Despite Egypt’s Danger, “There’s a Story Going On”
J-Grads of Color Continue to Lag in Finding Work
Univision May Win in GOP Boycott of NBC, CNN
Teshima Walker, NPR Producer and “Sistergirl,” Dies at 44
Advice on Diversity From a Middle-Aged White Guy: Do It
Pitts: Superficial Coverage of Race Amounts to Silence
Fusion Network Will Be “Very Loud Voice” on Immigration
“The Butler” Moving to Top Weekend Box Office
Knight Fellows Describe “Re-Engineering Journalism”
C-SPAN Plans Week of Eyewitness Accounts on Civil Rights
Despite Egypt’s Danger, “There’s a Story Going On”
The State Department warned U.S. citizens “to defer travel to Egypt and U.S. citizens living in Egypt to depart at this time because of the continuing political and social unrest,” but for journalists, it was no time to leave.
“American embassy in Cairo just sent an e-mail reminder to leave #Egypt now. American journos here note this, then keep filing,” Kimberly Adams, a freelancer in Egypt who is reporting for such outlets as public radio’s “Marketplace,” tweeted on Friday.
Adams messaged Journal-isms, “I’m not leaving Cairo because, right now, I still feel like I can safely work here as long as I take proper precautions. I do not know of any American journalists that are planning to leave at this stage. There’s a story going on, after all.”
Jonathan Blakley, another African American journalist in Cairo, agreed. “Don’t know of anyone who has left Cairo,” Blakley messaged.
“I’m here because I’m NPR’s producer on the International Desk.
“Arrived Thursday, left DC Wednesday when things started going south here…
“NPR has a bureau here. But at times like these, it takes a few folks to help cover a story like this.
“Just like when they needed extra staff to cover the Papal conclave, or Mandela’s illness… That’s when I get the call.”
On Wednesday, the day Blakley left, more than 500 people were killed in civil conflict, including four journalists.
On Friday, “Egypt plunged further into civil conflict,” Liz Sly and Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post reported, “after anti-government demonstrations led by the Muslim Brotherhood erupted in violence involving the security forces, protesters and armed civilians on both sides of the political divide.
The Post story added, “The Muslim Brotherhood claimed 213 people were killed on a day that brought the violence to the heart of the capital and drew in for the first time government-approved Popular Committees whose members set up checkpoints carrying sticks, machetes and, in some instances, guns. The government declined to issue casualty figures.
“The number of dead appeared to be lower than the more than 600 people killed in Egypt on Wednesday. But the Brotherhood put the toll at more than 100 in central Cairo alone, after security forces used live ammunition to suppress demonstrators who had gathered at Ramses Square in what the group called ‘glorious heroic scenes.’ “
Jack Mirkinson wrote Thursday in the Huffington Post, “Several news outlets and press freedom groups are raising the question of whether journalists have been deliberately targeted in the bloodshed currently engulfing Egypt.“
“In an interview with HuffPost Live’s Ahmed Shihab-Eldin on Wednesday, Tom Finn, a Reuters journalist, made similar statements.
” ‘I would imagine that the reason the journalists are being rounded up is because the government hopes to intimidate them and to prevent word of what’s happening on the street getting out,’ he said.”
The State Department travel advisory outlined what was happening on the street:
“Demonstrations have, on numerous occasions, degenerated into violent clashes between security forces and protesters, and between protesters supporting different factions, resulting in deaths, injuries, and extensive property damage. Participants have thrown rocks and Molotov cocktails and security forces have used tear gas and other crowd control measures against demonstrators. There have been instances of the use of firearms as well. While most violent protests have occurred in major metropolitan areas, including downtown Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, and Port Said, there are recent reports of more widespread political and social violence, including armed attacks, in other areas of Egypt. Of continued concern is gender-based violence in and around protest areas where women have been the targets of sexual assault.
“The U.S. Department of State strongly urges U.S. citizens to avoid all demonstrations in Egypt, as even peaceful ones can quickly become violent, and a foreigner could become a target of harassment or worse. . . .”
- Jen Psaki, State Department: Daily Press Briefing (Aug. 15)
- Interview with Kimberly Adams, “Marketplace,” American Public Media: Egypt’s state of emergency could have major effects on economy (Aug. 14)
- Interview with Kimberly Adams, “Marketplace,” American Public Media: Western businesses pull out of Egypt (Aug. 15)
J-Grads of Color Continue to Lag in Finding Work
An annual survey of journalism and mass communications graduates has found that, “Those bachelor’s degree recipients who are members of racial and ethnic minorities continued to have more difficulty finding work than did other graduates [PDF]. Women once again had more success in the job market than did men.”
However, according to the report from Lee B. Becker, Tudor Vlad, Holly Simpson and Konrad Kalpen of the Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, “The field continued to become more diverse racially and ethnically at the undergraduate level. Undergraduate students classified as members of racial or ethnic minorities made up a larger percentage of enrolled students in journalism and mass communication programs in the autumn of 2012 than at any point in the history of the field.”
Of the racial differences in finding work after graduation, “The gap has been persistent across time and was nearly at the same level as a year earlier,” the authors said. “Bachelor’s degree recipients who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups and found a job once again were much less likely to have found that job in communication than were those bachelor’s degree recipients who were not members of minority groups.”
They also said, “Women made up 70.6% of respondents. Members of racial or ethnic minorities made up 21.8% of those returning questionnaires. These sample characteristics are similar to those in recent years. Overall, the sample reflects higher return rates from women and lower return rates from minorities, based on the known characteristics of the 485 schools from which the sample was drawn.”
Univision May Win in GOP Boycott of NBC, CNN
“In a highly anticipated move, the Republican National Committee voted unanimously on Friday to deny NBC and CNN the rights to host or sponsor a Republican primary debate unless those two networks cancel their respective Hillary Clinton film projects,” Dylan Byers reported Friday for Politico.
” ‘CNN and NBC anchors will just have to watch on their competitors’ networks,’ RNC chairman Reince Priebus told the committee members in Boston.
“While NBC and CNN’s competitors stand to benefit from the RNC’s decision, there’s another potential winner who has gone unmentioned: Univision.
“On Friday, RNC communications director Sean Spicer told POLITICO that the boycott would extend to NBC and CNN’s Spanish-language channels: Telemundo and CNN Español.
” ‘My understanding is that they both would be excluded,’ Spicer wrote in an email.
“That leaves Univision, the country’s leading Spanish-language network, as the obvious go-to for any Republican primary debate targeted toward America’s rapidly growing Latino population, which the GOP is [desperate] to make inroads with in 2016. . . .”
- Lisa de Moraes, Deadline Hollywood: NBC Says Hillary Clinton Miniseries Might Never Go To Production
- Kim Masters, Hollywood Reporter: Fox TV Studios Won’t Produce NBC Hillary Clinton Miniseries (Exclusive)
- Jim Naureckas, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting: What’s the Message of Clinton’s Noncampaign for the Office She Might Run for in Three Years?
- Ira Teinowitz, the Wrap: Republicans Ban CNN, NBC From Hosting Debates Because of Hillary Clinton Projects
- Ira Teinowitz, the Wrap: Democrats: Ban on NBC, CNN Over Hillary Clinton Projects Will Hurt GOP’s Outreach to Hispanics, Women
Teshima Walker, NPR Producer and “Sistergirl,” Dies at 44
Teshima Walker, award-winning executive producer of NPR’s “Tell Me More,” died Friday at 44 after a two-year battle with colon cancer, NPR announced. Her passing surprised acquaintances, as she kept her illness private.
“Since 2011, Walker was the executive producer for NPR’s midday news program Tell Me More, hosted by Michel Martin. Walker was part of the public radio family for more than a decade,” an NPR announcement said. “She first joined the afternoon newsmagazine All Things Considered as a journalism fellow in 2000. Later she spent three years as a producer for The Tavis Smiley Show, and then for News and Notes. In 2007, Walker signed on as senior supervising producer of Tell Me More, and served the program in various capacities for the next six years. A Chicago native, Walker first came to NPR by way of WBEZ, where she was a senior producer for morning newsmagazine Eight Forty-Eight.
“Walker’s NPR colleagues knew her as a ‘Southside Chicago girl to the core,’ with an infectious laugh, and as someone who put herself aside for everyone.”
Martin told Journal-isms via email, “what I particularly appreciate about Teshima is that she brought the Southside to NPR and proved you could be both and do both exceptionally well. She was sistergirl in every sense of the word — she loved Chicago, AKA [Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority], booty shorts, barbecue, sisterlocks — and she was the consummate professional: tough, smart, fair, open minded, decisive. If anybody still doubts you can be all those things together, Teshima put that totally to rest. We are devastated to lose her, but so much for having had her in our lives.”
Producer Jonathan Blakley messaged from Cairo, “I was not only her colleague at NPR, I also worked with her through the WABJ’s Urban Journalism Workshop,” referring to the Washington Association of Black Journalists. “The teenagers absolutely LOVED ‘Ms. Teshima’! I know the young journalists she mentored wanted to grow up and be just like her — dynamic, strong and passionate about life and journalism. I hope and pray that through her mentoring, our profession will one day have more journalists like her Yet, there will only be one ‘Ms. Teshima’.”
Referring to the student projects of the National Association of Black Journalists, NABJ President Bob Butler said, “I first met Teshima when I joined student projects in 2002. She insisted that I go on with Michel Martin frequently during the trial of those responsible for killing Chauncey Bailey,” the Oakland journalist.
“She was a bad sister who knew her way around radio and could always be counted on to greet you with a big smile.”
Although Walker’s job was executive producer — running the day-to-day operations of the show, including programming, talent development, hiring and strategic planning — she also wrote occasionally. In 2010, after watching the Grammy Awards, she wrote about “the hold that blond hair has had” on black women.
When Tyler Perry’s movie “Why Did I Get Married?” opened in 2007, Walker wrote that she was tired of stereotypes. “[C]an I just tell you that I’m a black woman with an extra-extra large behind. And if I had a dollar for every time I saw a character in a movie where a fat black woman was an emotional victim, the center of a hurtful fat joke, the prayerful matron of all thin women and children, I’d buy my own damn studio and write movies about real, everyday fat women. . . .”
Walker is survived by her husband, writer Jimi Izrael; her parents, William and Vonceal Walker; and her sister, Eureva Walker.
- Ray Salazar, Chicago Now blog: Remembering NPR producer and Chicagoan, Teshima Walker Izrael
Advice on Diversity From a Middle-Aged White Guy: Do It
“A busy editor might be tempted to dismiss diversity as a buzzword or a lofty goal you don’t have time for. You need to regard it as a matter of journalistic integrity and business survival,” Steve Buttry, digital transformation editor for Digital First Media, wrote Thursday.
Digital First Media owns 50 newspapers in 11 states among 800 multiplatform products.
“Accuracy is the core of journalistic integrity, and your news will more accurately reflect the events and issues of your community as your staff better reflects your community,” Buttry continued. “And your news organization will have a more prosperous future if your content appeals to the entire community, not just the aging white audience you probably have now. Your content will have broader appeal if your staff brings broader experiences and perspectives to news coverage.
“The top editor needs to say the right things about diversity, but actions always trump words, so what you do is far more important than anything you say.
“So here’s some advice from a middle-aged white guy for recruiting, hiring and retaining a diverse staff and for making sure that your content reflects the diversity of your community . . .”
His points included, “Seek diverse pools of job candidates,” “Don’t overvalue experience,” “Give someone a chance (like you got),” “Learn about comfort factors,” “Think beyond race and gender,” “Cultivate diverse students and interns,” “Analyze your news content,” “Value diverse opinions,” “Don’t diminish anyone’s opportunity” and “Think of other diversity factors.”
Buttry also said, “Discussion of diversity and hires that increase diversity sometimes bring a dismissive response, particularly from white males. We may dismiss a hire or promotion as ‘reverse discrimination’ or ‘political correctness.’ That’s generally bullshit and you shouldn’t practice or tolerate any talk that diminishes opportunities for qualified people. . . . “
Pitts: Superficial Coverage of Race Amounts to Silence
“By acceding to this conspiracy of silence, we as journalists — and I would also indict the school system in this — we have helped create a generation of socio-historical idiots where race is concerned,” syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. has told Florida journalism groups.
“You may think that description is a little harsh. I would ask you to spend some quality time talking to some of my many earnest readers who insist with a straight face that conservatives fought for civil rights in the 1960s and died to stop slavery in the 1860s. You may just change your mind.”
In a July 18 keynote speech to the Florida Society of News Editors and the Florida Press Association, reprinted July 29 in the Miami Herald, Pitts said “the silence we have embraced is poisonous.
“So it is not enough to cover the Trayvon Martin trial. We should have already been writing about the forces that made that trial a sensation, meaning this abiding perception that black equals criminal. We should have been asking local police chiefs and district attorneys how it is that African Americans commit, say, 15 percent of drug crimes in a given jurisdiction, yet account for upwards of 70 percent of those doing time for drug crime.
“It is not enough to cover the ‘beer summit’ that ensued when a black professor was arrested on his own front porch. We should have been writing more about the disparities in educational achievement that make an African American man on a college campus such a rarity in the first place.
“It is not enough to write about the sliming of Shirley Sherrod. We should have been writing about what seems to some of us an organized attempt by elements on the political right to stir racial resentment, to give those resentments moral and intellectual cover, and to use them as a lever of political power.
“It is not enough to write about the opening of the Martin Luther King monument on the Washington Mall. We should have been writing about the erosion of progress toward the Dream he famously articulated there.
“In other words, we need to draw the through line, so that when President Obama is called ‘uppity’ or people pretend there is some controversy over where he was born, there is no question where that is coming from. We need to provide context so that when a district attorney seeks to try six black children for attempted murder after a schoolyard fight, people are already equipped to understand the rage that boils in some of us who have been down this road too many times before.
“This matters. Virtually every domestic issue that you cover — crime, poverty, the economy, the environment, education – is impacted by race. So helping our audiences understand what race means, what it is and how it still works, could not be more vital. . . .”
Short Takes
- “AOL said Friday it is laying off about 500 employees at Patch, or about half of the total workforce working for the local news site division,” Roger Yu reported for USA Today. “The New York-based media company is also closing or consolidating about 150 of the 900 news sites that are designed to compete with local newspapers for online viewers and local merchants’ advertising budgets. . . .”
- “On Saturday at 6 a.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1 will spring into existence, propelled by a portfolio of major events purchased over the past few years, a gaggle of studio shows and plenty of hype about being the ‘fun’ alternative to ESPN,” Richard Sandomir reported Thursday for the New York Times.
- Pilar Guzmán, vice president and editor-in-chief of Martha Stewart Living, on Wednesday was named editor-in-chief of Condé Nast Traveler, effective Sept. 3. She succeeds Klara Glowczewska, who will leave Condé Nast.
- Stephen Holder, sportswriter at the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, is joining the Indianapolis Star as lead writer on the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. “He will start Aug. 26. We are very excited to have him join our team. He is a tireless reporter, an excellent writer,” sports editor Ronnie Ramos told Journal-isms on Friday.
- Paula Madison, the former journalist and media executive who is now CEO of the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, is one of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s four nominees for the civilian panel that oversees the Los Angeles Police Department, Joel Rubin reported Wednesday for the Los Angeles Times. He added, “the arrival of these four all at once to the commission equates to a dramatic loss of institutional knowledge of how the LAPD operates. . . . Being pushed out by Garcetti, for example, is John Mack, a civil rights leader, who has served on the commission for several years and is well-versed in the department’s troubled history of abuses and its push to reform itself over the past decade. . . .”
- Annette John-Hall, former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, has joined Mighty Writers, which delivers free writing programs for children and youth in Philadelphia. She will be director of West Philadelphia Programs, the organization announced.
- Gregg Barrios, a freelancer for the San Antonio Current; Lynell George, a columnist for KCET’s Artbound; Bilal Qureshi, assistant producer at NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and An Xiao Mina, co- founder of The Civic Beat, are among 15 arts journalists selected as fellows for the 2013 USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program, the program announced on Thursday.
- Some 250 people, mostly family and friends, attended a memorial service in Troy, Mich., Thursday for Helen Thomas, the former White House correspondent who died on July 20 after a 70-year career, Hasan Dudar reported Friday for the Blade in Toledo, Ohio. “For many in the Detroit area, home to the country’s largest concentration of Arab-Americans, Mrs. Thomas was more than a journalist who challenged presidents with her blunt line of questioning; she was an icon. ‘[Wayne State] had a reception every year for journalism diversity and when she would speak, it was always inspirational,’ said Mae Bashi, 30, who received the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award at the university in 2002. . . . ”
- “After eight years at WBTV (Channel 3) news, Sarah Batista is nervously fitting into her dream job — documentary producer,” Mark Washburn wrote Friday for the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer. “Batista, 33, has started her own company, Stories to Inspire, aimed at creating videos for Charlotte nonprofits. Eventually she hopes it will take her into full-time documentary work. . . .”
- “The United States’ first 24/7 television channel for indigenous people has begun airing on a handful of public television stations across the country,” Graham Vyse reported Thursday for Current.org, describing FNX: First Nations Experience. “The channel’s launch was limited, as producing station KVCR in San Bernardino, Calif., seeks a national distribution deal and additional funding. . . . ”
- “Public TV stations are backing PBS’s first foray into weekend news by committing airtime to PBS NewsHour Weekend, which debuts next month, although several program directors question PBS’s decision to invest in the broadcast when its flagship weekday program is struggling financially,” Dru Sefton reported Wednesday for Current.org.
- In Pittsburgh, “An Aug. 12 press conference quickly turned into a sweeping indictment of the mainstream media’s portrayal of the Black community when Black community leaders met at the Thelma Lovette YMCA in the Hill District to show their support for the 38th Annual Connie Hawkins Basketball League ‘Summer Slam,” Rebecca Nuttall reported for the New Pittsburgh Courier. ” ‘I’m tired of the entire Black community being painted with the same brush,’ said Bill Neal, CEO of Champion Enterprises, host of the annual basketball game. ‘I’m tired of the Black community being painted as a war zone. We as Black leaders need to challenge that.’ . . . ”
- “Mexico’s Aeromexico airline and its ad agency have apologized for a producer’s casting call requesting that only light-skinned people apply as actors for a television commercial,” Adriana Gomez Licon reported Friday for the Associated Press. “Mexico’s population is largely dark-skinned, but Mexican television ads routinely feature light-skinned actors, sparking accusations of racial discrimination. The commercial has not yet been made, but the casting call specified it wanted ‘nobody dark skinned,’ only actors with ‘white skin.’ . . . ”
- “The government of the Gambia has given an indication of its readiness to fully implement the recently-passed draconian legislation which is meant to restrict online freedom,” the Media Foundation for West Africa reported on Thursday. Momodou Sabally, head of civil service and minister of presidential affairs, warned Gambians, “If you cannot say anything good about the country, then you should keep quiet.”
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