Maynard Institute archives

“Most People Just Came In”

by richard0633

All Hands on Deck After Kentucky Plane Crash

 

 

“I’ve never seen that many people working in the newsroom at the same time,” Vanessa Gallman, editorial page editor of the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, said today. She was talking about the all-hands-on-deck atmosphere at the paper Sunday after the country’s worst domestic plane crash in five years.

Even former top editors, such as investigative reporter Marilyn Thompson, who left at the end of July to report for the Los Angeles Times, called in, she said.

“Most people just came in and said, ‘What can I do?'”

The story: “A commuter jet mistakenly trying to take off on a runway that was too short crashed into a field Sunday and burst into flames, killing 49 people and leaving the lone survivor a co-pilot in critical condition, federal investigators said,” in the words of the Associated Press.

The paper learned of the tragedy at about 6:30 a.m., Managing Editor W. Thomas Eblen told Journal-isms, when one of the paper’s feature writers happened to be in a hospital emergency room as the hospital staff was notified to be prepared for mass casualties. The writer called her editor, who called Eblen. By 7 a.m., Eblen said, he had called the assistant managing editor for local news and the photo editor. The newsroom, which has about 120 staffers, was soon on adenaline.

The paper’s first-edition deadline was not until 11:10 p.m., but initially the crash news was fed to the paper’s Web site, kentucky.com.

“Today we had more than a million page-views,” Eblen said. “Yesterday it was 600,000.”

Gallman said she felt she was learning more “by watching our kentucky.com than by watching television. For an editorial page, you always want to feel that you are moving the needle some, exposing holes,” delivering an expose or the like. “When you don’t do that, it feels that you are not making a contribution.” But “after watching the news, I felt that if we didn’t do anything” else, “we had to try to express the community concerns” and the impact of the event on people in the circulation area. “That,” she said, “was good enough.”

Gallman, who in 2008 becomes the first African American woman to lead the National Conference of Editorial Writers, wrote an editorial that began, “Not here.

“No one expected our cozy, safe airport to be the site of the worst domestic air crash in almost five years, that we would know so many people who perished in the flames, that nearby farmland would bear the scar of the plane’s final slide.”

 

 

 

Gallman contacted the paper’s cartoonist, Joel Pett, who turned in a drawing of a runway morphing into a ribbon. “I thought it had tremendous impact,” Gallman said of the cartoon. “I thought that was our best contribution to the story.”

The role of an editorial page in such a situation, Gallman said, it to let it be known that “as a member of the community, the paper also feels the impact.” In Lexington, with a metro area of less than half a million, “you’re only one person removed from someone who was on the plane. Everybody’s connected to it. People started calling and wanted people to know that their family member was there.”

The printed edition of the 118,000-circulation, McClatchy-owned daily featured eight pages of coverage, Eblen said, an increase of four pages. The plane’s manifest has yet to be released, but he said the paper was able to identify all but six or seven passengers. “There are so many tragic stories,” Eblen said. One couple was en route to a honeymoon. Another had recently been married in the Caribbean. A board member of Habitat for Humanity was another victim.

Columnist Merlene Davis was profiling some of the victims and writing a column for Tuesday’s paper. Other journalists of color who worked on Sunday’s coverage included reporters Michelle Ku, Brandon Ortiz and Jillian Ogawa; photographer Pablo Alcala and photo editor Helena Hau. Reporter Raviya Ismail participated in the coverage for Tuesday’s paper, Eblen said.

The association Gallman is to lead, the National Conference of Editorial Writers, is conducting its 12th annual Minority Writers Seminar next May 3-6, in Nashville at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University.

“Its purpose is to give experienced minority journalists an opportunity to explore the nuts-and-bolts of opinion writing and encourage them to consider making a career move, said Foundation president Morgan McGinley, editor of the editorial page of The Day in New London CT,” an announcement says.

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Shanika Sykes, Ex-Ombudsman, Fired in Utah

[Added Aug. 29:] Shanika Sykes, a former reader advocate at the Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune who went on to cover higher education, has been dismissed from the paper on a plagiarism charge, the paper reported Tuesday. She was the paper’s only black journalist.

“Tribune editors were informed Thursday that passages in a story written by Sykes and published in The Tribune on Thursday contained language that was similar to phrasing in a story that appeared in The Daily Utah Chronicle,” student newspaper at the University of Utah, on the day before, the story by Paul Beebe said.

“After an investigation over the weekend by Lisa Carricaburu, an assistant managing editor at The Tribune and Sykes’ supervisor, and a meeting with Sykes, The Tribune determined that the allegation was credible, said Editor Nancy Conway.

“‘We’ve addressed this situation with the reporter and her employment here has been terminated,’ Conway said.

“Sykes stands by her reporting.

“‘I talked to everybody in that story, and that’s what I told them. There’s nothing untrue in that story. There’s nothing false in that story, and I talked to everyone,’ said Sykes, who started at The Tribune in February 1993.”

“. . . Danyelle White, editor-in-chief of the Chronicle, said a copy editor told Gardiner that The Tribune had published “an eerily similar story” on Thursday. After comparing the stories herself, White contacted Jim Fisher, a professor of communication and adviser to the student newspaper. Fisher said she should inform The Tribune.

“‘I’m saddened. It’s never a pleasant thing to see one of your colleagues go down like this,’ White said.

Sykes was reader advocate at the paper from 1996 to 2002. She stayed on to help arrange the Organization of News Ombudsmen’s 2002 conference in Salt Lake City.

Editor Nancy Conway told Journal-isms today, “sad to say, we have not been very successful in recruiting for African Americans,” partly because Utah has so few blacks. She said the paper has a copy editor’s and a reporter’s position open, and is also looking for Latinos.

The paper reported 5.7 percent newsroom professionals of color in the latest census of the American Society of Newspaper Editors: 1.9 percent Asian American, 0.6 percent black, 2.5 percent Hispanic and 0.6 percent Native American.

“It’s a very good paper,” Conway said, asked why a person of color would want to work there. “The community depends on us” for independent information. It’s “a place where they can make a difference, and also a place where talent is rewarded.”

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NABJ, NAHJ Dispense Funds to Katrina Victims

The National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists have disbursed about $15,000 to professional and student journalists victimized by Hurricane Katrina, representatives of the associations said today.

“I reported at the board meeting at the convention in Indianapolis that to date we had received $18,805.00 in NABJ funding and donations from members and friends. Since its inception, we have disbursed $11,500 in $500 increments to 23 approved applicants. That leaves the fund with a balance of $7,305,” Russell LaCour, copy editor at the Tulsa (Okla.) World, told Journal-isms. LaCour is chairman of the NABJ Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund, established last September.

“The majority of the recipients were students who were displaced and are working their way back or who have returned. Many of them said they planned to use the money for books, replacement of clothing and other items lost during Katrina.”

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists disbursed $3,000 or $4,000 last year, deciding not to wait for contributions, Executive Director Ivan Roman said. NAHJ eventually raised about $2,000 or $3,000, he said. The association gave out grants of about $500 apiece, largely in gift certificates, since banks were closed. “Katrina is a theme of our awards gala” in October, Roman said. “A lot of our people are affected, but not as affected as the black community was.”

LaCour added, “We would like to encourage any members in good standing at the time, who were directly affected by Hurricane Katrina and who were living in the affected areas to apply. Here’s a link to the application form.”

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Post-Mortems Continue on NABJ Convention

“Overall, the Indianapolis convention was efficient, if bland,” Wayne Dawkins wrote in the September issue of the Black Alumni Network Newsletter, for graduates of Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

In discussing the National Association of Black Journalists event, he continued, “At least 2,200 attendees came, reported the daily NABJ Monitor, 100 less than total attendance last year in Atlanta for the milestone 30th anniversary. The Indy chapter should declare victory. It more than held its own compared to last yearâ??s sexier destination that hosted NABJ for a third time.”

But Dawkins, author of two books on NABJ, asked, “has the National Association of Black Journalists board forgotten the purpose of the W.E.B. DuBois program? It is supposed to be a scholarly address by a public intellectual that will substantially inform our membersâ?? reporting.

“The scheduling of the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton here last month did not measure up to DuBois lecture standards. . . . Want a recommendation from this critic? Consider Faye Wattleton, former director of Planned Parenthood, and now president of the Center for the Advancement of Women.”

Dawkins’ wasn’t the only post-mortem of the last few days. News Executive George Benge summarized the Gannett Co.’s involvement for Gannett employees; Sylvester Brown Jr. of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch applauded Sharpton’s statement that, “”We have never had a single leader, and we never should,” and Mary C. Curtis of the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer told readers about the workshop, “Saving Lives: How to Get the Word Out about Health Disparities.”

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“Survivior” Panned Over Plans for Race Competition

“Bored with scenic settings and alarmed by dwindling ratings, the producers of “Survivor” have taken their once successful reality show back to its roots in Jim Crow era television,” columnist Tony Norman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote Friday.

“‘Survivor: Cook Islands’ promises to be the kind of must-see TV’ that would have provided plenty of cover for a lynch mob in Mississippi a generation or so ago.

“. . . When the morally obtuse Jeff Probst reconvenes the show’s tribal council in the South Pacific in a few weeks, 20 contestants will be divided into four competing racial groups: black, white, Hispanic and Asian.

“The four groups will battle each other for petty and illusory advantage based solely on the discredited idea that racial identity is static and biologically determined.

“The Phrenology Society has already promised to underwrite the entire season if the level of pseudoscience and racial superstition can be maintained in a thoughtful and dignified manner. Thickness of lips, coarseness of hair and skin pigment [have] been carefully measured to insure the racial integrity of the contestants.”

Others also found fodder in last week’s announcement:

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Kevin Bradley, Ex-Indy Reporter, Dies at 52

“It is with great sadness that we report the passing of one of the members of our Radio One family, Kevin Bradley, who died this morning. He was 52,” Amos Brown III, director of strategic research and host/managing editor of “Afternoons with Amos” on WTLC-AM Indianapolis, told listeners this afternoon.

Brown told Journal-isms that Bradley had a heart attack in his sleep.

“For the past seven years, Kevin was an account executive for Radio One, specifically working with our WHHH Sales Team,” Brown told his audience. “But for many in our community, Kevin Bradley was best known as an award- winning news reporter. Kevin was a member of the legendary award winning WTLC News during the 1980s. In [the] 90s, Kevin went on to success as a distinguished news reporter with WTHR-Channel 13.

“After leaving journalism, Kevin wanted to remain in broadcasting. Bill Shirk gave Kevin his break into sales, where he had a successful career with the stations until his untimely passing this morning.

“Kevin also had a passion for sports. For several years he was part of the team broadcasting Indiana Pacers games on Fox Sports Midwest.”

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Andrew Young Finds Support From Unlikely Source

“The mainstream media have ignored (or remain unaware of) an interesting point concerning the allegedly racist comments” of former ambassador Andrew Young, according to black conservative John McWhorter, writing Sunday in the Washington Post.

“His views are in fact common coin among inner-city black people — the very people the hate-speech patrol so ardently hopes to protect.”

Young resigned this month as a Wal-Mart spokesman after telling the Los Angeles Sentinel that Wal-Mart “should” displace mom-and-pop stores in the black community because they have been ”selling us stale bread, and bad meat and wilted vegetables.

”You see those are the people who have been overcharging us,” Young said of the owners of the small stores, ”and they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they’ve ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it’s Arabs.” Young later apologized.

McWhorter wrote, “The notion that non-black owners of corner stores are ‘interlopers’ in African American communities is a staple of black nationalist politics and black talk radio. Young’s statement played right into the Sentinel’s motto: ‘The Voice of Our Community Speaking for Itself.’

“. . . The rebukes of Young have been almost cartoonishly excessive given the nature of his alleged offense. It seems that the self-righteousness of ‘outing’ Young is a motivation in itself, surpassing any genuine feeling that real social harm has been done.”

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Latinos Said to Read Papers Faithfully — in Spanish

“Here’s some good news for the beleaguered U.S. newspaper industry: Hispanics read newspapers much more faithfully than the general population. They just prefer to do it in their native language,” Editor & Publisher wrote Saturday from Chicago.

The story said Bob Shamberg, chairman and chief executive of Newspaper Services of America, a print media planning and buying agency, cited survey data that found:

  • “Newspapers are the medium most frequently used by Hispanics to check advertising information, according to the Newspaper Association of America poll, singled out by 56 percent compared to 14 percent for direct mail, 11 percent for the Internet and 8 percent TV.
  • “Spanish-language newspapers are the most influential on purchasing decisions.
  • “Ads in Spanish are 61 percent more effective and 4.5 times more persuasive than in English.”

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Columnists Support Gumbel on Upshaw Remarks

Bryant Gumbel is picking up support from columnists of color over his scathing commentary on HBO’s “Real Sports” about Gene Upshaw, the NFL Players Association executive director.

“In what Gumbel called an open letter to new commissioner Roger Goodell, he advised him that before [Paul] Tagliabue cleans out his office, he should have him ‘show you where he keeps Gene Upshaw’s leash. By making the docile head of the players union his personal pet, your predecessor kept the peace without giving players the kind of guarantees other pros take for granted. Try to make sure no one competent ever replaces Upshaw on your watch,’ as Gary Myers recapped it Sunday in the New York Daily News.

“Tagliabue responded by suggesting that Gumbel’s new job as an NFL employee broadcasting games on NFL Network is in jeopardy.

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Short Takes

  • “Bill Gaines will no longer co-anchor the 6, 7 and 11 p.m. newscasts on Raleigh TV station NBC-17,” the Raleigh News & Observer reported on Saturday. “Gaines made his final appearance as co-anchor on Friday’s 11 p.m. newscast. Gaines, 50, said his contract was to be up in October, and that NBC-17 officials decided he should leave now. He was with the station for almost seven years.”
  • The host asked this Sunday on NBC’s “The Chris Matthews Show” about Republicans’ campaign to keep control of Congress: “Are they going to bring in the ethnic factor? In the dirty old days, like five or 10 years ago . . . the Republicans were warning, most of these ranking members, these about to [be] chairmen [if the Democrats regain control of the House], are African-Americans.” Matthews said he was being sarcastic, but only after Time’s Michael Duffy had answered, “Late. Late. Lee Atwater used to say this: ‘You can play a race card late, and only once.’ But I think in an election that’s going to be close, and they have chambers up for grabs, you said the good old days were — the bad old days were over? I don’t think so.”
  • Liberal satirist Al Franken has challenged a statement in National Review online that he did not hire people of color. “One of my researcher/producers on my Air America show is black. When we first started, the second researcher I hired was black. He left to finish Yale Law School. Our archivist is black,” Franken said in a letter dated Friday.
  • A 2005 Asian American Journalists Association summit, “Vision 2020 . . . Capturing the Audience of Tomorrow,” designed for executives from print, broadcast and online, as well as AAJA Executive Leadership Program graduates interested in upper management, is available online in print and video formats. It “featured futurists who looked at culture and society, technology, commerce and media convergence 15 years down the road, and what the communications industry needs to do to capture tomorrow’s audience,” AAJA said.
  • “For the first time ever, a Spanish-language TV station ranked first in the ratings in early fringe (7 to 8 p.m.) for three months in a row this summer.” Katy Bachman reported Friday for Mediaweek. “WXTV, Univision’s owned-and-operated station in New York, was rated No. 1 among Adults 18 to 34 and 18 to 49 for June, July and August with the first-run novela, Heridas de Amor (Wounds of Love).”
  • “Maria Elena Salinas, the Emmy Award-winning face of Hispanic news since 1987, is co-anchor of Noticiero Univision — the most watched Spanish-language television news broadcast in the United States,” Esther J. Cepeda wrote today in the Chicago Sun-Times. Cepeda described Salinas as “the most famous American woman you’ve never heard of, though instantly recognizable to millions across the United States and in 18 Latin American countries.”
  • Jerry Brewer, formerly at the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal, introduced himself to Seattle Times readers Sunday in his new role as Times sports columnist. “The average Kentuckian figures Seattle might as well be Uzbekistan. We recognize it. We give it a nod while it rests on that upper corner of the map, looking like a stowaway. We make lame jokes about its rain and its coffee obsession, and its grunge music, even though we’re not quite sure grunge music even exists anymore,” he wrote.
  • “In an upset in what’s believed to be the first contested election in the history of the nation’s largest journalists organization, Clint Brewer — the executive editor of the free daily City Paper in Nashville, Tenn. — was narrowly elected president of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) at its convention in Chicago Saturday,” Editor & Publisher reported today.
  • “A newspaper is no longer enough; a magazine is no longer enough; a television show is no longer enough; instead, the newspaper must take the reader from the newsprint to the internet, from the internet to the magazine, from the magazine to the television,” Samir Husni, the chair of the Journalism Department at the University of Mississippi who is known as “Mr. Magazine,” wrote Sunday on his blog. “Our media must never give a dead end to our readers. We must be constantly sending them to other vehicles where they can consume our product. Otherwise we will be label[ed] irrelevant and out of touch with our audience.”
  • Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has renewed her government’s commitment to the principles of free speech and freedom of the press, but “observed that some media houses are doing severe damage to the noble profession of journalism by allowing the pages of their newspapers and the contents of their broadcast to be contaminated by messages that have little or no information or redeeming social values,” the Inquirer in Monrovia reported on Friday.

 

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