Prof Gives J-Schools an "F" in Finance
Tea Party Examined in Context of White Backlashes
FBI Looking Into Post-Katrina Police Shootings
Ex-Trucker at Plain Dealer Wins for Police Reporting
Public Ranks PBS "Most Trusted" for Seventh Year
Prof Gives J-Schools an "F" in Finance
"Yesterday I visited with a journalism class at a major university," Paul Gillin, who has "spent 25 years in technology journalism, the first 17 of them in print," wrote this month on his blog, newspaperdeathwatch.com.
"This institution’s journalism program is considered one of the finest in the country and its faculty boasts notable veterans of the newspaper and broadcast field. I spoke to a small class for about 90 minutes, devoting the first hour of that time to a discourse on the state of the US media: Why it’s in a predicament, how the story is likely to play out and what it all means for aspiring journalists. The rest of the time was discussion.
"My material wasn’t the type of stuff these students are used to hearing, judging by their reactions. About 2/3 of my talk was about economics and business. Among the topics I addressed were:
"How advertising efficiency is devastating the media economic models that are based on the inherent inefficiency of mass-market advertising;
"The irony that newspaper readership is at an all-time high even as the industry craters;
"How the efficiency of online publishing permits new media organizations to operate much more cheaply than their predecessors;
"Why the 57-year-old average daily newspaper reader is an undesirable target for advertisers;
"Why advertising costs will continue to go down and why this is a problem for traditional media;
"Why Craigslist has devastated newspapers’ most profitable revenue source;
"How the need to sustain high circulation levels has made newspaper editorial content bland, inoffensive and, ultimately, vulnerable to competition.
"The students were aware that they’re stepping into an uncertain world but they didn’t seem to grasp the finer points of the media business. Looking at the journalism department’s website later, I could see why. The curriculum lists 29 courses in the journalism program, and not a single one is about the economics of publishing or how to sustain a career as a journalist . . ."
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CBfPEbkYck]MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann says to Tea Party movement, "ask yourself, where are the black faces? Who am I marching with?"
Tea Party Examined in Context of White Backlashes
A video of MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann’s Presidents Day essay on "Hardball" is circulating via e-mail and prompting discussion in the blogosphere. Olbermann considers the racial factor in the Tea Party movement.
"And I think having now been one for 51 years, I am permitted to say I believe prejudice and discrimination still sit defeated, dormant, or virulent, somewhere in the soul of each white man in this country," Olbermann said. "Sixty-three years after Jackie Robinson and 56 years after Brown v. Board of Education, and 46 after the Civil Rights Act, and a year and a half after the presidential election, this is not a popular thing to say.
". . . Fear is a terrible thing. So is prejudice. So is racism. And progress towards the removal of any evil produces an inevitable backlash. The Civil War was not followed by desegregation, but by Jim Crow and the Klan. The Civil War rights legislation of the `60s was not followed by peace, but by George Wallace and anti-busing overt racism.
"Why should the election of a black president be without a backlash? But recognize what this backlash is and maybe you can free yourself of this movement, built of inherited fears and of echoes of 1963 or 1873.
"Look at who is leading you and why, and look past the blustery self-justifications and see the fear, this unspoken, inchoate , unnecessary fear of those who are different.
"If you believe there is merit to your political argument, fine. But ask yourself when you next go to a Tea Party rally or watch one on television or listen to a politician or a commentator praise these things or merely treat them as if it was just a coincidence that they are virtually segregated, ask yourself, where are the black faces? Who am I marching with? What are we afraid of?
"And if it really is only a president`s policy and not his skin, ask yourself one final question. Why are you surrounded by the largest crowd you will ever again see in your life that consists of nothing but people who look exactly like you? Good night and good luck."
Veteran Chicago journalist Monroe Anderson wrote of Olbermann on his blog, "His commentary, I think, got to the heart of conservative America’s thinking and to the soul of the Impeach Obama fantasy."
- Courtland Milloy, Washington Post: Tancredo’s remarks about voters reek of ‘innate racism’
- Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald: Dear Sarah: Say it is so, run for president
- Bob Ray Sanders, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Lessons to be learned for Mama’s tea party
FBI Looking Into Post-Katrina Police Shootings
"Federal agents have broadened their investigation of the New Orleans Police Department and are now looking into three post-Katrina police shootings detailed in a news series published by ProPublica, The Times-Picayune and the PBS series ‘Frontline’ in December," A.C. Thompson of ProPublica and Laura Maggi and Brendan McCarthy of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported this week. .
"Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo of the NOPD confirmed that the FBI has subpoenaed documents relating to the shootings — which included police investigative reports, as well as other related files—in the past two months.
"The ‘Law & Disorder’ series¬†was an examination of police conduct in the wake of Katrina by reporters at ProPublica, The Times-Picayune and PBS ‘Frontline.’ It chronicled three police shootings: the fatal shooting of a 41-year-old man in Faubourg Marigny, the fatal shooting of an 45-year-old man in front of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and the nonfatal shooting of a man on an Interstate 10 overpass.
Referring to the suspicious shooting death of black resident Henry Glover  the reporters wrote, "The federal investigation into Glover’s death is one of several active probes into the NOPD. A grand jury examining the well-publicized Danziger Bridge shooting — in which two men were killed by police and four others were shot — commenced last spring. The FBI also has an open investigation into the fatal police shooting death of Adolph Grimes III, 22, who was killed in an encounter with officers on New Year’s Day 2009."
Ex-Trucker at Plain Dealer Wins for Police Reporting
"Plain Dealer reporter Mark Puente was selected Wednesday for the Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting," the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on Thursday.
"The award, given annually by the University of Colorado, honors reporters who cover police and crime.
"McFaul resigned last year after state officials started a criminal investigation into the practices first detailed by Puente."
The university added, "Puente, 40, is a former long-haul truck driver who moved his family from Cleveland to the University of North Carolina to start college at the age of 30. He studied political science and then turned to journalism as a senior when he joined the staff of The Daily Tar Heel. He earned an internship at The Plain Dealer in 2006 and was hired half way through."
Public Ranks PBS "Most Trusted" for Seventh Year
"A new poll finds PBS among the most trusted institutions in America and the most trusted name in news. According to an annual poll conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media, 40% of Americans trust PBS’ news and public affairs programs a "great deal." Fox News was second at 29% and CNN was third at 27%," Marisa Guthrie reported Friday for Broadcasting & Cable.
"This is the seventh consecutive year the public has named PBS the nation’s most-trusted institution," added Radio Business report.
"In the 2010 poll, 45% of respondents said they trust PBS more than any other nationally known organization. PBS ranked at the top in public trust among every age group, ethnicity, income and education level measured
"In an effort to measure bias, the survey concluded that 40% of Americans rated the news coverage, investigations and discussions of major issues on PBS programs as ‘mostly fair’ (when asked to choose among ‘liberal,’ ‘mostly fair’ and ‘conservative’). NBC and ABC tied for second by 33% of the respondents, CNN (31%), NPR (29%), Fox News Channel (25%) and MSNBC (24%).
"PBS annually commissions this research to measure the organization’s performance and value as judged by the American public. Full results are available at pbs.org/roperpoll2010."
Short Takes
- The Wall Street Journal announced Thursday it was opening an Africa bureau, naming South Asia correspondent Peter Wonacott the Africa bureau chief. Wonacott’s appointment "reflects the region‚Äôs increasing importance as a business and geopolitical story. His appointment signals the launch of an expanded reporting network on the continent, which has generally been under-covered by Western media," Managing Editor Robert Thomson said in a memo, as TalkingBizNews reported.
- USA Today said Thursday it plans a Puerto Rico edition that will cater to travelers and tourists on the island. "In addition to the traditional four sections, News, Money, Sports and Life, the Puerto Rico Edition will include two pages that will offer a unique perspective of the local events in the area to include: politics, economy, society, sports, entertainment, and the Puerto Rican tourism experience. The articles will be produced and written by El Nuevo D??a journalists," the announcement says.
- The New York Times Friday published its second consecutive investigative story about New York Gov. David Paterson after speculation that it was working on a "bombshell." This article, by Danny Hakim, Serge F. Kovaleski and Nicholas Confessore, said, "interviews with dozens of current and former aides, legislators and friends reveal significant criticism about Mr. Paterson’s management of the state and of his election effort. Those interviewed describe the governor as remote from the most seasoned people around him, and increasingly reliant on people whom he feels comfortable with but who lack deep experience in government, including his former driver, David W. Johnson, and his former Albany roommate, Clemmie J. Harris Jr., who retired from the State Police on disability a decade ago and has been appointed special adviser to the governor."
- "Salem Communications has bought HotAir.com from conservative commentator Michelle Malkin. The site, combined with Salem’s own Townhall.com, gives Salem’s online conservative news and commentary a reach to more than 3 million unique readers," RadioInk reported." Terms of the sale were not disclosed. According to a Thursday news release, "Began in April 2006 by political commentator Michelle Malkin, HotAir.com has grown into the most popular conservative blog on the web. Bloggers Ed Morrissey and AllahPundit provide round-the-clock breaking news, commentary and insight from a conservative perspective. It is ranked among the top blogs on Technorati."
- "Essence Communications Inc. has gotten itself a good deal in its latest hire: Celeste Harwell, who has done directorial sales work for The New York Times, Marie Claire, and TRACE magazine has been taken on as the African-American media company’s newest director of fashion," Drew Grant reported Thursday for Fishbowl NY. "Harwell’s most recent gig was serving as the Associate Publisher for TIME Style & Design, which has ties to Essence."
