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Joural-Isms October 20th, Diana Wendel Practice

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15 More Journalists Disinvited in Fear of Ebola

Troubles Not Over for Medical Reporter Who Broke Quarantine

Caucus Chair Calls Sharp Cuts of CNN Blacks “an Affront”

Tamron Hall Tears Muscle After Screaming in Haunted House

NHL Player Suspended Swiftly After Domestic Violence Arrest

Lessons From Boston Herald Cartoon Mistake

N.Y. Times Honored for Series on Underpaid Disabled Workers

Black Opinion Editor Ties Gay Marriage to Civil Rights

Short Takes

Universities of Ga., South Fla. Cancel Invitations to Africans

“Officials at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg uninvited 14 journalists from African countries to visit for three weeks on Oct. 31. for the annual Edward R. Murrow Visiting Journalists program. The program is organized by the US Department of State for foreign journalists to discuss their experiences and share stories about reporting in their countries,” Jack Pickell and Chelsea Rice wrote for Boston.com Monday in an ongoing summary of Ebola developments.

“University of South Florida St. Petersburg’s Department of Journalism and Media studies was one of seven journalism schools hosting 100 of the rising top journalists from around the world. Only the African journalists’ trips were canceled.

In addition, “The University of Georgia cancelled the Oct. 23 guest lecture of an award-winning Liberian journalist after concerns were raised that it could expose students and the campus community to the Ebola virus,” Brad Schrade reported Sunday for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Wade C.L. Williams was to set to deliver the McGill lecture to talk about her experiences covering the Ebola crisis. An editor for Front Page Africa, a news website and newspaper in Monrovia, Liberia, she works in one of the hardest hit West African countries with close to 2500 deaths reported this year from the virus.

“On Oct. 13, the university touted her upcoming visit, co-sponsored by the journalism school, on its website. But just days later, in the face of concerns from parents and the public, UGA announced her trip would be postponed and the McGill lecture would be delivered by Washington Post reporter Todd Frankel. Frankel covered the Ebola crisis earlier this year. . . .”

Meanwhile, the Daily Orange, student newspaper at Syracuse University, wrote Monday that the majority of its editorial board “disagrees with S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications’ decision to disinvite a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer from its 2014 Fall Workshop. The school gave in to the hysteria surrounding Ebola and disinviting the photographer reflects poorly on Newhouse. . . .”

The photographer, Michel du Cille of the Washington Post, meanwhile, dominated the front page of the Post Style section Monday with an essay and photos from his two-week assignment in Liberia, headlined “The humanity in my lens” in the print edition.

“In one of the most emotional encounters I faced in Liberia, I photographed a family that accompanied a sick woman who seemed near death as they sought treatment,” du Cille wrote.

“She was bleeding from the mouth and her breathing was shallow; she was not ambulatory. As the husband, a sister, a brother and a friend descended from the van, each wore large plastic bags around their hands, feet and bodies, trying to protect themselves from infection with makeshift coverings. They knew it was the only way to get their very ill relative to the Doctors Without Borders Ebola treatment unit. Waiting outside the gates was a given, but to the anxious family, I am sure one hour seemed far too long as the patient worsened.

“At one point, I approached the woman’s sister, who had secluded herself against a wall away from the others and her sister fading away in the van. Standing at a safe distance, I asked her how long her sibling had been sick; she said about a week. She asked me questions that I could not completely understand and could not answer. As we tried to converse, neither fully understanding the other’s dialect, our eyes did the talking. To me, her eyes said, ‘This is the end.’ I looked at her and said, ‘You know she is very, very sick.’ She said, ‘Yes, I know.’ As I tried to continue our fruitless conversation, my voice broke and suddenly tears came involuntarily. By then, more patients arrived by ambulance and I resumed taking photographs.

“It is profoundly difficult not to be a feeling human being while covering the Ebola crisis. . . .”

Du Cille and other Washington Post journalists who covered Ebola in West Africa were to meet with other reporters to discuss their experiences covering the outbreak, Mark Berman wrote Sunday for the Post.

Troubles Not Over for Medical Reporter Who Broke Quarantine

“The quarantine against possible Ebola exposure ends this week for Dr. Nancy Snyderman, but the troubles clearly aren’t over for NBC News’ chief medical editor,” David Bauder wrote Monday for the Associated Press.

“An admitted lapse in the quarantine, combined with a curiously imprecise explanation, unleashed a furious response. NBC must now decide whether Snyderman’s credibility is too damaged for her to continue reporting on Ebola or other medical issues and, if so, for how long. The network would not comment.

“Snyderman, a surgeon who spent 17 years as a medical correspondent for ABC News and has been at NBC since 2006, covered the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and worked briefly with Ashoka Mukpo, the cameraman who caught the virus and is now being treated in Nebraska. Upon returning to the United States, Snyderman and her crew voluntarily agreed to quarantine themselves for 21 days, the longest known incubation period for the disease. They have shown no symptoms.

“Yet New Jersey health officials ruled that her quarantine should be mandatory after Snyderman and her crew were spotted getting takeout food from a New Jersey restaurant. . . .”

Caucus Chair Calls Sharp Cuts of CNN Blacks “an Affront”

Rep. Maria L. Fudge, D-Ohio, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Saturday called “particularly concerning” reports that layoffs at Time Warner “have significantly reduced the number of African Americans in senior and executive roles in the company’s flagship news organization, CNN.”

Fudge said, “In a nation growing increasingly more diverse, it is imperative that the organizations tasked with keeping us informed reflect the same diversity. Ethnic sensitivity both on-camera and behind it demonstrates a corporate understanding of the benefits of diversity, and a genuine respect for the audiences’ needs.

“Any staffing changes that disproportionately cut the number of African Americans at CNN — intentionally or otherwise — are an affront to the African American journalism community and to the African American community as a whole. It is my sincere hope that these reports are not true, and that Time Warner works to ensure that the diversity of its viewers across the country, and the world, is reflected and protected in all areas of its organization.”

Safiya Jafari Simmons, spokeswoman for Fudge, was unable to say Monday what prompted Fudge’s statement, which the National Association of Black Journalists posted on its website.

NABJ said Friday that a CNN representative of the network told NABJ President Bob Butler that the network was withdrawing its support of the association’s 2015 convention.

CNN replied in its own statement, “Following NABJ’s recent comments about CNN, we informed them we were reconsidering our relationship, but we were clear that we had not made a final decision. It’s surprising to us that they would choose to make such a statement.”

“ ‘They’re basically calling me a liar,’ said Butler in a chat with the Erik Wemple Blog,” Wemple wrote Monday for the Washington Post. “ ‘That’s very disturbing.’ ”

In another development, CNN Politics, formerly the workplace of black journalists Bryan Monroe and Halimah Abdullah, has hired Chris Moody, formerly the political reporter for Yahoo! News, as a senior digital correspondent, and Alexandra Jaffe, formerly of The Hill, as part of it breaking news team, according to cnncommentary.com.

Ed O’Keefe, recently hired vice president of CNNMoney and Politics, has said he would double the size of the politics staff as he revamped its operations.

On the “Today” set, Tamron Hall, Willie Geist, Al Roker and Natalie Morales discuss their visit to a haunted house. (video)

Tamron Hall Tears Muscle After Screaming in Haunted House

“‘Today’ show third hour co-anchor Tamron Hall took one for the team this weekend,” Brian Flood reported Monday for TVNewser.

“Doctors diagnosed Hall with a deep muscle tear developed from screaming too much during a weekend trip to a haunted house. Al Roker, Natalie Morales and Willie Geist joined Hall for a taping at the Brighton Asylum haunted house in Passaic, New Jersey Friday night. On the way home Hall complained of stomach pain, which got worse into Saturday morning. . . .”

Flood also wrote, “The house takes an estimated 20 minutes to complete and Hall was apparently screaming the entire time. The segment will air later this week.”

NHL Player Suspended Swiftly After Domestic Violence Arrest

“The NFL’s handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence controversy has become a cautionary tale for fellow professional sports leagues. The NHL’s suspension of Slava Voynov on Monday morning is the latest example that pro sports outfits are taking domestic violence seriously,” Tim Baysinger reported for Broadcasting & Cable.

“Voynov, a defenseman for the defending champion Los Angeles Kings, was suspended indefinitely by commissioner Gary Bettman, following his arrest on charges of domestic violence Monday morning.

“In announcing the suspension, the NHL highlighted section 18-A.5 of the collective bargaining agreement, which states: “The League may suspend the Player pending the League’s formal review and disposition of the matter where the failure to suspend the Player during this period would create a substantial risk of material harm to the legitimate interests and/or reputation of the League.”

“Unlike the NFL, which at times appeared flatfooted and reactionary, the NHL was able to get their announcement of Voynov’s suspension out ahead of any media reports. With the NHL a distant fourth among the professional sports leagues in terms of popularity and media coverage, it was much easier for Bettman and his executives to get ahead of the story. . . .”

Lessons From Boston Herald Cartoon Mistake

“The worst fate of all may be to make a terrible mistake and then learn the wrong lessons from the experience,” Eric Deggans wrote Sunday for the NPR “Code Switch” blog.

“That’s the thought I had reading a heartfelt column about the Boston Herald’s unfortunate decision to publish a cartoon featuring a White House gate-crasher asking the nation’s first black president if he had ‘tried the new watermelon flavored toothpaste.’ “

Deggans also wrote, “Here’s my list of the biggest lessons the Herald should learn from Cartoongate:”

Black Opinion Editor Ties Gay Marriage to Civil Rights

“Some people don’t like to equate the issue of gay marriage with the civil rights struggle,” Allen Johnson, a black journalist who is editorial page editor of the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., wrote Sunday. “But what is it, if not a struggle for civil rights? That’s why I suspect more African American clergy have not only turned away from their traditional disdain for gay marriage, but embraced it as a cause.

“Some state lawmakers also have embraced it as a cause, in fierce opposition to a recent federal judge’s decision declaring gay marriage legal in North Carolina. They may be as motivated by politics as personal convictions. But, whatever the reason, they won’t go down without a fight. And, in the end, they will lose.

“On a personal note, I was born black and raised Southern Baptist. That meant I was taught that homosexuality was wrong because the Bible said so. I also have seen scripture — specifically, ‘the curse of Ham’ — similarly quoted to defend slavery, discrimination, segregation … and worse.

“I am older and wiser today, and so, apparently, are more of the rest of us. Our courts are telling us that laws banning gay marriage are unconstitutional. We should listen. . . .”

Short Takes

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