Imus’ New Boss Keeps NABJ on Hold

Sharpton Says Citadel Should Meet With Journalists

Don Imus‘ apparent new employer, Citadel Broadcasting, has been keeping the National Association of Black Journalists waiting since early last week on the association’s request for “dialogue” over Citadel’s reported plans to put Imus back on the air in seven weeks.

If a small sampling of advertisers by Journal-isms is any indication, businesses that had a problem with Imus after he made his infamous comment calling the Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy headed ho’s” are not willing to commit one way or the other on taking part in a new Imus show.

“It’s hard for us to speculate about this time,” said Cindy Bigelow, president of Bigelow Tea, which advertised on the old Imus radio show.

“We will take a wait-and-see approach,” said a spokeswoman for Procter and Gamble, which advertised on the MSNBC simulcast of the old show.

Others simply did not respond to the question.

News stories about a possible Imus return picked up after Matt Drudge’s online Drudge Report said on Monday that Imus had signed a deal to take over mornings on Citadel’s News/Talk WABC New York starting Dec. 3. Drudge cited “top sources.”

“We’ll have him on a standard 40-second delay,” Drudge said the source told him. “Don is rested, humbled, and ready for war!”

The Rev. Al Sharpton went on NBC’s “Today” show on Tuesday and was asked by co-host Meredith Vieira:

“Has he been punished enough? Does he have a right to come back?”

“SHARPTON: I think we have to see where the arrangements with Citadel are in terms of contracts, in terms of how there would be a safeguard against his continuing a pattern in his career.

“VIEIRA: What do you mean, ‘we have to see’? You want to be part of that negotiation?

“SHARPTON: No, I think National Association of Black Journalists, who was the group of blacks in broadcast and print — are the ones that got my group, National Action Network, and others involved. They’ve asked to meet with Citadel. We’ll see if that meeting occurs. I think that he insulted not only this basketball team, he insulted all women and all blacks. And I don’t think any broadcaster can put a timetable on somebody else’s insult level. I think that it’s clear, if they are sincere . . .

“VIEIRA: But you’re putting a timetable, aren’t you?

“SHARPTON: No, I haven’t put any timetable. We’ve always said he had a right to work, but the question is whether we have a right to say we’re insulted and tell advertisers don’t spend our money supporting people that offend us.

“VIEIRA: So if Citadel did not meet with these black journalists, are you saying you would recommend that the advertisers boycott the radio show?

“SHARPTON: If they don’t meet, we can only assume that they have a reason not to be forthcoming and that they are different than the broadcasters that stood up and said, `Wait a minute, we’re not going to misuse our advertisers’ dollars or our airwaves.’ Why wouldn’t they meet? If Mr. Imus was sincere when he said several months ago he was sorry, this is wrong, then why wouldn’t it be forthcoming? They should be asking for the meeting if they were sincere.”

NABJ President Barbara Ciara, asked what NABJ wanted to meet about, told Journal-isms, “First of all we are not demanding anything, we would like to have a meeting with Farid Suleman,” chairman of Citadel, “to better understand his position and to have him better understand why many organizations including NABJ are alarmed about the premature return of Imus to the airwaves.”

But, she said, “I have asked our communications director Kristin Palmer to make multiple calls a day to Citadel Broadcasting since early last week, no response. She is still calling.

“I’ve even asked an associate of Farid Suleman to reach out to him to request dialogue. I received one call from his associate saying he was interested in talking, and I haven’t [heard] anything since.”

On Monday, the Women’s Coalition for Dignity and Diversity in Media, which said it represents more than 11 million women across the country from diverse racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds, expressed “grave concern” about an Imus return.

Another group, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, said, “After his reprehensible statements about the Rutgers women’s basketball team, preceded by so many other offensive statements, we are disappointed that any reputable media outlet — particularly one that uses the public airwaves — would consider signing Mr. Imus.”

Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, said NOW “implored” Citadel “to reconsider offering a contract to Mr. Imus and instead to add a progressive female voice to your lineup, preferably a woman of color. There are so many engaging and experienced women in radio, and we would be happy to suggest names of potential hosts.”

“The notion that he paid the price is a joke,” Latifa Lyles, membership vice president for NOW, told Jackie Jones of BlackAmericaWeb.com. “A six-month vacation, $10 million (in the lawsuit settlement) and a new contract — we don’t consider this punishment at all.”

Imus’ return to radio, she said, “is such a clear marker of a bigger problem. About 15 percent of radio personalities are women. It’s not that women are only 15 percent of the population or that women don’t listen to radio. What is that about? We really have to bring to light there is a problem here.”

Meanwhile, Eric Deggans, media critic at the St. Petersburg Times, appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes” to discuss Imus. He wrote on his blog Tuesday, “I need a shower.

“I knew it was going to be an argument, but I hadn’t watched these knuckleheads in action for awhile. I wound up talking over both of them to make my points while they called me a hypocrite and National Organization for Women representative Sonia Ossorio looked a little tongue tied. (I found it interesting that Hannity compares Imus, who has shown mostly contempt for black culture in his jokes, to Chris Rock, who clearly loves black culture and black people, simply because Rock curses more than Imus.) We argued, I said my piece, no one changed their mind — in the end, I contributed to the argument culture I hate so much on cable TV.”

Peter Lauria and Samuel Goldsmith reported in the New York Post that sources told them Imus will be getting between $5 million and $8 million for his return to the New York airwaves.

Jacques Steinberg reported in the New York Times on Wednesday that Imus was “is in serious discussions with an unlikely partner to simulcast his radio show on television. It is RFD-TV, a satellite and cable channel aimed primarily at farming and other rural communities.”

Michael Learmonth reported Monday in Variety that “it appears that Imus may be readying a media tour to help rehabilitate his image and prospects. Matt Drudge reported Tuesday that Imus would sit down with ABC’s Barbara Walters for an interview.”

ABC News spokesman Jeffrey W. Schneider told Journal-isms that the network does not comment on its bookings.

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Glamour Playing Defense Over Hair Remarks

Glamour magazine is busy doing damage control over unauthorized comments by a staff member who told a group of lawyers that Afros were unacceptable as a hairstyle in the workplace.

As Anne Marie Dorning reported a week ago for ABCNews.com:

“In June, then-associate editor Ashley Baker spoke to a group of about 40 lawyers at the offices of Cleary Gottlieb in Manhattan. The idea was that Baker would offer the ‘dos and don’ts’ of corporate fashion, so far so good. But, when Baker got to a slide showing a black woman sporting an Afro, it read ‘Just say no to the ‘fro.’ Outrage ensued.

“‘African-American women who chose to wear their natural hair have been stigmatized over the years,’ said Venus Opal Reese, assistant professor of Aesthetics and Cultural Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. And that’s why Baker’s statement touched a nerve.

“In the firestorm that followed, Baker was forced to resign. Glamour’s web site sports a front-page response from editor Cindi Leive that reads, in part ‘Glamour did not, does not, and would never endorse the comments made; we are a magazine that believes in the beauty of all women.'”

The story of those remarks has taken on a life of its own. On Wednesday, DiversityInc. posted a story by Yoji Cole, “Is Natural Black Hair a Glamour ‘Don’t’?”

The media trajectory began Aug. 27 in the American Lawyer. In September, Desiree Cooper of the Detroit Free Press did a story, “A Glamour Don’t,” for National Public Radio’s “Weekend America.” AOL Black Voices did its own piece. The Web site jezebel.com wrote a story http://jezebel.com/gossip/your-roots-are-showing/glamour-editor-to-lady-lawyers-being-black-is-kinda-a-corporate-dont-289268.phpheadlined, “Your Roots Are Showing: ‘Glamour’ Editor to Lady Lawyers: Being Black Is Kinda a Corporate Don’t.”

It migrated to the Page Six gossip column in the New York Post on Oct. 8, when Leive was said to have become “outraged” and “furious” at Baker after having read American Lawyer. Then, Baker gave her side of the story to Jezebel.com.

Now, in addition to directing all who inquire to the “Letter from the Editor” on its Web site, Glamour plans a roundtable on “women, race and beauty” in November, which will be covered in the magazine.

Leive, who is also president of the American Society of Magazine Editors and is said by a spokeswoman to have a “culturally diverse” staff, wrote, “This incident was treated very seriously by Glamour management, and the staffer has since resigned. We’ve extended a full apology to the law firm she addressed, and I extend the same apology to all of you.”

On DiversityInc. on Wednesday, Cole gave Leive, if not corporate America, a pass. “The apologies are commendable,” she wrote. “But still, the incident reveals the subtle but pervasive prejudice women executives of color and black-women executives in particular face daily. It’s that subtle racism that forces black-female executives to straighten their hairâ??hoping that straight hair will soften objections to their racial heritage.”

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Neal Scarbrough, Editor of AOL Sports, Laid Off

Neal Scarbrough, who as general manager and editor of AOL Sports is one of the highest-ranking African Americans in the mainstream online world, was among the 2,000 employees laid off by AOL on Tuesday.

I “want to let you know I am A-OK. The phone has been ringing and something great will happen soon. If not, I’ll be able to feed my family for months and months and months to come,” he told members of the Sports Task Force of the National Association of Black Journalists on Tuesday.

Scarbrough, 45, came to AOL from ESPN, where he had been ESPN’s vice president and news editor and spent time as the editor-in-chief of ESPN.com. He told Journal-isms he did not know what he would to do next, but “at the end of the day, I want to stay in the sports area. I’m not sure I want to stop chasing the dream of creating an African American news and sports site.”

As Saul Hansell reported in the New York Times on Tuesday, AOL said “it would eliminate 2,000 of its 10,000 jobs as it continues its move away from the Internet access business.

“The cutbacks are part of a plan by Randy Falco, who took over as AOL’s chief executive last year, to reorganize the company. The new focus is on advertising-supported Web sites and, even more, on selling advertising on behalf of other companies. AOL said last month that it would move its headquarters to New York from Dulles, Va.”

It noted that after the latest round of cuts, AOL will have fewer than half of the 18,000 employees it had at the time of its 2000 merger with Time Warner.

Also leaving are at least three other people of color in Scarbrough’s department, Marissa Silvera, a sports producer; Rama Mandadi, who was in business development; and Elliot Thompson, a designer.

Chief among Scarbrough’s accomplishments were establishing the FanHouse, which he had described as “a blogger network featuring a lead blogger for each of 32 NFL teams and 40 College Football teams,” and signing such columnists as Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star, Kevin Blackistone, formerly of the Dallas Morning News, and Marc J. Spears of the Boston Globe. Whitlock left in August for FoxSports.com, but “because of him, it now means something to be a columnist at AOL Sports,” Scarbrough said.

Among the African Americans in the online world at mainstream outlets are Christian A. Hendricks, vice president, interactive media at the McClatchy Co., who is a board member of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education; Sherry Howard, executive editor of the online news desk at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ju-Don Roberts, managing editor at washingtonpost.com and Rob King, editor-in-chief of ESPN.com.

The picture for African Americans in the fastest-growing portion of the news business is not as constricted as that short list might indicate. “Every week I find out about somebody else. Every day you turn around, more and more people are doing a great job,” Scarbrough told Journal-isms.

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San Antonio Paper Seeks to Trim 40-50 Jobs

The San Antonio Express-News has set a goal “to reduce between 40 and 50 positions through a combination of incentives and a hiring freeze. If we don’t reach the necessary level of cost savings we face possible job eliminations or layoffs,” Publisher Tom Stephenson told employees on Wednesday.

His note did not specify how many cuts would be in the newsroom, where according to the latest census by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, 27.6 percent of the professionals are Hispanic. Nor did a story in Thursday’s paper.

[He told Journal-isms on Thursday, “The buyouts will affect the newsroom. It’s not going to affect it disproportionate to the rest of the company.” A lot depends on how many sign up for the buyout.]

“The incentive offer for either the early retirement or voluntary termination option is two weeks pay per year of service to a maximum of one year’s pay, and continuation in the medical plan for up to six months,” the publisher’s note continued.

“. . . We are fortunate to serve a growing community, one that includes hundreds of thousands of newspaper readers and a fast-growing web audience. Unfortunately, our industry is experiencing a period of disruptive change that requires us to reduce costs through this period of transition and position ourselves for growth in the coming years,” Stephenson wrote.

Editor Robert Rivard referred questions to the publisher.

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House Passes Shield Law, Could Override Veto

“For the first time ever, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation that will protect journalists from being compelled to testify or reveal sources in court,” Matthew Pollack reported Tuesday for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

“The shield law grants a qualified privilege to reporters to prevent them, in most cases, from being compelled to testify or to identify sources to federal investigators.

“The bill, which passed on a 398-21 vote, provides for a number of exceptions though, including circumstances where disclosure is necessary to prevent [an] act of terrorism or imminent death or significant bodily harm, where disclosure is necessary to identify a person who has released some categories of private business and medical information, and where the reporter witnesses criminal or tortious conduct.

“. . . The overwhelming support of the bill could indicate that the House is prepared to override the potential presidential veto. If the president were to veto the bill, Congress could overcome the veto with a two-thirds majority vote in favor of the bill.

“The Senate judiciary committee passed a similar bill earlier this month, though the bill has not yet received floor time.”

Among the more than 50 media organizations supporting the bill was Unity: Journalists of Color, the coalition of the black, Hispanic, Asian American and Native American journalist organizations.

• Amy Gahran, Poynter Institute: Proposed Federal Shield Law: Who Would It Really Cover?

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Journalists Group Seeks Added Protections in Iraq

The International Federation of Journalists called on the international community “to take special action to confront the human tragedy in Iraq where the killings of journalists and media staff have reached ‘shocking proportions that can no longer be ignored,'” the organization said on Tuesday.

“The IFJ was responding to the latest killings of five media workers in Iraq and the increasing frustration of Iraqi journalists who feel that their suffering is not being taken seriously by major players on the international media scene.

“The IFJ says it is working with the Iraqi Journalists’ Syndicate (IJS) and the Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate (KJS) to try to create self-defence mechanisms inside Iraq where a total of 234 media workers have been killed since the invasion in 2003.”

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Media Accused of Glossing Over Sanchez Criticism

Coverage of Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez’s speech last week to the Military Reporters and Editors’ annual conference is being criticized for glossing over Sanchez’ main target — the news media.

“Today General Ricardo Sanchez gave a speech to the Military Reporters and Editors’ annual conference, in which he criticized just about everyone associated with our effort in Iraq. The Washington Post’s headline was typical: ‘Former Iraq Commander Faults Bush,'” the blog Powerline said said on Friday.

It quoted from Sanchez’s speech, in which he cited some of the ways he had been described in print, such as “dictatorial and somewhat dense.”

“In some cases I have never even met you, yet you feel qualified to make character judgments that are communicated to the world. My experience is not unique and we can find other examples such as the treatment of Secretary [Michael] Brown during Katrina. This is the worst display of journalism imaginable by those of us that are bound by a strict value system of selfless service, honor and integrity.

“Almost invariably, my perception is that the sensationalistic value of these assessments is what provided the edge that you seek for self-aggrandizement or to advance your individual quest of getting on the front page with your stories!

“As I understand it, your measure of worth is how many front-page stories you have written, and unfortunately, some of you will compromise your integrity and display questionable ethics as you seek to keep America informed.”

On the Columbia Journalism Review Web site, Gal Beckerman wrote Monday, “Now, there are many reasons to question Sanchez’s credibility. It’s not unusual to wonder if he’s just trying to exculpate himself from his own role in the war’s early debacles, including the unforgettable Abu Ghraib scandal. But David S. Cloud’s front-page account in The New York Times this Saturday had such an air of cynicism about Sanchez’s remarks that it was hard to seriously examine their content.”

Recalling that Cloud went on National Public Radio on Saturday to discuss Sanchez’s talk, Beckerman said, “Cloud’s remarks left me with two questions. First, why didn’t he include any mention in his article of the press criticism made by Sanchez? It’s not even peripherally mentioned in Cloud’s piece. Granted it may have been the same old points that are made again and again, but if it constituted half of what the general had to say, shouldn’t it at least be included in a report on his speech?

“But the more pressing question is this: Was Sanchez’s criticism so ‘bruising’ that Cloud felt a bit of animosity towards him?”

Gene A. Davis, Broadcasting Executive, Dies at 68

“Broadcasting exec Gene A. Davis died of pancreatic cancer Aug. 28 in New York. He was 68,” Variety reported on Oct. 11.

“While working in TV promotions, Davis created the tagline, ‘You give us 22 minutes. . . . we’ll you give the world.’

“A memorial benefit will be held Oct. 27 in New York, to provide for a scholarship at the Harlem School of the Arts. For information, contact Debbie Taylor, (201)541-0666 email at taylorgrand@aol.com.

“Davis started his career in sales promotion and segued into TV as a writer, producer and director of documentaries.

“He created a series of documentaries including ‘African American Men,’ ‘The African American Family’ and ‘African American Women’ and the recent ‘Images & Realities, African American Children.’

“He also established a library of music docus for international broadcast including ‘You Gotta Pay The Band, The Words, The Music, The Life of Abbey Lincoln,’ ‘Shirley Horn Sings and Plays: Here’s To Life’ and ‘From New York To Paris, Starring Queen Esther Marrow and The Harlem Gospel Singers.’

“For A&E’s ‘Biography,’ he created programs on Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney and Dizzy Gillespie.

“Among the other shows he produced were ‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes, The Ninety Year History of The NAACP,’ ‘The Powerful History Of Black Humor’ and ‘AIDS AT 21, The Specter Of An Epidemic.'”

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Short Takes

• Eritrea replaced North Korea in last place in an index measuring the level of press freedom in 169 countries throughout the world published for the sixth year by Reporters Without Borders. The United States ranked 48th.
• “Until a retraction and suitable apology is printed in your paper, the reporters for the Examiner will now suffer for your miscalculation and will be denied access” to former Washington mayor Marion Barry, now a City Council member, Barry’s chief of staff, Keith Andrew Perry, wrote on Tuesday to Harry Jaffe, a columnist for the Washington Examiner and co-author of “Dream City,” a 1994 book on Barry’s mayoral tenure. The Wonkette Web site said Perry objected to a column Jaffe wrote about jewelry stolen in a burglary at Barry’s home.
• “The removal of an anonymous opinion column in the Cherokee One Feather has sparked a heated freedom of speech debate among Cherokee leaders,” Jennifer Garlesky reported in the Oct. 17 edition of North Carolina’s Smoky Mountain News. “On Oct. 10 the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council made a decision to uphold Principal Chief Michell Hicks executive order calling for the removal of the ‘Rants and Raves’ section from the tribal-owned newspaper. . . . Some said the section should be banned because of its slanderous nature, while others argued that its removal is a limit on freedom of speech. Others speculated the chief wanted it removed because the section often contained criticism of him and his administration.”

• Veronica De La Cruz, most recently a news anchor for CNN.com, has joined CNN’s flagship morning news program, “American Morning,” as an Internet correspondent, beginning Thursday, CNN announced on Wednesday. “Based in New York, De La Cruz will report on the hottest news from online sources and blogs and guide viewers through the most popular and essential stories from CNN.com and i-Reports, the network’s user-generated content initiative.”
• The National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Parity Project is broadening its scope with a multicultural approach, launching the program at the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., on Oct. 30, the NAHJ announced. It is working with the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals to hold a town hall meeting between community leaders of color and the people who run the newspaper.
• “Effective Oct. 22, there will no longer be a National/Foreign Department” at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Bob Norman wrote Tuesday on his blog for the Broward/Palm Beach (Fla.) New Times.
• “Today” anchors will embark on a grueling trek to extreme destinations: Matt Lauer will travel to the top of the globe, the Arctic; Ann Curry will travel to the bottom of the globe, Antarctica, Al Roker will travel to the Equator, and Meredith Vieira will connect the global dots from “Today’s” home base in New York, where she will take a look at how global issues at these locations are affecting people across the United States, NBC announced on Tuesday. NBC Universal’s “Green Is Universal” initiative begins Nov. 5 and continues through Nov. 9.
• “Caucasian Media Conference Inspires Debates on Professional Standards” may not be what you think. It’s the headline over a story about the fourth annual South Caucasus Media Conference in Tbilisi, Georgia.
• Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons, a lifelong Republican and aide to New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller in the 1970s, gave $1,500 to John McCain’s presidential campaign, the Huffington Post reported.
• Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., continuing his appearances this week on television and radio shows hosted by African Americans, will be a guest on the “Tavis Smiley Show” on PBS on Thursday, his presidential campaign announced.
• Human Nature, “a cultural magazine edited for 18-34 year old ethnic minorities,” was launched Tuesday at www.humannaturemag.com, according to Christopher Windham, its publisher and executive editor. “Human Nature sorts through today’s news, lifestyle trends and business matters to deliver valuable, customized content to its readers — African

• Americans, Latinos, Asians and Arab Americans,” an announcement said. Windham is a former Wall Street Journal medical reporter who has also been an assistant vice president at JPMorgan Chase Bank.
• A one-hour documentary on the life of Memphis photographer Ernest Withers, who died Monday night, is planned for release in September 2008, filmmaker St. Clair Bourne announced in an e-mail. “Filming began last February 2007 during Withers’ appearance at the National Black Fine Arts Show in New York,” he wrote. “We also did a two-day in-depth interview in which he described his life as a family man, Memphis native, former police officer as well as stories he covered during his 60-year career as a freelance photojournalist. Principal photography was completed in August in Memphis as he received an award from Mayor Willie Herenton on Withers’ 85th birthday.”
• With the Cleveland Indians within a game of the World Series, BlackAthlete.net is reposting a 2005 column by Gary Norris Gary on Indian mascots, “Change The Names Please!!!”
• In El Salvador, police arrested José Alfredo Hernàndez last Thursday on suspicion of fatally shooting independent radio journalist Salvador Sànchez on Sept. 20, Reporters Without Borders reported on Tuesday. “Hernàndez is a member of the ‘mara salvatrucha,’ a very violent youth gang whose activities Sànchez had covered,” it said.
• In Senegal, “A story describing purported late-night outings involving President Abdoulaye Wade led authorities in the capital, Dakar, to arrest a journalist last week, according to local journalists and news reports. A reporter involved in the story is wanted by police and has gone into hiding,” according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.