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Even Conservative Media Criticize Grand Jury

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Lack of Indictment in Garner Case Faulted Across Spectrum

U.S. Photojournalist Killed in Yemen by Al Qaeda Affiliate

FCC Approves 10 Minority-, Female-Owned Stations

Mass Resignations at New Republic Magazine

Collaboration on Cuban Child Sex Tourism Hailed as Model

Marion Barry Services to Be Telecast Live on Saturday

Washington NFL Team to Honor Sports Writer Burwell

Lee May Dies at 73, a Writer Who Loved the Soil

Black Company Sues AT&T Over Access to DirecTV

Short Takes

Lack of Indictment in Garner Case Faulted Across Spectrum

“The media can’t breathe,” David Uberti wrote Thursday for Columbia Journalism Review. “That was the reaction of many journalists to news yesterday that New York City Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo wouldn’t be indicted for killing Eric Garner — and it echoed the black Staten Island man’s last words in July.

“The commentary and analysis surrounding this case is already different from that of black Missouri teenager Michael Brown, whose killer, Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, likewise evaded indictment last week. The fallout from that verdict hewed closely to the media’s ideological divide, with liberals generally questioning the move and conservatives defending it. The grand jury’s decision in the Garner case, on the other hand, has drawn criticism from both ends of the political spectrum.

“The differences that remain lie in the details. Whereas liberal commentators tended to frame the news within a narrative of institutional racism, their conservative counterparts chastised the efficacy of the criminal justice system and enforcement of what they see as bad laws.

” ‘There’s an America where people who kill for no legitimate reason are held to account, and there’s an America where homicide isn’t really a big deal as long as you play for the right team,’ Sean Davis writes at The Federalist, a conservative website. ‘Unfortunately Eric Garner was a victim in the second America, where some homicides are apparently less equal than others.’

“Davis doesn’t expand on that idea of two Americas. And he doesn’t mention race — not to mention the long history of racially biased law enforcement — in his piece. Instead, he treats Garner’s killing and the lack of prosecution as an isolated example of a brutal, yet weak, criminal justice system. . . .”

Erica Garner and Eric Garner Jr., children of the slain Eric Garner, with Katie Couric on Yahoo News. (video)

Not every conservative outlet saw injustice. “The New York Post . . . defended the grand jury, declaring the officer’s action was ‘not a crime’ and blaming Garner, ‘the man who tragically decided to resist, ” Dylan Stableford reported Thursday for Yahoo.

In an interview Thursday with MSNBC host Tamron Hall, Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association in New York, was of like mind with the Post. He said the conversation over the case is missing something: “What’s not being discussed anywhere across the board is the totality of what’s involved in policing,” said the police union official, according to Erik Wemple, writing for the Washington Post.

“After discussing how the chokehold is banned under NYPD rules and other legal permutations of the case, Mullins said, ‘Unfortunately — this conversation you and I are having is covering a lot of ground related to the law — and a lot of media is not educating everyone as to what the law is, and what the duties of a police officer are. … Not to put any blame on any one individual, but in accordance with law, he was given a lawful order that he didn’t comply with,’ ” Wemple wrote.

Wemple wasn’t having it. “Please, no media-bashing on the Eric Garner case,” he continued. “The only piece of media that matters here is the videotape that shows a white officer (Pantaleo) taking down an unarmed black man (Garner) over some petty offense (selling ‘loosie’ cigarettes) in what should have been a routine and innocuous interaction. . . .”

A livestreamed discussion that included a conversation between Katie Couric and two of the children of Eric Garner (video) made for riveting viewing, underscoring the emotional intensity that the grand jury decision generated.

“The [Couric] discussion continued with a panel featuring comedian W. Kamau Bell, former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and journalist Dion Rabouin, a talk that featured several clashes between Kelly and Bell, who admitted he did not feel safe with Kelly in the room,” Arturo R. García wrote Friday for Racialicious.

” ‘I’ve been taught to treat cops like pitbulls,’ Bell says at one point.

” ‘Who taught you that?’ Kelly responds.

” ‘The Black community,’ Bell shoots back. ‘Would you like their names and numbers?’ . . .”

U.S. Photojournalist Killed in Yemen by Al Qaeda Affiliate

“Two hostages, including an American journalist, who were being held by Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen were killed during a rescue attempt by United States commandos early Saturday, American officials said,” Kareen Fahim and Eric Schmitt reported for the New York Times.

“In a statement, President Obama said the hostages had been ‘murdered’ by militants belonging to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula during the rescue operation. A senior United States official said that the American, Luke Somers, 33, was badly wounded when commandos reached him. By the time Mr. Somers was flown to a United States naval ship in the region, he had died from his injuries, the official said Saturday.

“The other hostage was identified as Pierre Korkie, a South African citizen, according to a brief statement posted on the website of Gift of the Givers, a disaster relief organization that was trying to negotiate his release.

The story also said, “It was the second failed attempt to rescue Mr. Somers, a freelance photographer who was abducted from a street in the Yemeni capital in September 2013. Last month, United States commandos and Yemeni counterterrorism troops mounted a raid on a remote cave in Yemen near the border with Saudi Arabia, freeing eight other hostages but failing to locate Mr. Somers. . . .” [Updated Dec. 6]

FCC Approves 10 Minority-, Female-Owned Stations

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved transactions that will result in 10 new minority- and female-owned television stations, including properties that will be owned and operated by African American entrepreneurs Pluria Marshall Jr. and Armstrong Williams, the political commentator.

Ravi Kapur, vice president of broadcast for the San Francisco chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, is part-owner of a station in Valley City, N.D. In Grand Junction, Colo., husband and wife Jeff Chang and Gabriela Gomez-Chang will acquire KJCT-TV.

A statement on the FCC website from Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn identified the transactions:

“KPEJ-TV, Odessa, Texas, and KMSS-TV, Shreveport, Louisiana.

“Marshall Broadcasting Group, Inc., owned by Pluria Marshall, Jr., will obtain each of these stations from Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. Mr. Marshall, an African-American media executive with extensive experience running television and radio stations, began his career at WLBT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi, later becoming Vice President and General Manager at WLBM-TV in Meridian, Mississippi.

“During his five-year tenure at WLBM-TV, Mr. Marshall tried to become a broadcast station owner four separate times, with each transaction falling through due to his inability to obtain financing. Nexstar will provide financial assistance for no more than five years after closing, with no express or implicit financial support after that date. Use of [joint sales agreements] is limited to 15 percent of sales, the attribution floor established in the Commission’s JSA order.

“Marshall will acquire its own programming independently of Nexstar, other than the 15 percent of programming for which Nexstar will be allowed to handle advertising sales. This incubation arrangement addresses the difficulty that Mr. Marshall previously encountered in obtaining financing for a station purchase and supports the entry of a new independent voice in these local markets.

“WEVV-TV, Evansville, Indiana.

“DuJuan McCoy, CEO of Bayou City Broadcasting Evansville, Inc. will become part-owner of WEVV-TV and will run the day-to-day operations; a private investment group will provide the money for the sale. His experience includes over a decade of growing small, medium, and large stations. Mr. McCoy, an African-American, indicated that he has the responsibility to ‘lay down groundwork for future minorities so that there’s some type of track record of success with minorities running television stations.’

“WMMP(TV), Charleston, South Carolina, WCFT(TV), Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and WJSU-TV, Anniston, Alabama.

“The Bureau is also approving the sale of stations from Sinclair Broadcasting to Howard Stirk Holdings, LCC, which is owned and controlled by Armstrong Williams. Sinclair will sell these stations rather than turn them in for cancellation as it had previously announced. Mr. Williams, a well-recognized African-American political commentator with years of experience in the broadcast industry, has said that he will obtain programming by, among other things, producing original local public affairs programs aired during prime time.

“KJCT(TV), Grand Junction, CO, KXJB(TV), Valley City, ND, KAQY(TV), Columbia, LA, and KNHL(TV), Hastings, NE.

“Gray Television, Inc., retained MMTC Media and Telecom Brokers, the brokerage arm of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, to identify and facilitate the transfer of these full-power television stations following the termination of their services agreements with Gray. The sales will provide Ravi Kapur and Sherry Nelson the first opportunity to purchase a full-power television station. Jeff Chang will purchase his second full- power television station. . . .”

Mass Resignations at New Republic Magazine

“The majority of The New Republic’s masthead resigned en masse on Friday following the owner’s decision to force out the editorial leadership, move the magazine to New York, and rebrand the venerable, century-old publication as a ‘digital media company,’ ” Dylan Byers reported for Politico.

The New Republic is one of the small Washington-based political magazines known for their lack of diversity, although John McWhorter, an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University who is African American, is a contributing editor. McWhorter was listed among those who resigned.

The headline on Gawker.com was: “White Men Upset Wrong White Man Placed in Charge of White-Man Magazine.”

“Nine of the magazine’s twelve senior editors submitted letters of resignation to owner Chris Hughes and chief executive Guy Vidra,” Byers continued, “as did two executive editors, the digital media editor, the legislative affairs editor, and two arts editors. At least twenty of the magazine’s contributing editors also requested that their names be removed from the magazine’s masthead.

“The mass departure came one day after a shakeup that saw the resignation of top editor Franklin Foer and veteran literary editor Leon Wieseltier, both of whom resigned due to differences of vision with Hughes, a 31-year-old Facebook co-founder who bought the magazine in 2012. Foer announced his resignation on Thursday after discovering that Hughes had already hired his replacement, Gabriel Snyder, a Bloomberg Media editor who formerly ran The Atlantic Wire blog. . . .”

Collaboration on Cuban Child Sex Tourism Hailed as Model

“What common interest in an investigative project could Miami’s El Nuevo Herald and the Toronto Star, separated by thousands of miles and a national border, possibly have?” Rick Edmonds and Amy Mitchell asked Thursday for the Pew Research Center in a report on newspaper partnerships. “The particulars of the story they did together provide the answer — and may also serve as a model of sorts for ad hoc collaborations.

“The Star, working outward from a single court case in late 2012, had a lead that numbers of convicted Canadian sex offenders were making regular sex tourism trips to Cuba for encounters with child prostitutes. The route was well-known in the pedophile community but otherwise secret.

“Records research took the investigation part of the way there, establishing that Canadian border security officials had no access to a registry of sex offenders, thus allowing the sex tourists to come and go repeatedly without challenge.

“Filling in on-the-scene details would be much harder for Star reporters, who were not fluent in Spanish and had no experience making their way around the unfamiliar streets of Havana. Extensive Cuban government restrictions on reporting posed a further challenge.

“Enter the Miami-based El Nuevo Herald with decades of experience mining news from Cuba and a senior reporter who could find his way to the most sensitive of information.

“At the Star’s initiative, a partnership formed. The resulting story was both shocking and actionable. The Star and El Nuevo Herald reporters observed a troubling scene in a run-down area of Havana where men in Maple Leafs and Blue Jays gear were roaming and looking for action in bars and brothels.

“The project, published in March 2013, led to reforms in both Canada and Cuba. . . .”

Marion Barry Services to Be Telecast Live on Saturday

“Marion Barry carved one last larger-than-life path through the District on Friday as his casket proceeded through the city on a three-hour journey to a memorial service in the heart of Southeast Washington,” Aaron C. Davis and Mike DeBonis reported Friday for the Washington Post.

“Schoolchildren lined sidewalks, toddlers saluted, a surprise marching band fell in stride, and Clydesdales and a brass band kept cadence for the final steps to the Temple of Praise church, where thousands would gather in the evening to pay tribute with speeches, Scripture and song. . . .”

C-SPAN plans live coverage of the four-term mayor’s four-hour memorial service Saturday from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center starting at 11 a.m. Eastern time. For those who miss the event, “the video will live forever” at <http://www.c-span.org/video/?323001-1/funeral-service-marion-barry>, C-SPAN spokesman Howard Mortman told Journal-isms.

Barry died Nov. 23 at 78.

The many published evaluations of Barry since his death include an issue of American CurrentSee, an online publication of black conservatives Armstrong Williams, executive editor, and Ben Carson, founding publisher.

The issue is described this way:

“Armstrong Williams sketches a portrait of a politically nimble populist whose many personal failings only made him more relatable to the weak and marginalized who saw him as their friend and ally in the corridors of power.

“Juan Williams remembers a vindictive machine politician who used racial demagoguery to cement his political base while failing the poor black voters he claimed to champion as ‘crime, unemployment and infant mortality increased, while the stock of low-income and public housing decreased’ on his watch.

“Among other perspectives on the many-faceted ‘mayor-for-life:’ Barry’s former chief of staff Brenda Williams on a people’s champion, Deborah Simmons on the maverick who supported public school vouchers, and Theresa Caldwell on the dazzling, dashiki-clad community organizer who took D.C. by storm in the 1970s with his intellect and personal charisma.”

Washington NFL Team to Honor Sports Writer Burwell

“Washington Redskins VP Tony Wyllie texted late last night to inform me of the team’s plans to honor late Post-Dispatch sports columnist Bryan Burwell at Sunday’s Rams-Redskins game at FedEx Field,” Bernie Miklasz wrote Friday for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“Washington will leave a seat in the press box empty and mark the spot with Burwell’s name.

“And there are plans to have a moment of silence for Burwell, who died of cancer Thursday morning at age 59.

“Leaving a seat open for a fallen sportswriter may not seem like a big deal, but in our business it’s considered a special honor — and greatly appreciated by the scribes and broadcasters. . . .”

Black Company Sues AT&T Over Access to DirecTV

“A black-owned media company sued AT&T for $10 billion this week, claiming AT&T shut it out from co-defendant DirecTV, for racial reasons, after buying the satellite company for $67 billion,” Matt Reynolds reported Thursday for Courthouse News Service.

“The National Association of African-American Owned Media claims in its Dec. 2 federal complaint that it represents ‘at least one’ African American-owned media company.

“It does not identify that company, but says it owns seven channels that produce original content, 32 television series, and a library of thousands of hours of programming.

“The association claims that AT&T and DirecTV refuse to carry the majority of its programming, except for one channel, for which they pay no carriage fees. . . .”

The story also said, “The National Association of African-American Owned Media is represented by Louis Miller with Miller Barondess.

“AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for comment after business hours Wednesday.”

Short Takes

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