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Racial “Blind Spots” Acknowledged at N.Y. Times

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Public Editor Responds on “Angry Black Woman” Story

Reporter Drops F-Word on Air, Quits to Push Pot Business

Overlooked: TMZ’s Elevator Video Was “Smoothed Out”

William Drummond Wins Diversity Award for J-Educators

Will Lee Named Editor of People Magazine Website

XXL Magazine to Be Sold, End Print Edition

Reporters Banned From Ferguson “Town Hall” Meetings

Takedown of NFL Team Name in the Fourth Quarter

59 Black Media Figures Reaching Back to Classrooms Friday

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“How to Get Away with Murder” stars Viola Davis as Professor Annalise Keating. Davis responded to writer Alessandra Stanley’s characterization of her as “less classically beautiful” than lighter-skinned African American actresses. (video)

Public Editor Responds on “Angry Black Woman” Story

The culture editor of the New York Times said Monday of the criticism over the Times story that called television series creator Shonda Rhimes an “angry black woman”:

“This is a signal to me that we have to constantly remind ourselves as editors of our blind spots, what we don’t know, and of how readers may react.”

Danielle Mattoon‘s comment came in a blog posting by Margaret Sullivan, the Times’ public editor, who wrote that “The readers and commentators are correct to protest this story. Intended to be in praise of Ms. Rhimes, it delivered that message in a condescending way that was – at best – astonishingly tone-deaf and out of touch.”

Sullivan also wrote, “The Times has significant diversity among its high-ranking editors and prominent writers, but it’s troubling that with 20 critics, not one is black and only two are persons of color.” Her blog carried comments from Mattoon and the author of the piece, television critic Alessandra Stanley, but none from Dean Baquet, the Times’ first African American executive editor. Sullivan began the day by saying she intended to talk with Baquet, but concluded at day’s end, ” I still plan to talk to Mr. Baquet about the article, its editing, and about diversity in the newsroom, particularly among culture critics. . . . “

Baquet has been publicly silent since the controversy broke on Friday after Stanley’s story, which appeared in the Sunday print edition, went online Thursday. In the absence of comments from Baquet, USA Today took Mattoon’s comments as the organization’s official response, declaring in its headline, “‘New York Times’ apologizes for ‘tone-deaf’ Shonda Rhimes article.”

Sullivan wrote of the story, “Written by the longtime TV critic Alessandra Stanley, its first paragraph – with a reference to Ms. Rhimes as an ‘Angry Black Woman’ – struck many readers as completely off-base. Many called it offensive. Some went further, saying it was racist.

“Another reference to the actress Viola Davis as ‘less classically beautiful’ than lighter-skinned African American actresses immediately inspired a mocking hashtag. (Ms. Stanley’s article was pegged to a show, starring Ms. Davis, that will debut this week on ABC, ‘How to Get Away with Murder.’)

On Hellobeautiful.com, Shamika Sanders wrote, “Viola seemingly replied to the controversial article via Twitter, writing, ‘You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise!!!’ . . .”

Stanley replied to Sullivan, “Viola Davis said it about herself in the NYT magazine, more bluntly. I commended Ms. Rhimes for casting an actress who doesn’t conform to television’s narrow standards of beauty; I have said the same thing about Helen Mirren in ‘Prime Suspect.’

“I didn’t think Times readers would take the opening sentence literally because I so often write arch, provocative ledes that are then undercut or mitigated by the paragraphs that follow. . . .”

Meanwhile, the Times debuted First Draft, a new site and newsletter dedicated to analyzing politics, elections and policies. None of the participants listed by Chris O’Shea of FishbowlNY appeared to be of color. 

Charlo Greene said, “If I offended anyone, I apologize, but I’m not sorry for the choice that I made.” (video)

Reporter Drops F-Word on Air, Quits to Push Pot Business

“A television reporter quit her job on live TV with a big four-letter flourish after revealing she owns a medical marijuana business and intends to press for legalization of recreational pot in Alaska,” Mark Thiessen reported Monday for the Associated Press.

“After reporting on the Alaska Cannabis Club on Sunday night’s broadcast, KTVA’s Charlo Greene identified herself as the business’s owner.

” ‘Everything you’ve heard is why I, the actual owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club, will be dedicating all my energy toward fighting for freedom and for fairness, which begins with legalizing marijuana here in Alaska,’ she said during the late Sunday evening newscast. ‘And as for this job, well not that I have a choice, but f— it, I quit.’

“She then walked off camera. . . .”

Greene, meanwhile, chalked up more than 24,000 “likes” on her Facebook page as Monday ended, and she has started a crowdfunding campaign. “The video of her quitting has gone viral, amassing nearly 2.5 million views in less than a day of being on YouTube,” Mona Zhang reported for Social Times.

“Her Indiegogo campaign has reached 66 percent ($3,292) of its total goal ($5,000) in less than a day of being launched, despite the cheap look of the video. In the campaign description, Greene says the money will be used for ‘travel costs and informational materials.’ . . .”

Some journalists applauded Greene’s boldness. But others said she had disgraced the profession.

Salt Lake Tribune sports writer Tony Jones, son of veteran journalist Jackie Jones, wrote on Facebook, “Growing up as the son of an african-american female journalist, I quietly saw the struggles my mother had to go through in the industry. To make a long story short, my mom made her way up the ladder through talent, grace, professionalism and strength that has made me proud to say that I’m her son.

“All of which is to say, while funny on the face of it, I feel like this woman just figuratively spit in my mom’s face with her shenanigans in this video. There are some awfully good people who paved the road before you came along, ms. lady. I sincerely hope you haven’t in turn made the road that much more difficult for those who come after you.”

Lynne Adrine, a veteran broadcast journalist, said by email, “Ms. Greene appears to be ethically-challenged. She should have disclosed her involvement — and financial interest — in her Cannabis Club before she did any reporting. I’m not sure whether cannabis possession is illegal under all circumstances in Alaska. If medical marijuana is legal, she could have recused herself from any reporting on the ballot initiative due to the clear conflict of interest. Instead, she’s trying to make this about liberty, as opposed to her own lack of ethics.” Adrine is director of the D.C. Program for Broadcast and Digital Journalism for the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Adrine added, “Finally — if she wanted to use the platform she chose to exit in support of her advocacy of changed marijuana laws, she didn’t have to do the whole series of reports before revealing her bias. It’s not about whether her position has merit — it’s about her complete rejection of journalistic ethics. Her parents must be so proud.”

Overlooked: TMZ’s Elevator Video Was “Smoothed Out”

TMZ’s graphic video of Ray Rice punching Janay Palmer in an Atlantic City casino is not what it seems, J.K. Trotter reported Wednesday for Gawker.com.

“The raw video of Ray Rice knocking his then-fiancée unconscious is almost unwatchably glitchy,” Trotter wrote. “The site decided to delete and interpolate hundreds of individual frames to make Rice and Palmer’s actions more coherent — to make the punch appear as it actually happened.

” ‘This video is a cleaned up version of the raw surveillance elevator video — the raw is jerky … so we smoothed it out,’ TMZ explained in their original post of the video. This is far from ‘vérité video.’ It’s also the version that aired 37 times on television.

“The contrast between the two versions is striking. . . .”

Trotter also wrote, “It’s not as if TMZ was attempting, via strategic editing, to exaggerate or fabricate Rice’s violence. Even in the glitched-out footage, you can still gather that he knocks out his fiancée. But the original footage requires repeated viewings, and much closer scrutiny, to make sense of what’s going on. It’s far less jarring, and more open to interpretation, than its smoothed-out variation.

“This might seem pedantic. After all, the edited footage is almost certainly closer to what the human eye would have perceived. But it’s difficult to envision a mainstream outlet ‘cleaning up’ the original material to amplify its visual impact. Instances of photographic manipulation, ranging from subtle to extreme, have ignited dozens of high-profile media controversies. . . .”

William Drummond Wins Diversity Award for J-Educators

“William J. Drummond, a journalism professor at the University of California at Berkeley, is the recipient of the 2014 Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship,” the Association of Opinion Journalists announced on Monday.

“The award, given by the Association of Opinion Journalists (AOJ) Foundation, recognizes an educator’s outstanding efforts to encourage and mentor college students of color in the field of journalism.

“The Bingham Fellowship will be officially announced at the AOJ annual symposium in Mobile, Ala., Sept. 21-23, 2014. Recipients receive a $1,000 award to help them continue their work with students of color.”

Fernando Gallo, a former teaching assistant to Drummond, wrote in nominating Drummond, “The Graduate School of Journalism prides itself on its diversity. This presented a class that was often challenging, but Bill never wavered, and pushed his students to be professional and dedicated.

“Given the opportunity to choose a local community for his students to cover, Bill chose Richmond, Calif., one of the most dynamic, distinct and under-served communities in the country. The ‘hyper-local’ news website Richmond Confidential was created under his watch, and still continues to bring the news to Richmond today.

“In recent years, Bill has used his personal time to advise the inmates of San Quentin as they worked on the prison newspaper: The San Quentin News. Like a modern day Johnny Cash, but armed with a notepad instead of a black guitar, Bill willingly brought some diversion to the imprisoned; and put together a pretty darn good newspaper, too. The San Quentin News is the only inmate-produced newspaper in the country, and boasts a circulation of more than 11,000, as well as a website. And under Bill’s guidance, the newspaper was honored by the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for ‘accomplishing extraordinary journalism under extraordinary circumstances.’ “

Drummond’s career includes stints at the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., where he covered the civil rights movement, and at the Los Angeles Times, where he was a local reporter, then bureau chief in New Delhi and Jerusalem and later a Washington correspondent. He was also founding editor of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

Will Lee Named Editor of People Magazine Website

“People on Monday announced a crucial hire who will help determine the magazine’s digital future,” Christine Haughney reported for the New York Times.

“Will Lee, vice president for digital content and programming for The Hollywood Reporter’s website, will take over People.com on Oct. 20. According to a statement released by the magazine, Mr. Lee will ‘provide strategy and vision’ for the website and lead its digital team.

“Monday’s announcement marks a return for Mr. Lee to Time Inc. He started out working as an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly in 1998 and since then has written for Sports Illustrated.

“Since leaving Time Inc., he worked at the website TMZ as its New York bureau chief and helped start its television series. At the Penske Media Corporation, Mr. Lee worked on brands like Deadline, Hollywood Life, TV Line and Boy Genius Report. . . .”

XXL Magazine to Be Sold, End Print Edition

“Townsquare Media is buying XXL, the 17-year old urban hip-hop magazine from Harris Publications, and will immediately stop producing a regular print edition, The Post has learned,” Keith J. Kelly reported Monday for the New York Post.

“The October-November issue of the six-times-a-year title, now at the printer, will be the final edition, sources said. After that, XXL will be digital-only. Two additional digital properties also are being acquired: Antenna Magazine, a young men’s title and one-time print edition that launched as a digital men’s pop culture site in July; and King-mag.com, a suspended entity that will have a digital relaunch.

“Terms of the deal could not be learned.

” ‘We incubated something digitally, but the Townsquare people can take it to the next level with their digital expertise,’ said Ben Harris, president of Harris Publications, which started XXL in 1997 to rival Vibe.

“Unlike in most brand acquisitions during which staff members are laid off, Bill Wilson, the chief content officer of Townsquare, said 11 XXL editorial and digital ad sales team employees will be offered jobs. . . . “

Wilson is former president of AOL Media.

Fox aired a one-minute ad for the 18th season of “South Park” during Sunday’s Philadelphia Eagles-Washington Redskins game. (video)

Takedown of NFL Team Name in the Fourth Quarter

“NFL fans watching Sunday’s Philadelphia Eagles-Washington Redskins were treated to a rare sight during a fourth-quarter commercial break,” the New England Sports Network reported.

“FOX aired a one-minute ad for the 18th season of ‘South Park’ that was less a promo for the Comedy Central show and more a thorough takedown of the Redskins’ nickname and the controversy surrounding it.”

Susan L. Taylor, longtime editor of Essence magazine, explains the HistoryMakers program in a 2010 video.(video)

59 Black Media Figures Reaching Back to Classrooms Friday

“What does service mean in the African American community?” The HistoryMakers organization asked Monday in a news release. “To newspaper veteran George Curry, service means making news accessible to minority communities. To renowned radio personality Frank Ski, service means expanding the reach of urban media, and increasing opportunities for disadvantaged youth.

“To newspaper publisher and editor Amelia Ashley Ward, or television executive Douglas V. Holloway, service means changing the face of media leadership. Service means building a legacy of elite journalism to broadcast journalist Leon Bibb, and redefining television news media to news anchor Barbara Ciara.

“On September 26, 2014, these leaders will join over sixty African American MediaMakers across the nation for a day of service during the 5th Annual Back to School With The HistoryMakers program, as they return to classrooms to encourage students to COMMIT to excellence and finishing their education.”

The full list of participating media figures is in the “Comments” section.

The release also said, “Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is chairing the nationwide effort with the goal of having more than 400 black leaders go ‘back to school’ in 61 cities and 30 states. The program puts HistoryMakers in direct contact with over 25,000 students across the nation, to inspire them with their life’s stories and to encourage youth to strive for The theme of the day is ‘COMMIT.’ The HistoryMakers will personally recount their own school experiences, reflect upon the struggles they encountered on their paths to success and, most importantly, encourage students.  ‘It makes a difference to hear a message of positive choices from successful, caring adults whom the students can relate to,’ says a teacher from the program. . . .”

This columnist will be among the participants. 

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