a 21-page booklet full of nuggets about the history of race and the news media, produced by two figures in the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, immediate past president Juan Gonzalez and Joseph Torres, deputy director for policy and programs.
Released during the Unity convention, it is an argument for more activism by journalists of color. “After all, demographic trends all indicate that people of color are the future of the United States. In the same way, journalists of color are the future of the news media,” it says.
What might be startling is the rollout of information about the historic role of government in subsidizing media from which people of color were excluded, from the awarding of broadcast licenses to subsidizing telegraph lines. The media that were produced helped to perpetuate and reinforce racist notions. Even the abolitionist Horace Greeley, publisher of the New York Tribune, wrote in 1859 that one “needs but little familiarity with the actual, palpable aborigines to convince any one that the poetic Indian — the Indian of Cooper and Longfellow — is only visible to the poet’s eye.” Newspaper articles published in Astoria, Ore., contained such statements as, “It is just as natural for a Chinaman to steal as it is for a sponge to absorb water.”
The authors collect all this information in service of these points:
- “There have always been qualified people of color in this country who sought to work as journalists.
- “That historic exclusion assured that the press would routinely misrepresent, distort and stereotype the role played by people of color in U.S. society . . .
- “The American news media have never operated in a purely free market environment . . .
- “If the trend of media ownership concentration continues . . . minority media ownership will virtually disappear in the United States, and we will soon face a de facto apartheid media system.
- “Journalists of color, through our professional associations, must become the primary proponents within our industry not only for greater newsroom diversity and for better quality of news coverage — but also for more diverse ownership of the media companies themselves, because ownership is the ultimate form of job advancement for minority media professionals.
- “The quest by journalists of color for full racial and ethnic integration of the nation’s newsrooms and for fairer news coverage of communities of color has become . . . essential for the very preservation of democratic discourse.”
The recommendations:
- “We should press the industry for more complete, more inclusive and more scientific data on minority employment.
- “UNITY should become more of a research, policy and advocacy arm of our minority journalism organizations when it comes to diversity.
- “We must place more emphasis on building ties with and educating white reporters and editors on the importance of greater diversity for better journalism.
- “We must begin to regard increasing minority ownership as part of the mission of our organizations.
- “Our individual associations should provide education and information programs to communities of color on how to hold media companies more accountable for their news coverage.
- “We should advocate for opening up more opportunities to minorities in non-commercial and low-power broadcasting.
- “We should support the principle of universal access on cable systems.”
Torres told Journal-isms that he and Gonzalez worked on the ideas for two years. Of the history, he said, “lots of academics and policy wonks know this stuff, but it has not been disseminated to the masses.”
Some 3,000 of 5,000 copies were distributed at Unity, he said, and the text is expected to be posted on the Web site of Pacifica Radio’s “Democracy, Now!” show that Gonzalez co-hosts, by Monday.
Pierre Thomas, 4 Other Reporters Fined $500 a Day
“A federal judge held five reporters in contempt Wednesday for refusing to identify their sources for stories about Wen Ho Lee, a former nuclear weapons scientist once suspected of spying,” the Associated Press reported tonight.
“U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson imposed a fine of $500 a day each for Associated Press reporter H. Josef Hebert; James Risen and Jeff Gerth of The New York Times; Robert Drogin of the Los Angeles Times; and Pierre Thomas of ABC, who was at CNN when the stories were done.
“Jackson said the fines would be delayed pending appeals. Attorneys for the journalists said they would appeal.
“The reporters contend they provided all the relevant information they could without breaking a commitment to protect their sources.”
Applause Continues to Generate Boos, Defenders
The differing reactions by the Unity audience to Sen. John Kerry and President Bush continue to generate commentary, with former New York Times managing editor Gerald Boyd and Houston Chronicle reader representative James Campbell, both members of the National Association of Black Journalists, scolding the audience as some letter writers defended it.
“Some journalists argue that there is nothing wrong with showing partisanship as long as the person is not actually covering politics,” wrote Boyd in his syndicated column. “This excuse rings hollow; the public can’t appreciate such a distinction or accept the fact that it doesn’t matter.
“With their enormous influence, they should stick to covering the process, not being a part of it. It’s the price journalists pay to play this game.”
However, Boyd agreed with a stance taken by NABJ’s vice president/print, Bryan Monroe, saying that, “journalists of color are not the only guilty party. When Bush appeared last spring before a joint convention of editors and publishers in Washington, the bosses of many of these minority journalists gave him a standing ovation and even a declaration of support. The person introducing him asked the audience to pray for our president.” Boyd has himself been a board member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Campbell, a former NABJ board member, wrote this of the reaction to Kerry: “It crossed my mind that had Kerry whimsically ordered the crowd ‘to raise your hands in the air and wave them like you just don’t care,’ he likely would have received cheerful compliance. It was that surreal.”
But some NABJ members rose to the defense of the audience.
Responding to a critical Dallas Morning News editorial, Steve Pickett wrote in a letter to the editor, “The facts are these: I laughed at some of the president’s statements. They were humorous, albeit unintended humor. And, believe it or not, a friend and colleague who has privately shared his support for Mr. Bush laughed, too. He didn’t showcase any liberal or conservative leaning, and neither did I. To suggest anything more than that generates public bias against the 7,000 minority journalists attending that convention. Quit painting with a broad-biased brush.”
Meanwhile, what was said onstage made news as well. Before Bush supporters in Dayton, Ohio, Thursday, Vice President Cheney attacked Kerry’s use of the word “sensitive” to describe the war policy he would follow. News reports did not always indicate this statement was made at Unity.
But as some journalists, such as the Chicago Tribune’s Clarence Page, pointed out, “In context, Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, said: ‘I believe I can fight a more effective, more thoughtful, more strategic, more proactive, more sensitive war on terror that reaches out to other nations and brings them to our side and lives up to American values in history.'”
More commentary:
- Demetria Fantroy, Daily World, St. Landry Parish, La.: Trip to D.C. very much about unity
- Joyce Ferriabough, member of the Boston Association of Black Journalists, letter to Boston Globe: Diversity of opinion — and staff
- John Hinton, Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal: Minority journalists’ fight for equality
- Kevin C. Johnson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Jamie Foxx, as Ray Charles, wows minority journalists
- Steve Penn, Kansas City Star: DC, KC are like night, day
- Tonyaa Weathersbee, Florida Times Union: Corinne Brown deserves the same breaks as Bush often gets
- Dorreen Yellow Bird, Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald: Politicians show a sad ignorance about Indians
- Matthew Yglesias, American Prospect: ‘Sensitive’ War On Terror
N.Y. Times Attends, But Doesn’t Cover, Unity
The New York Times was amply represented at Unity on panels, but when it came to coverage, the newspaper all but skipped the event. Elizabeth Bumiller, who travels with President Bush, covered Bush’s Friday speech, and David Carr, from New York, did a short post-Unity piece about the status within Unity of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.
That contrasted with such pieces as one by Felicity Barringer from a previous convention about the direction of the National Association of Black Journalists, one mentioned at the NABJ business meeting.
Asked why the Times did not cover the event, which after all was the largest convention of journalists in history, current Times media writer Jacques Steinberg referred questions to Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis. She said:
“Felicity is now in our Washington Bureau. We did have quite a number of journalists and were very well represented by our senior management at the Unity Conference.”
A Dispatch from Aboard the John Edwards Bus
Vanessa Williams, traveling with Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards for the Washington Post, reports informally via e-mail:
“i am the only black reporter on this trip, which began friday in d.c. we’ve been to michigan, minnesota, north dakota, iowa, missouri, georgia, arkansas . . . headed to new orleans . . . then back to d.c. . . .
“no network talent on this trip; just producers, cameramen, technicians . . . and we ain’t even represented among them. one of the coolest folks on this trip is a technician for one of the networks, who grew up in d.c., likes marion barry and knows what go-go music is — and he’s from iran!”
N.J. Gov. McGreevey Becomes the Latest “Get”
New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey, who announced his resignation last week because of an affair with a male former aide, has become the latest “get,” the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., reports.
“His aides said they have received requests for interviews from producers for Oprah Winfrey, Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters. CNN’s Larry King phoned personally, as did NBC’s Katie Couric, who made an appeal from the Olympics in Athens. One adviser also said People magazine was also “pushing very hard” for an interview. The governor has no immediate plans to do an interview, his staff said,” reads a story by David Kinney and Jeff Whelan.
Meanwhile, Eric Hegedus, president of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, tells Journal-isms that “overall, the coverage has been good, but it’s difficult to subjectively critique what is a huge ongoing story.
“Right now, I’m very interested in seeing how it plays out, especially between now and November 15,” McGreevey’s resignation date. “There are so many facets to the story already, and I expect that the media will be vigilant in trying to get to the bottom of what happened, to get more details about why the governor resigned. One of the keys, I think, is that journalists will simply need to be careful, as with any story, to avoid sensationalizing or stereotyping. In that vein, the NLGJA will be here as a resource to help our colleagues along the way.”
Did NAJA’s Members Leave in Person or on Paper?
When Dan Lewerenz, an Associated Press correspondent in State College, Pa., was elected president of the Native American Journalists Association last week, he said membership had fallen to 190 a year ago but is now up to 566.
A reader asks, how did it fall so much?
Lewerenz replies: “I don’t know whether we actually lost the members so much as we lost track of some of them. Poor record keeping, compounded by our move, was probably to blame. We had lots of people whose memberships had lapsed, and we signed them back up. We also had lots of people who were paid up, but we didn’t have them updated in our database. Our office staff — particularly Michelle — did yeoman’s work tracking everyone down and making sure things were up to date so that we actually do have some reliable figures.
“That said, we did add members over the past year; but given the records we had it’s hard to quantify how many.”
Lack of Hispanic Debate Moderators Noted
“President Bush and challenger John Kerry are heavily wooing Hispanic voters, and their campaigns are spending big money on ads in Hispanic media targeted at 40 million Latinos,” Peter Johnson writes in his USA Today media column.
“Yet last week, when the bipartisan Commission for Presidential Debates named moderators of three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate this fall, no Latinos were in the mix.
“Journalists of color are typically left out of these things, even though we have plenty of journalists who could step up to the plate,” Ivan Roman, executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, says in the story. “Instead, they picked the usual suspects: no recognition of Hispanic growth or what journalists of color bring to the table.”
Joe Peyronnin, executive vice president of the news division of Telemundo, the Spanish language channel, says in the story that the journalists the commission tapped are “respected and accomplished journalists; this is not about them.”
But, he asks, “who among them will represent the issues, concerns, hopes and dreams of Hispanics? Who among them has lived the life of a Hispanic and faced the choices they face each and every day? Who among them will represent the thousands of Hispanic soldiers serving in Iraq, or the families of those who have died? Who among them will be able to handle from personal experience the perplexing and challenging immigration issues roiling this election?”
Commission Executive Director Janet Brown did not return calls from Journal-isms today.
Why Do Asians “Have to Be Attached to Any Color?”
After the Asian American Journalists Association posted a letter cautioning a broadcaster against the use of “yellow” to describe Asian Americans, Todd S. Burroughs, freelancer and researcher, asked Journal-isms:
“So Jesse can’t say, “Red, Yellow, Brown, Black and White . . .”?
“So Bruce Springsteen can’t sing about “Sent me off to Vietnam/ To go and kill the yellow man”?
“I mean, Black people in the West are FAR from being “Black- skinned.” (And before you say it, whites lack melanin, so they can be called that, since white is the absence of color.)
“So what color ARE they, anyway?”
Mae Cheng, immediate past AAJA president, who signed the letter, replies:
“I would ask why we have to be attached to any color. The fact of the matter is that the term ‘Asian Americans’ incorporates people of various cultures and backgrounds. It can range from East Asian to Southeast Asian and from the Pacific Islands to South Asian and parts of the Middle East. As such, when someone talks about ‘Asian Americans,’ that can include people of all various skin tones. But not only is it inaccurate to refer to Asian Americans as being yellow, for some, it invokes painful memories, such as the periods of time when the phrase ‘yellow peril’ was thrown around without conscience.”
Andres Martinez to Lead L.A. Times Edit Page
“Andrés Martinez, a journalist trained in history and law, has been appointed editor of the Los Angeles Times editorial page, the paper announced Monday,” the newspaper reports.
“Martinez currently serves on the editorial board of the New York Times, where he also works as an assistant editorial page editor.”
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists said Martinez was not a member.
Andre Riley Named ME of Kansas City Kansan
Andre Riley, a staff writer at the Kansas City Kansan, has been named managing editor, the paper announces.
“Riley has been employed by The Kansan for two years as a staff writer. In addition, he had also taken on the occasional roles of photographer, Opinion page editor and columnist. During his tenure he has been honored by the Kansas Press Association twice and the Kansas City Association of Black Journalists once,” the paper wrote.
“Andre has the aggressive style we need to deliver the new Kansan that is coming,” said Kim Sexton, editor and publisher of the 11,000-circulation paper, in the story. “He will emerge one day as the strongest editor of what will become the most respected community newspaper in the state. He and my staff partners will be dedicated to determining and delivering what our reader partners want.”
Sportswriter David Steele Leaving S.F. for Baltimore
“We’re pleased to announce that David Steele, a national award-winning sports columnist and writer at the San Francisco Chronicle, will join The Sun as a general sports columnist early next month,” reads a memo from Sun editor Tim Franklin and assistant managing editor/sports Randy Harvey posted on the “Romenesko memos” Web page.
“David covered the NBA for 11 years, for Newsday, the New York Post, the National Sports Daily and the Chronicle. He also worked for the Stamford Advocate and the St. Petersburg Times, where he covered the Buccaneers and the NFL.
“He has won numerous sports writing awards and co-authored a book, ‘Four Generations of Color,’ in 2003,” the memo reads.
Mark Whitaker to Put Stamp on Magazine Group
Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker, elected in May as the second African American to lead the American Society of Magazine Editors, is putting his stamp on the organization.
The Wall Street Journal’s Brian Steinberg reports that “ASME is set to conduct an extensive review of its rules that aim to separate editorial content from advertising. Given the new techniques advertisers are allowed to use elsewhere — product placement, for example — Mr. Whitaker and his group have a heady task ahead of them.” Steinberg conducts a q-and-a with Whitaker.
J-Lo Said to Renege on E! Interview
“Execs at E! are furious Jennifer Lopez has reneged on granting the cable network an interview,” the New York Post’s Page Six reports.
“‘Jennifer cut a deal with E! that if they laid off her, she would give them an exclusive interview ? her and her family members,’ said someone involved in the deal.
“The network was planning an ‘E! True Hollywood Story’ on Lopez, which had the star worried. E! agreed to stop the ‘True Hollywood Story’ and cut down rotation on any other E! shows that had [negative] information about her like, “It’s Good to Be . . .,” ‘ the insider said. Although E! kept its word, Lopez didn’t. Her reps called up E! on Monday and told them, ‘Jennifer has changed her mind. There will be no shoot.'”
Journalists Give Props to Role of Restaurants
“Isn’t it curious that a restaurateur is being selected for a media award?” asks Maclovio Perez, president of the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists in a piece by Hector Saldana in the San Antonio Express-News.
“But after we thought about it, one of the important tenets of the Henry Guerra Lifetime Achievement Award is that it go to someone that builds bridges of understanding. What Pedro Cortez and his family have done is not only provided good food but provided and communicated with millions of people about who we are and our dreams and our hopes.”
Cortez is to be honored posthumously by the journalists on Thursday.
