Howard Manly, executive editor of the Bay State Banner, appears on NECN’s "News Day Live" for "Bay State Banner Moments," discussing news in Boston’s black community. (VIDEO)
Recession’s First Major Casualty Among Black Papers
The Bay State Banner, the only black newspaper in Boston, laid off its 12 employees on Monday and went on hiatus, becoming the first major black-newspaper casualty of the recession.
"We just stopped printing it," Melvin B. Miller, the editor and publisher, told Journal-isms. "Every time we print it, we lose money in this economy, and I’m not going to continue to do it."
Miller said the volume of advertising "isn’t sufficient to meet our needs." He said the paper had survived through economic downturns before, "but a recession of a year and a half is pretty long."
"I’m still in the process of finding investors" that can provide the money to continue, Miller said.
Black-owned weekly newspapers have been spared some of the layoffs and filings for bankruptcy protection that have plagued the mainstream press, whose corporate owners have carried large debt burdens. By and large, community newspapers such as the Banner instead are family-owned.
For example, five newspaper companies that filed for bankruptcy protection from December through March all had debt burdens in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Editor & Publisher: Tribune Co., Star Tribune Holdings Corp., Journal Register Co., Philadelphia Newspapers LLC and Sun-Times Media Group Inc. They publish such papers as the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and New Haven (Conn.) Register.
Miller, a Boston native, founded the Banner in 1965 and said he considers it a successor to the Boston Guardian, published in the early 20th century by the legendary activist William Monroe Trotter, a co-founder of the Niagara Movement, precursor of the NAACP.
Miller has been an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, a founding partner in the law firm of Fitche, Miller and Tourse, and was vice president and general counsel of WHDH-TV, Boston’s CBS affiliate, from 1982 to 1993.
He can take unpredictable positions. In an upcoming editorial that will be published online, he said he will scold for not studying sufficiently would-be black firefighters in New Haven, Conn., who failed to score high enough on a city test. White firefighters claimed discrimination and successfully took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court after the city scrapped the test.
Robin Washington, news director of the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune, worked at the Banner from 1993 to 1996. The paper "keeps them honest," he said of the city’s dailies, the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, and he listed a number of former Banner employees, such as PBS’ Gwen Ifill and Columbia University journalism professor June Cross. "If we asked each of the esteemed alumni to write a piece for the Web site, we could keep it going for 20 years," Washington told Journal-isms.
The shutdown of the Banner is another media blow for the black community, following Radio One’s 2006 sale¬†of WILD-FM, which was considered a strong African American voice.
"Boston is not a very big place," Miller said. "It’s only 21st in size and there’s business inside the community, but it’s not black-owned business." Much of the weekly’s advertising came from outside Boston, he said.
The Banner had a free circulation of 34,000, he said, which was far too low. "We have to make people understand. I don’t think we appreciate the importance of the media . . . in our fight for equality. Wait until somebody gets in trouble, the first place they call is the Banner," he said. Asked whether the black community could have done more to help the publication, he replied, "They could have been willing to buy the paper."¬† Was the Banner producing what readers wanted?¬† He told of how he used to buy a black paper that had little else to recommend it. When asked why he did so, Miller said he would reply, "It’s never going to get better if we don’t buy it."¬†
Miller soon turns 75, and "reading the death notices started making me nervous," he said. "I’m not sure I can run the Banner from the grave. And then the recession hit. I’m not going to degrade the quality. That’s not going to be my epitaph."
- Richard Prince with Mimi Valdes Ryan and Ken Smikle with Michel Martin on "Tell Me More," National Public Radio: ‘VIBE’ Magazine Folds, Other Ethnic Media At Risk (July 7)
2,500 Press Credentials Approved for Jackson Service
Meanwhile, "the world capital of make-believe braced for what could be the biggest, most spectacular celebrity send-off of all time," in the words¬†of the Associated Press’s Jesse Washington.
Members of the press, arriving from around the world, were allocated a ring of seats closest to the stage. Decisions on who received credentials for the 90-minute service were made on a case-by-case basis, the employee said.
Dan Wanlass, managing editor of the Los Angeles Wave newspapers, which target the black community, told Journal-isms his reporter, Olu Alemeru, was approved, but his photographer was not. He was instead urged to use the work of pool photographers.
"Due to the large numbers that plan to cover, and who will be credentialed for the public memorial service for Michael Jackson, there is a potential for overcrowding in the media compound areas," according to the Media Staging Plan issued for Staples Center.
"Only those members of the media who are critical should be present during the actual memorial service. It is strongly encouraged that support staff who are not essential to coverage during the actual memorial service be outside of the media compound working areas. Los Angeles Fire Department Inspectors will be in the media staging and working compound areas and will be strictly enforcing fire code regulations."
"Ecstatic fans who won the lottery for seats at Tuesday’s all-star memorial received the tickets and spangly wristbands that will get them into the 20,000-seat Staples Center downtown," Washington wrote. "The family announced the participants will include Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III."
"More than 1.6 million people registered for free tickets to the 10 a.m. memorial, which will be broadcast live worldwide. A total of 8,750 people were chosen to receive two tickets each. The lucky ones picked up their passes Monday at Dodger Stadium amid heavy police presence."
BET became the latest to announce its schedule of Jackson coverage, which includes telecasting the memorial service and special programming throughout the day.
Meredith Artley, managing editor for the Los Angeles Times online, wrote¬† that the Times’ Jackson coverage contributed to a healthy June there.
"Our strong, swift coverage of major events in the past month attracted a record-breaking 26 million unique users to our site. That’s up 50% over June 2008. Those 26 million users generated more than 155 million page views, 30% growth over last year. Visits from our local audience grew 30% over this time last year, a good sign that more of our immediate community is turning to us for local news as well as stories in our backyard that have a national or global impact." 
- Editorial, Broadcasting & Cable: The Media in the Mirror
- Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times: Michael Jackson, the bookworm
- Kelefa Sanneh, the New Yorker: Michael Jackson
Bobbi Bowman of ASNE Wins Ida B. Wells Award
Bobbi Bowman, diversity director of the American Society of News Editors, has been named the 2009 recipient of the Ida B. Wells Award, presented to a media executive who has demonstrated a commitment to diversifying newsrooms and improving the coverage of people and communities of color.
"During her decade-long stint at ASNE, Ms. Bowman, an expert in census and demographic trends, has organized, analyzed and distributed the organization’s annual employment survey, an industry headcount that charts how well (or poorly) ASNE’s member publications are doing on the diversity front," a statement said.
"Though the results of the survey are often less than encouraging, Ms. Bowman has used those findings to spur the organization and its members to stay the course on diversity. In addition, she has organized ASNE’s regional job fairs in an effort to promote greater diversity.
"Her involvement with students and other young journalists, as well as her leadership in developing workshops and mentoring programs, have made her an invaluable resource to countless budding journalists and the industry as a whole.
"The Wells jury felt quite strongly that Ms. Bowman’s record of distinguished service to a cause that too often gets short shrift during the current media maelstrom deserves this long-overdue recognition."
Bowman is to receive the award at the NABJ’s convention in Tampa, Fla., Aug. 5-9. She stepped down on June 30 from the full-time diversity director’s position, but retains the title as a consultant to the organization. She also writes for the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.
Journalists Accompany Ousted Honduran President
"As the ousted Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, headed by plane toward Honduras Sunday evening, huge crowds of supporters thronged the airport here awaiting his return, soldiers and riot police fired tear gas to try to disperse them, and the interim government vowed to prevent him from landing," Marc Lacey and Ginger Thompson reported Sunday for the New York Times, in a story datelined Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital.
"Adding to the drama, Mr. Zelaya was giving interviews from the air as he approached Central America. ‘No one can obligate me to turn around,’ he told Telesur, a Venezuelan network that had reporters on the plane. ‘The constitution prohibits expelling Hondurans from the country. I am returning with all of my constitutional guarantees.’‚Äù
The episode shone a spotlight on the leftist Venezuelan network.
"Scenes from the coup in Honduras have been broadcast around the world, an editor wrote on Friday, promoting a story¬†by Dan Grech for American Public Radio’s "Marketplace." "But increasingly the story out of the Central American nation is censorship. The military government has detained reporters, stormed TV stations and taken broadcasts off the air. Still, one news outlet has distinguished itself with its coverage: Telesur, a network financed by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and his allies."
Marcelo Ballve, an editor at the New America Media news service in California, said of Telesur, "its newscasts can still be seen across Latin America. And Telesur videos have become the buzz on social media sites like Twitter and You Tube. Before Telesur, you had CNN in Spanish, BBC in Spanish, but you didn’t have a home-grown regional cable news channel."
As it turned out, Zelaya did not land in Honduras. "After several failed attempts to touch down at Tegucigalpa airport, where military vehicles were placed on the runway, the plane eventually flew to Nicaragua, where Mr Zelaya met President Daniel Ortega," as the BBC reported.
"The deposed Honduran leader went on to El Salvador where he was due to meet the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador and Paraguay and the head of the Organization of American States (OAS)."
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Nikolas Kozloff, voltairenet.org: Latin America’s Media Battle Continues: Spinning the Honduran Coup
Yelena Khanga became one of the few black faces regularly seen on Russian television.
For Russian Blacks, Obama Visit Stirs Special Interest
"The visit to Russia by Barack Obama, the first black man to be elected president of the United States, is significant for many Russians.
"But for Russians of African descent, in particular, the new U.S. leader is a potent symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome," Kevin O’Flynn reported¬†Monday from Moscow for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
"Yelena Khanga is one of Russia’s best-known black citizens. The popular host of a top-rated 1990s chat show about sex ‚Äî ‘Pro Eto,’ (About That) ‚Äî she became one of the few black faces regularly seen on Russian television.
"Khanga’s grandparents came to the Soviet Union in the 1920s to escape the racism they had endured in the United States as a mixed-race couple.
"Today, Khanga says Obama’s election to the American presidency, and his current visit to Moscow, have special meaning for her.
"”He did what my grandmother and grandfather dreamed about in their day,’ Khanga says. ‘They couldn’t even have dreamed that, one day, America would have a black president. The only dreams that they had ‚Äî my grandmother was white, and my grandfather was black ‚Äî was that Americans would someday allow mixed couples to live in peace, have children, and let the children have decent lives. That is what they dreamed about.’"
Khanga visited the U.S. in 1987 as a staff writer for the Moscow News and spent three months as a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor. She returned in 1991 as a Warren Weaver Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation in Manhattan, and was a guest of the National Association of Black Journalists at its annual convention.
- David Bauder, Associated Press: Obama And Nets: A Symbiotic Relationship
- Michael Calderone, Politico: Obama coverage pays for networks
- Greg Sargent blog: The Press Corps Versus The White House, Part Two
"Latino Equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize" Announced
"Two $10,000 awards will be presented by the Philadelphia-based AL DIA Foundation to recognize the best Print and Digital Journalism in America about Latino issues," the group announced Jan. 23 at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists convedntion in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 
"The ‘F?©lix Varela Awards’ for excellence in journalism on Latino issues have gone mainstream. In addition to the prestigious national prize for Spanish-language print journalism, this year‚Äôs competition includes a new category for Spanish and English-language digital journalists writing news stories or blogs about Latino issues for any news website."
The award program is hosted by the AL DIA Foundation at Temple University’s Department of Journalism.
‚Äú’These awards are the Latino equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize,’ said Zita Arocha, professor of multi-media Journalism at the University of Texas at El Paso and director of the multimedia, bilingual website for College journalists, borderzine.com. ‘They honor and recognize the value of solid journalism about Latino issues that are radically transforming the landscape of our country.’‚Äù
"Hern?°n Guaracao, publisher and founder of Al Dia News in Philadelphia, and Chairman of the AL DIA Foundation, said: ‘Journalism in America is not in crisis; it is in a vital transition. The many untold stories of America‚Äôs largest ethnic group must be part of this new era of great journalism in the 21st Century in the US.’‚Äù
Activist Ex-Broadcaster to Become Memphis Mayor
Political future aside, Lowery has already secured his place in journalism history. After the Columbia program, Lowery returned to Memphis as WMC’s first full-time African-American reporter.
"Two years later he became weekend anchor and in 1976 began producing ‘Minority Report,’ an urban issues program on which he interviewed celebrities such as author Alex Haley, entertainers Eartha Kitt, Prince, Rick James and the Jackson 5, as well as numbers of local newsmakers," the Commercial Appeal wrote.
"Despite his success, Lowery sued the station in 1981 alleging he was paid less than white employees and that he was bypassed for promotions.
"In 1987, U.S. District Judge Odell Horton called WMC’s actions ‘reprehensible,’ and awarded Lowery $274,120. WMC planned to appeal but then settled to terms that included improved affirmative action programs at Channel 5 and 13 other radio and TV stations owned by then-parent company Scripps Howard Broadcasting.
"The six-year case included a public trial in which colleagues testified that Lowery didn’t measure up and tended to stray from news department rules. Still, Lowery has no regrets.
"’That settlement was beneficial to this entire community,’ Lowery said, holding a law book that cites the case as a legal precedent. ‘They’re reading about me in law schools all over the country. It’s a classic case about how not to discriminate in broadcast journalism.’
"After WMC, Lowery went into private business and worked for a time as press secretary for then-Congressman Harold Ford Sr. before landing at FedEx Corp., where he rose to manager of corporate relations and eventually filed another discrimination suit."
Michelle Obama, center, with President Obama Monday at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the Kremlin. (Credit: Chuck Kennedy/White House)
NABJ Leader Blasts Piece on Black Women, First Lady
Barbara Ciara, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, has added her voice to those critical of a Washington Post piece last week by Howard Kurtz on black female reporters covering first lady Michelle Obama.
“In his column, Howard Kurtz embellishes comments from black journalists and misguidedly argues that the First Lady is receiving special treatment," she said. "He intentionally blurs the line between what the journalists expressed as personal opinions, and what they write in stories as professionals.
“Kurtz gives example after example of good journalism — reporters who capture the mood and opinion of the public — and insinuates they are treating Michelle Obama with kid gloves.”
“The fact is that the First Lady has not made a blatant misstep in her short time in the White House that would call for critical coverage. But, Kurtz cannot allow that simple fact to pass, he has to invent a story where one does not exist and it is shameful that the Washington Post would allow this to pass.
“Kurtz’s column is woefully lacking in good, hard evidence of subjective journalism and his sample set is skewed to beef up his weak argument.”
“Nobody said that it was subjective for white journalists to cover George W. Bush or for women to cover Hillary Clinton as a candidate. It is unfair to raise a false issue about the coverage of Michelle Obama. If this is a content issue, where are the specific examples to support his claim?”
Short Takes:
- "Where can I find a list of media blogs, websites, etc., that are being created by black, Hispanic and Asian journalists in the wake of all of these media cuts?" Journal-isms reader Sharon Payne asks. Let’s create one. If you have one or know of one, send the link to rprince (at) maynardije.org.
- Marc Spears, who joined the Boston Globe Sports Department from the Denver Post, is joining Yahoo! Sports as a national NBA reporter, Gregory Lee, senior assistant sports editor, told Globe colleagues on Monday. "In the two years he has been at the Globe, Marc chronicled the Celtics’ return to glory and covered the Summer Games in Beijing. The Globe will miss Spears’s ability to break stories via his strong relationships with players and executives," Lee said of Spears, 37.
- Solomon Jones, who began his writing career in 1993 from a homeless shelter, has entered into a development deal with NBC’s Peacock Productions, NBC announced on Monday. "While penning articles for the Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Magazine, he worked his way through college as a doorman," NBC said. He became a novelist, a senior staffer in Philadelphia City Council, and a spokesman for Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa. Jones teaches creative writing at his alma mater, Temple University.
- The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, at the University of Texas at Austin, is offering Mexican journalists a free online course in Spanish, ‚ÄúCovering Drug Trafficking.‚Äù The course takes place from Aug. 3 to Aug. 30, is co-sponsored by the Mexico City-based Center for Journalism and Public Ethics and is taught by Colombian journalist ?Ålvaro Sierra. Fifty journalists from 12 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean participated when the course was offered for the first time in April.
- "Gambia’s High Court jailed six journalists today who were charged with sedition and criminal defamation. One of the seven journalists, a mother of a young child, was re-arrested but then freed on bail," according to reports, the Committee to Protect Journalists said¬†on Sunday.
- Isma‚Äôil Kushkush, a Sudanese journalist, "found himself surrounded and nearly beaten to death by ‘Shabab’ ‚Äî young men ‚Äî in a Darfur displaced persons camp," an editor for Black Agenda Report wrote¬†June 30 in introducing a piece by Kushkush. "The mob shouted, ‘Criminal! Janjaweed!’ Some may simply have hated journalists. ‘I’ve been told that many IDPs in Darfur believe that journalists are "banking" on their cause.’ But it is also true that ‘banditry and thuggery have become components of life in unstable Darfur with the absence of stable work.’‚Äù