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White Defections Drag Down Obama Rating

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Racial Divide Widening; Still at 73% Among Nonwhites

12 Journalists Die in Gruesome Philippines Massacre

Oprah Succeeded by Avoiding the Traps, Critic Says

Investigative Portal to Focus on Working Poor

Lou Dobbs’ "Disastrous" Telemundo Interview

Fox News Says It’s Had Enough With Mistakes

Esquire Issue Features Interactive Video Segments

Short Takes

President Obama reaches out to a mostly white crowd at the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Arcadia, Fla., on Oct. 27. (Credit: Pete Souza/White House)

Racial Divide Widening; Still at 73% Among Nonwhites

"The latest Gallup Daily tracking results show 49% of Americans approving of the job Barack Obama is doing as president, putting him below the majority approval level for the first time in his presidency," Jeffrey M. Jones wrote Friday for the Gallup Organization.

But what most stories aren’t saying is that Obama’s fall in popularity is almost entirely among whites. Others make up 33 percent of the U.S. population.

For Nov. 16-22, Obama’s white approval rating fell to 39 percent, but it was 73 percent among nonwhites. It was 91 percent among blacks and 70 percent among Hispanics. The sample for Asian Americans and Native Americans was too small to measure, Jones told Journal-isms.

Since Oct. 26, the drop was 5 points among whites. It was constant among blacks and increased 3 points among Hispanics.

Gallup’s wasn’t the only poll to show a racial divide. Public Policy Polling, in a survey published last week, found [PDF] it, too: 42 percent approval among whites, 67 percent among Hispanics and 77 percent among African Americans.

Moreover, that poll showed a majority of Republican voters thinking that ACORN – the community organizing group Association of Community Organizations for Reform – stole the presidential election for Obama last year.

Talking Point’s Memo’s Eric Kleefeld "points out that, given the . . . divide between Obama and Sen. John McCain in the 2008 race, ‘in order to believe that Obama wasn’t the true winner of the 2008 election, one would have to think that ACORN (and perhaps other groups) stuffed ballots to the tune of over 9.5 million votes,’" Rachel Weiner wrote¬†Thursday for the Huffington Post.

In a study of ACORN coverage during the 2008 election released in September, Peter Dreier, politics professor at Occidental College, and Christopher R. Martin, journalism professor at the University of Northern Iowa, concluded that, "The mainstream news media failed to fact-check persistent allegations of ‘voter fraud’ despite the existence of easily available countervailing evidence. The media also failed to distinguish allegations of voter registration problems from allegations of actual voting irregularities."

According to Election Day exit polls, whites preferred McCain to Obama 55 percent to 43 percent. In exit polls dating to 1972, Democrats have never carried a majority of the white vote.

But Obama’s approval ratings were above 50 percent among whites until the end of July, Jones said, in the middle of rancorous town hall meetings over health care reform.

Some African Americans and Latinos have their own issues with Obama as well. The Congressional Black Caucus last week criticized the president for failing to present a program targeted at the ills affecting African Americans. Some Hispanic leaders are disappointed that immigration issues have not had higher priority.

Nevertheless, nearly half of Americans (47 percent) think Obama’s policies are "about right" in promoting efforts to aid the black community, down from the 64 percent who said that a year ago, Gallup reported¬†this month.

National Public Radio reported a psychological element on "All Things Considered" Monday, as did Time. "A new study suggests that people’s political views may affect how they perceive President Obama’s skin tone, with liberals tending to ‘lighten’ his skin and conservatives tending to ‘darken’ it," the NPR story said.

" ‘Our beliefs, you know, in this case our political beliefs, can really have pretty profound effects on how we see the world,’ says Eugene Caruso, a researcher at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. ‘Our data suggest that people’s beliefs affect how light or dark they perceive someone to be.’ "

12 Journalists Die in Gruesome Philippines Massacre

In the Philippines, "At least 12 journalists were killed today in Maguindanao province (on the southern island of Mindanao) by armed men, including two policemen, linked to the province’s governor, a supporter of President Gloria Arroyo. More than 30 other people were murdered. Some of the victims were beheaded," the international press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said on Monday.

" ‘Never in the history of journalism have the news media suffered such a heavy loss of life in one day,’ Reporters Without Borders said. ‘We convey our condolences and sympathy to all journalists in the Philippines, who are in state of shock after this appalling massacre.’

"The press freedom organisation added: ‘We have often condemned the culture of impunity and violence in the Philippines, especially Mindanao. This time, the frenzied violence of thugs working for corrupt politicians has resulted in an incomprehensible bloodbath. We call for a strong reaction from the local and national authorities.’

The Manila Times reported that "President Gloria Arroyo condemned the killings in the strongest terms and ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), through acting Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, and the police through Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to direct their units to conduct immediate and relentless pursuit of the perpetrators.

"The President’s adviser for Mindanao affairs asked her to immediately put the entire Maguindanao province under a state of emergency.

‚Äú’This is a gruesome massacre of civilians unequalled in recent history. Even women and mediamen were not spared. There must be a total stop to this senseless violence,’ Jesus Dureza said in a text message to reporters."

"The police and the military identified the journalists killed based on press identification cards that they had recovered as Hendry Araneta of dzRH radio; Bong Reblando of Manila Bulletin; Gina de la Cruz and Leah Dalmacio, correspondents of Socsargen Today; Ian Subang, publisher of Socsargen Today; Marites Cablitas, publisher of News Focus; Neneng Montanio, publisher of Saksi; and Victor Nu?±ez and cameraman Mac Ariola of UNTV.

The authorities said that the identities of other journalists killed and who had been reporting from South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces, both also in Mindanao, were yet to be established.

According to Reporters Without Borders, "The massacre took place a few hours after around 50 gunmen led by Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Shariff Aguak (a municipality in Maguindanao province), and a police inspector identified solely by the name of Dicay kidnapped members of a large convoy of supporters of Esmael Mangudadatu, an Ampatuan clan opponent who wants to run for governor.

"The convoy of Mangudadatu supporters, accompanied by journalists, had been on its way to an electoral bureau to file documents related to his candidacy, which the gunmen wanted to prevent. The fatalities included Mangudadatu’s wife, sister and other relatives. The governor’s son is also alleged to have been involved in the massacre."

Oprah Succeeded by Avoiding the Traps, Critic Says

"When you look at Oprah Winfrey’s multidecade run through daytime talk — most of it at No. 1 — it’s easy to be impressed by what she did to make it happen. But her longevity and success (Forbes estimated her net worth at over $2.3 billion) probably has more to do with what she did not do," David Carr wrote Monday for the New York Times.

"She never took her company public, which meant that she remained in control of both her operation and her destiny (see Martha Stewart).

"She never christened her own book imprint even though she created best sellers with the flick of the wrist (see Miramax/Talk). . . .

"She also never made big deals just for the sake of synergy (AOL-Time Warner), never got addicted to doing deals (see Barry Diller), never made dubious investments that put a strain on her core business (Sumner Redstone and Midway), never let in-house corporate politics boil into public view (Michael Eisner). And, while building a murderer’s row of daytime programming including shows with Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray and Dr. Oz, she never got involved in businesses she didn’t understand (Edgar Bronfman, Jean-Marie Messier and, well, just about everybody else in the media world).

"And now we can add that she never hung on past her prime, choosing to go out as a talk show host while her program was still on top.

" ‘This was not a business decision,’ said Gayle King, Ms. Winfrey‚Äôs friend and business partner, in an interview. ‘This was about her life, the quality of her life and trusting that it was the right time.’

"That kind of gut intuition, about knowing when to say no and when it is time to go, is worth studying at every business graduate school in the country."

Writing in the Columbia Journalism Review, Ryan Chittum observed, "Instead of looking at her obvious successes, Carr looked at what’s all too often ignored, both by the media writers and by media moguls: the white space she never filled in. In other words, what you don’t do is as important as what you stretch your company to do."

Investigative Portal to Focus on Working Poor

The Web start-ups in investigative journalism have rarely boasted a person of color as publisher, but Walter Fields, the former political director for the New Jersey NAACP and co-founder of the North Star Network, a public affairs, business and financial news portal, is about to assume that role.

"The Community Service Society of New York ‚Äî a 160-year old advocate for the city’s poor ‚Äî has agreed to purchase the investigative public policy journal City Limits from City Futures Inc. for about $200,000," Daniel Massey reported Friday for Crain’s New York Business.

"The group will immediately invest an additional $1 million in the publication and plans to spin it off as an independent entity within six months.

" ‘Clearly the news environment in New York City has changed dramatically,’ said CSS President David Jones. ‘The discussion on many of the things we work on ‚Äî poverty, the working poor and moderate income people ‚Äî doesn’t get much space in mainstream media.’

"Veteran journalist Walter Fields, who has been CSS’s vice president of government relations and public affairs for the past five years, will become publisher. Mr. Fields says he’ll immediately revamp City Limits’ Web site, which will soon include video and breaking news. He’ll also redesign the print publication, which will come out eight times a year instead of four and will be available on newsstands. The journal’s current staff will be retained, and it will keep its name."

". . . The deal puts the weight of a major New York City institution — CSS has a $19 million annual budget and a $125 million endowment —behind an experiment in independent investigative journalism. Similar efforts have cropped up in Austin, San Diego and Minneapolis. The CSS board of trustees has set aside money over three years for the experiment, though Mr. Jones would not say how much."

Fields was one of the original contributors on MSNBC and MSNBC.com.

He said in a Facebook message that he would continue as executive editor of NorthStarNews.com.

Lou Dobbs’ "Disastrous" Telemundo Interview

"Did anyone see the Lou Dobbs interview last Friday on Telemundo?" Veronica Villafa?±e asked Monday on her Media Moves site. "He sat down for a ‘one-on-one’ via satellite with ‘Al Rojo Vivo’s’ Mar??a Celeste Arrar?°s. It was done in English with a very distracting simultaneous translation. [Video]

"Interestingly enough, Dobbs was no bully and with his calm tone actually made his interviewer look like a fool. Mar??a Celeste had the controversial anchor on a silver platter, but she missed an excellent opportunity to grill him on a variety of issues. Instead, she spent 17 minutes talking about the factual errors of just one report from 4 years ago ‚Äî the one that blamed undocumented immigrants increasing the number of leprosy cases in the U.S. Even Dobbs pointed out to her she was wasting valuable time… but heck, ‘it’s your show,’ he told her."

Dobbs, the controversial CNN anchor whose opinions on such social issues as immigration have angered Latinos and others, announced his resignation from the cable network two weeks ago. John King, CNN anchor and chief national correspondent, is to fill the slot with a new weeknight political program beginning early next year.

The interim 7 p.m. newscast, "CNN Tonight," is being produced by the former Dobbs team, a CNN spokeswoman told Journal-isms. "CNN is encouraging Lou Dobbs staff to apply for positions with the new 7 pm program — as well as for other openings within the network," she said.

Fox News Says It’s Had Enough With Mistakes

"After a few footage mishaps at Fox News like their recent slip-up: ‘Fox News Uses Old Palin Footage,’ the higher ups at the network have had enough," Matt Dornic wrote¬†Monday for FishBowl DC.

Fox News apologized for misrepresenting footage of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin during a segment about her book tour. The footage was from actually from the campaign trail last year.

"In an email obtained by FishbowlDC, FNC management alerted the Newsroom that they were going to a ‘zero base’ newscast production, defined in the memo…" Dornic wrote.

"’That means we will start by going to air with only the most essential, basic, and manageable elements. To share a key quote from today’s meeting: ‘It is more important to get it right, than it is to get it on.’ We may then build up again slowly as deadlines and workloads allow so that we can be sure we can quality check everything before it makes air, and we never [have] to explain, retract, qualify or apologize again.’"

David Granger, Esquire editor in chief, demonstrates the interactive December issue. (Video)

Esquire Issue Features Interactive Video Segments

Is this the future?

"Hollywood stars are going virtual, in the latest effort to jazz up the printed word — and wake up consumers who have become inured to traditional ads," as Shira Ovide wrote for the Wall Street Journal.

"Hearst Corp.’s Esquire magazine will pepper its December issue with markers that trigger interactive video segments featuring cover subject Robert Downey Jr. and other actors, as well as an ad for Lexus. In doing so, Esquire is taking advantage of an emerging technology called augmented reality, which mixes real-life images with graphics or other effects. TV networks use AR to make the yellow first-down lines on football fields."

Short Takes

 

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