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Sept. 30th Journalisms

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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."

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."

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."

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