Abducted Schoolgirls Have Media’s Attention, but for How Long?
Suddenly, it seems, the story of the hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped last month has become a cause celebre, warranting front-page stories, public support from President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama and protests around the world.
It comes after others had wondered aloud why the human horror hadn’t received more media attention.
“I have a theory,” Omoyele Sowore, founder of Sahara Reporters, a New York-based multimedia platform staffed by citizen reporters in the Nigerian diaspora.
“The search for the airplane ended abruptly,” Soware told Journal-isms by telephone, referring to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished on March 8 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. “And the international media definitely moved to South Korea,” site of the ferry disaster that killed more than 260 people last month.
“They were looking for the next big story, and this was perfect.”
For Sowore, it was about time. It’s now 23 days since the abductions took place, and they are not the first outrages committed in Nigeria by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. In February, 29 students at an all-boys school were killed by the same group to a virtual worldwide silence. In 2012, this column reported that the group was believed to be behind coordinated attacks on three media houses, killing no fewer than nine people
“We’ve documented so much of the atrocities,” Sowore said, “but nobody paid attention, and suddenly there’s no more big story except this.”
In the United States, lawyer Gina McCauley, whose What About Our Daughters? site attracted attention in 2008 by spotlighting cases of missing black women and girls, was among those who took notice. “What about BLACK media?” McCauley tweeted the other day. “If ‘mainstream’ media wasn’t waking up, we would see nothing in the Black press #BringBackOurGirls.”
She elaborated in a message to Journal-isms, “No one’s hands are clean in this atrocity. . . . NO [American] media has been paying attention to the atrocities in Nigeria. There is plenty of blame to go around.
“I am not a fan of #hashtag activism, however, my readers were anguished about the story when I shared it and other than public ridicule and shame, how do you get a sovereign nation to care about its own citizens? I also called my elected officials and just heard back from the State Department.
“Black press should have been leading the way, but what else is new?
“This is one of those stories where traditional journalists could provide some much needed geo-political context to this entire conversation.”
Social media are widely being credited for pushing the story so that it gained the attention of the mainstream media, though such news shows as NPR’s “Tell Me More” did programs on the abductions as early as April 16.
Representatives of the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and New York Times were not available for comment Wednesday, but the Associated Press was happy to note the work of correspondent Michelle Faul, who is based in Lagos.
“One reason the story has generated increasing attention is because AP Nigeria Bureau Chief Michelle Faul (based in Lagos) has been all over it, including her report yesterday recounting how one girl escaped the abductors,” AP spokesman Paul Colford said by email.
“And the wider broadcast media have noticed and echoed Michelle’s enterprise — from NPR to BBC to NBC — all today,” he added, listing Faul’s Wednesday broadcast appearances and a link to Faul’s other work.
Sowore, of Sahara Reporters, is less concerned about less about getting help to the Nigerians who are directly affected, some of whom escaped their abductors; others who are yet to be located.
“There are acres and acres of hashtags out there,” he said of social media. “but the people who really need help are really on the ground.” They will and do need psychological help and schooling; the roof of their school was blown up. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “They need the attention. But what’s most important is to save the girls and whatever is left of their dignity and their humanity. We don’t have much time. Imagine they were trapped on a boat that sank and we had assurances that they were still alive. Is this how we would react?”
“The world has attention deficit disorder for causes. You’ve got to ask, how long will they stay on this before they move on to something else?”
- Wayne Bennett, the Field Negro: Bring our daughters home, and Mona Sinclair runs for office.
- Mark Berman, Washington Post: Anger over kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls sparks protests in the U.S.
- Jasmyne Cannick, EURWeb.com: The Only Nigerians Americans Care About Are the Homophobic Ones
- Arturo R. García, Racialicious: #BringBackOurGirls: Protesters Worldwide Rally For Nigerian Kidnapping Victims
- David Hudson, White House: U.S. to Help Nigeria in the Search for Kidnapped Girls
- A.O. Scruggs, alldigitocracy.org: #BringBackOurGirls: How the story is being covered
- Darlene Superville, Associated Press: First Lady Calls for Return of Nigerian Girls
- Matt Wilstein, Mediaite: NBC’s Brian Williams Mixes Up Kenya and Nigeria
Balta Says Others Should Learn From MSNBC Apology
MSNBC apologized on the air Tuesday for airing a Cinco de Mayo segment that included a sombrero-wearing, tequila-swilling correspondent Louis Burgdorf and Hugo Balta, president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, said, “I received phone calls from MSNBC president Phil Griffin, Executive Producer Alex Korson and other NBC Universal leaders.”
Balta wrote to members wednesday, “MSNBC isn’t the only network that should be criticized for this type of behavior. ABC Good Morning America’s Laura Spencer‘s tasteless quip, ‘Cinco de Drinko’ is yet another example of the dozens of poor decisions made by media outlets.
“It isn’t about being overly sensitive or lacking a sense of humor as some have chastise me. It is the lack of understanding of how these types of images continue to discredit a community struggling for a place at the table.
“The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) released a study in 2012 demonstrating how negative media narratives and portrayals of Latinos shape the opinions of non-Latinos. The survey found that the stereotypes participants believed to be true reflected images, characters, and stories encountered in television, film, and radio.
“One of the most rewarding comments I received was from a local television general manager who said he used the MSNBC segment as a learning tool with his staff. He played the video and had a candid discussion about how to avoid such mistakes and the importance of being cognizant in their daily work.
“It is my hope that other newsrooms are having similar conversations. NAHJ champions for the fair and accurate treatment of Latinos at the workplace and in the content produced by media. Our association has and will continue to work with media companies in improving processes towards that end.
“The MSNBC incident is also a stark reminder of the need for newsrooms to be reflective of the community they cover. . . .”
NPR’s “Latino USA” Welcomes White History Month
“Happy White History Month! (audio) ” host Maria Hinojosa begins in introducing a satirical report on this week’s “Latino USA,” which airs on NPR.
“For our fiction edition, Latino USA producer Brenda Salinas tries her hand at satire by reporting about white Americans the same way other communities get covered.
“They’re 80 percent of congress, 86 percent of Fortune 500 CEOS, 94 percent of Oscar voters and 93 percent of Oscar winners. They invented lightbulbs, airplanes, fake butter and the internet. They founded institutions of higher learning all over the country. They ended slavery.
“Despite all of these achievements, the Non-Hispanic white population is shrinking every year. But just who are white people? Latino USA producer Brenda Salinas went to Times Square to find out more about the history of these proud people.”
Columnists Honor “Oppressed People’s Correspondent”
“A veteran Virginia journalist who has been called ‘the oppressed people’s correspondent’ has been named the 2014 recipient of the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award,” the National Society of Newspaper Columnists announced on Monday. “Michael Paul Williams, metro columnist and reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, will be honored at a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol on Friday, June 27, during the annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in Washington, D.C.
“For more than three decades Williams has built a reputation for never being afraid to take sides on hot-button issues. He said in a 2012 interview that “afflicting the comfortable” is part of a columnist’s job description. He also believes ‘humanitarianism, by definition, should be a journalist’s highest calling.’ . . . ”
Nannette Johnson Out at New England Cable News
“New England Cable News said two top news managers left the station yesterday,” O’Ryan Johnson reported Wednesday for the Boston Herald.
“No details were provided about why news director Nannette Hobson and assistant news director Bob Keating will no longer be employed there.
“ ‘We will immediately begin a nationwide search for a new news director for NECN,’ general manager Michael St. Peters said in an email to employees. . . .”
According to her LinkedIn profile, Hobson was director of digital journalism at WNCN-TV in Raleigh, N.C., from 2003 to 2010, and worked at WRC-TV in Washington as assistant news director and executive producer. The Herald said she and Keating could not be reached for comment.
Norman Lumpkin Dies, Pioneer Alabama Broadcaster
“Norman Lumpkin, a journalist described as a legend in black broadcasting, has died,” Kym Klass reported Tuesday for the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser.
A spokesman for Ross-Clayton Funeral Home in Montgomery confirmed that Lumpkin died in Montgomery on Tuesday. His age was not immediately available.
Lumpkin, worked for radio stations in Montgomery and Indianapolis, Ind., before being hired by WSFA in 1969 as the station’s first African-American TV reporter. He is remembered by local African-American historian Richard Bailey as “forceful, thorough and believable.
” ‘Norman Lumpkin personifies black broadcasting,’ he said. ‘When you start talking about the legends, you’re talking about Norman Lumpkin. His name is synonymous with black broadcasting.’ . . .”
Newseum Exhibit Features Immigrants, Journalists of Color
“On May 16, the Newseum will open ‘One Nation With News for All,’ a new exhibit that tells the dramatic story of how immigrants and minorities used the power of the press to fight for their rights and shape the American experience ,” the Newseum, the museum of news in Washington, announced on April 30. ” ‘News for All’ was created in partnership with the Smithsonian’s Our American Journey project.
“The exhibit features 60 artifacts, including press passes used by Univision co-anchors María Elena Salinas and Jorge Ramos while covering international news events, and a stepstool used by Pullman porters, black railroad car attendants who distributed the influential Chicago Defender in the South, where Northern papers were often confiscated and banned by whites. Also on display in ‘News for All’ are a composing stick and lead type used by Benjamin Franklin to publish his newspapers, Memphis Free Speech publisher Ida B. Wells‘s diary and Frederick Douglass‘s pocket watch, engraved ‘F. Douglass’ on the back.
“Visitors also will see some of the country’s first ethnic newspapers, including Freedom’s Journal, the first black newspaper, launched in 1827 to fight for equal rights and demand an end to slavery; and the Cherokee Phoenix, the first Native American newspaper, which was founded in 1828 to champion the rights of Indians and now publishes monthly in print and online. These and other newspapers helped millions of immigrants become part of America while keeping them informed about their homelands. . . .”
This columnist has a small role in the exhibit, reading a passage by Robert Abbott, founder of the Chicago Defender. The exhibit is scheduled through Jan. 4. 2015.
Follow Richard Prince on Twitter @princeeditor
Facebook users: “Like” “Richard Prince’s Journal-isms” on Facebook.
