L.I. Paper Promotes More Journalists of Color
Nearly three months after a frank meeting with African American staffers who expressed their frustrations over mobility and shabby treatment, Newsday editor John Mancini today announced more than 30 reassignments, job changes and resignations that mean promotions for a number of blacks, Latinos and Asian Americans in the newsroom.
Mancini, formerly assistant managing editor for New York, was named to the top job in November. He told the staffers to watch not what he said, but what he did.
His task was complicated by orders from the parent Tribune Co. to cut costs. Some 50 newsroom staffers had signaled their intention to accept buyouts. Mancini said he would try to persuade a number of the 10 black journalists on the buyout list to stay.
In December, Mancini named two white women as managing editor, Debbie Henley and Debby Krenek, and elevated two black journalists: Lonnie Isabel to deputy managing editor and Genetta Adams to assistant managing editor for the Part 2 features section, among other changes. Isabel is a 1977 graduate of the Maynard Institute’s Summer Program for Minority Journalists.
Today, Mancini announced that:
- Monica Quintanilla, who is Latino, becomes a deputy Long Island editor, supervising town reporters.
- Walter T. Middlebrook, an African American who was associate editor for recruitment (and a 1983 graduate of the Maynard Institute’s Editing Program), becomes a deputy Long Island editor, overseeing towns coverage.
- Tania Padgett, who is black, and Rolando Pujol, a Latino who graduated from the Metpro training program to improve diversity, have been promoted to assistant city editors for the New York desk.
- Mira Lowe, an African American, becomes associate editor for recruitment.
- Ben Weller, an Asian American, becomes the business editor.
- Stacie Walker, an African American Metpro program graduate, was named deputy national editor.
- Otto Strong, an African American graduate of Metpro and, in 1998, of the Maynard Institute’s Editing Program, was promoted to weekend deputy sports editor.
Mancini was not available for comment.
Nassau County political reporter Monte R. Young, a leader of the paper’s black caucus, said the group had not had a chance to discuss today’s developments. “We have a meeting scheduled with Mr. Mancini in mid-March, and I’m sure that if folks have any concerns, it will be brought to him then,” he told Journal-isms.
Mancini’s memo is at the end of today’s posting.
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In Texas, Jamie Foxx’s Win Is a Local Story
Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx dominated the front of the special four-page Oscar section in the Dallas Morning News today, with this story by Manuel Mendoza and Katharine Goodloe, “All eyes on Jamie: With a wave to Grandma, Terrell’s native son grabs the gold.”
Next to the Web site version of the story, viewers can watch video from WFAA-TV of the 14,000-population hometown celebrating.
Winner of the Best Actor trophy for his portrayal of Ray Charles, Foxx had flown some Terrell residents to Hollywood for the ceremonies. In turn, the home folks surprised Foxx by arranging for him to see some of the more than 800 people at Terrell’s Oscar party by using his hand-held screen.
When Foxx realized what he was watching, “He said, ‘oh, my God, I can’t believe it,'” Gayla Baker, managing editor of the Terrell Tribune, told Journal-isms.
Naturally, Baker’s paper, circulation 6,000 to 7,000, played Foxx’s win above the fold on the front page, she said. It wrote that on the hand-held device could be seen “an auditorium full of local supporters, along with several special Terrell residents including Mayor Frances Anderson, former coaches, Herman Furlough and Robert Daniel, his uncle Talley Talley and Barbara Willie, the mother of his best friend Gilbert Willie Jr.“
These were people who knew Foxx when.
“Known to Terrell area residents as Eric Bishop, he was raised in Terrell by his grandparents the late Mark and Estelle Talley,” the Tribune story continued.
Foxx caused a minor stir in Terrell in January when he said in accepting a Golden Globe award that the paper that day had put him on the front page for the very first time.
Wrong, Baker said. But Foxx later gave her his telephone billing number so she could call when she wants an interview.
“Hell, I could have sold that for $1,000,” Baker said of the number.
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Sports Illustrated to Test a Latino Spinoff
“Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated on April 17 plans to begin testing three issues of a Spanish-language edition with the working title SI Latino,” Ken Liebeskind reported today in MediaWeek.
“Sports Illustrated, which has already spun off SI for Kids and a college edition called Sports Illustrated on Campus, plans to distribute 500,000 free copies to men 18 and older gleaned from Time Warner lists, including subscribers of People en Español (but not SI since the publisher wants to reach out beyond its readership), as well as Time Warner Cable and HBO Latino customers. There are no plans this year for a newsstand presence,” Liebeskind wrote.
“The goal for now is to gauge the marketplace.”
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Howard U. Paper Publishes First Issue as Daily
The Hilltop, Howard University’s student newspaper, distributed its first daily edition today, a 10-page broadsheet that featured “The Hilltop Goes Daily” as its lead story, as Ayesha Rascoe reported today on the Black College Wire.
“Inside was an editorial and a two-page spread on the paper’s history.
“The 81-year-old paper, which recently had been published twice weekly, is the first daily at a historically black college. It circulates 5,000 copies.”
Among the pieces was “Back in the Day . . . ” in which Alison Bethel, now Washington bureau chief for the Detroit News, reflected on her time at the Hilltop in the early 1980s.
Bethel writes that she worked with Chris Cathcart, Manotti Jenkins, Robert Vickers, Robert Frelow, Naomi Travers, Alonza Robertson, Andrew Skerritt “and many more.”
“The Hilltop Has No Sick Days” (Maya Gilliam, Black College Wire)
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Pieces Tackle Black Hair, Capitol Hill Aides
As Black History Month ends, a few more efforts of note:
- The Diamondback, student newspaper of the University of Maryland, ran a four-part series by Justin Fenton on the history of blacks on that campus. “From the start, the university was torn over what to do with blacks,” he wrote in part 1. (Part 2, part 3, part 4 ).
- On Sunday, Gregory Lewis and Alva James-Johnson of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel examined the business of caring for black hair and the historical and cultural twists and turns surrounding its styling.
“Hair has long been a big issue in the black community, both in the United States and the Caribbean. Race experts say the obsession with texture and length is one of the vestiges of slavery, where white was considered the ideal and black inferior,” they wrote. “Some of the pressure also comes from the media. . . .”
- Writing for Gannett News Service, Carl Weiser reported Thursday that, “Two years ago, in the wake of racially explosive comments that toppled then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, the top Republicans in Congress promised to hire more black staff on Capitol Hill.
“Did they?
“Hard to say. Because nobody’s keeping track.”
The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a localized version of the story today.
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“Thousands Died in Africa Yesterday”
The New York Times published an unusual, 1,186-word lead editorial Sunday, “Thousands Died in Africa Yesterday,” that agreed with critics who assail the indifference of much of the West, media included, toward Africa.
“When a once-in-a-century natural disaster swept away the lives of more than 100,000 poor Asians last December, the developed world opened its hearts and its checkbooks. Yet when it comes to Africa, where hundreds of thousands of poor men, women and children die needlessly each year from preventable diseases, or unnatural disasters like civil wars, much of the developed world seems to have a heart of stone,” the editorial began.
“. . . In the next few months, [President] Bush could take a giant step towards altering the way the world views America by joining [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair in pushing for more help in Africa. It’s past time; the continent is dying. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is anything but, some 1,000 people die every day of preventable diseases like malaria and diarrhea. That’s the equivalent of a tsunami every five months, in that one country alone. Throughout the continent of Africa, thousands of people die needlessly every day from diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
“. . . Yesterday, more than 20,000 people perished of extreme poverty.”
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Kim Bondy Assigned to CNN’s Morning Programming
Kim Bondy, who about a year ago was vice president at CNN/U.S. and senior executive producer in charge of the network’s “instant specials,” received another change in title today.
She was named senior executive producer of CNN’s “American Morning” with Soledad O’Brien and Bill Hemmer, as well as vice president of morning programming.
A year ago, former CNN/U.S. general manager Princell Hair moved Bondy to vice president of franchise units for CNN, where she was responsible for developing and overseeing the network’s medical, science, technology, weather, entertainment and sports programming.
Today’s announcement was made by Hair’s successor, Jonathan Klein. Bondy’s bio notes that, “She was named a 2000 ‘Black Achiever in the Industry’ by the Harlem YMCA and is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. Bondy is a past fellow with the National Association of Minorities In Communications’ Executive Leadership Program.”
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Ed Gordon Gets Daytime D.C. Slot; Chicago Cautious
Ed Gordon‘s National Public Radio show, previously available in the nation’s capital only at 2 a.m., began broadcasting during waking hours today as public station WETA-FM dropped most of its classical music in favor of news and talk.
Like Tavis Smiley‘s show before it, “News and Notes With Ed Gordon” was available only in the wee hours on American University’s public radio station, WAMU-FM, which said that was the only time it could squeeze it in.
The show remains on WAMU-FM at that hour, but now also airs on WETA at 11 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Meanwhile, the show, which was picked up by nearly all of the more than 80 stations that were carrying Smiley’s when he left in December, is still a question mark in Chicago.
Ron Jones, vice president of programming at Chicago public station WBEZ-FM, told Journal-isms today that, “the jury’s still out for us. I think the show was rolled out before it was ready. Ed doesn’t sound as though he’s really comfortable yet. I think Ed is a capable journalist, I just wish he’d been given a little more time to get his sea legs.”
Jones said he had no timetable for deciding whether Gordon would stay on the station.
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Separate Tables for Journalists, Coretta King
How uncomfortable is it to write unfavorably about civil rights icons whose battles helped put you in your job — and then be seated at the same table?
On Saturday, Angela Tuck, public editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, described this scene, which took place at an Atlanta Business League breakfast Tuesday honoring black women:
“As is customary at charitable events, our company purchased tables and invited employees to attend. Someone from the organization asked if Coretta Scott King could sit with us. We responded with a resounding yes,” Tuck wrote.
“When Mrs. King arrived, her regal demeanor became strained when she noticed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution placard on our table.
“Who could blame her? This newspaper’s investigation of the King Center in recent weeks has revealed the need for nearly $12 million in repairs and uncovered a serious conflict of interest for Mrs. King’s son, Dexter, whose for-profit company supplies services to the nonprofit center.”
Tuck concluded: “This is a measure of progress. Pioneering journalists like Ida B. Wells and Frederick Douglass would be proud. They, too, made sacrifices so we could be at this newspaper. They expect us to tell the truth.”
And she said of Mrs. King: “Before she politely told our group she’d decided to sit elsewhere, I told her our reporters would welcome an interview.”
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New York’s NABJ Chapter Makes “Today” Show
The New York Association of Black Journalists not only raised about $15,000 and drew some 275 people to its annual scholarship and awards dinner last week, it became part of the banter on Thursday morning’s “Today ” show on NBC.
It went like this:
“MATT LAUER: . . . And may I just say, I’m very proud to be working with such great colleagues, all right? Because last night at Columbia University here in New York, Mr. [Al] Roker was given a lifetime achievement award in broadcast journalism by the New York Association of Black Journalists. And may I also say that is not all, that Katie was also honored by the esteemed group for her work in the fight against colorectal cancer.
“KATIE COURIC: And that is not me,
“LAUER: And Stephine Giambruno, our producer, is accepting . . .
“COURIC: That’s our producer, Stephine Giambruno, which was—who was nice enough to accept the award.
“LAUER: . . . accepting the award. That’s so great. Congratulations to you both.
“COURIC: It’s nice. That was for a piece on African-Americans and colon cancer because . . .
“LAUER: Right.
“COURIC: . . . they have a higher incidence of colon cancer.
“ROKER: Did a lot of good work.
“COURIC: Anyway, congratulations, you.
“ROKER: Thank you.
“LAUER: Yes, you two. I want to say at Dunkin’ Donuts in my neighborhood, I was patron of the month.
“ROKER: Very nice.
“COURIC: Congratulations. We’re so proud of you, Matt.
“ROKER: Not easy.
“LAUER: I feel like a slacker around you two.”
NYABJ President Matthew Scott told Journal-isms that the chapter gave a $1,500 NYABJ scholarship to Brandon Bain, a news clerk at the New York Times who was selected while he was still attending Brooklyn College. Gayle King of O magazine hosted.
Other awards.
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Chang Lets Viewers Share in Police Voyeurism
“Making out on a rooftop these days isn’t safe. Just ask Ti-Hua Chang, who exposed NYPD helicopter cameramen for shooting a cavorting couple while surveying the scene of a bike protest last summer,” Richard Huff wrote in the New York Daily News Friday.
“Chang showed the startling tape from a police helicopter hovering overhead at the Aug. 27 event on WCBS Wednesday. ‘Police dutifully survey the area, then they focus on this,’ Chang reported, ‘a couple in a passionate embrace kissing and fondling each other.’
“Chang tracked down the amorous guy in the cop-made video—Jeff Rosner—and had him watch his exploits unfold onscreen.”
Chang concluded, “We cannot answer if the police helicopters will in the future try to videotape and keep a record of New Yorkers having sex on rooftops in darkness, hidden except for the NYPD’s infrared scope in helicopters hovering 500 feet above.”
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Former NAJA President Defends Churchill Speech
“As an American Indian, I must admit that I rankle a bit at defending Ward Churchill,” wrote Mary Annette Pember, a former president of the Native American Journalists Association, speaking of the University of Colorado professor in hot water over comments he made about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“The bottom line, however, is the issue of academic freedom,” she continued in an op-ed piece for the Progressive Media Project that ran today in the Miami Herald. “A state legislature should not have the power to fire an academic because he or she promotes unpopular ideas.
“I recall my alma mater’s memorial tablet from the class of 1910 that states, `The great State University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.’
“Surely those early scholars intended that we sift and winnow all ideas, including those that are unpopular. This is our duty as educated, informed citizens.”
Churchill, whose claim to being Native American has been challenged, suggested that 9/11 was a case of “chickens coming home to roost.”
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Newsday Memo on Job Changes
February 28, 2005
TO: The Staff
FROM: John Mancini
What’s Going On
I’m pleased to announce the following promotions and reassignments.
Long Island Desk
Joe Haberstroh and Steve Wick have been promoted to deputy Long Island editors, reporting to Sandy Keenan. Joe will be responsible for Long Island Life and education coverage, and Steve will be the enterprise and projects editor.
Andrew Smith and Monica Quintanilla have been promoted to deputy Long Island editors. Andrew will run the criminal justice/courts coverage and Monica will supervise town reporters.
Ross Daly, Reg Gale and Walter T. Middlebrook have been named deputy Long Island editors, reporting to Sandy Keenan. Ross and Eli Reyes will each be responsible for a group of specialist reporters, Walter will oversee our towns coverage and Reg will oversee a combined Long Island/Business night desk.
Ridgely Ochs will join the Long Island desk as a reporter.
New York Desk
Tania Padgett and Rolando Pujol have been promoted to assistant city editors reporting to Diane Davis. Tania will handle neighborhoods and Rolando will be the closing editor.
Carol Eisenberg and Mary Voboril have joined the city desk. Carol will continue to cover national and local religion, and Mary will write features and news.
Administration
Mira Lowe is being promoted to Associate Editor for Recruitment. Dorothy Bonardi will report to Mira and will take on new responsibilities assisting Debbie Henley and Rich Galant. Dotty Beekman will continue working with Mary Ann Skinner and will also work with Debby Krenek.
Advice section
Pat Burson‘s work temporarily writing for the Advice section becomes an official transfer.
Business and Technology
Ben Weller will become the Business Editor and Beth DeCarbo is a deputy business editor. Ben and Beth will report to Rick Green.
Investigations and Enterprise
Tom McGinty is transferring to the Investigations team.
National
Bob Tiernan becomes our national editor. Stacie Walker will become deputy national editor reporting to Bob.
News Desks
Judy Bernstein is moving from the features news desk to the night news desk. Spencer Rumsey will move to the new business/health/opinion cluster on the features news desk. Jeff McMillen and Jayme Wolfsonwill be working on the Fold and with the graphics desk reporting to Tim Healy.
Sports
Otto Strong has been promoted to weekend deputy sports editor and Jeff Weinberg has been promoted to daily deputy sports editor. Jeff and Otto will report to Bill Eichenberger.
We also have a few colleagues leaving us. Hugo Kugiya, a special writer on the National desk, resigned in January to move to Seattle to be closer to his family; Long Island reporter Erik Holm is leaving in March to live in Johannesburg for a year; Laura Lo, an assistant news editor on the News desk, is relocating to Boston to join her fiancé; Andrea Baker, our Albany researcher, has resigned to devote more time to her family and school; and Erin Senig, in the Opinion pages, is leaving to become a children’s librarian in Westchester.
Please join me in wishing them all the best of luck.