Maynard Institute archives

Jackson to Head Inquirer Opinion Pages

by richard0459

Pulitzer Winner Was an NABJ Journalist of Year

Harold Jackson, deputy editorial page editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, will become editorial page editor, overseeing the opinion pages, the newspaper announced on Wednesday.

 

 

Jackson, who was the National Association of Black Journalists’ Journalist of the Year in 1991, becomes one of less than a dozen African American editorial page editors at mainstream newspapers.

Jackson, 54, who succeeds Chris Satullo, became deputy editor of the editorial page in 2004, after coordinating the newspaper’s zoned daily commentary and Sunday Voices pages.

He has been with the Inquirer since 1999, and served a previous stint in the mid-1980s.

“Jackson has also been an editorial writer at the Baltimore Sun and the Birmingham (Ala.) News. There, in 1991, he and two colleagues won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing for a series on changing Alabama’s tax system. He also worked for United Press International and the Birmingham Post-Herald in Alabama,” the Inquirer noted in 2004.

Jackson told Journal-isms, “the newspaper has to be described as liberal in its philosophy and the readers should not be expecting that to change.”

The Inquirer was generally supportive of Mayor John Street and endorsed former councilman Michael Nutter in the Democratic primary as Street’s successor. Both are black, as were Nutter’s opponents. “As an African American, I’m supportive of all African American politicians, as long as they are doing the right thing,” Jackson said. The paper was critical of a so-called “pay-to-play” culture during Street’s administration.

Philadelphia has attracted attention for a burgeoning homicide rate that on Sunday reached a total of 288 for the year. Jackson said the editorial page had responded with a long-running anti-violence series and called for reduced access to guns.

“What I’ve been pushing for is prison reform,” Jackson said. “Nearly 80 percent of the homicide victims and 80 percent of the assailants have prison records.” In prison, he said, he favors drug treatment and education, and outside, making it easier for ex-offenders to be hired, though the paper has not yet taken a position on the best method to accomplish that.

In his latest column, published Tuesday, Jackson found himself reflecting on Alabama Gov. George Wallace, whom he had to greet as part of his job in 1972.

“By the summer of 1972, I was totally into black power,” Jackson wrote. “My mind had been Afrocentrically shaped while in the Upward Bound program for high school students at black Miles College. Later, I became a leader in the black student union at mostly white Baker University in Kansas.”

Remembering Wallace led him to reflect on the Jena Six case in Louisiana, where in December six black teenagers were charged with attempted murder “for allegedly beating up a white student who suffered only minor injuries in a fight.” Charges for two have been reduced to aggravated-second degree battery and a third has been convicted of aggravated second degree battery.

“It’s hard to believe that 30 years after I couldn’t make myself shake George Wallace’s hand, there are still places in America where people can’t even stand under a tree without being threatened because of their skin color,” Jackson wrote.

“My children are grown. When they were little, I prayed the world would be much changed by the time they became adults. It has changed, but not enough. Discrimination lives. There are hearts and minds yet to be conquered.”

Other African Americans heading editorial boards include Otis Sanford at the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Joe Oglesby at the Miami Herald, Cynthia Tucker at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Robin Washington at the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune, Vanessa Gallman at the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, James F. Lawrence at the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y., Lovell Beaulieu of the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American and Allen Johnson of the Greensboro (N.C) News & Record.

The Inquirer becomes the second-largest U.S. newspaper with an African American editorial page editor. It ranked 20th in circulation in 2006. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ranked 18th and the Miami Herald, 27th, though the Inquirer’s Sunday circulation tops that of both those papers.

“This is a wonderful and deeply gratifying example of virtue rewarded,” Satullo said in the Inquirer story, speaking of Jackson’s appointment. “Harold’s an excellent journalist, but he’s an even better person.”

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Michel Martin’s “Tell Me More” Adds D.C., Detroit

 

 

When Michel Martin, the former correspondent for ABC-TV’s “Nightline,” debuted her new radio talk show, “Tell Me More,” in May, the largest of the 20 National Public Radio stations carrying it were in Houston, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Norfolk, Va.

But come Sept. 17, the show, produced in association with the African American Public Radio Consortium, adds Washington and Detroit, bringing the total to 31, according to Anna Christopher of NPR.

It will air Monday through Thursday at 2 p.m. on WAMU in Washington and 1 p.m. Monday through Friday on WDET in Detroit, in both cases bumping BBC programming.

“WAMU Program Director Mark McDonald and I were asked very early on (about 2 years ago), to be ‘mentors’ (among other stations) to the development of a vehicle for Michel Martin at NPR,” Caryn Mathes, general manager of Washington’s WAMU-FM, told Journal-isms. “We’ve paid attention to how the program pilot developed and to the show, now that it has launched nationally.

“We very much like how it is developing and believe it will add much-needed fresh and broadened perspective to our service.

“As a major station and being in the highly-visible nation’s capital, we feel an obligation to aid development of new program content for the public radio system.”

In Detroit, “Tell Me More” was “a program they had been considering since its inception,” spokesman Kevin Piotrowski said of executives there.

Martin was mentored by two other successful women public-radio hosts as she launched “Tell Me More,” Diane Rehm of the long-running “Diane Rehm Show,” based at WAMU, and Terri Gross, of the popular “Fresh Air,” based at WHYY in Philadelphia. “I reached out to her and she reached back,” Martin said of Gross. She “let me shadow her and the show and has listened and given feedback.”

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Coverage of Louisiana’s “Jena Six” Case Increases

Coverage of the so-called “Jena Six” case in Louisiana has increased since Barbara Ciara, new president of the National Association of Black Journalists, last week urged the news media to pay more attention.

As NABJ explained then, “In December 2006, six black students at Jena High School were charged with attempted second-degree murder for allegedly assaulting a white student who taunted them with racial slurs. In a previous incident, three nooses were found hung on school property. On June 28, one of the black students was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery. He now faces a maximum sentence of 22 years in prison. Five other defendants were indicted in the case and will go to trial later this month.”

On Tuesday night, CNN Correspondent Susan Roesgen filed a report on the “Jena Six” case starting with the story of Mychal Bell, the 16-year-old star running back who was arrested along with five other teens. Appearing on CNN earlier in the day were Tina Jones, mother of Bryant Purvis; Jordan Flaherty, editor, of Left Turn Magazine; George Tucker, attorney for Theo Shaw as well as Shaw himself. Purvis and Shaw are Bell’s co-defendants.

At least two national radio talk show hosts, Michael Baisden and Reuben Armstrong, plan to be in Jena on Sept. 20, when Bell is to be sentenced. The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has a syndicated radio show and has already spoken in Jena, has said he would return. A march is planned.

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Obama Platform Said to Home In on Black Concerns

The editor and publisher of the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, a 10-year-old periodical that frequently analyzes educational statistics about African Americans, has compared the platforms of the two leading Democratic presidential contenders and concluded that Barack “Obama offers a concrete program for black America. Hillary Clinton offers none.”

Theodore Cross writes, “It is true that Senator Clinton’s campaign speeches include expressions of support for the plight of poor blacks. But it is her formal political platform that tells the story. The words ‘black’ or ‘minority’ never enter the text of her official program for America. Given Hillary Clinton’s well-known progressive views on social and racial issues, one would have expected to find key words in her platform such as ‘inner-city schools,’ ‘reduction of poverty,’ ‘revitalizing America’s cities,’ ‘increased access to job training,’ and ‘support of Head Start programs for youngsters from low-income families.’

“One would have expected too that Senator Clinton’s platform would address such issues as community development programs for inner cities, increased support for minority college students, support for black farmers, programs to create capital and encourage entrepreneurship in black communities, and tougher penalties for hate crimes. Yet all of the standard campaign promises that a liberal Democrat typically offers to blacks are completely absent from her announced program.

“Now let’s turn to the platform of Senator Obama,” Cross writes. “His campaign Web site, published on the Internet for all to see, bears down hard on all of the major issues of concern to blacks. These include fighting poverty, improving our schools, voting rights and election reform. Unlike Clinton, he outlines a comprehensive program to reduce poverty, revitalize America’s urban areas, and empower black Americans.

“Obama has put a lot on the table, maybe too much. Nevertheless, announced here on the Obama Web site is an elaborate and unqualified proposal to use presidential power to deal with some of the most severe problems of African Americans and other minorities. There are no politically expedient bows to the hardships of America’s white middle class. In his declaration of a concrete program for blacks and others who have had a difficult time, there is no doublespeak or ambiguous language. Senator Obama deals with racial issues head on. He enters the arena of race with his six-shooters blazing.”

Meanwhile, Matthew Mosk reported in the Washington Post that Oprah Winfrey is in discussions with Obama’s advisers “about playing a broader role in the campaign — possibly as a surrogate on the stump or an outspoken advocate — or simply bringing her branding magic to benefit his White House bid.”

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U.S. Plans in Africa Called One of “Censored Stories”

“President Jimmy Carter was the first to draw a clear line between America’s foreign policy and its concurrent ‘vital interest’ in oil, Amanda Witherell wrote Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

“During his 1980 State of the Union address, he said, ‘An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.’

“Under what became the Carter Doctrine, an outpost of the Pentagon, called the United States Central Command, or CENTCOM, was established to ensure the uninterrupted flow of that slick ‘vital interest.’

“The United States is now constructing a similar permanent base in Africa, an area traditionally patrolled by more remote commands in Europe and the Pacific. No details have been released about exactly what AFRICOM’s operations and responsibilities will be or where troops will be located, though government spokespeople have vaguely stated that the mission is to establish order and keep peace for volatile governments — that just happen to be in oil-rich areas.”

The AFRICOM story ranked third on Project Censored’s list of the “Top 25 Censored Stories of 2008.” Project Censored is a media research group at Sonoma State University in California.

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What About White Collar “No-Snitching” Codes?

Commenting on the “no-snitching” cartoon in the Florida Times-Union last month that created controversy in its representation of the “no-snitching” culture in the ‘hood, David Honig, executive director of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, which advocates for minority broadcast ownership, makes this observation:

 

 

“An aspect of the ‘stop snitching’ editorial cartoon that some might overlook: Many of the proscriptions on witnesses coming forward with evidence useful in court, and much of the coercion against bringing litigation, are initiated by employers in order to avoid accountability for civil rights (especially EEO) lawbreaking.

“One of the most prominent categories of Title VII violations every year is retaliation against those alleging discrimination or coming forward with evidence of discrimination. Congress included an anti-retaliation provision in Title VII because Congress understood the problem to be analogous to witness intimidation.

“A victim of discrimination may know of or be complaining of misconduct that also affects other employees, so he or she is a witness as to those employees. Further, Congress recognized that retaliation implicates the petition clause of the First Amendment. This kind of practice is at least as common and no less harmful to society than the habit of some street criminals of intimidating witnesses to their crimes. Yet it’s easier for columnists and cartoonists to focus on ‘stop snitching’ when it involves street crime rather than when it involves white collar crime and, especially, civil rights violations visited on the striving, achieving, and law-abiding family members of those depicted in these cartoons.”

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Bay Area Journalists to Honor Leslie Guevarra

“Top Bay Area journalists and Filipino community members are gathering Sept. 14 in San Francisco to fete Leslie Guevarra, a veteran newswoman who was among the nearly 100 people who left the San Francisco Chronicle in recent months as the paper cut almost a quarter of its newsroom staff,” L.A. Chung, a columnist at the San Jose Mercury News and a 1980 graduate of the Summer Program for Minority Journalists, told Journal-isms.

 

 

“As a deputy managing editor and one of the Chronicle’s masthead editors, Guevarra was the top-ranking woman of color in the newsroom. Her more than 25 years in the newspaper business have included work as a reporter and editor, host of the public affairs program ‘The Filipino American Journal’ on KTSF-TV, a podcaster for the San Francisco Chronicle’s ‘Pinoy Pod’ and a senior newsroom manager. She received the Filipinas Magazine Achievement Award in Communications in 2003 and has been a staunch advocate for diversity in the news media. She is a founding member of the Asian American Journalists Association’s San Francisco Chapter in 1985, its second chapter following the 1981 formation of the organization in Los Angeles.

“The host committee includes many of the Bay Area’s prominent journalists and diversity advocates in the industry. Among them are broadcast journalists Jan Yanehiro, David Louie of ABC7 KGO-TV, Lloyd LaCuesta of KTVU, Odette Alcazaren-Keeley of New America Media, News Director Rose Shirinian of KTSF-TV, columnist L.A. Chung of the Mercury News, Filipinas magazine publisher Greg Macabenta, the magazine’s founder Mona Lisa Yuchengco and Benny Evangelista of the Chronicle.”

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Short Takes

  • The Howard University newspaper, the Hilltop, has created an ombudsman position, most likely the first newspaper at a historically black university — and one of the few at any college — to do so. “The past few years we have gotten a lot of criticism for our lack of community/personal coverage, so we want to get our community involved more in how we produce the newspaper,” Editor-in-Chief Drew Costley told Journal-isms. “An ombudsman was a simple way to bring professionalism and legitimacy (by mimicking professional newspapers) to our newspaper while attaining this goal.” Janelle Jolley, who will hold the position, made the announcement in an Aug. 27 column outlining plans for the semester.
  • W. Curtis Riddle, president and publisher of the News Journal in Wilmington, Del., will assume responsibility for the Gannett Co.’s Atlantic Group, which includes the Gannett community newspapers in New Jersey and New England, Gannett announced on Aug. 29. Riddle is senior group president of Gannett’s East Newspaper Group, which includes community newspaper operations in Delaware, Maryland, New York and Ohio.
  • Tiki Barber’s twin brother, Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber, said of the former NFL running back’s new career as a journalist for NBC’s “Today” show: “To this day — and he’s only been (on “Today”) since April — I have not seen him nail anything yet that I would give him credit for. Even if he did, I probably wouldn’t tell him. I don’t want to be the guy that’s tellin’ him that he’s made it, ’cause then you lose interest and I don’t want him to do that.” Ronde Barber was quoted Wednesday in a story on his brother’s new life by Janice Rhosalle Littlejohn for the Associated Press.
  • Geraldo Rivera, “who as a fledgling lawyer in the ’70s counseled the Puerto Rican nationalist group the Young Lords, says he can’t stomach the politicians and pundits who are stoking ‘anti-immigrant hysteria,’ and his antipathy extends to some of his colleagues at Fox,” Mark Shanahan wrote Saturday in the Boston Globe. “‘Michelle Malkin is the most vile, hateful commentator I’ve ever met in my life,’ he says. ‘She actually believes that neighbors should start snitching out neighbors, and we should be deporting people. It’s good she’s in D.C. and I’m in New York,’ Rivera sneers. ‘I’d spit on her if I saw her.'”
  • Michael Lewellen, former head of corporate communications for Black Entertainment Television, has been appointed vice president, public relations, for Universal Orlando Resort and will join the company Sept. 17, the resort announced on Wednesday.
  • Kevin Blackistone, formerly of the Dallas Morning News, where he was a reporter and sports columnist from 1986 to 2006, is doing a Saturday morning show on XM satellite radio with Scott Jackson. “Morning Tailgate” airs from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Blackistone is also a regular panelist on ESPN’s “Around the Horn.”
  • “Rapidly emerging as the professional face of hip hop journalism, Hip Hop Journalism Association has announced the 2007 HHJA Conference and Convention in Miami, Fl; October 19-20,” the ThugLifeArmy.com Web site reported on Tuesday.
  • Roger Witherspoon, contributing editor of U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology, is one of the few journalists of color on the program at the Society of Environmental Journalists conference at Stanford University. It began Wednesday and continues through Sunday.
  • “Journalists in trouble for allegedly ‘insulting’ their heads of state are getting help from all corners of the world,” according to Eric Green, writing Friday for the State Department. “Many countries still use ‘insult laws,’ even though international judicial bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have ruled that these laws are in direct violation of the fundamental right to free speech and a free press.”
  • “The criminal slander conviction of an Argentine radio journalist is alarming and should be overturned on appeal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Monday’s ruling, by a judge in northwestern Salta province, also bars commentator Sergio Poma from working for one year,” the Committee said on Tuesday. Poma received a one-year suspended prison sentence on a criminal slander complaint brought by the local governor, according to local news reports and CPJ interviews.
  • “Sweden’s prime minister said Tuesday he was sorry if Muslims were offended by a cartoon depicting Prophet Muhammad as a dog but stressed that freedom of expression was an ‘inalienable’ right in Sweden,” Agence France-Presse reported on Tuesday.
  • “The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today wrote to President Joao Bernardo Vieira of Guinea Bissau urging him to put an end to the harassment of journalists reporting on drug trafficking,” the Brussels-based federation said on Wednesday. “We are dismayed that one reporter who interpreted for ITN News, a British television station investigating drug trafficking, has been charged with libel after the head of the navy filed a complaint against him,” wrote Gabriel Baglo, director of the federation’s Africa office. “Threats against another reporter who has written about the drug trade have pushed him into hiding.”
  • In Somalia, “a prominent press freedom activist and freelance journalist was forced into hiding on Monday after gunmen went looking for him at his office in the war-torn capital Mogadishu, according to the National Union of Somali Journalists,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Tuesday. “Ali Moallim Isak, Organizing Secretary of the union and a correspondent of Baidoa-based private Radio Warsan, received several threatening phone calls that day ordering him to stop speaking out against attacks on journalists or be killed.”

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