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Fashion Writer Givhan Wins Pulitzer

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Targets Have Included Washington Notables

Robin Givhan of the Washington Post today won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism “for her witty, closely observed essays that transform fashion criticism into cultural criticism.”

Givhan, a black journalist, has earned both praise and barbs for her fashion critiques of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; the family of then-Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr.; Vice President Dick Cheney; Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.; then-Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, tennis superstar Serena Williams, and most recently Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga.

In the Post newsroom today, Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. called Givhan “fearless and feared, as any outstanding critic should be.” He and Givhan noted that she defined fashion broadly as how people present themselves to the world. “She is equally at home and effective writing about politics and politicians, Ground Zero in New York City after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, race in American society or trends in popular culture,” Downie said.

Among her distinctions, he said, “She has been bestowed the all-powerful ‘juice’ in Vibe magazine’s annual list of who’s who — ranked Number 15, between Russell Simmons and Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs.”

Givhan said she was “in absolute awe” to be in the company of the other winners, and thanked her editors over the years, particularly Style section editors Eugene Robinson and Deborah Heard, and her current editor, Steve Reiss, because “I get really fretful about whether I’ve been too mean.” Heard is an alumna of the Maynard Institute’s 2000 Management Training Center class and was a mentor in 2005 in the Maynard Institute’s Media Academy.

Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times, who has crusaded for public attention to the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

“Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Chris Rose of The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, for his vibrant and compassionate columns that gave voice to the afflictions of his city after it was struck by Hurricane Katrina,” the Pulitzer board said, “and Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for her pungent, clear-eyed columns that tackled controversial issues with frankness and fortitude.” Tucker became one of the first black journalists to become an editorial page editor when she assumed the job in 1992.

The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and the Sun Herald of Biloxi, Miss., won the Pulitzer for public service for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. “The Public Service prize is always awarded to a newspaper, not an individual, although an individual may be named in the citation,” the board says.

Bryan Monroe, an assistant vice president at Knight Ridder and president of the National Association of Black Journalists, helped lead the Sun Herald’s coverage. “Mike McQueen from the Macon Telegraph and I arrived yesterday, along with a team of half a dozen Knight Ridder journalists from Charlotte, San Jose and Macon who are helping our sister paper in Biloxi publish,” Monroe wrote on Aug. 29, the day Katrina made landfall.

The whole newsroom staff of the Biloxi paper is about 50, he continued. “But they can’t find half of them; don’t know if they are in shelters, left the city or are dead. . . . Those who are here are working their butts off. They are doing some incredible stuff,” he wrote. Also assisting from Knight Ridder were Mizell Stewart III, now managing editor of the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, Audra Burks of the Miami Herald, Brandi Jade Thomas, photographer, St. Paul Pioneer Press; Ben Holden, editor of the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, Ga., and Cathy Straight, then one of two managing editors at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, now at USA Today. Stewart was a mentor in the Maynard Institute’s 2005 Media Academy, and Monroe taught in the Maynard Institute’s editing program.

At the Times-Picayune, journalists of color on the Katrina story included Terry Baquet, page one editor; editorial writer Jarvis deBerry; columnist Lolis Eric Elie; West Bank Bureau Chief Andrea Shaw; and reporters Leslie Williams, Rhonda Nabonne, Trymaine Lee, Rob Nelson and Michelle Hunter.

In 1988, Baquet’s older brother, Dean P. Baquet won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting as one of three Chicago Tribune reporters documenting corruption in the Chicago City Council. Dean Baquet is now editor of the Los Angeles Times.

At the Dallas Morning News, which won in the breaking news category for its photographs of Hurricane Katrina, Irwin Thompson, a senior staff photographer and a black journalist, was a major contributor to the News’ coverage.

For investigative reporting, the Washington Post’s Sue Schmidt, Jeff Smith and James Grimaldi won for their coverage of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who described how he collected “millions and millions of dollars from American Indian tribes after promising that he would help them in Washington to acquire or protect gambling interests,” as Downie recalled.

Givhan, born and raised in Detroit, worked at the Detroit Free Press and the San Francisco Chronicle as a feature writer. She came to the Post in 1995, but left in March 2000 and subsequently spent six months at Vogue magazine as associate editor, “where I learned that there is more to life than an inexhaustible supply of Manolo Blahniks,” she wrote in a reference to the shoemaker. She returned to the Post in September 2000 while remaining in New York.

Givhan wrote this month of McKinney:

“A black woman’s hair is an easy, timeworn source of racist mockery. It has become an exhausting cliche of self-loathing whether it is kinky, hot-combed, braided, locked or chemically relaxed. (Indeed, plenty of black folks see all kinds of dire race-traitor undertones in Condoleezza Rice’s smooth, controlled cap of hair.) A black woman’s hair is a bottomless source of inspiration for essays, books and documentaries.

“But for McKinney, hair is part of her politics. . . .”

Other topics have included what rapper Lil’ Kim and New York Times reporter Judith Miller each wore at their respective court appearances on the same day; “the racial and class meanings in the snub of Oprah Winfrey when she was turned away as a last-minute shopper by the Paris boutique of Hermes,” and about “the dowdy wardrobe of Camilla Parker Bowles,” as Downie noted.

List of winners:

JOURNALISM

Public Service — The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss. and the Times-Picayune, New Orleans

Breaking News Reporting — Staff of the Times-Picayune, New Orleans

Investigative Reporting — Susan Schmidt, James V. Grimaldi and R. Jeffrey Smith of the Washington Post

Explanatory Reporting — David Finkel of the Washington Post

Beat Reporting — Dana Priest of the Washington Post

National Reporting — James Risen and Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times and staffs of the San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley News Service

International Reporting — Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley of the New York Times

Feature Writing — Jim Sheeler of the Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colo.

Commentary — Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times

Criticism — Robin Givhan of the Washington Post

Editorial Writing — Rick Attig and Doug Bates of the Oregonian, Portland

Editorial Cartooning — Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Breaking News Photography — The Dallas Morning News staff

Feature Photography — Todd Heisler of the Rocky Mountain News, Denver.

Among the non-journalism prizes, Caroline Elkins won for general nonfiction for “Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya.”

“Elkins, an associate professor of history at Harvard University, spent 10 years researching the torture and murder of thousands of Kenyans in secret prison camps operated by the British government in the 1950s,” the Pulitzer board said.

“Through hundreds of interviews and access to previously unseen documents, Elkins described how, in their effort to quell the Mau Mau rebellion, British officials detained nearly all the Kikuyu, Kenya’s largest ethnic minority, and subjected them to beatings and torture.”

The Pulitzer Board, chaired by Henry Louis Gates Jr. of Harvard, also gave “a posthumous Special Citation to American composer Thelonious Monk for a body of distinguished and innovative musical composition that has had a significant and enduring impact on the evolution of jazz,” a Pulitzer statement said.

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What’s Not Being Covered in Immigration Stories

Noting that many Chicago readers have expressed resentment at the Chicago Tribune’s coverage of pro-immigration demonstrations, public editor Timothy J. McNulty wrote Sunday, “Many of the complaints about coverage are valid: We have written well about the people who are illegal immigrants and about the politics of the debate, but not as well about the impact illegal immigration has had on society. The fault lies not in the stories we report, but in the stories we ignore.

“The newspaper writes about the politics of illegal immigration in both news and opinion pages, but too often fails to focus on the problems created by illegal immigration. Some of that is understandable. Those who want stricter enforcement are rarely able to provide concrete and direct examples or to personalize the plight of citizens who suffer because of illegal immigrants.

“They rarely produce the citizen who is out of work – or making only $6 an hour – because illegal immigrants take the jobs and drive down the pay scales. They talk about higher costs for health care and education consumed by illegal immigrants – but can’t show it as a line on your tax bill.

“The role of illegal immigration in the workplace, how it drives down wages, does not get wide coverage. We don’t write as much about the business owners who seek out illegal immigrants because they can be paid less and are easily intimidated by threats of disclosure.

“While there are mentions and even occasional stories, not often do we highlight the consequences of illegal immigration in the public schools, or the stress it puts on health care, especially emergency room services at public hospitals.

“We have noted the rise of the private militia group called the Minutemen both in the Southwest and in Illinois, but the rise of gangs among illegal immigrants gets only occasional attention. The fairness issue to those immigrants who wait years for legal entry is only a footnote in our coverage.”

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Publisher of Hispanic Paper in St. Louis Deported

“One of the St. Louis area’s most visible Hispanic entrepreneurs was deported to Mexico on Friday as an illegal immigrant,” Kim Bell reported Friday in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“Cecilia Velazquez, 36, is publisher of Red Latina, a Spanish-language newspaper, and president of Radio CuCui, a group that brings ethnic performers and commentators to WEW-AM radio.

“Velazquez had been in the United States since December 2000. Her deportation ended a five-year legal battle over her status.

“‘I’m devastated,’ Velazquez said from her cell phone, as she stood in Juarez, Mexico, an hour after being escorted back into her homeland. ‘No doubt they used me as an example.’

Lydia Padilla, president of TRC Staffing Services in St. Louis, which places Spanish-speaking workers with area employers, called Red Latina the most respected paper in the Hispanic community, and the only local paper that is 100 percent Spanish, the story reported.

Duke Lacrosse Players “Tried in the Newspaper?”

“A grand jury issued sealed indictments Monday against two members of the Duke University lacrosse team in connection with allegations that a stripper was raped last month at a team party, a defense attorney said,” as Tim Whitmire of the Associated Press reported tonight.

It’s another major development in a month-old case in which the twists and turns have led to the inevitable charges that the case is being “tried in the newspaper.” However, some commentators, if not writers of news stories, in fact have already judged the players guilty.

“First it was to the chair for all of them,” Chris Graham wrote today in the Augusta Free Press, based in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.

“Then, after defense attorneys retained by members of the Duke men’s lacrosse team announced that DNA testing had exonerated their clients, it was blame the victim – and the DA.”

On Sunday, the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer’s public editor, Ted Vaden, added to the criticism:

“I agree . . . with readers who complained that The N&O gave page-one display to the players’ rap sheets, but buried inside the criminal record of the accuser. That record – that she pleaded guilty in 2002 to stealing a car and trying to run over a police officer, among other things – was near the bottom of a story on page 14A of the April 7 paper,” he wrote in the paper that broke the story.

“One factor that has contributed to readers’ perception of the coverage, I believe, has been its long half-life. The rape story has been on The N&O’s front page 16 of the last 20 days through Friday, and you have to wonder if each story merited that attention.

“. . . Bill Green, former ombudsman for The Washington Post, said he thought the volume and display of stories shaped perceptions of unfairness.”

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Essence Editor Weighs In on Hampton U. Hair Issue

As reported last week, Susan L. Taylor, editorial director of Essence magazine, backed out of a speaking engagement at Hampton University after learning that “braids, dreadlocks and other unusual hairstyles are not acceptable” for majors in a five-year master’s of business administration program at the university, in the words of the school’s policy.

In the May issue of Essence, editor Angela Burt-Murray, a Hampton business school alumna who recently spoke with Earl Caldwell’s journalism students at the university, tackles the issue in her “letter from the editor”:

“If you need any further proof that we still have issues when it comes to our hair, consider the controversy that was brewing at Hampton University just as we went to press. In a misguided effort to better prepare students to enter corporate America, the university recently mandated that students in the five-year M.B.A. program would not be allowed to wear hairstyles that administrators considered ‘extreme’: No long braids. No dreadlocks. No cornrows. No way!” Burt-Murray wrote.

“As a proud alum of this historically Black college and a graduate of its business school, I was stunned to hear of the university’s stance on this issue. I worry how this policy will affect the self-image of our young women and men. Our hair, and the myriad ways we choose to wear it, is a statement of pride, a reflection of our creativity and individuality. And isn’t that what college is supposed to be about?

“Without a doubt, our hair has been a racially charged issue since we hit these shores. That’s why it so concerns us here at ESSENCE to see one of our own beloved institutions call anyone’s personal expression of beauty into question. As you flip through our portfolio featuring 25 of our most beautiful women, I hope you’ll be inspired by the stories of ordinary sisters accomplishing the extraordinary — with all types of hairstyles! E-mail me at angela@essence.com, and let me know about a bold and beautiful woman in your community.”

Hispanics Online Projected at 20 Million by 2010

“The number of Hispanics online will increase by a third by the end of the decade, exceeding 20 million users, says a new report from Web researcher eMarketer,” Mike Shields reported Thursday for Mediaweek.

“According to the report, Hispanic Youth Online: Language and Culture Define Usage, there were 15.7 million Hispanics who had access to the Web in 2005. By 2010, that audience is expected to hit 20.9 million users.

“While a ‘digital divide’ was said to have existed in the early days of the Web, as Hispanics and African Americans trailed the general population in Web access, that appears to have gone by the wayside for Hispanics, who have rapidly embraced broadband in recent years – especially among the young. According to eMarketer, 58 percent of Hispanic Web users are under 35.”

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