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CNN Hires Campbell Brown

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Network Silent on Fate of “Paula Zahn Now”

NBC’s Campbell Brown is joining CNN to host an evening “talk-focused” program, CNN announced on Monday, but Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S., refused to confirm speculation that Brown’s new show would replace “Paula Zahn Now.”

 

 

“We’re talking about Campbell today,” Klein said in a conference call with reporters who cover television. “We’ll talk about everybody else on another day.

“Obviously, there are only so many hours, unless we put Campbell on at 2 in the morning,” he said at another point. Zahn airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Brown joins the network from NBC News, where she served as anchor of “Weekend Today” and correspondent for “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” for whom she was also the main anchor substitute.

The National Association of Black Journalists this year is awarding CNN its “Best Practices” award, based in large part on Zahn’s show. “Skin-Deep: Racism in America”, a series of town hall meetings on Zahn’s show, discussed issues pertinent to the black community.

In December, the show went to Vidor, Texas, which was known as a “sundown town,” where blacks were in danger if they were spotted after sundown.

After that “town meeting,” Zahn announced, “In the weeks ahead on this show, we are going to broaden our discussion to look at discrimination and intolerance against other groups of people in America, against Hispanics, Muslims, Asians, gays and women. And we would welcome any input you might have into that debate.”

Asked what would happen to that initiative, Klein said during Monday’s call, “We are very committed to covering issues that just don’t get talked about much . . . that is not going to change regardless of what programs are in what time slot.”

Michael Learmonth reported in Variety on June 18:

“CNN is planning to cancel the low-rated ‘Paula Zahn Now’ and may replace it with a news show anchored by NBC’s Campbell Brown if the network can come to terms with the ‘Weekend Today’ co-anchor. CNN is planning to offer Brown a contract, and Zahn’s 8 p.m. timeslot, but NBC has an option to match the offer for Brown, whose contract expires at the end of July.

“Zahn, who came to the network from Fox News Channel in 2001, is expected to leave when her contract expires in the fall. Move would be part of a broad shakeup in early primetime, where CNN faces stiff competition from Fox News’ ‘Fox Report With Shepard Smith‘ and ‘The O’Reilly Factor.’ In addition, CNN is weighing whether to move ‘Lou Dobbs Tonight’ to a later hour and possibly to 8 p.m. if Brown’s deal falls through.”

Klein said he could not be more specific about schedule changes because there are “a lot of details to work out. A lot of moving parts in a big organization.”

Brown, who is expecting a baby in December, would start work off-air in September and on-air in November, he said.

Brown said she made the move from NBC because “I wanted the challenge. I wanted to take this chance. It was time for a change.”

Moreover, she said “my friends get their news from cable and the Internet,” and the changing media landscape was a “huge factor” in her decision to move to cable.

Brown’s pregnancy was not a problem, Klein said. “We’re in business with Campbell Brown for the long haul.”

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BET Changes Name of Its “Hot Ghetto Mess”

BET has changed the name of “Hot Ghetto Mess,” a new comedy series that reportedly scared away such companies as State Farm Insurance Cos. and the Home Depot after criticism that the show would be demeaning to African Americans.

As Andrew Wallenstein reported two weeks ago for the Hollywood Reporter, “‘Mess’ is a compilation of viewer-submitted home videos and BET-produced man-on-the-street segments that exhibit blacks in unflattering situations that typically illustrate the excesses of so-called hip-hop culture.

 

 

“Ever since word of the series’ development spread in January, ‘Mess’ has been a lightning rod for debate online largely because of the Web site on which the series is based, hotghettomess.com. The 3-year-old site, which also has spawned a DVD documentary, features hundreds of photographs of mostly black men and women with hairstyles and clothing associated with inner-city fashion.”

BET issued this statement late Monday:

“This week, BET will be launching a new series called WE GOT TO DO BETTER, a half-hour video clip show that, at its core, is pure social commentary.

“The show’s original title was HOT GHETTO MESS: WE GOT TO DO BETTER. We’ve decided to change the name because we want to highlight the show’s real intent, which is to offer social commentary in a context that sparks dialogue, debate, and most importantly, change.

“Additionally, the early misperceptions about the show and its title were diverting attention from the overall original programming strategy we’ve begun implementing at BET Networks — which is to deliver smart, creative shows that explore the full range of the Black experience. Our 2007 slate is the most ambitious and diverse aggregation of Black programming in television history, and it features a wide range of genres — from inspirational shows like EXALTED!, to animated comedy shows like BUFU, to family entertainment like SUNDAY BEST. As we move into the fall season and 2008, you’ll continue to see the increase in the quality, quantity and breadth of shows that we have to offer at BET.”

Greg Braxton of the Los Angeles Times, one of the few journalists who has actually seen the show, wrote on July 13:

“Jam Donaldson, the creator of the website and an executive producer of the show, was particularly exasperated by the outcry against ‘Hot Ghetto Mess.’

“‘Yes, the origin of the show is the website, but the show is very different,’ she said. ‘These folks are just expecting a bunch of videos of ignorant black people. That’s not what it’s about at all. We do show clips, but we put into context, saying, ‘This is not who black people are.’

“The tone of the website is far more audacious than the premiere episode, a copy of which was screened this week by The Times. The premiere episode revolves around a fairly benign mix of crude slapstick footage in the vein of ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’ and blooper shows, man-on-the-street interviews and commentary by host Charlie Murphy, a former cast member of ‘Chappelle’s Show.’ Some of the sequences feature white participants.”

Gina McCauley, creator of the protest blog Whataboutourdaughters, wrote, “we’ll be watching on Wednesday and writing down advertisers with the rest of y’all, but the WAOD rapid action BET attack force is standing down, but we remain ready to respond in the event this ends up being the train wreck I think it is.”

 

Mother Jones Fields Pale D.C. News Team

“Right after Labor Day, non-profit Mother Jones will open its new 7-person Washington, D.C. news bureau just blocks from the White House,” the muckraking, San Francisco-based publication boasts on its Web site.

“We’re bucking the trend of massive newsroom cutbacks by becoming the first U.S. media organization to open a major D.C. bureau in years. And we’re hiring some of the country’s best journalists to staff the Mother Jones Investigative Team (I-Team).’

One trend Mother Jones is not bucking was outlined three years ago in a report from Unity: Journalists of Color:

“Less than 10.5 percent of the reporters, correspondents, columnists, editors and bureau chiefs in the Washington daily newspaper press corps are journalists of color — 60 out of 574,” read the report, which named names and asked journalists of color in the bureaus what they thought.

“Few of the journalists of color in Washington newspaper bureaus believe the capital press corps does a good job in covering race-related issues. Only 13 percent say the coverage is good and none believe it is excellent or even very good,” the report continued.

None of the Mother Jones staff appears to be a journalist of color. Jay Harris, president and publisher (not to be confused with the onetime publisher of the San Jose Mercury News), did not respond to a request for comment.

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N.Y. Times Examines Giuliani’s Record on Race

“More than any other Republican running for president, Mr. Giuliani has confronted the question of race, that most torturous of American legacies,” Michael Powell wrote Sunday in the New York Times, tracing race relations under former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, front-runner for the Republican nomination for president.

“His 1993 mayoral campaign slogan, often repeated, of ‘one city, one standard,’ emphasized his view that no ethnic or racial group should expect special treatment. And he spoke with a stunning bluntness about what he saw as the failings of the city’s black leadership.

“In the years to come, Mr. Giuliani would rebuff . . . nearly every high-ranking black official in the city, even those of moderate politics: congressmen, a state comptroller, influential ministers.

“But grabbing hold of the race dial proved easier than turning it to his will.

“‘I never thought Rudy Giuliani was a racist,’ said Fran Reiter, one of Mr. Giuliani’s deputy mayors. ‘But he was obsessed with the notion there were certain groups he couldn’t win over. And he wasn’t even going to try.'”

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Vick Told Not to Report to NFL Training Camp

“NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has told quarterback Michael Vick not to report to the Falcons’ training camp this week, a possible prelude to a lengthy suspension by the league or the team,” Bob Glauber reported Monday night for Newsday.

“Goodell told Vick in a letter Monday that the league will not allow him to report until it has completed a review of last Tuesday’s indictment by a federal grand jury in Richmond, Va. Vick was cited for his alleged role in an illegal interstate dogfighting operation.

“‘While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence,’ Goodell wrote, ‘it is my responsibility as commissioner of the National Football League to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the personal conduct policy.'”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday ran a front-page piece by Alan Judd subtitled, “The coddling issue: Falcons missed chances to put their foot down as quarterback stumbled.”

“Michael Vick joined the Atlanta Falcons a month shy of his 21st birthday, a naif whom his new team would shelter from the bright lights of the big city,” it began.

“Or so the Falcons thought.

“Shielding Vick from temptation quickly gave way to protecting his image. Long before a grand jury indicted him Tuesday in a federal dogfighting case, Vick’s performance on the football field often competed for attention with his conduct outside the arena.

“But repeatedly during the past six years, Vick’s celebrity, his money and his value to his team helped insulate him from public censure for his actions.”

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In Mid-’60s, Black Schools Didn’t Make Sports Section

As part of a series on race and sports called “Blurring the Lines,” Bob Spear, sports editor of the State in Columbia, S.C., recalled this momentous occasion:

“A white reporter covered a football all-star game involving only black athletes and wrote a story for the newspaper.”

Spear wrote on Sunday, “Until then, and even for a few years afterward, the black schools hardly existed in the media’s consciousness. Yes, The State would print results from black schools’ games — if coaches called with information. But reporters did not visit the schools to write feature stories or conduct in-depth interviews with athletes.

“An advertisement listed 38 games a local radio station would broadcast in the 1964 season, and none involved black schools.

“If Jake Gaither brought his high-powered Florida A&M football team to town to play Benedict in the mid-1960s, people might notice. But attention disappeared quickly.

“Hindsight is 20/20, of course, and that stance cannot be defended realistically today. But to paraphrase Walter Cronkite, that’s the way it was.”

Spear did not list the exact date of the breakthrough: That “has been lost in the sands of time, buried in the reels of microfilm that record past editions of The State.” But, he said, “Herman Helms is the sports editor who sent the white reporter to cover a game involving black athletes to signal the start of change. He followed by hiring a reporter named Robert Anderson, who was black.”

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Richardson Praised for “Speaking Frankly” to Mexico

“Few if any leaders of sovereign nations like to be ordered or preached to by leaders of another,” wrote David Roybal, columnist for the Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal and former speechwriter for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president.

“But Richardson strikes a resonant note for the U.S. presidential campaign by pledging to ‘speak frankly to friends,’ referring in this case to Mexico’s chief executive.

“New Mexico’s governor offered frank advice to Mexican leaders while in a remote New England town.

“‘Do something for your people’: It’s the message that Richardson said he would convey as U.S. president to Mexico’s chief executive. Mexico’s leaders, he said, must be urged to provide better jobs for their citizens to go along with efforts in the United States to curb the flow of illegal immigration.

“Mexican President Felipe Calderón shows early signs of courage and promise while attacking entrenched problems of his country. Still, he is unlikely to sit quietly amid preaching from the White House.

“That’s something Richardson would deal with later. For now, by asserting that Mexico must do better by its people, he scores points with American voters who demand a curb in the flow of illegal immigration as well as with those who embrace compassion for Mexicans who risk everything for better lives,” Roybal wrote on Sunday.

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Study Finds Segregation Hinders Reading Progress

“A new study authored by Kirsten Kainz, senior research associate at the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, finds that racially segregated schools hinder progress in teaching reading skills,” according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

“Kainz’s data was taken from test results of nearly 2,000 children from low-income families in kindergarten through third grade. She found that even when variables such as the quality of instruction, gender, race, and literary activity in the home are equal, the reading skills of students in schools where blacks or other minorities make up at least 75 percent of all students are lower than those of students who attend schools where whites are at least 75 percent of all students. More than half of all black students in public schools in this country attend schools where the student body is at least 75 percent minority.”

The study was reported last week, after June’s Supreme Court’s decision invalidating school desegregation plans in Louisville, Ky., and Seattle, which continues to prompt commentary:

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