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Journal-isms May 15

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Newspapers Lost $18.7 Billion From 2006 to 2008

"Much attention has been focused on the decline of major American newspapers, and it’s common knowledge that print advertising revenues have plunged over the last couple of years. But exactly how much money have newspapers lost in their print operations? An estimated $18.7 billion from 2006-2008," Erik Sass wrote¬†Wednesday for the Media Daily News.

"Those calculations are based on annual and quarterly figures from the Newspaper Association of America.

"To put $18.7 billion in perspective, it’s more than the gross domestic product of Iceland, pegged at $17.55 billion by the International Monetary Fund in 2008. On the other hand, it’s only about one-third of the value of Bernie Madoff’s securities fraud, estimated at around $50 billion.

"Many in the newspaper industry have counted on their online operations to salvage the bottom line, but that may be quixotic. During 2006 to 2008, total Internet revenues amounted to $8.9 billion — less than half the losses on the print side. What’s more, after anemic growth of $500 million from 2006-2007, Internet revenues actually declined in 2008, subtracting about $50 million."

"Thank God we are not competitors for the same jobs — yet," Sam Fulwood writes of himself and his daughter, Amanda. (Photo credit: Marvin Joseph/The Root/The Washington Post

In Unemployment, a Dad Bonds With Graduating Daughter

"When Amanda Fulwood accepts her well-deserved sheepskin Sunday at the University of Virginia, I’ll be the proudest father on campus. Since the day my daughter was born, I’ve dreamed of this moment, when I could look through teary eyes at her toothy smile and send her off to find a career and make her way in the world," Sam Fulwood III wrote Thursday on theRoot.com.

"I never in a million years thought I’d be out there trying to make my way with her. Like many seasoned professionals hit by the recession, I am out of work. By one reliable account, nearly 16,000 journalists — including me — lost their jobs through layoffs and buyouts at U.S. newspapers in 2008. So far this year, almost 9,000 more have been let go.

"Amanda’s job prospects are similarly discouraging. Just as she entered her senior year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of unemployed people with college degrees rose to 1.413 million from 1.411 million the previous month.

"So now Amanda and I find ourselves in the job market together, each consumed by our bleak prospects. This isn’t exactly the kind of father-daughter bonding I thought we would be engaging in at this point in our lives. But, oddly, it’s not too bad. We’ve actually become quite a team."

Fulwood, left the Cleveland Plain Dealer in November and returned to Washington, where he had worked in the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau.

 

NAHJ Names Rivera, Duron, Gonzales to Hall of Fame

Three enduring pioneers for equality and truth in storytelling will be inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Hall of Fame during the NAHJ Annual Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico next month where hundreds will converge to create a critical mass of journalists skilled in multimedia.

"Geraldo Rivera, host of Fox‚Äôs newsmagazine ‘Geraldo-at-Large’; KRON "Weekend Morning News" anchor Ysabel Dur??n; and founder and editor of El Tecolote newspaper and professor of journalism at City College of San Francisco Juan Gonzales will be inducted into the NAHJ Hall of Fame. This year‚Äôs Hall of Fame Gala starts at 7:30pm on Friday, June 26 at the Puerto Rico Convention Center during the 27th Annual NAHJ Convention and Media & Career Expo in San Juan set for June 24-27, 2009."

 

Media "Challenges Are Immense" on Afghan Border

"We see how daunting it is to work as a journalist in a region torn by militancy, where both the militants and the state want to control the message. You are always between the devil and the ditch because your mandate is to speak the truth on behalf of people reduced to collateral damage. Reporting on a region where the fate of the international ‘war on terror’ will be decided is not a job for the faint of heart."

So says Aurangzaib Khan, manager of media development for Internews, an international media development organization. Khan, based in Peshawar, Pakistan, was describing one of the world’s most insular regions, the North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a focus of Taliban activity on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"But there are several success stories," he continued. "radio newsrooms are coming up that offer news and information in local languages, more people are joining journalism schools and many more are taking up media as a career despite the growing insecurity and direct threats to their well-being.

"The challenges are immense. First of all, low media density: creating and supporting media space in a tribal region — there are only 4 FM radio stations in FATA for a population of four million and just 11 FM stations for a population of 20 million in NWFP. Then there is a lack of professionalism — few trained journalists and major technical inadequacies that are stunting professionalism.

"Also, the region boasted more suicide bombings and terrorism-related casualties in 2008 than Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Growing security woes are feeding into the xenophobic tribal mindset that frowns on information-sharing and investigation as suspicious activities."

"Nearly Half of Children Under Age 5 are Minorities"

"The 2008 census results are out! And scanning local headlines, it looks like minority populations are growing at warp speed," Jane Kim wrote Friday in Columbia Journalism Review.

‚Äú’El Paso County population at 742,062; Hispanic majority grows to nearly 82%’ is the headline at the El Paso Times. ‘Hispanics fuel Nevada‚Äôs recent growth,’ writes the Reno Gazette-Journal. ‘Wisconsin‚Äôs Hispanic population increases 48%,’ reads the headline for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The New York Times, adopting the local paper mantle to cover New York City, trumpets, ‘Hispanic Population‚Äôs Growth Propelled City to a Census Record.’ Fuels. Propelled. Record. Tie back your hair; these are full-speed-ahead headlines.

"The following characterizations, meanwhile, suggest that while the car is still moving forward, it‚Äôs also shifting into second gear: ‘Growth of Hispanic, Asian Population Slows Unexpectedly, Census Reports’ (Associated Press); ‘Asian and Hispanic Minorities Growing, but More Slowly’ (The New York Times); ‘Downturn Slows Growth of Hispanics, Asians in U.S.’ (The Wall Street Journal).

"Different papers, different pictures. That’s not all that surprising, given that increases in local minority populations are more likely to resonate with local readers than analyses of an overall slowdown in growth. Meanwhile, the latter gets touted in national headlines because of its implications for, among other things, assessing the tipping point of the majority minority — for demographers, the almost mythological moment at which the minority population will become a majority in this country."

"But it’s interesting to see what each camp tends to exclude. . . ."

Vu Nguyen, education reporter at the Torrance (Calif.) Daily Breeze, interviews Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers at an elementary school on March 16. (Credit: Brad Graverson/Daily Breeze)

California Reporter, 34, Hospitalized and in Coma

"Daily Breeze education reporter Vu Nguyen, who suffered cardiac arrest during a weekend soccer game, remained hospitalized in a coma Thursday in Harbor City and was not expected to survive," Larry Altman wrote  Thursday in the Torrance, Calif., newspaper.

The 34-year-old Long Beach resident’s wife of six months, his parents, brother and friends kept vigil at his bedside in the critical care unit at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center.

"’The doctor said most likely he will not wake up from this,’ said his wife, Heather Hua. ‘It’s very hard to let go of him.’"

"Nguyen kicked two goals while playing a soccer game with friends Sunday in a Santa Monica park and collapsed as he ran with his arms outstretched like an airplane down the field.

"Friends tried to revive him and summoned paramedics from a nearby fire station. Nguyen, who had shown no signs of ill health, suffered irreversible brain damage.

". . .Born in Saigon, Vietnam, on Feb. 20, 1975, Nguyen was 2 months old when his father, attack pilot Chuyen Nguyen, and mother, Ngoc Thuy Nguyen, were among the first refugees to escape and come to the United States.

Raised in Garden Grove, Nguyen decided early on he wanted to be a reporter. An editor at Rancho Alamitos High School in Garden Grove, he went to work as a reporter for the Seattle Times, Orange County Register, Nguoi Viet 2 in Westminster and The Associated Press in Springfield, Ill.

"The Daily Breeze hired him in August to cover South Bay school districts. His most recent stories have chronicled the financial struggles of school districts dealing with significant cuts in funding."

Nominations Accepted for 2009 Ida B. Wells Award

Nominations are being accepted for the 2009 Ida B. Wells Award, presented annually to a media executive, manager or journalist who has made outstanding contributions toward making American newsrooms and news coverage more accurately reflect the communities they serve.

Administered jointly by the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Conference of Editorial Writers, "the award seeks to give tangible and highly visible recognition to an individual or group of individuals who have provided distinguished leadership in increasing access and opportunities to people of color in journalism and improving coverage of underrepresented communities," the judges say. Nominations should be made by June 1.

"First bestowed in 1983, the award is named in honor of the pioneering 19th and early 20th century editor and publisher who was a champion of integration and whose crusade against lynching earned her acclaim on two continents. Professors at the Medill School of Journalism serve as curators of the award.

"Eligibility: Any news executive, manager or journalist who has made significant contributions to newsroom diversity and/or improved coverage of communities of color is eligible for the award.

"Nominations: Any person may nominate a candidate for the award by completing a nominating form and submitting it along with supporting statements to m-awards@northwestern.edu

"Presentations: The award is presented alternately at the national conventions of the sponsoring bodies. The 2009 award will be presented at the 33rd annual convention and career fair of the National Association of Black Journalists, which will be held Aug. 5 – 9 in Tampa, Fla."

To download the nomination form, click here

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