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Stephen A. Smith Wins Arbitrator’s Ruling

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Inquirer, Fired Columnist Ordered to Negotiate Redress

Stephen A. Smith was fired improperly by the Philadelphia Inquirer last year, an arbitrator ruled, ordering the two sides to negotiate how to appropriately compensate the sports columnist, a Newspaper Guild official told Journal-isms on Friday.

"We are absolutely thrilled that we were correct," said the Guild’s Bill Ross. "We’re looking forward to getting him back to work." Ross is administrative officer of the Newspaper Guild/Communications Workers of America of Greater Philadelphia Local 38010.

The Guild and Smith sought the commentator’s reinstatement as an Inquirer sports columnist and asked that he receive full back pay over his "unjust termination." Ross said the two sides would be back at the negotiating table on Tuesday.

The ruling came in what has been a mixed year for Smith, who lost his ESPN radio show on May 1. He had appeared on the morning show "First Take," had written for ESPN: The Magazine and was part of news shows across ESPN platforms, a spokesman said then, primarily discussing the NBA.

Smith also had a court suit pending against the Inquirer, filed on his behalf by the Stuart, Fla.-based Willie E. Gary law firm. One of his lawyers, Johnine Barnes of Baker & Hostetler, told Journal-isms, "due to ongoing legal matters, we do not have any comment regarding Stephen Smith’s employment with The Philadelphia Inquirer, nor does Stephen on the advice of counsel. . . . Stephen loves to write and it is his desire to continue to do so in print media."

In the Guild Reporter, a national publication of the Guild, Andy Zipster gave this account of the ruling by arbitrator Richard R. Kasher:

"Smith, a columnist with an unblemished disciplinary record for 13 years, was regarded so highly by the Inquirer that he became its best-paid staffer and was featured in its advertising campaigns. Eventually he became a sought-after radio and television commentator, and when ESPN offered him a daily show in 2005, he approached management to negotiate an arrangement allowing him to continue his column on a more limited basis.

"The result was an agreement, signed by Anne Gordon, the Inquirer’s managing editor, and Amanda Bennett, the executive editor, stipulating that Smith would write a minimum of 75 columns a year for an annual salary of $125,000. The arrangement was to run for one year, until February of 2006, at which time Smith had the option of resigning, of extending the agreement – or of returning as a full-time columnist, at a salary of $190,000. Moreover, if he returned as a full-time employee would receive a salary increase to $205,000 that June and to $225,000 in June of 2007.

"But that was before the roof caved in on the newspaper industry. Bennett was out and William Marimow was in, as the editor responsible ‘for overall news coverage,’ when the Inquirer began the first in a series of newsroom layoffs in January, 2007. When Gordon told him a few months later that it was time to give Smith – who by that time was back on a full-ime basis – a $20,000 raise, he was nonplused."

"’At the time that Anne [Ms. Gordon] told me we had to give Stephen a raise and I looked at the contract, I said to myself – I hadn’t really known how much he was paid. And I said boy, we should really be getting better work," Marimow testified in the arbitration hearing, held April 24 and May 14 this year. Under cross-examination, he further explained: "I thought that it would be wrong to give a raise of that magnitude after all these layoffs, and I didn’t want to do it because of the trauma that the newsroom had experienced."

"Company witnesses maintained that Smith was simply ‘reassigned’ in August, 2007, and denied that being bumped from a position as a featured columnist to a general assignment reporter was a demotion. Yet Marimow – described by the arbitrator as ‘extraordinarily candid, credible and fair-minded’ – conceded that Smith’s reassignment was a demotion. And as the arbitrator added, Marimow’s testimony persuaded him that Smith’s subsequent treatment was ‘motivated, at least in part if not substantial part, because Mr. Marimow believed that Mr. Smith was being overpaid.’

"Now the two sides have two months in which to negotiate whether Smith will regain his coveted columnist’s slot, how much he should be paid – and how much back pay he’s due. And that latter sum could be quite a bundle."

Marimow referred questions to Michael Lorenca, vice president for human resources, who was not immediately available.

Hispanic, Black TV Homes Growing Faster Than Others

"The growth of Hispanic TV homes continues to outpace the general market," Katy Bachman reported for Mediaweek. "The number of Hispanic TV homes grew 2.3 percent to 12.9 million compared to a 0.3 percent increase among total U.S. TV homes, according to Nielsen’s new universe estimates for the 2000-10 TV season, released Friday.

"African-American TV households also grew moderately, up only 0.8 percent to nearly $4.8 million.

"The number of persons age two and older in Hispanic TV homes grew 2.4 percent to 44.3 million. The number of persons two and older in African American TV homes grew 1.3 percent to 37.5 million, while persons two and older in Asian TV homes was virtually flat at 14.5 million.

"Nielsen released universe estimates for TV households last week."

Obamas Take Health-Care Case to Rodale’s Magazines

"President Obama is taking his argument for a health care plan to a new place: Rodale magazines, where he or his wife appear on coming covers of Prevention, Men’s Health, Women’s Health and the new publication Children’s Health," Stephanie Clifford reported Wednesday in the New York Times. "Michelle Obama talked about her family’s diet in Children’s Health.

". . . The president has been pitching his health care plan without total success in Congress and in town hall meetings nationwide. Now, he makes the argument in the pages of the Rodale publications. Peter Moore, editor of Men’s Health, who wrote a cover article on Mr. Obama in November, approached the White House in the spring with the idea of doing articles focused on health care in four Rodale magazines. Three will run in the October issues, while the Prevention cover is appearing in November.

"The Men‚Äôs Health and Women‚Äôs Health articles publicize the Obama health care plan, with Men‚Äôs Health strongly endorsing it. A sidebar to the president‚Äôs interview there lists ‘five reasons you should care’ about the health care plan, and each point is positive ‚Äî your premium may go down, your emergency room care would improve."

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are welcomed by school children at the Seed school in Washington after he signed of the Kennedy Service Act for National Service in April. (Credit: Pete Souza/White House)

Columnists Puzzle Over Latest Obama Backlash

"The White House and federal education officials scrambled Thursday to reassure school leaders that President Barack Obama‚Äôs national speech to schoolchildren next week will touch on important educational goals, despite criticism from some conservatives that the president is planning to use the speech to ‘indoctrinate’ children with his political views," Dakarai I. Aarons wrote¬†for Education Week.

‚ÄúThe president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning,‚Äù the U.S. Department of Education said in an e-mail urging schools to participate in what it called a ‘historic moment,’ to be broadcast live Sept. 8 on C-SPAN and the White House‚Äôs Web site.

"But the planned 15- to 20-minute noontime speech — and, especially, a menu of classroom activities (for younger and older students) suggested by the White House in connection with it — continued to draw denunciations, leading some school officials to say they would let parents opt out of having their children watch."

Meanwhile, "President Obama’s plan to make his case for healthcare reform in an address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday is forcing the broadcast television networks to upend their prime-time schedules yet again, much to their consternation," as the Los Angeles Times reported.

"Obama‚Äôs speech has been billed as the White House‚Äôs last and best chance to regain the upper hand on the roiling healthcare debate. But not all the networks are willing to cooperate. It appears unlikely that Fox, which is debuting the season premiere of ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ followed by its much-anticipated new comedy ‘Glee,’ will carry the speech. Instead, the network‚Äôs sister channel Fox News will air the address."

Hometown Mayor to Give Beck Key to City

"As dozens of companies pledge not to advertise on Glenn Beck’s Fox News Channel show after he called President Obama a racist, and as his controversial on-air behavior draws more scrutiny, the mayor of Mount Vernon … is presenting him with a key to the city," Mark Rahner reported¬†Thursday in the Seattle Times.

"Mayor Bud Norris announced that Beck, who grew up in Mount Vernon, will be on hand to accept the award Sept. 26, which Norris will also proclaim ‘Glenn Beck Day.’ Tickets for the Saturday evening event are $25.

". . .Norris, mayor since 2004, said he’d been planning the Beck event for ‘six months to a year.’ Beck also has a Seattle speaking engagement that day."

"’The timing is probably unfortunate with everything that’s going on," said Kristen Whitener, director of Mount Vernon’s Chamber of Commerce. Her phone had been ringing, too.

"’We’ve gotten phone calls from people who are very upset. People are threatening not to shop here, things like that,’ she said. ‘I think it’s unfortunate that some of the phone calls we’re getting from people are being negative to Mount Vernon because of it. I hope they would understand that one decision by one person doesn’t reflect everybody.’"

Captive Writer’s Mom Awarded $27.5 Million

"A federal judge ordered the Cuban government and the ruling Communist Party on Wednesday to pay $27.5 million in damages to the mother of a journalist jailed since a 2003 crackdown on dissent," Curt Anderson reported  from Miami for the Associated Press.

"U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold ruled in the case of Omar Rodriguez Saludes, who is serving a 27-year sentence in Cuban prisons that the judge described as ‘deplorable and degrading’ in his 13-page order.

"’During his imprisonment, he has been beaten, starved, given poor food, placed in solitary confinement and deprived of medical treatment,’ Gold wrote, quoting from allegations in the lawsuit. ‘I have no doubt that the acts of the Cuban government are intended to oppress those in Cuba who seek to freely voice their opinions.’

N.Y. Daily News Corrects Roxanne Story

The New York Daily News has corrected its Aug. 23 story reporting that, "Twenty-five years after the first queen of hip-hop was stiffed on her royalty checks, Dr. Roxanne Shante boasts an Ivy League Ph.D. — financed by a forgotten clause in her first record deal."

"It has come to the attention of the Daily News that a number of statements in this article written for the Daily News by a freelance reporter are, or may be, false," a correction appended to the Web version of the story begins. "Cornell University has told us that Shante did not receive any degree from it under either her birth or stage name. We have confirmed that prior to the article, at least four publications on Cornell’s own website reported that Shante had earned a Ph.D. from the university. Those references have now been removed. And in response to an inquiry today, Marymount College stated that Shante attended there for less than one semester.

"Numerous e-mail and telephone inquiries by the freelance reporter to Marymount during the preparation of the article to confirm Shante’s account were not responded to. Finally, there have been recent media reports that there never was an education clause in Shante’s recording contract. When the reporter contacted Warner Brothers Records about the contract before the article, its only response was that it was having difficulty finding someone within the company who could ‘talk eloquently’ about it.

Ben Sheffner of Slate magazine wrote a story¬†Wednesday poking holes in the original account, saying, "Virtually everything about the Daily News’ heartwarming ‘projects-to-Ph.D.’ story appears to be false."

Copy Editors Are Essential — Even Online"

Of the stories written for the student newspapers covering the journalism conventions this summer, this one has the most resonance as one scrolls the Internet:

"Copy editors are essential — even online."

"To me, it seems obvious that copy editors are essential in the production of solid journalism," wrote Audrey Kuo for the AAJA Voices of the Asian American Journalists Association. "And yet, as I was working on Voices stories about the shifting media landscape, I was shocked to hear just how many newsrooms are bypassing copy desks to post directly online," she wrote.

"It’s just not possible to read your own copy objectively.

"I wonder what lawsuit or catastrophic error it will take for news organizations to figure out how essential copy editors are – and I worry that we ask too much of readers when we seek forgiveness for our sloppiness."

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