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San Bernardino Was One of the Victims

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Networks Stay Live for Latest Mass Shooting

Chicago’s Dailies Want Second Video Released

CNN Admits “Mistake” in Freddie Gray Description

Harry Radliffe II, “60 Minutes” Producer, Dies at 66

Montgomery Paper Sees Parallels With Days of Bus Boycott

Social Media Abuzz Over Tom Joyner “Getting the Boot”

Coates Says Whitlock Pitch Sounded Like Drug Dealer’s

Exit of Mexican Immigrants Might Not Be Such Good News

Group Advances Diversity Among Tech Professionals

Short Takes

Luis Gutierrez discusses what his wife saw at the location of the mass shooting in San Bernardino. (video) (Credit: Los Angeles Times)

Networks Stay Live for Latest Mass Shooting

Mariel Garza, an editorial writer at the Los Angeles Times, was among the first to comment on the mass shooting Wednesday that left at least 14 people dead and 17 wounded in San Bernardino, Calif., the nation’s deadliest since December 2012. Then, a gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and killed 20 children, six adults and himself.

“As I write this, we don’t know yet the names of the victims of today’s mass shooting in the Inland Empire, only that there were at least 31 of them — 14 killed and 17 wounded,” Garza told readers.

“Well, that’s not true. We know the name of at least one victim: San Bernardino,” a city that the 2010 Census reported was 60 percent Hispanic.

“This shooting would be tragic no matter where it happened, but as I watched the unfolding news story on Twitter and, of course, LATimes.com on Wednesday afternoon, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the city in which the Inland Regional Center resides,” Garza continued. “Hasn’t it suffered enough?”

“This working-class city on the eastern edge of the great Los Angeles basin has been the subject of so much bad news lately you could call it Bad News Berdoo.

“Among other things, it has the distinction of being the poorest city . . . of its size in California — and the second poorest in the U.S. after Detroit. Its urban core is crumbling, literally, and afflicted with rampant drug use and despair. The city survived bankruptcy but it is suffering the after affects and subsequent political upheaval. (Joe Mozingo’s superbly written series this year paints the sad portrait of San Berdoo.)

“On top of all this, people can’t even spell its name. One trending Twitter hashtag Wednesday was #sanbernadino (without the ‘r’).

“If you’ve ever spent any time in San Bernardino as I have (recently, as former opinion editor for the S.B. Sun and the other eight Los Angeles News Group papers, and distantly, as a young reporter for various inland newspapers), you know that there is loveliness to this city as well as grit. Beautiful vistas of the namesake mountains tower above tidy neighborhoods, a state university campus and a once-bustling downtown where, in 1989, I ate my very first In-n-Out burger. . . .”

The evening network news programs expanded to an hour after assailants opened fire at a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center, a social services office that aids people with developmental disabilities. Such journalists of color as Jeff Pegues of CBS News, Miguel Almaguer of NBC News and, foremost, “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt had prominent roles. The networks had gone live to the scene before the evening news hour, as had many local stations.

“All of the broadcast and cable news networks including Univision have cut into their programming to cover a mass shooting in San Bernardino,” Erik Pedersen reported for Deadline Hollywood.

However, Pedersen added in an update at 4:23 p.m. ET, “WNBC New York ended its coverage of the breaking news event at 7 PM ET to stick with the planned local coverage of its annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center. The segue to the star-studded event was awkward because it’s being hosted by NBC News reporters, who were noticeably uncomfortable. Meanwhile, NBC’s Lester Holt remained on the air live in other markets and will [be] anchoring continuous live coverage through 10:30 PM ET. . . .”

Anchors, officials and commentators speculated on television about whether the perpetrators could be considered terrorists, given the method of attack.

In New Orleans, Jarvis De Berry wrote at 4:25 p.m. ET, “It doesn’t matter who the shooter is — or if there is more than one shooter.

“. . . It doesn’t matter if they fired AK-47s, shotguns or [handguns] that had to be reloaded multiple times.

“So long as the shooters and victims are in the United States of America, this much we know: Nothing’s going to change.”

The Los Angeles Times was not so pessimistic. In a quickly posted piece, its editorial board said, “The Supreme Court lent credibility to the fully-armed-America crowd in its 2008 Heller decision, which held that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual’s right to bear arms for ‘traditionally lawful purposes,’ such as self-protection in the home. It’s a wrongheaded interpretation of wording that for decades was rightly understood to mean that organized military units, such as the National Guard, have a right to keep and bear arms.

“We’re stuck with the Heller ruling for now. But thankfully, the court also said the right to gun ownership was not absolute, and that the nation’s history of gun ownership has also been one of gun regulation. . . .”

It concluded, “This crisis in American society must be combated through the ballot box, and through lobbying to loosen the iron grip the NRA holds on Congress and many state legislatures. That is where the pushback against this culture of death needs to occur. And it needs to occur now.”

[Update: The suspects were identified as husbandf-and-wife Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27 .”Mr. Farook had been at a holiday party at the center for the county health department, where he worked as an environmental inspector,” Ian Lovett, Richard Pérez-Peña and Michael S. Schmidt reported Thursday for the New York Times.

[“He soon left in anger after a dispute of some sort, Chief Jarrod Burguan of the San Bernardino Police Department said, only to return alongside Ms. Malik. Hours later, the couple were killed during the shootout.”

[Despite the lack of an established motive, the New York Post bannered, “MUSLIM KILLERS.”]


Chicago’s Dailies Want Second Video Released

“Mayor Rahm Emanuel conceded Wednesday that it might have been a ‘mistake’ to fight the release of a video that shows a Chicago police officer firing 16 shots at teenager Laquan McDonald,” (accessible via search engine) the Chicago Tribune editorialized on Wednesday.

“City officials refused to comply with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act until a judge ordered them to hand over the video, 13 months after McDonald was killed.

“The public is shocked and sickened by the video — and furious with Emanuel for trying to keep it secret.

“Emanuel can’t rewind those decisions. But his administration is still withholding the video in a second, disturbingly similar case. That recording should be released immediately. . . .”

The Chicago Sun-Times reached the same conclusion on Tuesday.

“Police fatally shot [Ronald] Johnson [III] in October 2014 after police pulled over a car in which he was riding with friends at 53rd Street and King Drive. Johnson ran, pursued by officers. Another officer pulled up, jumped out of his car and fired five times at Johnson, killing him,” the Sun-Times editorialized.

“Just as in the McDonald case, the police video has been under wraps. Johnson’s mother and a lawyer representing her in a wrongful death lawsuit say the video shows Johnson had nothing in his hands as he ran. They say the video shows the officer beginning to fire within seconds of leaving his car. They want a Cook County judge to order the video be released publicly.

“Police say Johnson was a known gang member, that he was armed and that they found the gun at the scene. . . . “

The editorial concluded, “For years, the city’s policy has been to not release evidence when a criminal investigation is pending. That’s a policy that needs updating when case after case drags on for more than a year. Yes, justice must be done, but the public also has a right to know what happened. . . .

“The city shouldn’t stoke fears that it is trying to hide something.

“Release the video.”

CNN Admits “Mistake” in Freddie Gray Description

“CNN president Jeff Zucker on Tuesday admitted it was a ‘mistake’ to publish a controversial story on the network’s website Monday calling slain Baltimore resident Freddie Gray ‘the son of an illiterate heroin addict,’ ” Jordan Chariton reported for TheWrap.

” ‘This was a mistake,’ Zucker said at a town hall event for staffers, according to a transcript the network provided to TheWrap. ‘The digital team removed it last night and inserted an editors note to be completely transparent. The editorial intent as the digital team has laid it out to me was to make clear he had a difficult upbringing. But clearly it did not come across that way when it was written and published. We recognize that. It did not work and we removed it. And were transparent about that. That was a mistake.’

“Though a network insider who observed the town hall event described Zucker’s comments as an apology and his behavior as conciliatory, a CNN spokesperson disputed that characterization. . . .”

Plans for a memorial service for Harry Radliffe II are pending. (video)

Harry Radliffe II, “60 Minutes” Producer, Dies at 66

“Harry Radliffe II, the first African American to head a CBS News bureau and an award-winning 60 Minutes producer for 26 years, died today,” CBS News reported on Tuesday. “Radliffe was 66 and died at his home in Stamford, Conn., of colon cancer he was first diagnosed with in 2008.

“Until recently, he had been working on a story for 60 Minutes about a special orphanage in Tanzania. The trip to Africa was his last for the program, one of the many that brought him joy and fulfillment during his 40 years in television news.

“Radliffe traveled around the world to produce stories for the top CBS News correspondents, including Walter Cronkite, Ed Bradley, Steve Kroft, Bob Simon and Scott Pelley. As bureau chief in London in the 1980s, he supervised coverage of some of the biggest foreign news events of the time, such as the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, the rise of terrorism in Europe and turmoil in the Middle East. He contributed nearly 100 stories to 60 Minutes, where he won the Peabody award, television’s highest honor.

“He was a reporter who absorbed the world around him, discovering its truths and pleasures. As an international relations scholar, Radliffe brought a comprehensive knowledge of foreign affairs to the faraway places he covered, where he also found the finest museums, restaurants, hotels and the world’s natural wonders. . . . “

CBS also wrote, “In perhaps the biggest moment of his career, Radliffe was traveling through Frankfurt airport on June 19, 1985, with Steve Kroft and a camera crew when a terrorist bomb exploded on the floor above them. They were the first journalists on the scene and shot a graphic report that led that night’s evening newscast. Radliffe was quoted in a front-page New York Times story the next day. ‘As we came off the escalator a woman carrying a child came by. It was a child whose face was covered in blood,’ he said. “There were other people coming by who were in a state of shock. Some were screaming and some were crying.’

“A few months later in January 1986, Radliffe was named bureau chief in London, the largest CBS News office outside of New York.

“He returned to New York in 1988 to become a senior producer for the CBS Evening News, supervising the gathering of news for the daily national broadcast. . . .”

Radliffe spoke at Bradley’s 2006 funeral, volunteering about Bradley from the altar, “Some have described him as an African American journalist. That’s not how I saw him or how he would describe it. He was a reporter, a journalist and an American journalist. He was informed by his heritage but, having said that, he was not defined or colored by it.”

Randall Pinkston, a former CBS News correspondent now at Al Jazeera America, messaged Journal-isms, “Harry was one of the smartest producers I ever met. Our association began in the mid-nineties when Harry called me after my SUNDAY MORNING profile on Walter Mosley.

“Harry liked the story and complimented our (producer Dana Roberson and me) work. I was flattered that a 60 MINUTES producer took notice.”

Montgomery Paper Sees Parallels With Days of Bus Boycott

“There is a growing divide in America — one not unlike the divide that existed in 1955, when Rosa Parks boarded that bus,” the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser editorialized Tuesday, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, a pivotal development in the burgeoning civil rights movement.

“At that time, a number of people within the black community had become tired of the mistreatment and unfairness at the hands of those who were supposed to be leaders. The circumstances were a bit different. The racism was more overt, more bold. . . .”

The editorial also said, “Like the civil rights leaders in the 1950s, black Americans today are quickly getting their fill of an unjust society. They’re organizing. They’re marching. They’re protesting. They’re boycotting.

“They’re being bombarded by familiar rhetoric, as the more conservative ‘news’ outlets label the protests as violent or dig through the backgrounds of those leading the new movement searching for anything.

“Hopefully, this year of anniversaries – the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery March last March and now the 60th anniversary of the Bus Boycott – can serve as a strong reminder to those taking the lead in the new civil rights movement of what can occur with planning, organization, intelligence, non-violence and bravery.

“The civil rights leaders of the 1950s and 60s utilized those attributes to change the country.

“We need it again.”

Social Media Abuzz Over Tom Joyner “Getting the Boot”

“This all started with a Dailymail.com story that began circulating Tuesday afternoon,” Radio Ink reported.

“The story said Tom Joyner was being pushed out by new Radio One Radio CEO, and good friend, David Kantor. Joyner was supposedly being pushed out at the same time President Obama’s second term ended. Joyner is under contract with Reach Media through 2017. Obama is only under contract with the American people through 2016.”

The Daily Mail headlined its Monday story by Ryan Parry, attributed to an anonymous source, “EXCLUSIVE: Blame it on Obama! Radio legend and first African-American nationally syndicated host Tom Joyner getting the boot timed to President’s exit from White House.”

Radio Ink continued, “Reach Media just happened to be holding a meeting in Dallas, Tuesday, and called their meeting ‘constructive, forward-looking and positive.’ It appears someone in that meeting may have decided to leak something to the Daily Mail, and of course the story had both Facebook and Twitter buzzing.

“At about 5 p.m. Monday night this tweet from The Tom Joyner Morning Show page: ‘We’ll talk to you in the morning on your radio! (P.S. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet).’ ([WEDNESDAY] MORNING UPDATE) Joyner decided not to discuss the article on the air Wednesday morning. We’re told he thought the story was preposterous and he decided not to address it.

“As the story circulated online, Reach Media quickly issued this statement: ‘Any stories that suggest major changes to the Tom Joyner Morning Show are inaccurate. Tom Joyner is under contract with Reach Media until the end of 2017. We expect that Reach will continue to syndicate Tom’s show beyond that date and for as long as he would like to be on the air.

” ‘There [have] always been refinements and updates to the show, as well as market changes due to local conditions, and there may be some in the future; but Tom Joyner and the Tom Joyner Morning Show continues to be strong and is a daily Party with a Purpose. Reach is committed to Tom Joyner for the long term who remains committed to radio, his audience and the future.”

Kelly Harrington, a spokeswoman for Reach Media, told Journal-isms by email Wednesday that Joyner did not address the issue on his show because “He felt that the statement and social media posts were enough.”

Exit of Mexican Immigrants Might Not Be Such Good News

“The Pew Research Center released a report this month on Mexican migration to the United States that should give us pause,” Karthick Ramakrishnan, a professor of public policy at UC Riverside and a global fellow at the Wilson Center, wrote Nov. 27 in the Los Angeles Times.

“It did not address Donald Trump’s claims that Mexico is mostly sending violent criminals to the United States; other studies, including a comprehensive report by the National Academy of Sciences, have systematically shown lower crime rates among immigrants than the general population. Instead, the Pew report focused on a phenomenon that most of us have not seen in our lifetimes: net outflow. In lay terms: More Mexican immigrants are leaving the United States than coming to work here. . . .”

Ramakrishnan also wrote, “While some may cheer the net outflow of Mexican migrants, they should be careful what they wish for. We have long known that a growing U.S. economy depends critically on immigrant workers in various sectors. Mexican immigrants contribute heavily to our state and local economies, especially in construction, agriculture and various service sector jobs. With the wave of baby boom retirements growing each year, demand for immigrant workers will only increase. . . .”

Group Advances Diversity Among Tech Professionals

LaSharah S. Bunting, a senior editor at the New York Times, introduced readers of the fall issue of Tracking Changes, a publication of the American Copy Editors Society, to the Digital Diversity Network, a nonprofit group founded in 2012 that is “dedicated to advancing diversity in leadership and ownership within the digital media and high-tech sectors.”

In a Q-and-A, Bunting told fellow ACES member Karen Yin, “I am one of five people on a new Digital Transition team at The Times. [PDF] The goal of the team is to implement digital strategy and push to accelerate the digital transformation across the newsroom. This includes everything from challenging cultural norms, to cultivating an environment for innovation, increasing digital literacy, identifying and correcting workflow issues, and developing newsroom training. . . .”

Yin asked, “What is the Digital Diversity Network (DDN), and how did you get involved?

Bunting replied, “The Digital Diversity Network is a nonprofit group dedicated to advancing diversity in leadership and ownership within the digital media and high-tech sectors. The group’s primary focus is on recruitment, leadership development, and pipeline expansion programs. The New York Times is a founding sponsor, and I was asked to serve on the group’s board of directors when I moved into my senior editor role. It’s an honor to work with an amazing group of professionals who have a similar vision and commitment to improving diversity.

Yin followed up with, “What are the latest initiatives DDN has launched to promote digital and tech diversity?”

Bunting responded, “DDN just paired with the REGISTRYBayArea.com to recognize the outstanding achievements of longtime minority tech pioneers as well as 40 diverse tech and innovation leaders under the age of 40. This is our way of showcasing the great contributions of diverse tech professionals who might never be recognized. And perhaps this will also inspire the tech companies — many of which have had some public challenges in recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce—to foster a culture of inclusion. . . .”

Short Takes

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