Philly Columnist Says He Was Misdiagnosed
Acel Moore, the Philadelphia Inquirer associate editor and columnist who has been out of his office for three months battling what he thought was a muscle disease, successfully underwent nearly five hours of surgery this week after being diagnosed instead with a compressed, herniated disc that was pressing against his spinal cord, Moore tells Journal-isms.
“It was about ready to make me paralyzed,” he said, but “it looks like I’m going to be recovering.”
As reported Oct. 27, Moore, who turned 64 on Oct. 5, said he began to feel pain and weakness after the Aug. 4-8 Unity convention, which he attended partly in his role as director of recruiting and staff development.
“I don’t take for granted the things that you instinctively do, like getting into the car and driving away,” Moore said then.
But yesterday, Moore said from his hospital room that a later diagnosis found the nerve damage, and that he expected to be in rehabilitation for two weeks. “It will be way after the first of the year that I can think about coming back in,” he said.
Moore, a Pulitzer winner and a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists, alerted readers to his condition in an Oct. 18 column.
“We’re very concerned about what’s going on with Ace,” Chris Satullo, Inquirer editorial page editor, told Journal-isms today. “He’s been tremendously strong. It’s been more stressful for him because of the unclear diagnosis. Let’s hope they know what they’re doing now” and that Moore can complete his recovery. Readers have noticed his absence, Satullo said.
Moore can be reached at the University of Pennsylvania Presbyterian Hospital at (215) 615-8263 or on his cell phone at (215) 313-3114. He said he is reading e-mails at moorelw@comcast.net
Iris Chang, “Rape of Nanking” Author, Dies at 36
“Iris Chang, whose haunting childhood memories of oral stories about the rape and slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians at the hands of Japanese soldiers compelled her to write an acclaimed book about the atrocity, was found dead Tuesday from a self-inflicted gunshot,” as Chuck Carroll reports in California’s San Jose Mercury News.
“Chang apparently drove down a road south of Los Gatos and shot herself to death in her car.”
Chang, 36, was primarily known for her best-selling 1997 book, ”The Rape of Nanking,” a chronicle of the atrocities committed by Japanese forces occupying that Chinese city during World War II. But Chang worked as a journalist in 1989 before returning to graduate school, and her death was noted by the Asian American Journalists Association.
“Iris worked at the AP from May to August 1989. She worked at the Chicago Tribune from September to December 1989,” her husband, Brett Douglas, told Journal-isms.
Of “The Rape of Nanking,” the New York Times noted today that, “The book drew wide international attention. In Japan it prompted outrage among conservatives. (A planned Japanese edition was cancelled in 1999.) Elsewhere it engendered demands for the Japanese government to make reparations or, at least, a formal apology, something Ms. Chang to the end of her life felt had been inadequately done.”
Remembering the Impact of “The Cosby Show”
It’s difficult to measure the impact of a single television show, but Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, professor of psychiatry and faculty associate dean for student affairs at Harvard Medical School, made it tempting as he discussed “The Cosby Show” two decades after it made its debut.
Poussaint recalled for the Trotter Group of African American columnists this week how the show had an all-white bank of writers whose reference points on black families were from such sitcoms as “The Jeffersons” and “That’s My Mama.” Bill Cosby installed Poussaint as a check on the writers by asking him to approve every script. He also put African Americans in the clubby writing pipeline, Poussaint said.
“The Cosby Show” debuted in 1984 and attracted at times more than half the television households in America before it aired its final episode in April 1992.
Poussaint said he heard from people who first thought of becoming a doctor after watching “Cosby,” and he noted that applications to black colleges rose as Cosby wore their sweatshirts and mentioned their names during the show.
Today, we “still see some of the old images — hands on hips,” Poussaint said. “BET, MTV, sitcoms — you couldn’t see that as the real world,” he said, responding to the criticisms that the image of an upper-middle-class black family was unrealistic. And, he said, “they don’t learn in a way that makes them better at school.”
Kids today have come to associate education with entertainment, thanks to television shows that try to make education fun, he continued. As a result, the students think school is “boring.” Compared to what? Poussaint asked.
The subject of the Harvard session was, “How Right Was Bill Cosby?” a reference to the actor and philanthropist’s controversial remarks this year about some low-income black parents failing to properly raise their kids. It was a question Poussaint never fully addressed. However, Poussaint defended Cosby by noting his longstanding expressions of love for black people and his “putting his money where his mouth is,” including funding the educations of black, Asian and Latino students.
The psychiatrist urged that schools offer parenting classes, noting that “some parents say [negative] things to kids and not think that it has any long-term effect,” and that, “When people say they spank their kids, better ask what they do. Some are smacking the kids across the face — some are punching the kid. A percentage of violent inmates — the majority have been the victims of child abuse,” he said.
Cosby interviewed on “Paula Zahn Now” (CNN)
Bill Cosby merely stated the obvious (Dwight Lewis, Nashville Tennessean)
Trotter Group columns on annual meeting
AP “Decentralizing” Photo Diversity Efforts
The Associated Press is “decentralizing the efforts” at diversity and training for which Fred Sweets, the veteran photographer who was laid off last month, was responsible, according to Robert Naylor, AP’s director of career development for news.
Sweets, AP’s senior photo editor for training and development, was let go in a reorganization of the Washington Bureau.
“Everything Fred was doing is continuing,” Naylor told Journal-isms.
Cliff Schiappa, Midwest photo editor based in Kansas City, is coordinating the programs, Naylor said.
Among Sweets’ responsibilities were recruiting, which will be handled by bureau chiefs under the direction of new director of photography Santiago Lyon, an American who grew up in Spain, Naylor said; and the Diverse Visions and Diverse Voices week-long workshops aimed at improving diversity.
Diverse Visions, a 10-year-old photography program in which college juniors, seniors and graduate students work with writers and one-on-one with mentors, had 12 participants this year and 15 last year. The newer Diverse Voices, aimed at writers and serving college sophomores and juniors, had 15 writers last year and 12 this year.
Naylor said that the “new emphasis on training” in the use of photo equipment and photo technology has built in a diversity component, such as discussion of “the faces we want to see.”
Schiappa changed his mind about discussing his new role. “I decided that I’d rather not be involved in the interview,” he told Journal-isms.
NAHJ Hits Dallas Layoffs as Hurting Latinos
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists “is troubled by the recent layoffs of six Hispanic journalists at The Dallas Morning News and the impact their departure will have on Latino newsroom employment and news coverage,” the association said in a statement.
“NAHJ is also concerned by announcements that the Houston Chronicle and the San Francisco Chronicle will lay off up to 10 percent of their newsroom staff as well as the Tribune Company’s plan to cut more than 200 jobs. NAHJ fears this marks the beginning of an industry-wide trend to downsize newsrooms, resulting in less diverse news staffs. NAHJ calls upon the news industry in these cost-cutting times to not reverse the modest gains being made in the push for newspapers to better reflect the communities they serve.
“The layoff of any journalist disturbs our association because of the impact it will have on coverage of vital issues. But we are particularly distressed by the departure of such a large number of Latino journalists at The Dallas Morning News given the lack of diversity that exists at the paper and in our nation’s newsrooms.
“Six influential Latino journalists were among 65 colleagues at The Dallas Morning News who lost their jobs. Not only do Latinos represent 10 percent of all those laid off, but the newspaper cut 25 percent — one of every four — of its Latino newsroom staff.”
The statement was issued a day before Newsday announced that it would eliminate about 100 jobs, or 3 percent of its work force, and that half the cuts are expected to come from the newsroom, as Newsday’s James T. Madore reported.
National Association of Black Journalists statement (Nov. 5)
Talker Loses TV Show Over “Wetback” Remark
Milwaukee’s “WDJT-TV (Channel 58) announced Wednesday that suspended radio talk show host Mark Belling’s weekly television show had been placed on ‘hiatus,'” Georgia Pabst and Tim Cuprisin report in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
“‘Belling & Company,’ which airs at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays, is owned by Clear Channel Communications, which has removed Belling from his WISN-AM (1130) radio show because of his use of an ethnic slur and subsequent comments.
“Belling’s reference to illegal immigrants as ‘wetbacks’ on his Oct. 27 radio show outraged the Latino community, members of which have since staged several protests and demanded he be taken off the air for good. Three sponsors to date have pulled their ads, and the Latino demonstrators have received support from many other groups.”
N.Y. Times Forms “Credibility” Committee
New York Times Assistant Managing Editor Allan M. Siegal e-mailed newsroom staffers a memo Wednesday titled “Re-examining Our Credibility,” “which announced the formation of committee to study ways the paper might improve its accuracy and trustworthiness,” Jack Shafer writes on Slate.com.
“Can we cut back, or even cut out, our attendance at background briefings by nameless officials?” the Siegal memo asks. “Can we otherwise squeeze more anonymous sources out of our pages? Can we make our attributions (even the anonymous ones) less murky? Are there some stories we can afford to skip if they are not attributable to people with names?” Shafer quotes the memo as saying.
The 17-member committee includes black journalists Dana Canedy, National desk; Steve Holmes, Washington bureau; and Diane Cardwell of the Metro staff.
Chicago Anchor’s Ordeal Brings Strong Responses
“The ordeal of Hosea Sanders, the Chicago anchor who went on leave after disclosing his substance abuse and the revelation that, allegedy, he was the victim of a extortion attempt, is drawing strong reaction from readers, Robert Feder reports in the Chicago Sun-Times.
“He isn’t much of a newsman if he couldn’t figure out he was hanging around felons. Or he is lying,” wrote reader Pat Peterson.
“I hope that he receives much support from his place of employment and his co-workers. This is not a time for his job to abandon him. This is a very serious problem that faces people on all economic levels,” wrote Jessica Nicholson.
Another wondered why it was necessary to note that Sanders had posed in Playgirl magazine. That’s unusual, Feder replied.
For Cindy Hsu, from Adoption to TV Segment
Cindy Hsu “is getting a crash course on motherhood, and next week, viewers of WCBS will get a peek at her learning curve,” writes Richard Huff in the New York Daily News.
“Hsu, who recently returned from adopting Rosie, a 1-year-old girl from China, kicks off a new daily segment Monday at noon called ‘Parent 2 Parent.’
“The segments — which will also involve WCBS’s Amy Stone and Shon Gables — will cover such topics as protecting children from Internet predators, introducing a pet into the home, and raising grateful children, especially around the holidays.
“Hsu, 38 and a single mother, started the adoption process a year ago. She took a six-week leave from co-anchoring WCBS’s noon newscasts in September to pick up the baby. She returned to the airwaves in mid-October.”
Derek McGinty Taking Over D.C. Political Show
“Can Derek McGinty save the political round-table show? Does it need saving?,” asks Chet Baker in the Washington Times.
“These are the questions being batted around the newsroom at WUSA-TV this week as the CBS affiliate rushes to get the first edition of Mr. McGinty’s newest program, ‘Eye on Washington,’ on the air Saturday evening.
“The half-hour show will replace ‘Inside Washington,’ which is moving to WJLA-TV in December with its host, longtime WUSA anchor Gordon Peterson.
“Managers and staffers at WUSA say they want to preserve the legacy of ‘Inside Washington,’ one of WUSA’s signature shows for more than 30 years.”
Reporter: U.S. Has “Low Regard for Africans”
Howard W. French, chief of the New York Times’ Shanghai bureau, and author of “A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa,” says part of the reason so many have died in African violence is “a problem of low regard for Africans” by the American foreign policy establishment.
French, whose book is based on his time in the ’90s as Times bureau chief for West and Central Africa, says in a 4,600-word interview with all.africa.com that:
“I think that there’s a feeling in the very elitist diplomatic tradition of our State Department and our foreign policy establishment more broadly that Africans are not quite like the rest of the world, that they are not really ready for a lot of stuff. This term `ready’ is thrown around sometimes, that Africans are not ready for democracy, that it’s better simply to find somebody that we can work with. `Work with’ means a lot of things, but it doesn’t mean democracy. It has never meant democracy.”
French was speaking primarily of the wars in Central Africa.
He says, “I left the continent at the end of my assignment personally traumatized by a lot of this. And I mean really traumatized. I was never diagnosed by a doctor in any medical sense, but I had the great privilege of going to Hawaii for a year of language training and school to study East Asian Affairs. I thought, `I will spend this year and I’ll at least write the basics of the book down on paper.’ I just couldn’t do it.
“Thinking about Africa during those months back in Hawaii — the first extended time I was able to spend with my family in two years — was just too difficult for me. It was still too close to me. It took Japan to be able to bring Africa back in some strange way.” French was based in Japan before he went to Shanghai.
Report Examines Slaying of Tijuana Editor
“As rival drug cartels battle over lucrative smuggling routes, violence is spilling onto the streets of this bustling border city,” Joel Simon and Carlos Laurï¿œa report from Tijuana, Mexico, for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“Francisco Ortiz Franco, co-editor of the muckraking weekly Zeta, became victim of the bloody drug war in June when he was gunned down in broad daylight in a quiet neighborhood near downtown.
“Federal prosecutors, while not discounting other possibilities, have publicly linked the murder to the Tijuana drug cartel controlled by the Arellano Fï¿œlix family. Investigators believe that Ortiz Franco was killed because of his work as a journalist and are considering stories he wrote about the cartel as the probable motive. Yet no arrests have been made, and journalists are concerned about their safety.
“The Committee to Protect Journalists investigates the slaying and the brutal backdrop in a new special report, ‘Free-Fire Zone.’ ” The two reporters “visited the troubled city during a week-long mission, interviewing police investigators, prosecutors, analysts, and journalists.”
ABC Radio to Syndicate Spanish Shows
“ABC Radio Networks announced today an exclusive five-year deal to nationally syndicate three morning shows from Spanish Broadcasting System, including the Los Angeles show hosted by Renan Almendarez Coello, the most popular personality in Hispanic radio,” Katy Bachman reported Wednesday in Media Week.
“In addition to Coello’s show, El Cucuy de la Manana, which is broadcast out of SBS’ KLAX-FM, ABC will syndicate El Vacilon de la Manana (hosted by Luis Jimenez and Moonshadow) from WSKQ-FM in New York and El Vacilon de la Manana (hosted by Enrique Santos and Joe Ferrero) from WXDJ-FM in Miami.
“All three programs, originating from diverse corners of the country, are the top-rated morning shows among Hispanics in their markets, as well as the No. 1- or No. 2-ranked morning show in the market regardless of language.”
Meanwhile, Robert Feder reports in the Chicago Sun-Times that “Chicago Al Dia,” “Elisa Alfonso‘s award-winning news and community-affairs afternoon show on WRTO-AM (1200), will be among local Spanish-language talk shows to be picked up by Sirius Satellite Radio via Univision Radio Channel 181, starting Monday.”