Sept. 30th Journalisms

Chicago Defender Lays Off 2, Calls Them Freelancers

The Chicago Defender, the historic black weekly, laid off two writers last week, then said the two actually are being reassigned as freelancers who are not eligible for benefits.

One of the writers, advice columnist Art "Chat Daddy"¬†Sims, was not agreeing to the redefinition of his job status. "I ain’t taking no $75 a week; that’s them telling you that," Sims told Journal-isms. "They can forget it."

The other writer, Earl Calloway, the fine arts editor who has been at the paper for 47 years, never left the building after receiving the layoff news Friday. After he received the termination notice from Editor Lou Ransom, "The president told me that I’ll be here," Calloway told Journal-isms, referring to Publisher Michael House.

Calloway, who turns 83 on Sunday, once worked at the Defender for six years without being paid, Ransom said. "Earl’s part of the Chicago Defender."

Ransom confirmed that "both were told that they were laid off." He said he was told that expenses had to match revenue.

"I’ve gotten three pay cuts in the last two years," said Sims, 43, who was brought to the paper under former editor Roland S. Martin. He said he was being paid $1,000 a month plus medical insurance. "I’m the black Dear Abby," Sims said. "The people of Chicago look to read me."

Sims said Martin hired him after meeting him at the end of 2005, in part because he was gay and Martin was looking to expand the Defender’s readership. But he said he wondered whether homophobia was part of the reason he was let go. He is listed on the Web site ChicagoGayHistory.org.

The Defender, founded by Robert S. Abbott on May 5, 1905, was the nation’s most influential African American weekly newspaper by the advent of World War I, with more than two-thirds of its readership base outside of Chicago. It declined as the general interest newspapers integrated, and last year went from a daily to a weekly, its first weekly edition in more than 40 years.

The Defender announced then that it planned to double its circulation from 50,000 to 100,000. House, of the Real Times publishing company, said the paper’s audited circulation was about 25,000 weekly. It has eight full-time people in its news department, he said; 23 throughout the newspaper.

It is trying to boost circulation through sponsoring special events such as Men of Excellence and Women of Excellence, the former a reception and special section "To acknowledge and celebrate African American men who personify the exemplary qualities of respect, responsibility, passion, brotherhood, and leadership."

Sims, who bills himself as entertainment, night life, and travel columnist, predicted he would have "the last laugh, just like Roland Martin," who went on to become a CNN contributor, host a Sunday morning talk show on the TV One cable network and other activities.

Suppression of Honduras’ Opposition Media Protested

"Condemning the Honduran coup as a throwback to Latin America’s ugly history, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said Tuesday that the country can’t have free and fair elections until its de facto government lifts a repressive decree that silenced opposition media and forbade public gatherings," Frances Robles reported¬†Wednesday for the Miami Herald.

"Turning its words into actions, the facto government followed up its decree suspending civil liberties by closing Radio Globo and Canal 36 television, two Tegucigalpa-based stations that had already been assaulted and suspended several times in the past three months for their opposition to the 28 June coup d‚Äô?©tat," Reporters Without Borders said¬†on Tuesday.

"In both cases, the police evicted staff and confiscated all the equipment. The Honduran press freedom organisation C-Libre said the closures violated article 73 of the Constitution, which forbids the authorities to interfere in the operations any news organisations.

‚Äú’How far will this de facto government go?’ Reporters Without Borders asked. ‘Its president, Roberto Micheletti, now has a strong chance of being added to our list of Predators of Press Freedom. He said he was ready to rescind the state of siege the day after declaring it but we think this means nothing unless the authorities immediately return the equipment taken from Radio Globo and Canal 36 and allow broadcasting to resume, and unless they stop the repression, especially the repression of human rights activists.’

"Ronny S?°nchez, a Guatemalan journalist employed by the Mexican TV station Televisa, said he was beaten by members of the police units that were present for the confiscation of equipment from Radio Globo. Another Guatemalan journalist, Alberto Cardona of Guatevisi??n, was also the victim of police brutality."

• Committee to Protect Journalists: Honduras must allow pro-Zelaya broadcasters to reopen
• Mark Stevenson, Associated Press: Soldiers raid Honduran media outlets

Cartoon on the "Race Card" Upsets Slippery Rock U.

Days before last November’s election, editors of the student newspaper at Montclair State University issued a campus-wide apology¬†’for running a comic strip in which a white woman used the "n" word in referring to Barack Obama.

When an Obama campaign volunteer goes to an area where "no Democrat has gone before" and asks a woman her choice for president, the resident says she’s going to "vote for the nigger."

Now black cartoonist Keith Knight, author of "the K Chronicles," is in trouble again.

"A cartoon has caused quite a controversy on the campus of Slippery Rock University," WYTV-TV in Youngstown, Ohio, reported on Monday. "’The K Chronicles’ comic strip ran in Friday’s edition of the school’s student-run newspaper, ‘The Rocket.’

"There’s a drawing of a black man hanging from a noose saying, ‘You’re doing this because I’m black, aren’t you?’ while white characters accuse him of playing the race card.

"It certainly ripped at the hearts and souls of many many people on this campus, not just members of our minority groups," says Rita Abent, Executive Director of Public Relations at Slippery Rock University.

"The cartoon even led some students to show up to the Union with nooses around their own necks. Terrell Foster, an SRU student from Harrisburg says, "They put this in the paper thinking it would be funny. How funny is it when it’s real? When you see someone walking around with a noose on their neck, it’s not as funny no more."

Knight responded Tuesday on his Web site.

"This is an exaggerated, satirical version of what we often see and hear in mainstream media: the victim gets accused of pulling the race card, which is an easy way to dismiss the real issues involved," he wrote.

"Students talk about experiencing real-life incidents of racism on campus, yet it is my satirical comic strip they’re protesting over. I’d like to hear what the students are going through. If this uproar causes the school to address those issues, then my comic has done its job."

Publisher’s Illness Claims Watchdog Native Newspaper

"Bill Lawrence never flinched from scrutinizing Minnesota’s tribal governments, even when someone fired bullets through his newspaper office windows in Bemidji. But a battle with late-stage cancer has prompted Lawrence to fold the Native American Press/Ojibwe News¬†after 21 years," Curt Brown wrote¬†Tuesday for the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.

"’I am no longer physically able to do the tasks ‚Äî computer searches, investigating, seeking ads ‚Äî that are necessary to put out an edition,’ he wrote in his recent final edition, under an editorial titled ‘A good day to die.’ His failing health, and the difficult publishing environment, ‘makes it impossible for me to continue.’

"Lawrence, 70, is receiving hospice care in Sun Valley, Idaho, where he is surrounded by close friends and family.

"Since starting his newspaper in 1988, Lawrence has engaged in relentless legal efforts to open the books of the state’s 11 Indian casinos. His tireless work as a watchdog helped send several prominent tribal leaders to prison. Among his final works was a definitive series on the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome on the Indian community.

"’He simply had the guts to take a look at Indian country and tell the truth,’ said Jim Randall, a retired Minnesota Court of Appeals judge and Lawrence’s longtime friend."

41% Say Media "Most Important" in Health Care Reform Views

"The first week of fall brought little change to the public’s news agenda with the debate over health care reform continuing to top public interest," the Pew Research Center for People and the Press reported on Wednesday. "However, the news media play much less of a role in shaping views of health care reform and the economy — where personal experiences are an important factor — than they do on environmental issues and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"More than four-in-ten (42%) name the health care debate as the single news story they followed more closely than any other last week, far more than mention reports about the condition of the U.S. economy (19%). Public interest in health care has been stable over recent weeks, consistently eclipsing interest in other news stories.

"When asked what is most important in helping them to form opinions on health care, 41% cite what they have heard or read in the media as most important; only somewhat fewer cite personal experiences (31%), while another 25% say that talking with friends and family is most important. Similarly, nearly as many people say that personal experiences are most important in helping them form opinions about the economy (35%) as cite the media (41%), with 23% mentioning talking with friends and family."

• Dayo Olopade, theRoot.com:¬†The Public Option Is Dead, Long Live the Public Option
• Barbara Reynolds, National Newspaper Publishers Association: Religious faithful cannot stay on sidelines of health care debate¬†
• Mark Trahant blog: Tribal provisions in health reform
  
  

N.Y. Times Plans Editions for More Markets

"The New York Times is making plans for editions of the paper tailored to the Chicago area and other metropolitan markets, in addition to the San Francisco edition it plans to launch this fall," Richard Perez-Pena reported Wednesday for the New York Times.

“We’re in conversations with potential news providers in Chicago about adding local content to The Times,” said Diane C. McNulty, a spokeswoman for The Times. “Our intent is to roll out these expanded reports in several key markets around the country, with Chicago following San Francisco. The details are still being discussed. The idea is to provide additional quality local content for our readers.”

McNulty told Journal-isms, "We do plan to work with other news providers in these markets, so yes, they could be hiring journalists."

• Aaron Glantz, New America Media:¬†New America Media Stimulus Watch Fellowships for Ethnic Media Journalists
• Kevin Roderick, LAObserved: USC Annenberg hiring ‘senior writers’
  

Short Takes:

• Washington Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli issued new guidelines about employees using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter: ‚ÄúWhen using these networks, nothing we do must call into question the impartiality of our news judgment. We never abandon the guidelines that govern the separation of news from opinion, the importance of fact and objectivity, the appropriate use of language and tone, and other hallmarks of our brand of journalism,‚Äù Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander disclosed¬†on Friday. Megan Garber of the Columbia Journalism Review wrote Monday in response, "credibility questions about large news organizations have largely been the result not of reporters having opinions, but of those reporters having opinions which they are then compelled to disguise."
• "It was a closed-door face to face conversation between U. S. senators and the top leadership of the nation‚Äôs premier Black institutions and new NNPA Chairman Danny Bakewell was on the front line for all of them," Pharoh Martin and Hazel Edney wrote¬†for the National Newspaper Publishers Association. ‚ÄúWe‚Äôve had landmark legislation in terms of the stimulus bill. Yet, when you talk to Black businesses, when you talk to newspaper publishers, where is the money? Where is the money,‚Äù Bakewell demanded rhetorically as the audience inside the Mansfield Room of the U. S. Capitol broke into applause."
• "Lisa Fung was named online arts and entertainment editor of the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday. "In her new role she will oversee round-the-clock multimedia coverage of all arts and entertainment, including Calendar, The Envelope and Company Town, as well as more than a dozen latimes.com blogs," an announcement said. She has overseen Times arts and culture coverage for the past nine years.
• Fox News host Glenn Beck appeared Saturday in Seattle and his hometown of Mount Vernon, Wash., attracting large crowds of fans. Outside the venues, protesters gathered ‚Äî by the dozens in Seattle and the hundreds in Mount Vernon, Nick Perry and Susan Gilmore reported for the Seattle Times.
• "As the movement calling for his ouster from CNN continues to surge, Lou Dobbs is fighting back ‚Äî and fumbling, New America Media writer Roberto Lovato wrote¬†Monday on the Huffington Post. "Instead of responding to legitimate concerns about his anti-Latino fear-mongering, Dobbs expressed himself in a manner resembling that of the extremists he promotes on his show: with lies, angry outbursts and juvenile name calling. He even went so far as to call yours truly a "flea’ and a ‘bozo.’"
• "If I have to read one more article on how Detroit is an abandoned war zone I think I’m gonna scream," a reader wrote Desiree Cooper, former Detroit Free Press columnist, on her "Detroit Diary" blog. Cooper asked readers how they felt about national coverage of Detroit, where Time Inc. has bought a house for a yearlong reporting project.
• Thomas Huang, Sunday and enterprise editor of the Dallas Morning News, has been installed as president of the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors. He holds his term until October 2010, the Asian American Journalists Association reports.
• Adriana G??mez of the Roanoke (Va.) Times, Enrique Flor of El Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Ana Carolina Gonz?°lez of the Real Atlanta Web site will receive the first McGraw-Hill Personal Finance Journalism Awards, the The International Center for Journalists announced¬†on Monday. The winners produced stories that helped raise financial literacy in Hispanic communities.
• "BET and MTV Networks are very quietly soft-launching Centric, a new basic-cable network aimed at African-American adults, on Monday (Sept. 28)," Tom Umstead wrote¬†Monday for Multchannel News. "For starters, Centric will feature acquired fare from corporate siblings such as MTV’s ‘Run’s House.’BET is rebranding its nearly 32 million subscriber BET J network under the Centric moniker, which will target African-American viewers with music and lifestyle programming, according to Centric general manager Paxton Baker."
• "NBC News will devote a significant amount of time and attention next month to the changing roles of contemporary women, much of it based on a study initiated by Maria Shriver, the one-time NBC correspondent who is married to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California," Bill Carter wrote Monday for the new York Times.
• ‚ÄúLifeStyles with Rebecca,‚Äù a weekly series "that will tell the inspiring stories of Americans who have reinvented themselves," premieres in two weeks on more than 120 PBS stations, including WVIZ Channel 25 at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11." Mark Dawidziak wrote Sunday in the Plain Dealer of Cleveland. "Tom Jacobs, the producer-director behind this PBS show, travels the country in the LifeStyles RV provided by Neff Brothers of Lorain, searching for triumphant tales to share with viewers."
• "Rodney Harris is departing KBTX, the Brazos Valley, Texas station where he has been the weather anchor for over three years. Starting Monday, Harris will produce the weather reports for WGCL, the CBS-affiliate in Atlanta," TV Spy reported on Wednesday.
• "The United Nations today welcomed the reported decision by President Omar Al-Bashir to immediately lift censorship on Sudanese newspapers," the U.N. reported¬†on Tuesday. "This decision will advance the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and is an important step towards creating an appropriate environment for the multi-party elections scheduled for April 2010," the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said in a statement.
• "The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the closure of a Moroccan independent daily amid an escalating government campaign to silence critical journalists," the press freedom group said¬†on Wednesday. "On Tuesday, police prevented Taoufik Bouachrine, managing publisher and editor of the daily Akhbar al-Youm, and dozens of staff members from entering the offices of the Casablanca-based newspaper."