Gates’ theRoot.com, Gets Ugly Comments
"It was probably inevitable that in the furor over the arrest of the Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., some people would resort publicly to the ugly racial slurs that have largely disappeared from polite conversation," Richard P?©rez-Pe?±a wrote¬†Monday in the New York Times.
"But it is hard to imagine a more incongruous place for such comments than The Root, an online magazine of politics and culture largely by and for black people, where Mr. Gates is editor in chief.
"Yet there they were last week, in comments on an interview with Dr. Gates, who was arrested at his home in Cambridge, Mass., on a disorderly conduct charge that was quickly dropped.
"A few commenters used grotesque racial epithets, others crudely parodied black speech, and some proudly called themselves racist. One used the screen name of James Earl Ray, the man who killed Martin Luther King Jr.
"Those probably should have been removed, said Terence W. Samuel, deputy editor of The Root, but he added that worse comments had been taken down."
Samuel told Journal-isms, "We’ve have been having these exact kinds of conversations on The Root for a year and a half. Almost the same intensity, though not at the same volume.
"Any flashpoint conversation about race is a difficult, and often, disturbing one. We keep talking past the flashpoints and have gotten our readers, both black and white, talking about race with a level of civility and sophistication that I think is still evident on the site, even now with all the attention on the Gates event.
"Ugliness in racial dialogue is nothing new, and it not surprising to us at The Root. We are the embodiment, however, [of] how much better things are than they used to be, and how much better it can be for the country. As ugly as some of these comments are, we are watching a collision of the benefits of modernity both technological and racial. None of this is possible without the internet, and all of it matters much less if we did not live in a time when Skip Gates could be a prominent professor at Harvard and be friends with the President of the United States who, as it turns out, has something to say about this because he’s black.
Asked about the accuracy of the Times’ headline describing the Root as a "site for black readers," Samuel said, "This is a site by and about black people, but it is for everyone."
http://common.onset.freedom.com/images/copyrighted.gif Jomar Dionisio Falu-Vives image: http://common.onset.freedom.com/images/copyrighted.gif Caption: Anthony Marquez Caption: http://common.onset.freedom.com/images/copyrighted.gif Rodolfo Torres-Gandarilla http://www3.gazette.com/audio/eastridge/index.html Caption: Kenneth Eastridge
Paper Reports on Troops Who Kept Killing at Home
"Before the murders started, Anthony Marquez‘s mom dialed his sergeant at Fort Carson to warn that her son was poised to kill," Dave Phillips began¬† Friday in a series for the Colorado Springs Gazette.
It was February 2006, and the 21-year-old soldier had not been the same since being wounded and coming home from Iraq eight months before. He had violent outbursts and thrashing nightmares. He was devouring pain pills and drinking too much. He always packed a gun.
"(A word of caution about the language and content of this story: Please see Editor’s Note)
‘It was a dangerous combination. I told them he was a walking time bomb,’ said his mother, Teresa Hernandez.
"His sergeant told her there was nothing he could do. Then, she said, he started taunting her son, saying things like, ‘Your mommy called. She says you are going crazy.’
"Eight months later, the time bomb exploded when her son used a stun gun to repeatedly shock a small-time drug dealer in Widefield over an ounce of marijuana, then shot him through the heart.
"Marquez was the first infantry soldier in his brigade to murder someone after returning from Iraq. But he wasn’t the last."
As the Associated Press reported¬†Sunday, "Ten infantrymen from the Fort Carson-based unit have been accused of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter since returning to civilian life. The Gazette of Colorado Springs reports soldiers from the unit, now called the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, say the breakdown in discipline in Iraq led to civilian murders there as well."
"the racial make up was all over the map. white,hispanic, puerto rican mulatto," Phillips told Journal-isms by e-mail. "there were occasional mentions of ‘hajis’ in my interviews, but i get the feeling, given the situation, none of the hatred was based on race."
"Daniel Freeman, one of the soldiers interviewed by the paper, says the troops became ‘mad and tired and frustrated’ in Iraq," the AP summary continued.
"Referring to attacks on civilians, he says, "You came too close, we lit you up. You didn’t stop, we ran your car over with the Bradley." Another, who tells of various atrocities, says "You didn’t get blamed unless someone could be absolutely sure you did something wrong."
"Last week, the Army released a study of soldiers at Fort Carson that found the trauma of fierce combat and obstacles in the way of getting mental health care may have driven some to commit violence. It says more study is needed."
- Dave Phillipps, Colorado Springs Gazette: Casualties of War, Part II: Warning signs
NPR Not Broadcasting from NABJ Convention
For the first time in years, National Public Radio will not be broadcasting from a National Association of Black Journalists convention..
"The pressures of NPR’s current economics means that we have had to reduce many discretionary costs, including travel and remote broadcasts. The decision not to broadcast from the conference this year is a result of the need to control our expenses," NPR spokeswoman Anna Christopher told Journal-isms.
"While we will not be broadcasting from the NABJ conference this year, several employees are attending and two producers are leading an all-day audio storytelling workshop in conjunction with NPR Member station WUSF in Tampa. It will be conducted at the station on August 5."
Michele Norris, co-host of NPR’s "All Things Considered," is to receive the association’s "Journalist of the Year" award at its convention, to be held in Tampa, Fla., from Aug. 5 to 9.
In prior years, NPR’s "Tell Me More" and the recently canceled "News & Notes" were among the shows broadcasting from the convention. Other shows, such as "Talk of the Nation," have broadcast from the Unity and National Association of Hispanic Journalists conventions.
Facing a $2 million deficit, NPR announced in December it was canceling "News & Notes" as well as Next Generation Radio, a training project during the summer conventions of the journalist-of-color organizations and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. Its director, Doug Mitchell, was also laid off.
Mitchell is continuing to work with the student journalism projects, however, and plans to be at NABJ, he said from Albuquerque, N.M., where the Native American Journalists Association is meeting. He said NPR was sending two professionals to help with the NABJ student project.
Blacks, Latinos Have Bigger Stake in Health Care Reform
"If President Barack Obama’s drive for some form of universal health care falters the biggest losers by far will be blacks and Hispanics," Earl Ofari Hutchinson wrote last week in his syndicated column.
"Blacks and Hispanics make up nearly half of the estimated 50 million Americans who have no health care insurance, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund. But the danger signs for reform are real. A Washington Post/ABC News poll found that public support for Obama’s plan is decreasing.
"This is no surprise.
The instant Obama announced he would make health care reform his defining issue reform opponents kicked their attack into high gear. The two hit points are that it’s too costly and too intrusive – meaning that it will snatch from Americans the right to choose their own doctors and health plans and dump health care into the alleged slipshod, inefficient hands of government bureaucrats. The real fear of private insurers, pharmaceuticals and major medical practitioners is that they’ll have to treat millions of uninsured, unprofitable, largely unhealthy blacks and Hispanics.
"The huge racial disparity in the number of uninsured has been a sticking point for every Democratic president since Harry Truman proposed the first national health care plan in the late 1940s. The number of blacks and Hispanics without a prayer of obtaining health care at any price has always been wildly disproportionate to that of whites – even poor whites. It has steadily gotten worse over the years."
- Wayne Dawkins, politicsincolor.com: Men behaving badly: Spat between scholar and cop takes eyes off health care prize 
- Pew Research Center for the People & the Press: Few See U.S. Health Care as ‘Best in the World’
- Bob Richter, San Antonio Express-News: Let’s clarify health care issues for public
Southern Poverty Law Center Asks Dobbs’ Firing
"The Civil Rights group Southern Poverty Law Center is calling on CNN to remove Lou Dobbs from the air. In a letter sent to CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein on Friday, Richard Cohen, the president of SPLC writes that Dobbs is ‘trading in falsehoods and racist conspiracy theories,’" MediaBistro reported on Sunday.
"The conspiracy theorists who have claimed for more than a year that President Obama is not a United States citizen have found receptive ears among some mainstream media figures in recent weeks," Brian Stelter wrote  Thursday for the New York Times.
"Despite ample evidence to the contrary, the country‚Äôs most popular talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh, told his listeners Tuesday that Mr. Obama ‘has yet to have to prove that he‚Äôs a citizen.’ Lou Dobbs of CNN said that Mr. Obama should do more to dispel the claims. Larry King, also of CNN, asked guests about it, and other media types, including the MSNBC hosts Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow, merrily mocked the controversy. NBC News even did a segment on the subject.
"Cable news is often stretched for news in the summertime, but the birth certificate case has been fueled by the combustible combination of luck, compelling video, an outlandish topic, and savvy activists."
As reported¬†on Friday, CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein sent an email to a handful of ‘Lou Dobbs Tonight’ staffers Thursday night saying, "It seems this story is dead ‚Äî because anyone who still is not convinced doesn’t really have a legitimate beef." Sam Fulwood III, Center for American Progress: Behind the ‘Birther Movement’
College Media Advisers Censures Morgan State
"A national journalism organization has censured Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md., for its firing of the student media adviser at the school and its attempts to deny students their First Amendment rights," the College Media Advisers said.
"The board of directors of College Media Advisers voted the censure following a careful investigation by CMA into the June 30, 2009, firing of student media adviser Denise Brown.
"The letter of censure, sent to Morgan State President Earl S. Richardson, raises concerns about the way the university handled Brown’s case. In addition, CMA is concerned that the present academic and student affairs environments are not conducive to healthy journalism and student media programs at Morgan State."
Short Takes
Harriette Cole, author, columnist and life coach, who became creative director of Ebony magazine, is listed as acting editor-in-chief in a column¬†on ebonyjet.com describing how Johnson Publishing Co. put together tribute publications for Michael Jackson. The publication has been without a permanent editor since Bryan Monroe resigned as editorial director in April. Cole told Journal-isms then, "I am very happy as the creative director of Ebony, as I have been for the past 2¬? years."
- "Vicente Serrano has been busy since he was laid off from his anchor gig at Telemundo in Chicago back in May," Veronica Villafane reported Monday on her Media Moves site. "He started a blog published on Tribune’s Chicago Now. Meanwhile, his production company, Mechicano Inc., will be launching a daily TV news magazine called "Sin Censura" to air on Azteca Am?©rica’s Chicago station in August, with plans for national expansion.
- "The image of the United States has improved markedly in most parts of the world, reflecting global confidence in Barack Obama. In many countries opinions of the United States are now about as positive as they were at the beginning of the decade before George W. Bush took office," the Pew Research Center reported last week. "Improvements in the U.S. image have been most pronounced in Western Europe, where favorable ratings for both the nation and the American people have soared. But opinions of America have also become more positive in key countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, as well."
- Elliott Francis, a former reporter-anchor at Washington’s WJLA-TV, will be teaching a weekend course "designed to bring journalism professionals up to speed on the basics of creating platforms for publishing and reporting news in the new ‘Web 2.0′ environment," he told Journal-isms, as an adjunct professor in American University’ School of Communication in a master’s level program called "Interactive Journalism."
