Maynard Institute archives

Classics for King Day

by richard0479

PBS to Show “Eyes on Prize,” Black Press Film

Public television plans to commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday by showing two documentaries that are on their way to becoming classics, if they aren’t already: The first episode of “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years,” which originally aired in 1987, and “The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords,” first shown in 1998.

 

 

As reported in October, “Eyes on the Prize” made a triumphant return to the airwaves only after Judi Hampton, the sister of the late Henry Hampton, spearheaded an effort to raise $1 million to secure permission to re-use video footage, music and photographs for which the licensing rights had expired.

“Soldiers Without Swords” has particular relevance to journalists. “Hopefully, it’s a film in some ways that’s timeless,” its creator, Stanley Nelson, told Journal-isms on Friday. “It’s a story that if you haven’t seen the film, you are not going to see it anywhere else. It’s American history told from an African American’s point of view. It’s kind of an alternative history of journalism. Black journalists should see it; journalists should see it; anybody interested in advocacy journalism; anybody interested in journalism should see it.”

The film won the 1999 Freedom of Expression Award at the Sundance Film Festival and had been previewed at the 1998 convention of the National Association of Black Journalists.

The black newspapers featured in the film “stood for something” and were funded not by advertisers, “but by the people actually going in and buying the newspapers,” Nelson said. A winner of a MacArthur fellowship, a so-called “genius grant,” Nelson, 55, said he believes there is still a role for the black press, though it might not be in the form of a weekly newspaper published in every city.

“The things the black press was advocating, for the most part have not been realized,” Nelson said.

“One of the great quotes is from John Sengstacke” of the Chicago Defender, “who says, ‘help the people and they will pay you.’ There’s still a way to help the people and get paid. Somebody’s going to figure out how to do that.”

Nelson spoke by telephone from Boston, where he is promoting the latest of his dozen films, “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple,” about the 1977 mass suicide of followers of cult leader Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guyana. Nelson said it was on the short list of 15 for an Academy Award nomination in the documentary category.

More on the networks’ plans for the King holiday in this separate column.

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Columnists Note King’s Relevance for 2007

Columnists of color noted the King holiday by relating it to such issues as gay rights, a King memorial on the National Mall, and what it’s like to be part of the post-civil rights generation.

And, writing for Sunday, Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recalled King’s April 1967 speech against the war in Vietnam: “I knew I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today â?? my own government,” King said.

“That’s not among the quotes we tend to trot out in our annual commemorations of King, when we’re more comfortable with a sepia-toned man of softer edges,” Tucker wrote.

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Memphis Media Reform Conference Draws 3,000

The National Conference on Media Reform, opening Friday in Memphis and discussing media matters ranging from media consolidation to diversity issues, has exceeded its goal of 2,500 by attracting 3,000 people, Trevor Aaronson reported Friday on the Memphis Commercial Appeal Web site.

On the opening day, the Rev. Jesse Jackson was to headline a group of anti-consolidation activists releasing a half-dozen studies they say refute big media’s case for loosening ownership restrictions, John Eggerton reported in Broadcasting & Cable.

“The conference comes just weeks after media activists won a victory in the fight over the future of the Internet. The telecom giant AT&T recently agreed to adhere to net neutrality — the concept that everyone, everywhere, should have free, universal and non-discriminatory access to the Internet. AT&T made the pledge as part of its efforts to win FCC approval for its merger with Bell South. The two Democratic commissioners on the FCC agreed to back the merger after AT&T’s pledge” Amy Goodman said on Pacifica Radio’s “Democracy, Now!” which broadcast from the city for the event.

Goodman’s show hosted Jonathan Adelstein, commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, and Robert McChesney, co-founder of the group Free Press, which staged the conference.

FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps said Friday, according to Free Press:

“Iâ??m not here tonight to talk about defeating bad new media ownership rules — although we still need to do that. Iâ??m here to say itâ??s time that we all get off our duffs with a real agenda. Letâ??s get rid of the bad old rules that got us into this mess in the first place. And letâ??s go on from there to bring tough — Iâ??m talking really tough here — public interest obligations back to those who use the spectrum you own.”

Free Press said Adelstein told those gathered to bury “six feet deep” any attempts by the FCC to roll back media ownership rules.

On the Web site BlackAgendaReport.com, Glen Ford predicted, “few will call attention to the fact that Black corporate consolidators are as busily at work as their white counterparts, smothering the last vestiges of local Black radio news coverage. We can safely — and sadly — predict that there will be little discussion in Memphis of the specific path that consolidation has taken in African American radio markets, nor of the fracturing of previously progressive Black political institutions that has resulted from the near-extinction of local Black radio news.

“The corporate stranglehold on Black radio’s potential value as a medium for social change can only be broken by organized communities willing to confront media owners, including owners of the same race.”

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TV Violence at “Epidemic Proportions”

“Violence on broadcast TV is approaching ‘epidemic proportions,’ surging 75% over the last six years while posing a threat to children that parents and government officials need to address, according to a major media watchdog study unveiled Wednesday,” Jim Puzzanghera reported Thursday in the Los Angeles Times.

“The study by the Parents Television Council, titled ‘Dying to Entertain,’ said the 2005-06 season was the most violent since the group began tracking the issue in 1998. There were an average of 4.41 violent incidents each prime-time hour last season, based on the group’s analysis of the first two weeks of the ratings sweeps periods.”

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ESPN Cancels Stephen A. Smith’s “Quite Frankly”

“Quite Frankly,” a one-hour talk show hosted by Stephen A. Smith on ESPN that debuted in 2005 to great fanfare, has been canceled, Gail Shister reported Saturday in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Its finale was Friday night. Smith, a Philadelphia Inquirer sportswriter since 1994, launched ‘Quite Frankly’ in August 2005. His high-decibel delivery earned him the nickname, ‘Screamin’ A. Smith.’

‘Frankly’ ran at 6:30 weeknights, moving to 11 p.m. in January 2006. Its cancellation was not a surprise — the show never drew big ratings.

“Smith’s presence will be expanded across numerous platforms, the network announced on Friday.

“To wit: He’ll be featured more regularly on ‘SportsCenter,’ NBA studio programming, and on ESPNEWS, as well as host four TV interview specials surrounding big events.”

“That fact the show was canceled specifically, I look at that as me failing. I don’t look at that as anyone else’s fault,” Smith told Bob Raissman in the New York Daily News. “The reality is you are here to generate viewers and to make sure they are watching. I didn’t do a good enough job of it.” [Added Jan. 14]

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Some Columnists Want Duke Case to Proceed

Durham, N.C., District Attorney Mike Nifong has asked to be removed from the Duke University lacrosse team case, it was reported Friday, after a chorus from the news media and elsewhere continued to denounce him for his handling of the racially charged, but increasingly flawed, case.

But not all columnists were demanding that the charges of sexual assault against the white lacrosse players, accused by a black “exotic dancer” whose story has changed, be dropped.

“If the accuser is shown to be a liar, her next appearance in court should be as a defendant charged with making false statements to police officers and damaging the lacrosse players’ lives,” Barry Saunders wrote in the Raleigh News & Observer.

“Were the consequences not so dire, the chorus calling for Nifong’s head would be amusing,” Saunders continued.

“The Wall Street Journal weighed in this week, scolding Nifong on its op-ed page for proceeding with the case.

“Funny, but I didn’t see anyone there criticizing North Carolina DAs whose corner-cutting got wrongful murder convictions on Alan Gell and Darryl Hunt that landed them on death row and in prison for life, respectively,” Saunders wrote.

As a Dec. 3 News & Observer story explained, “In 2004, David Hoke and Debra Graves were reprimanded for withholding evidence during the trial of Alan Gell, who spent nine years behind bars, half of that on death row, for a murder he did not commit. The withheld evidence included statements showing that the murder occurred while Gell was in jail on a petty charge and a tape-recording of the star witness talking about ‘making up a story’ for police. The State Bar came under withering criticism for its prosecution of Hoke and Graves.”

Gregory Kane, writing Wednesday in the Baltimore Sun, cited what he said were four reasons why he felt no sympathy for the lacrosse players: “Calvin Crawford Johnson Jr.

“Twenty-three years ago, Johnson found himself in the same boat those Duke players say they’re in: falsely accused of rape. The similarity in their situations ends there. Let’s look at how they differ, shall we?

“The three players are white. Johnson is black.

“The three players were accused of raping a black woman. Johnson was accused of raping two white women.

“The three Duke guys were arrested, charged, arraigned, posted bail and walked out of jail.

“Johnson didn’t get bail. He went to court every day with his hands and feet shackled.”

Meanwhile, CBS’ “60 Minutes” announced that Lesley Stahl would interview Dr. Brian Meehan, a forensic expert hired by Nifong who testified last month that he and Nifong agreed last spring not to report DNA results favorable to the lacrosse players.

After that testimony, “‘You felt like someone hit you with a baseball bat. . . . It was almost too much to bear, as we sat there,’ says Kathy Seligmann, whose son, Reade, is among the three indicted players,” according to the story, which airs Sunday.

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Detroit Columnist Says Cut to the Chase on Bush

President Bush’s speech calling for additional troops in Iraq predictably won little if any support from columnists of color. But in Detroit, Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley went further:

“Now it is time for Congress to quit singing ‘Kum Ba Yah’ and stop treating impeachment as if it’s a bad word.”

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Clear Channel Recruits Buyers of Color for Stations

“Not only has Clear Channel decided to sell its 42 TV stations and 430 — or more than a third — of its radio stations, but it is actively recruiting minority and female buyers in a big way,” John Eggerton wrote Thursday in Broadcasting & Cable.

“Clear Channel, the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council, and the National Association of Broadcasters are hosting a meeting in Washington this week at NAB headquarters to give minorities and women tips on how to ‘best position themselves to purchase Clear Channel radio and television assets,’ said Clear Channel. A number of these assets are up for sale staring this month.

“The conference, which drew about 120 attendees, according to Clear Channel, includes face time with its execs as well as tips on where to get the capital, business plans and due diligence.”

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Lou Dobbs Becomes Lifetime Member of NAHJ

Lou Dobbs, the CNN host who has tangled with the

 

Lou Dobbs

National Association of Hispanic Journalists over his on-air opposition to illegal immigration, which NAHJ felt crossed the line of fairness, has become a lifetime member of the organization.

In 2005, the Hispanic Link News Service wrote that Joseph Torres, deputy director of NAHJ, “singled out CNN’s Lou Dobbs for . . . his ‘daily drumbeat portraying Hispanics as criminals whose illegal presence threatens the security, livelihood and well being of this country.'” Executive Director Ivan Rom&aacuten went on the show and said “We get some calls from people who say, I’m tired, I’m turned, I don’t watch Lou Dobbs anymore, I’m just so turned off by the show because we don’t get — our voice isn’t heard there.”

Yet Dobbs took out a membership at the NAHJ convention last summer in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Regina Medina of the Philadelphia Daily News confirmed. He was a panelist there, in what could be considered enemy territory.

Here is how Mother Jones magazine reported it:

“‘Illegal immigrant’?” Dobbs said, with his wife, Debi, a former sportscaster who is herself of Hispanic origin and who refers to Dobbs as “Husband” — he calls her “Momma” — not far away. (In 2003, Debi was arrested after trying to board a plane at the Newark airport with a gun the Dobbses keep on their farm for protection.) “Do I need to say ‘legal immigrant’? Do I need to put a modifier on that? Do I tell someone who’s entered the country legally, ‘You’re a legal immigrant’?”

“No,” said a short, dark man with a shaven head and a goatee. “You would refer to them as ‘immigrants.’ When you’re trying to make the distinction between those who entered the country legally or illegally, then you use the modifier.”

“Then I won’t concede the point,” Dobbs said. “It’s not up to the individual to make the distinction to immigrate without the consent and authority of the United States government; therefore, if I say ‘illegal immigrant’ I’m working at cross-purposes.”

As the conversation began to fade out, Regina Medina, a director of NAHJ and a reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News, approached Dobbs, asking him if he’d consider handing over $1,000 for a membership in the group.

“You know I’m not Hispanic,” Dobbs said. But when Medina assured him there were other members in the same position, Dobbs measured the situation. On record he deplores the existence of hyphenated Americans, going so far as to oppose staples of immigrant identity such as St. Patrick’s Day. But while he would have gladly argued the linguistic merit of “illegal immigrant” for another four hours, saying no to this monetary gesture might have led to an even more heated argument about the existence of the NAHJ Itself. If anything, Dobbs has shown the uncanny ability to recognize the precise moment to get the hell out, and this was sure it. Knowing there was a car out front waiting to speed him and Debi away, Dobbs whispered into Medina’s ear: No, he wouldn’t take one membership. He’d take five.

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Traveling Museum Exhibition Discusses Race

“One thing is certain: Americans have strong perceptions — and misperceptions — about the meaning and significance of race,” Paul D. Thacker wrote Thursday in Inside Higher Ed.

“Attempting to poke holes in prejudices and provide the latest scientific and scholarly understanding of the issue, the American Anthropological Association has created an interactive educational program called RACE: Are We So Different? Also featured is a traveling museum exhibition.

“. . . Both the exhibit and the Web site underscore three key themes:

“How we define race has changed over time, and its very concept is of recent human invention and shaped by groups that hold power.

“Race is a cultural phenomenon that places people into groups according to arbitrary biological and cultural characteristics. Race does not accurately describe human variation.

“Race and racism are embedded in our culture and shape our understanding of ourselves and those around us. Racism is less overt than in the past, yet discrimination continues and racism holds sway over many of our daily choices.”

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Short Takes

  • “The ‘Voice of the African-American Community” was silenced yesterday when all employees of WHAT (1340-AM) were fired from the talk-radio station,” Dan Gross reported Friday in the Philadelphia Daily News. “Inner City Broadcasting did the firing. The company had sold the longtime staple of black issues in Philadelphia to Havertown’s Marconi Broadcasting Co. for $5 million in November.”
  • Starting Sunday, the New York Times is publishing â??House Afire,â?? a three-part series by Metro reporter David Gonzalez that examines the rise of Pentecostalism â?? the worldâ??s fastest-growing branch of Christianity â?? among Hispanics in New York City, the paper announced. The series will be available at NYTimes.com, where it will be accompanied by the Timesâ??s first fully bilingual multimedia presentation. Gonzalez spent a year with a storefront congregation in West Harlem.
  • Edwin Chen, who left the White House beat at the Los Angeles Times a year ago to do public relations for the Natural Resources Defense Council, is joining Bloomberg News as senior White House correspondent, Chen confirmed Friday. “I guess it’s in my blood, journalism,” said Chen. He said Bloomberg recruited him and that he starts Feb. 5.
  • Walter T. Middlebrook, a veteran editor and recruiter, starts Feb. 5 as director of recruitment and community affairs at the Detroit News, he told Journal-isms. He is deputy features editor at Newsday and had been associate editor for recruitment there.
  • In New York, “City College students and alumni have filed a lawsuit against the school, claiming their First Amendment rights were violated when a sign naming a student center after a fugitive terrorist and a militant was removed,” the Associated Press reported Thursday. “The sign naming Guillermo Morales, a Puerto Rican separatist involved in a series of bombings in the city in the 1970s, and Assata Shakur, who escaped from prison while serving time for the 1973 killing of a New Jersey State Police trooper, was on the door of the center on the school’s Harlem campus for 17 years.” The signs were taken down last month after the New York Daily News went after the name with both a front-page story and an editorial.
  • Tunku Varadarajan, editorial features editor at the Wall Street Journal, has been promoted to assistant managing editor, effective in mid-February, Journal editor Paul Steiger told the staff on Thursday. “Tunku will work closely with me, Dan Hertzberg, Mike Miller and Edward Felsenthal, among others, on finding ways to broaden the range of our feature coverage throughout the paper,” Steiger wrote.
  • “Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice let slip her media preferences on Thursday, saying ‘I love every single one’ of Fox News network’s correspondents and also favors CBS anchor Harry Smith,” Reuters reported on Thursday. The comments were overheard on an open microphone between morning television interviews.
  • Darryn Moore moves home to Atlanta as a freelance reporter at WSB-TV from WTTG-TV in Washington, the N.S. Bienstock agency announced. Moore spent 13 years serving with the Atlanta Police Department before his television career.
  • E.R. Shipp, who won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary at the New York Daily News and teaches journalism at Hofstra University, started a blog this week. The latest topic is “God Grew Tired of Us,” a new film about one of Sudan’s “Lost Boys.”
  • Another columnist has praised the film “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Merlene Davis, writing Thursday in the Lexington (Ky.) Herald Leader, said the movie was instructive about the hero’s survival skills, which she wanted her children to see. “Maybe, though, I wanted to finally understand how I got through those years, how I landed on the dean’s list when part of me wanted to give up. How did I find the strength to leave my daughter with my sister for 11 weeks while I interned in a California program that guaranteed me a job in journalism?”
  • A joint delegation of the Committee to Protect Journalists and Instituto Prensa y Sociedad said Friday it was alarmed about the lack of transparency in President Hugo Chávez Frias’ decision not to renew the broadcast concession of the privately owned television station RCTV, the Committee reported. “Journalists told the delegation that the government punishes critical news outlets by, among other things, blocking access to government events and officials, withholding public advertising, filing criminal defamation complaints, and imposing content restrictions,” it said.
  • “The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Nigerian government’s apparent crackdown on critical reporting, as security service agents reporting directly to the president engaged in the second newspaper raid in as many days,” the Committee said Thursday. “State Security Service (SSS) officials were holding Dan Akpovwa, publisher of the private weekly Abuja Inquirer, incommunicado late today in connection with an allegedly ‘seditious’ story in the current edition, correspondent Emmanuel Iffer told CPJ.”

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