’08 Campaign Teams Inch Toward Greater Diversity
The nation’s news media appear to be inching toward greater diversity in their campaign coverage teams as the Iowa caucuses take place Thursday and the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire presidential primary follows on Tuesday.
Nearly all of the major news organizations contacted by Journal-isms on Wednesday could cite at least one journalist of color who would be part of the coverage — braving that little matter of the weather.
“I’m in New Hampshire and it’s God awful cold here, but not as cold as Iowa,” Wendell Goler of Fox News told Journal-isms. “I’m covering Giuliani and McCain, neither of whom is doing very well in Iowa. Giuliani will actually be in Miami on Caucus night and I wish I was going with him.”
Goler’s references were to Republican candidates Rudolph Giuliani, the former New York mayor, and Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
A year ago, the National Association of Black Journalists called on all major news organizations “to assure that the diversity of America is reflected in their coverage teams,” noting that nearly one-third of Americans are people of color. NABJ recalled that a 2004 study conducted by Unity: Journalists of Color and the University of Maryland found that “only one in 10 writers, editors and bureau chiefs in the Washington daily newspaper press corps are journalists of color.”
Since then, newsrooms have cut back on staff and emphasized local coverage, making diversifying national coverage more challenging.
Here is how news organizations responded when asked about the diversity of their campaign coverage teams:
ABC News: Ron Claiborne is covering the McCain campaign and will co-anchor the weekend “Good Morning America” from New Hampshire, spokeswoman Cathie Levine said. She also named these “off-air reporters”: Raelyn Johnson, covering/traveling with the campaign of Democrat John Edwards, former senator from North Carolina; Sarah Amos, with the campaign of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat; Donna Hunter, the campaign of Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.; Christine Byun, Republican Fred Thompson, former Tennessee senator. Audrey Taylor, a field producer, is assigned to the Edwards campaign.
Associated Press: “On the national campaign trail, we have had 13 reporters involved in the Iowa and New Hampshire coverage. Three are minorities and 7 are women,” said Paul D. Colford, director of media relations. “We’ve had eight photographers involved in the coverage. In Iowa, three of them are minorities. In New Hampshire, two are minorities, one is a woman.” Colford said the AP would not identify the journalists by name.
Boston Globe: No response.
CBS News: “More than 10 percent of our reporters and producers are minorities,” said spokeswoman Kelli Edwards. They include on-air black journalists Bill Whitaker and Byron Pitts, and Kelly Cobiella, who is Hispanic.
Chicago Tribune: “We’re doing well, but it’s never good enough,” Michael Tackett, Washington bureau chief, told Journal-isms. As did others, he said the Tribune was doing well on gender diversity. ?As with some other newspapers, Tribune reporters are covering events away from the campaign buses. On Wednesday, for example, the paper carried a story by Monique Garcia, a Latina, “Border security arouses Corn Belt; Iowa sees 2 sides to illegal immigration.” On Dec. 9, the paper ran “Romney a hard sell for evangelicals” by Dahleen Glanton, a black journalist who reported from Savannah, Ga., and Margaret Ramirez, a religion reporter who is Latina, from Chicago. In September, Ray Quintanilla covered the Univision-televised Democratic candidates debate in Miami. Online, “The Swamp,” a Washington bureau blog started by the bureau’s Frank James, also covers politics. It was among the winners of Editor and Publisher’s 2007 EPpy Awards for interactive media, as “best media-affiliated news blog.”
CNN: Its list of anchors and reporters for Jan. 3 will largely hold true for Jan. 8 and Feb. 5, when more than 20 states hold primaries and caucuses, spokeswoman Mara Gassmann said. The list includes Soledad O’Brien, CNN anchor and special correspondent; Chris Lawrence, correspondent; Dan Lothian, Boston bureau chief; Joe Johns, correspondent; Suzanne Malveaux, White House correspondent; and CNN.com anchor Reggie Aqui, co-anchoring from Atlanta. The network will also feature political contributors Donna Brazile and Amy Holmes, who regularly appears on Anderson Cooper 360, she said. Roland S. Martin will be among those providing commentary.
Dallas Morning News: Gromer Jeffers Jr., Dallas-based political writer and a black journalist, is one of two News reporters in Iowa, Mark Edgar, deputy managing editor for news, told Journal-isms. Two additional reporters are in New Hampshire. The News is covering the campaign from a local prism using its beat reporters, on such subjects as the minority vote, the Hispanic vote and health care. ?”We can’t cover the waterfront; we’ve made decisions based on thematic coverage,” he said. Moreover, local reporters have covered the candidates as they came to Texas. “We remain a stomping grounds for candidates looking for money,” said Edgar, who taught at the Maynard Institute’s Summer Program for Minority Journalists in 1987 and 1988.
Fox News Channel: “FNC’s Chief White House Correspondent, Wendell Goler, will have a large presence at both political events,” a spokeswoman said.
Gannett News Service: No response.
Los Angeles Times: “Basically, we have data on people of color for the newsroom, but not by specific editorial projects or assignments,” spokesman Stephan Pechdimaldji said. [Added Jan. 3]
McClatchy Newspapers: Robert Rankin, government and politics editor, said, “William Douglas, African-American, is covering the Giuliani campaign for McClatchy and is anchoring [the] zone in New Hampshire this week pre-Iowa voting, covering all activity there in feeds to round-ups. He is one of five McClatchy Washington bureau national reporters covering the campaign fulltime and the only African-American. (20%.)”
National Public Radio: NPR News plans to produce eight live consecutive hours of Iowa Caucus coverage on Thursday. Audie Cornish will be in New Hampshire, one of nine NPR reporters filing from the two states. “NPR’s plans are shaping up and as in past years and elections, we will certainly continue to have diversity among the journalists in our coverage plans for the races and issues,” spokeswoman Andi Sporkin said. Juan Williams reported on Tuesday from Iowa. Michele Norris will be one of the three moderators of NPR’s Republican debate in South Carolina on Jan 16. Michel Martin will be contributing to the New Hampshire coverage and “News & Notes” and/or its host, Farai Chideya, will also be in South Carolina, Sporkin said.
NBC News: “In addition to our regular team of on-air anchors and correspondents, NBC News has Ron Allen and Kevin Corke reporting from Iowa and NH for the network and MSNBC. Diversity is well represented amongst our campaign teams behind the scenes as well,” spokeswoman Lauren Kapp said.
New York Times: “We have not done a great job on racial diversity when it comes to our political staff. It’s a source of concern to us, and an issue that we will continue to address,” Richard Stevenson, deputy Washington bureau chief at the New York Times, said. The Washington bureau chief is Dean Baquet, the National Association of Black Journalists’ “Journalist of the Year” for 2007. Spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said, “Of the 14 reporters covering the presidential campaign, there are three people of color (including one woman). There are four other women assigned to cover the campaign.” Michael Luo, an Asian American journalist, has been covering Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. [She later named Susan Saulny and Randy Archibald, and said Jim Wilson, a photographer, is also covering the campaign.]
USA Today: Catalina Camia, a former president of Unity: Journalists of Color and the Asian American Journalists Association, is the political editor. Fredreka Schouten, a black journalist, covers campaign finance and money and politics as part of a six-person team, according to Ed Foster-Simeon, deputy managing editor for news.
Washington Post: “Off the top of my head,” Bill Hamilton, the assistant managing editor who oversees political coverage, named Perry Bacon Jr., a black journalist assigned to cover Republican candidates who has written extensively about issues in both parties; Krissah Williams, another African American journalist, whose assignment is to cover voters; and Jose Antonio Vargas, a Filipino American who is covering the Internet campaign and new technology. Kevin Merida and Robin Givhan, African American journalists who write for the Style section, contributed to the Post’s recent candidate profiles, and Sridhar Pappu, an Indian American, is also covering politics for Style, Hamilton said.
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BET to Air Interviews With Obama, Clinton
Black Entertainment Television has scheduled two half-hour specials, “What’s In It for Us,” in which BET News correspondent Jeff Johnson separately interviews Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., the network announced on Wednesday.
“What’s In It for Us: Barack Obama and the Black Vote,” airs next Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time; with the Clinton interview following on Jan. 15 at the same time.
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: Pitch Perfect for Iowa?: Edwards Finds That Rage Can Resonate
Mary Sanchez, Kansas City Star: Huckabee campaign bus doesn’t brake for undocumented immigrants
Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com: Barack Obama, Too Nice? John Edwards’ New Tactic Underscores the Ever-Present Double Standard
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Services Set for Tom Morgan, Terry Armour
Services have been scheduled for Thomas Morgan III, the former president of the National Association of Black Journalists who died on Christmas Eve, and Terry Armour, the Chicago Tribune columnist whose death Dec. 28 after falling ill at work stunned the newsroom.
Morgan, who was 56, will be honored at the new New York Times building at 242 W. 41st St., New York, at 2 p.m. on Jan. 19, his partner, Thomas Ciano, said. He urged friends and colleagues to e-mail short remembrances of Morgan, who worked at the Times, the Washington Post and the Miami Herald, to him at the address in this link. They may also send photographs, which will be projected on a screen during the service. Ciano also requested no flowers, but said that donations may be sent to Gay Men’s Health Crisis or the Times’ Thomas Morgan Internships in Graphics, Design and Photography.
For Armour, who was 46, services are scheduled for the A.A. Rayner Funeral Home, 318 East 71st St., Chicago. Visitation takes place Thursday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., with the funeral on Friday at 11 a.m.
James Warren, the Tribune’s managing editor for features, told Journal-isms that the newspaper planned a full-fledged memorial service “a month or so down the road,” as many who might attend this week’s funeral are out of town for the holiday season.
As previously reported, a memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. on Jan. 25 at New York’s Riverside Church in honor of pioneer documentary filmmaker St. Clair Bourne, who died Dec. 15 at age 64.
“Despite his accomplishments, Saint’s financial circumstances were difficult and many of you have asked how you can contribute to this event. Contributions should be made payable to Judith L. Bourne with a note in the memo line for the St. Clair Bourne Memorial and mailed to Saint’s long time accountant and friend: Barry Kornblum, Pomerantz and Company, 245 Fifth Avenue, Ste. 2203, New York, NY 10016,” read an e-mail sent to Bourne’s friends and colleagues on Wednesday.
“Judy Bourne is also working on establishing a fund or other not-for-profit entity to continue some of Saint’s mentoring and community nurturing activities.”
A memorial service is scheduled for Deborah Tang, who founded the news division of Black Entertainment Television, on 1 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Howard University Law School chapel on Van Ness Street in Washington. Tang died on Christmas Day at age 60.
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Journalism Groups Denounce Kenya Over Ban
Journalism groups are denouncing a ban on live broadcasts by the government of Kenya in the wake of violence shaking the nation after its disputed presidential election.
In the United States, Eyobong Ita of the Kansas City Star, president of the National Association of African Journalists, said on Tuesday, “We do not condone irresponsible journalism by any medium, but a ban on live broadcasts could lead to more chaos with people feeding off rumors. The Kenyan government should not sacrifice any arm of the media over a crisis it could have prevented.”
“NAAJ is deeply concerned that the [Mwai] Kibaki government has developed a pattern of intimidation against the Kenyan media.”
The international group Reporters Without Borders said on Monday, “The news blackout could result in the streets being ruled by rumour and disinformation. This decision is therefore counter-productive, inasmuch as it constitutes a de facto ban on all news programmes, it imposes a climate of intimidation and plunges the country into confusion. We call on the government to talk to media executives and editors and to let them work freely so that the public is properly informed.
“Most of the broadcast media suspended all their news programmes, effectively plunging Kenya into a news blackout. Local broadcast journalists said they were afraid the police could raid their stations and order them to close. One privately-owned station, Kiss FM, is continuing to broadcast a phone-in programme. Two TV journalists with privately-owned K24 were attacked by protesters while covering demonstrations yesterday.”
Katie Nguyen, Reuters: ‘Save Our Beloved Country’, cry Kenya’s media [Jan. 3]
Samuel Otieno and Morton Saulo, East African Standard, Nairobi: Ministers, Media Clash Over Lack [of] Evidence [Jan. 3]
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Cincinnati Post Folds; to Keep Remnant Online
“The Post newspapers printed their final editions Monday, ending a 126-year run. However, the final editions also carried some news — their parent company will keep a remnant alive in the form of a Kentucky-oriented online site,” Dan Sewell reported Monday for the Associated Press.
” ‘-30-‘, a symbol traditionally used by journalists, printers and telegraphers to signal the end of a dispatch, proclaimed the front-page headline in the last Cincinnati and Kentucky newspaper editions.”
Editor Mike Philipps told Journal-isms in July that two journalists of color, Victoria Sun, a sports reporter who is Asian American, and Melvin Grier, a photographer who is African American, would be affected.
Hollis Towns, executive editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, said the two were not working at the Enquirer.
[Grier told Journal-isms on Jan. 4, “I retired after 33 years of working for the smallest in circulation, but still best newspaper in Cincinnati.”]
Cincinnati Enquirer special section
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“Back in the Day” Makes List of Overused Phrases
” ‘BLANK’ is the new ‘BLANK’,” “back in the day” and “Black Friday” as a name for the day after Thanksgiving are among the 19 words or phrases that appear on Lake Superior State University’s annual List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness.
The school in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula released its 33rd list Monday, selecting from about 2,000 nominations, Jeff Karoub wrote Monday for the Associated Press.
“Back in the day, we used ‘back-in-the-day’ to mean something really historical. Now you hear ridiculous statements such as ‘Back in the day, people used Blackberries without Blue Tooth,’ ” Liz Jameson of Tallahassee, Fla., said.
“This one might’ve already made the list back in the day, which was a Wednesday, I think,” Tim Bradley of Los Angeles added.
“Among this year’s picks are ‘surge,’ the term for the troop buildup in Iraq. ‘Give me the old days, when it referenced storms and electrical power,’ Michael Raczko of Swanton, Ohio, said in nominating the word.
“The list also included ‘waterboarding,’ ‘perfect storm,’ ‘under the bus’ and ‘organic.’ Also: ‘It is what it is,’ which Jeffrey Skrenes of St. Paul, Minn., said ‘accomplishes the dual feat of adding nothing to the conversation while also being phonetically and thematically redundant.’
“Sadly for grammar’s guardians, the lighthearted list isn’t binding, as evidenced by the continued use of past banned words and phrases such as ‘erectile dysfunction,’ ‘i-anything’ and ‘awesome.'”
Editorial, Los Angeles Times: How cliche
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Short Takes
“President Bush yesterday signed a bill aimed at giving the public and the media greater access to information about what the government is doing. The new law toughens the Freedom of Information Act, the first such makeover to the signature public-access law in a decade,” the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
“Landmark Communications Inc., parent of The Virginian-Pilot, has hired national investment firms to explore selling the Norfolk-based company, including The Pilot,” Bill Choyke and Philip Walzer reported in Thursday’s editions. Their story said the JPMorgan investment bank is advising Landmark on the sale of The Weather Channel, one of its largest properties, and Lehman Brothers is advising the company on the sale of its other media assets, quoting Richard F. Barry III, Landmark vice chairman. [Added Jan. 3]
About 90 percent of murders of journalists go entirely or partly unpunished, according to a report Wednesday from Reporters Without Borders, which also said the number of journalists killed has risen 244 percent in five years. At least 86 journalists were killed around the world in 2007, the group reported.
“From 1989 to the end of 1991, while I worked the night shift covering the D.C. police and crime beat, I was an active crack addict and alcoholic. My use was not recreational. I was not a dilettante,” Ruben Castaneda wrote Sunday in the Washington Post Magazine. “To feed my addiction, I routinely ventured into some of the same drug-plagued neighborhoods where I covered nighttime murders and nonfatal shootings — violence that was usually fueled, directly or otherwise, by the crack trade.”
“ImpreMedia, the No.1 Hispanic news and information company in the U.S. in online and print has acquired Rumbo, the No.1 Spanish-language newspaper network in Texas,” the company announced on Dec. 21.
“The editorial board of the Dallas Morning News named the illegal immigrant as its Texan of the Year in the newspaper’s Sunday, Dec. 30 editions,” Della de Lafuente reported on Monday in Marketing y Medios. “In recognizing the undocumented immigrant as the state’s citizen of the year, the editorial board of the Dallas Morning News said it distinguishes the ‘myriad, profound ways in which this group of people impacts Texas — from the economy to politics to the most basic sense of culture.'”
“One of the risks the NFL Network faced by having CBS and NBC simulcast the Patriots-Giants game Saturday night was the exposure to a wider world it would give Bryant Gumbel, the channel’s play-by-play announcer,” Richard Sandomir wrote Monday in the New York Times. “He doesn’t see the field well, which leads him to be imprecise (or wrong) about yardage gained on a play or the yard line. More often than not, he will not even try to provide the yardage. His imprecision leads him to fall back on ambiguities like ‘the ball is inside the 10’ or ‘way short of the first-down marker,’ phrases that more experienced announcers only occasionally use. Gumbel uses them as crutches.”
David V. Crisostomo has been named managing editor of the Pacific Daily News, the Guam paper reported on Dec. 24. Crisostomo, 31, was previously assistant managing editor and replaces former executive editor Rindraty Celes Limtiaco, who in August was named the newspaper’s publisher and president.
As the editor and publisher of Mi Gente Spanish-language newspaper, Rafael Prieto disregards many traditional journalistic principles and fully advocates for legalization of illegal immigrants, Franco Ordonez wrote Sunday in the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer. Prieto, who was honored by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in September, “has also been outspoken about problems within the Latino community. . . . He dedicates a page each week to DWI problems within the community. And he once published large pictures of the 21 Most Wanted Latinos for homicide in Mecklenburg County.”
First prize in the European Union’s “For Diversity. Against Discrimination” Journalist Award was awarded to a Portuguese journalist writing about the discrimination faced by migrant workers in the Netherlands, the newspaper Nieusbank reported on Dec. 18. The winning article looks at discrimination in the labor market particularly from the point of view of Portuguese and Polish migrant workers in the Netherlands.
“An AFP photographer had his elbow broken by a plain-clothes Egyptian policeman on Saturday while trying to take pictures of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner out jogging,” Agence France-Presse reported on Saturday.