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Detroit’s Rear-View Mirror

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Have White Misperceptions Hurt Affirmative Action?

Detroit anchors the region with the most segregated metro areas in the nation. Last fall, Michigan voters banned the use of race or gender in public education, employment and contracting. The University of Michigan became the focus of a Supreme Court case that redefined the limits of affirmative action.

And 40 years ago next week, five days of racial violence in Detroit left 43 dead, hundreds injured, thousands arrested, more than 2,500 stores looted or burned, and 1,000 families homeless. The event has been in the area’s consciousness ever since, even if race wasn’t discussed much publicly.

 

 

“Now, people are taking about race more openly in Metro Detroit, and seeing that a lack of discussion of it for more or less 40 years hasn’t done anything positive,” Gary Miles, metro editor of the Detroit News, told Journal-isms on Friday.

Miles said the News was persuaded that the belief by many whites that the status of African Americans is better than it is contributed to the vote against affirmative action. He said he considers polling results published in the News on Thursday, along with an examination of the economic differences between African Americans and whites in the area, the highlight of the paper’s 40-years-later coverage. It builds on the paper’s five-part series in 2002, “The Cost of Segregation,” he said.

A News story this week by Mike Wilkinson, Darren A. Nichols and Amy Lee began, “In the decades since black frustrations erupted in violence, the economic gap between African-Americans and whites in Metro Detroit has grown, according to several key indicators.

“Today, blacks have less buying power than they had in 1967 and they haven’t kept pace in education. Daunting challenges remain: The region’s black infants are three times more likely to die and joblessness among African-Americans is more than twice the rate of whites.

“African-Americans have made progress since 1967 — more are finishing high school, graduating from college, buying homes and reaching leadership positions — but a gap with whites remains, according to a Detroit News study of leading indicators of economic independence.

“Despite the perception of progress, the reality reveals a region in which the differences in the quality of black and white lives can be as stark as they were 40 years ago.”

Another story, “Attitudes soften, but blacks, whites see bias differently,” by Cindy Rodriguez, said:

“More whites say they would prefer to live in evenly mixed-race neighborhoods than in white-dominated communities, a dramatic change from 20 years ago. Fewer African-Americans believe whites want to oppress them and fewer whites feel that blacks dislike them.

“At the same time, the poll of 600 Metro Detroiters this month reveals a persistent divide: blacks see stubborn or worsening discrimination where most whites don’t believe it exists — in jobs, housing and justice.”

 

 

The News’ package of stories was overseen by Ebony Reed, assistant city editor/online, who has been at the paper only since December. She spent seven years at the Plain Dealer in Cleveland as education reporter and night city editor. The Detroit eruption took place 10 years before she was born, she said, although she grew up in the Detroit suburb of Lathrup Village.

“Ebony was the leader. She put this baby together. She directed our coverage and did an outstanding job. She has every reason to be proud,” Miles said.

The rival Detroit Free Press is taking a different tack. “A lot of our coverage looked at some of the forces that were in play before the summer of ’67,” said Jeff Taylor, deputy managing editor for news and projects, “and some of the forces that came into play afterward that shaped Metro Detroit.”

As the Newark Star-Ledger reported earlier this month about the 1967 uprising in that city, the Free Press told readers it is a mistake to think that the disturbances themselves initiated the city’s decline.

The Free Press’ Stephen Henderson interviewed Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the so-called “hip-hop mayor,” who was born three years after the riot. Kilpatrick told Henderson he “hasn’t used it as a point of reference for any of the city’s problems or challenges. Hasn’t made it the subject of fist-pounding dinner table conversations, or even idle chatter, with his kids.”

“If Kilpatrick can get past the riot, can refuse to bequeath to his kids all the emotion and tired memory that define black vs. white, city vs. suburb, rich vs. poor in this area, it’s worth asking why the rest of us shouldn’t, or won’t,” Henderson wrote.

Taylor said the Free Press planned to write Sunday about “bridge builders” from different walks of life, and on Monday, to examine what became of people who made decisions to stay in Detroit or to move to the suburbs.

“Bridge building” will also be a theme in local television news coverage. Bob Ellis, assistant news director at WDIV-TV, the NBC affiliate, said a Sunday-through-Thursday series, “40 Years and Looking Forward,” will look at lessons learned, “how the 40 years have shaped us and how we are moving forward.” Bridge builders “who have helped eliminate the racial divide that might exist 40 years later” will be a part.

The Fox station, WJBK-TV, plans a half-hour special at 10:30 p.m. Sunday, “The Summer of ’67,” hosted by morning anchor Fanchon Stinger, featuring footage shot during the five days of disturbances “and then a look forward at where we are going,” spokesman Keith Stironek said.

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Survey: Blacks Gaining Slightly in Local TV News

“The percentage of minorities working in local television news slid by less than a percentage point in 2006, although the percentage of African Americans in the newsroom is on the rise, according to a survey released today by the Radio-Television News Directors Association,” RTNDA announced on Friday.

In general, unlike local stations, the networks have not made their diversity figures available.

“The 2007 RTNDA/Ball State University Annual Survey shows that minorities comprised 21.5 percent of local television news staffs in 2006, compared to 22.2 percent in 2005. Asian Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic journalists decreased by a fraction of a percentage point, while African Americans increased from 9.5 percent to 10.1 percent of the workforce,” a news release said.

“At non-Hispanic stations, the minority workforce was 19.4 percent, a decrease of 1 percent from the previous year.”

The survey said, “Minority TV news directors also dropped from 13.2 percent to 10.9 percent, but the percentage of minority radio news directors soared to 12 percent —nearly triple the year before.”

And of general managers, “The percentage of minority GMs at television stations that run local news has dropped less than one percent from last year (7.1 to 6.4 percent). Only 3.6 percent of non-Hispanic stations have minority GMs. Almost 90 percent of the minority GMs are African American; the rest are Asian American.”

 

 

In the RTNDA’s Communicator magazine, where the article on the survey was published, Bob Papper, professor of telecommunications at Ball State University, cautioned about the figures showing a drop in Asian Americans and Hispanics.

“Participation from certain markets and certain cities can make a noticeable difference in the ethnicity data from year to year,” wrote Papper, who has conducted the annual survey for years.

“That appears to be what happened with Hispanics this year. Fewer stations in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson (along with Louisville, KY, and Charlotte, NC,) filled out the ethnic breakdown on the survey or didn’t return the survey at all. That appears to have led to the drop in both Hispanics and Asian Americans.”

“Julio Moran, executive director of the California Chicano News Media Association, says he is ‘surprised’ by the apparent drop in Hispanics. He says that, if anything, he sees a growth in interest among Hispanic students — at least in Los Angeles — and steady or high numbers of Hispanics in the major markets of California.”

Papper concluded, “The bigger picture remains unchanged. In the last 17 years, the minority population in the U.S. has risen 8.6 percent; the minority workforce in TV news is up less than 4 percent, and the minority workforce in radio is down more than 4 percent.”

The survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2006 among all 1,596 operating, non-satellite television stations and 11,942 radio stations for which complete data could be gathered, Papper said. Valid responses came from 974 television stations [61.0 percent] and 225 radio news directors and general managers representing 740 radio stations.

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ABC Lays Off Ron Schofield, Midwest Bureau Chief

Ron Schofield, who as Chicago-based Midwest bureau chief is one of the highest ranking African Americans at ABC News, has been laid off after more than 11 years in the job.

Schofield previously was the Washington bureau assignment manager. “The elimination of Schofield’s position (and that of his Atlanta bureau counterpart, David Eaton) is the latest move under a companywide reorganization outlined last month by ABC News President David Westin,” Robert Feder reported Wednesday in the Chicago Sun-Times.

ABC News also confirmed the shift of service managers for ABC NewsOne, ABC’s news service for affiliates, in both Chicago and Atlanta to New York, Feder wrote.

Schofield could not be reached on Friday, but a bio posted by the Publicity Club of Chicago said he was responsible for a staff of approximately 20 who coordinate coverage for ABC News shows in the 13-state Midwest region, pitching and producing stories for “Good Morning America,” “Nightline,” “20/20” and “World News Tonight.”

“His stories have ranged from the Elian Gonzalez Miami saga in 2000, to the Gorbachev-Reagan summit to the [McGwire]/Sosa home run race in 1998 and the Jackie Onassis funeral,” the site said.

Paul S. Mason, senior vice president at ABC News, said on Friday of Schofield, “he was solid and steady, a thoughtful, bright guy who understood his region and understood his bureau. He was also good with his people. He was always buttoned-down,” Mason told Journal-isms.

Chicago was just one bureau affected. “ABC News management flew south yesterday to torch their Atlanta Bureau. Gone are all the career cameramen (one was 72 and still slinging tape for them), audio techs, bureau management, administrative staff and affiliates support team,” according to the blog Peach Pundit, written by a former staffer in the bureau identified as “Spacey G.“

“Most of these fine people were lifers, some had been with the network since they were just out of college. Now their kids are in college.

 

 

“Left to pull their own digi-weight alone are one correspondent, Steve [Osunsami], two field producers and one engineer.”

Sam Gardner, a producer in the bureau for ABC News One, resigned before the ax fell, and another African American, a feed coordinator for ABC News One, was also part of the cutback.

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Obama to Follow Clinton at NABJ Convention

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. will address members of the National Association of Black Journalists at the NABJ Convention in Las Vegas, the association and Obama’s campaign jointly announced on Thursday.

“Obama’s appearance on Friday, Aug. 10 will be part of a two-day discussion, ‘A Conversation with America’s Candidates.’ Sen. Hillary Clinton will speak on Thursday, Aug. 9. The events will be sponsored by Microsoft Corporation and AOL Black Voices,” a news release said.

Clinton’s appearance was announced a week ago.

Vick Story Too Juicy for Columnists to Ignore

The indictment of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick on dogfighting charges this week is proving too rich a topic for columnists to ignore. Should he be suspended from the NFL before trial? Should he have shed his childhood friends long ago? Is this a reflection of hip-hop culture? Are there racial elements? And what about the dogs? Columnists and feature writers are weighing in.

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Valerie White of FAMU Honored by Editorial Writers

Valerie D. White, assistant professor of journalism at Florida A&M University, is the recipient of this year’s Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship, honoring “an outstanding faculty member who has shown great initiative in mentoring minority college students,” the National Conference of Editorial Writers announced on Friday.

 

 

The award is to be presented at the NCEW annual convention in Kansas City, which will be held Sept. 26-29.

White chairs the Black College Communication Association, an organization of advisers to campus newspapers at historically black colleges and universities. In February, White orchestrated and hosted the nation’s 9th annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ National Newspaper Conference in Tallahassee, Fla.

She is adviser to the Famuan, the student paper at Florida A&M, and she was named the FAMU Teacher of the Year in 2006.

“Dr. White has reached out to students and faculty at HBCUs to improve their journalism programs overall, to adopt multimedia course work and to support and liberate student media. As BCCA chair, she has spoken out against censorship and other First Amendment violations. In previous years, she has taken on administrators at Hampton, her alma mater, for repressive tactics against student journalists,” wrote Pearl Stewart, founder and coordinator of Black College Wire, recipient of the Bingham Fellowship in 2006, and one of those who nominated White.

“As Famuan adviser, Dr. White encouraged students to increase the frequency of publication of the newspaper from weekly to three times a week. She also urged the students to enhance the online edition, making it a daily, round-the-clock operation that has won numerous awards. As BCCA chair, she has stressed the importance of frequent and online publication of HBCU newspapers.”

Fellowship recipients receive a $1,000 honorarium.

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Emmy Subjects Range From Darfur to Katrina

“PBS led the field today when nominations were announced for the 28th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards. The noncommercial network received 22 citations, compared with 19 for CBS, 15 for ABC and 14 for NBC,” as Lee Margulies reported Wednesday in the Los Angeles Times.

Among the nominees:

“The Journalist and the Jihadi: The Murder of Daniel Pearl,” HBO; CBS News “60 Minutes” for “Hunting the Homeless,” with correspondent Ed Bradley; NBC’s Brian Williams for pieces on the Hurricane Katrina aftermath and on the genocide in Darfur; CBS News “60 Minutes” for “The Duke Rape Case,” Bradley’s final piece before his death last November; “God Sleeps in Rwanda,” a Cinemax documentary; PBS’ “P.O.V.” for “The Fall of Fujimori”; “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till” on Court TV; “Being a Black Man,” washingtonpost.com; and “Crisis in Darfur Expands,” washingtonpost.com.

The Emmys are to be presented on Sept. 24 in 32 categories, including four new Emmy Awards for excellence in news and documentary programming distributed via broadband, including the Internet, cell phones, portable media players and other devices, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said.

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David Beckham Makes Deal with La Opinión

“David Beckham is giving La Opinión exclusive Spanish-language access for print and the web, the paper says. Content and photos will be in the paper tomorrow, with video on the website. La Opinión says it broke the story of Beckham’s move to the U.S. in October 2006,” according to Kevin Roderick, writing Thursday on LA Observed. Los Angeles-based La Opinión is one of the largest Spanish-language papers in the country.

“‘Allowing La Opinión access as the exclusive Spanish-language newspaper for Beckham’s first MLS appearance is a clear recognition that we are the premier source of soccer news in the United States,’ said Pedro Rojas, La Opinión Executive Editor, in the release.”

In any event, Beckham’s long-awaited major league soccer debut will likely be delayed a bit, the Associated Press reported on Friday.

“Beckham is scheduled to make his first appearance for the Los Angeles Galaxy in an exhibition Saturday night against Chelsea. But a nagging left ankle injury will probably prevent him playing he said during halftime of the Major League Soccer All-Star game outside Denver,” the AP said.

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Wanted: African American Science Writers

“For the last nine years I’ve been running the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at MIT, which is like a Nieman for specialists in science, health or the environment,” writes Boyce Rensberger, director of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at MIT in Cambridge, Mass.

“Lately I’ve gotten interested in the fact that blacks are way underrepresented in my field. We have fair numbers of African science journalists in our program but rarely an African American. I want to do something about it, which I think is going to mean growing our own. As a starting point I’m trying to identify black journalism students or recent graduates or new hires in journalism who are interested in science, health or the environment. I want to bring a small group of these people to MIT for a meeting with a few established black science journalists to brainstorm future efforts that we might undertake. At a minimum, we can set up mentoring relationships to help the new ones.”

Those interested may contact Rensbeger at boyce@mit.edu or 617-258-8249.

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