Black Journalist Rises to Top in Hometown
Michael Days, who was named managing editor of the Philadelphia Daily News less than a year ago, today was named the paper’s editor.
Outgoing editor Zack Stalberg told the newsroom this afternoon he was retiring and that Days would succeed him. Both are Philadelphia natives.
Days, 51, told Journal-isms he planned to continue the tabloid’s priorities of advocacy journalism and sports coverage. “Different kinds of tools to reach readers might emerge,” he said.
The Daily News thus becomes the latest Knight Ridder paper with an African American executive editor, Other African Americans are in charge at the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio; the Tallahassee Democrat in Florida; the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer and the Macon Telegraph, both in Georgia. Latino executive editors are in place at the Contra Costa Times and Monterey County Herald, both in California.
“My phone has been ringing off the hook,” Herbert Lowe, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, told Journal-isms late today. “Folks are really excited. It’s a proud day for every NABJ member. We all want the opportunity to advance to the highest levels in our newsroom, and to be able to do it in your hometown is just fantastic.”
As the Daily News reported last year, “Days graduated from College of the Holy Cross and the University of Missouri, and then worked on several papers, including the Wall Street Journal, before coming to the Daily News as a reporter 18 years ago.
“Since then, he’s been moving his way up through the editors’ ranks.”
Stalberg has been at the Knight Ridder paper for 34 years, including 20 as editor, Days noted today. Stalberg told Days last year he wanted him to be his successor, but Days said he didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.
“Zack did an excellent job of selecting and grooming Michael for this responsibility,” Larry Olmstead, Knight Ridder vice president/staff development and diversity, told Journal-isms. “It’s a credit to both guys.”
“Zack is 57 and has felt for some time that he wanted to do something new before his working days were through,” publisher Joe Natoli said in a note to the staff. “He could not fully explore the possibilities while serving as the People Paper’s editor. Fortunately, he will continue to play a role with Knight Ridder and PNI as a consultant, referring to Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. “He plans to stay in Philadelphia and continue to campaign for positive change in the city—no longer bound by the restrictions of a journalist.”
Days and his wife, Angela Dodson, executive editor of Black Issues Book Review in Manhattan, have four children, ranging in age from 18 to 23, and became grandparents this month.
Lowe noted that Days did not get the managing editor’s job on his first try. “It’s a lesson for us all” that what doesn’t happen the first time can happen later in remarkable ways, he said. Lowe added that Days is a former NABJ regional director and had served on NABJ’s hall of fame committee. “Every time I talk to him I feel uplifted,” Lowe said.
The Daily News publishes Monday through Saturday and had an audited circulation of 143,631 on Sept. 20, 2003. Its sister paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, had a Monday-Saturday circulation of 328,178, with 749,793 on Sunday.
Viacom to “Transform” BET; Johnson to Step Down
“Viacom is . . . taking a fresh look at BET, and is intent on developing it into a brand with as much stature as its other media properties, including MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central,” Johnnie L. Roberts wrote in the current issue of Newsweek. “Tom Freston, Viacom’s co-president, told a recent gathering of investors that BET had ‘really only scratched the surface . . . of what it can do.’ He panned BET’s overreliance on music videos and infomercials, which have made up as much as 70 percent of its schedule. He said the company was assembling a programming team to ‘transform the channel and truly make it a much stronger first choice for African-Americans.'”
In addition, the story said, “The countdown to the biggest change in BET’s history is also underway. Next January, CEO Robert Johnson‘s contract expires with media giant Viacom, which made him the first African-American billionaire when it bought BET in 1999. In a Newsweek interview, Johnson put to rest speculation that he might retain ties to the network he founded. ‘I don’t plan to continue in my current capacity,’ he says he’s told Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone. He has other projects in mind, including his NBA Charlotte Bobcats team. ‘I’m sure I have a second act in me.’ ”
Roberts’ story credits competition from TV One and the Black Family Channel for the desire to upgrade BET, but there was no indication that news or public affairs would be involved.
One of the offerings BET plans to air in February, Black History Month, is a made-for-TV movie it coproduced, “Book of Love: The Definitive Reason Why Men Are Dogs.”
“Reality” Used Loosely for BET’s “Reality” Show (Tonya Grant, Black College Wire)
See Ex-Times Reporter Rick Bragg Read, for $75
Eat your heart out, Jayson Blair.
Rick Bragg, the New York Times reporter who followed Blair out of the Times newsroom two years ago after defending his use of stringers, researchers, interns and clerks to do work appearing under his byline, is scheduled to “lecture and read from his latest manuscript” — for a cool $75 a person, according to an announcement in Alabama’s Birmingham News.
Blair’s attempts to market himself, largely through a book last year, generally flopped.
But Bragg not only is no novice, “he’s obviously a name in Alabama,” Mary Balfour Van Zandt, the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s development officer, told Journal-isms.
“Bragg grew up poor in northeastern Alabama but became one of the most celebrated journalists of the past decade, winning his Pulitzer for feature writing for The New York Times in 1996,” as the Memphis Commercial Appeal has noted.
The event is a fund-raiser for the English Department, Van Zandt said. She said the school plans to send about 400 invitations and hopes that 150 people will be present.
Tribune Media Spells Out Rules for Columnists
In light of its dropping of Armstrong Williams‘ column and subsequent revelations about questionable dealings by others, Tribune Media Services Thursday advised its columnists of its ethical ground rules:
“We expect our columnists to avoid conflicts of interest and the appearance of such conflicts,” read the message from John Twohey, vice president, editorial and operations.
“This means, for example, that a columnist should not accept compensation of any sort from an individual or organization that becomes the subject of a column. Nor should a columnist accept free entertainment or gifts of any substantial value from a source or a publicist. It means a columnist should not write about a business in which he or she has a financial stake, or in which the principals are relatives or close friends. It means a columnist should not write about an organization of which he or she is a member, or use as a source of information a relative, close friend or neighbor.
“In cases where a columnist believes an exception to one of these rules is warranted, the writer should consult with an editor at TMS. In general, if a columnist is engaged in any activity that creates a potential conflict, he or she must disclose that information to the syndicate. Failure to do so could be grounds for TMS to terminate its syndication contract with that individual.
“We also expect columnists to furnish TMS with fresh, original and unpublished material, and to clearly attribute to other media whatever information is gathered from these sources. Facts or quotes drawn from third-party sources—as opposed to those collected directly by a columnist—should be checked for accuracy,” it continued.
Columnist Is Friend First, Journalist Second
Earlier this month, columnist David Person of Alabama’s Huntsville Times wrote of his own decision on whether to go to editors with information he heard from a friend.
“As a rule, I don’t rush to turn a friend’s problem or challenge into a column or suggest it to a Times editor as a possible story,” Person wrote.
“So when I read about the firing of the headmaster at Huntsville Christian Academy in Wednesday’s Times, I was stunned. The Rev. Alan Webster is apparently being investigated by the FBI about child pornography allegations. Parents at the school were told that sexual images were found on a computer in his office.
“A friend had told me about this situation days before I read the story. He has a child at the academy.
“After we spent a few minutes sharing our concerns for the school and its students, we moved on to other topics. And I forgot it ever came up.
“Seeing the full story in Wednesday’s paper was jarring. Briefly, I wondered whether my journalistic instincts should have kicked in when my friend told me about the allegations.”
Person concluded he did the right thing. “I’m all for news being reported. But before I’m a journalist, I’m a father and friend,” he wrote.
“And that’s exactly what I should have been while listening to my friend talk about this sad situation.”
Worry Over “Media Tax” for Michael Jackson Trial
“As jury selection begins today in Michael Jackson‘s trial on child-molestation charges, some journalists worry that they have already stumbled into uncomfortable new territory,” James Rainey wrote today in the Los Angeles Times.
“Their concern: an arrangement that could require television stations and newspapers to pay a total of as much as $800,000 to Santa Barbara County to defray the costs of the trial.
“Though some journalists agreed to the payments, others said they far exceed what other jurisdictions have charged and smack of ‘pay-to-play journalism.’
“. . . Los Angeles Times Managing Editor Dean Baquet declared himself ‘really uncomfortable’ with the payments and said he would like to find a way to ‘get out of’ the arrangement.
“‘We are not covering this trial because we are a commercial enterprise,’ Baquet said. ‘We are covering this trial because it’s a public event of interest to our readers. And we’re covering it in a public place.'”
Blacks Join Asians in “Hot 97” Protest in N.Y.
“A shivering but determined crowd of about 200 gathered outside Hot 97’s offices on Hudson Street in Manhattan for one hour to protest the station’s airing a song that mocked tsunami victims and referred to Asians in racist terms,” Rafer Guzman reported Saturday in Newsday.
“The backlash against the song, which first aired Jan. 18, initially came from Asian community groups, but members of the NAACP and the African-American community also appeared Friday,” Guzman reported.
“The morning show host Miss Jones and her team, which played the song, were suspended indefinitely, but critics want them fired.”
Miami Community Leaders Praise Herald’s Ibargüen
Alberto Ibargüen, chairman of the Miami Herald Publishing Co. and publisher of the Herald and El Nuevo Herald, was praised by community leaders after announcing that he was stepping down in July to take over the presidency of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, according to a Herald story Saturday by Christina Hoag.
Meanwhile, Hodding Carter III, outgoing foundation CEO, told Journal-isms today he would “probably want to be associated with” academia after he steps down in September. He remains a consultant until February.
Carter said he was looking forward to spending more time with his wife, children and 12 grandchildren.
Hoag wrote that, “Outside The Herald, Ibargüen has been instrumental in shoring up the newspaper’s relations and profile in South Florida and further afield in his many leadership roles in business and the arts.”
”Alberto has been a breath of fresh air for this community,” said Adolfo Henriques, president of Regions Bank, in the story. “He has the unique ability to bridge the cultural divides that are unique to Miami.”
“Ibargüen’s stewardship has particularly been an asset for Hispanics, said El Nuevo Herald Editor Humberto Castelló,” the story continued.
“His decision to turn El Nuevo from a Herald insert into its own newspaper, for instance, reverberated far beyond 1 Herald Plaza.
”’It was a great contribution to the city and the citizenry,’ Castelló said. `People felt honored that they merited their own newspaper. It united the community as Hispanics.'”
Texas’ Rumbo Papers Draw Skepticism
“In one of the most closely watched experiments in the publishing industry, Rumbo has started four Spanish-language daily newspapers in Texas in the past year, starting in San Antonio before going to Houston, Austin and the Rio Grande Valley,” Simon Romero reported today in the New York Times.
“Hispanics will become a majority in the state in 20 years or so, according to Steve Murdock, the Texas state demographer, and are already the largest ethnic group or majority in several of its largest cities.
“. . . The Hispanic market, of course, already supports fast-growing Spanish-language television and radio industries, but Rumbo’s Texas venture is perhaps the biggest gamble yet that a large part of the Hispanic population will read a daily paper in Spanish. Spanish-speaking readers in most parts of the country have been the domain of small family-owned newspapers, in part because bigger concerns have considered the market undesirable.
“So it is no surprise that Rumbo’s plan has been met with skepticism and resistance from larger publishers.”
“Like It Is” Limbo Called Public Policy Failure
For nearly 37 years, WABC-TV has aired ‘Like It Is,’ an Emmy-award winning public-affairs show that offers insightful analysis on the social, political and cultural life of the black community,” freelance journalist Curtis Stephen wrote Friday in Newsday.
“That Sunday afternoon show is now in limbo, and programs like it are not only struggling to stay on commercial television, they are disappearing altogether. . . .
“Late last year, WABC-TV reduced the show from its one-hour time-slot to 30 minutes, replacing it with episodes of ‘NBA Inside Stuff.’ The move, which drew the ire of both viewers and the New York Association of Black Journalists, reflects a steady retreat from locally produced, ethnically themed discussion programs on television.
“. . . If there’s one rule that hasn’t changed from the Communications Act of 1934 to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, it’s the fundamental premise that broadcasters are ‘temporary trustees’ of the public’s airwaves and that they’re obligated to serve in the public’s interest in order to stay in business. At one time, TV stations were required to allot a designated amount of airtime to programming that would address the needs of local audiences.
“Even the FCC has had to concede that the public interest isn’t being fulfilled.”