Maynard Institute archives

What if Oregon Militants Were Black or Muslim?

by richard0855

Treatment of Armed White Protesters at Issue

How Trump Would Have Delivered the Gettysburg Address

Albor Ruiz Column Cut From N.Y. Daily News

Cosby Wears a Sweater Intended to Manipulate

Charlie Hebdo Marks Anniversary of Deadly Attack

Forbes Lists Young People Transforming Media

Boston’s ’70s Busing Battle Still Living History

Sometimes It’s More Fun Not to Use Fancy Words

Ethiopia’s Disaster Too Slow-Moving for Media Attention

Short Takes

Treatment of Armed White Protesters at Issue

“The Oregon protest at a federal wildlife refuge has reignited an already intense debate on social media about policing, race and terrorism,” Katie Rogers reported Monday for the New York Times.

“On Saturday, an armed group of antigovernment protesters occupied a remote federal wildlife refuge in Oregon and warned that they would not leave without a fight. The authorities have held back from attempting to stop the protest.

“On social media, that led quickly to questions about a double standard, particularly from liberals and the left, who asked: What if the armed men were Muslim or black? They predicted the authorities would have been more forceful.

“Many or all of the protesters appear to be white. It was unclear what religion they are, but least one has made reference to a prominent Mormon figure. For its part, the Mormon church on Monday condemned the armed building seizure and said it could ‘in no way be justified on a scriptural basis.’ . . .”

Writing Monday for the Oregonian/OregonLive in Portland, Therese Bottomly acknowledged that terminology was an issue. “The Oregonian/OregonLive is referring to the group that has taken over a federal building in rural Oregon as militants, deciding that word best describes the loosely organized protesters vowing to fight the federal government.

“We are also referring to them as ‘self-styled militia’ to recognize that the terms ‘militia’ and ‘militiamen’ were originally widely used to describe the activists who descended on Burns over the past few weeks. They have occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a federal facility.

“We’re not alone in wrestling with the issue of how to label the protesters. . . .”

Paul Farhi added Monday for the Washington Post, “Almost all major news outlets surveyed on Sunday said they were avoiding the use of the words ‘terrorist’ and ‘terrorism’ in connection with the Oregon protest, saying it was unclear that the group’s action was designed to terrorize or harm anyone. . . .”

Native Americans, meanwhile, pointed out their longstanding interest in the land.

Steve Russell wrote Sunday for Indian Country Today Media Network, “Some of the same armed ‘militia’ involved in the Cliven Bundy affair in Nevada have occupied federal land in Oregon formerly reserved for the Northern Paiute.

“Ironically, the ‘legal’ basis for starting a fight with the federal government is that sovereignty ‘really’ belongs to Oregon rather than the Paiutes, who have seen their federal trust land shrink from over one and a half million acres to a tiny remnant of 760 acres in Burns, Oregon, where this current armed standoff began. . . .”

Russell also wrote, “If anything is clear-cut about Indians in the Constitution, it is that relations with Indian nations are a federal responsibility. Carrying out that responsibility in Oregon, President U.S. Grant established the Maiheur Indian Reservation for the Northern Paiute in 1872. It is no coincidence that the historical reservation shares a name with the Maiheur National Wildlife Refuge, site of the current armed standoff.

“White settlement nibbled at the Maiheur Indian Reservation until the Bannock War in 1878, which ended with surrendered Paiutes and Bannocks on the reservation being removed, officially to the Yakama Reservation in Washington Territory. Unofficially, Paiutes had scattered all over the Western States that comprised their aboriginal lands. The Burns Paiute Reservation is the remains of the Maiheur Reservation and the Maiheur Wildlife Refuge is an alternative use for the federal land, for those who believe the federal government exists. . . .”

Meanwhile, the editorial board of the Tennessean in Nashville reacted swiftly Monday after Tennessee state Rep. Andy Holt tweeted support for those who took over the federal wildlife preserve.

“There is no shortage of foolish behavior on social media platforms, such as Twitter, where celebrities, elected officials and ordinary citizens have an equal opportunity to be reckless,” the Tennessean editorialized.

“Judging from his initial controversial tweet and subsequent exchanges with members of the public on Sunday and Monday, state Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden, does not seem to understand how public — and global — these messages are and how they reflect upon him, Tennessee and his constituents.

“It is possible he does not care, but when Holt tweeted — and later deleted — “#bundymilitia Where can I send support for your effort?’ he reflected poorly on himself, the state and its people. . . .”

How Trump Would Have Delivered the Gettysburg Address

Just before Christmas, Jay Jochnowitz, editorial page editor of the Times Union in Albany, N.Y., wrote, “I got to thinking this morning about how we remember some of our greatest presidents for their inspiring speeches, and how we have in Donald Trump a leading presidential primary candidate who promises to make America great again, yet stoops to some of the most boorish, insulting, and degrading language I’ve heard in presidential politics.

“Which got me to wondering how Trump might (or might not) rise to occasions that demand greatness. Would Americans have heard ‘Yesterday, December 7, was a lousy day. A very, very, lousy day.’? Or ‘Talk loud, and carry a big — ‘ well, I’ll leave that one to you. . . .” More on that in a moment.

Just before New Year’s Day, Jerry Seinfeld released an episode of his Web series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” featuring 19 minutes of the comedian hanging out with a relaxed President Obama in the White House and in a 1963 Corvette. It turns out that Trump had something to do with that, too.

Asawin Suebsaeng explained Dec. 22 in the Daily Beast, “In 2011, current Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump was on a bit of a birther kick. The Donald even claimed he sent a team of investigators to Hawaii to get to the bottom of the Obama birth certificate drama. (Spoiler: Obama turned out to be an American.)

“Seinfeld was not amused by the racist-conspiracy-theorizing, so in April 2011 he pulled out of a scheduled gig at a charity benefit hosted by Trump’s son. . . .”

Suebsaeng quoted a White House spokesman: “It is fair to say [Obama] is a fan of Seinfeld and we thought this would be a good opportunity for people to hear about the lighter side of life inside the White House. . . . .”

Back to Jochnowitz’s parody, headlined “Trump Does Gettysburg.” It begins:

“So, 80-some-odd years ago, the Founding Fathers — a great group of people, just great, am I right? — started this country, with the idea of liberty, with the whole point that men are created equal. And let’s be clear, and I know I’m going to get in trouble for this with the media, but as you know, I tell it like it is: they meant white men. That’s what they meant. And yeah, I know, they didn’t mention women, for whom of course I have the greatest respect. I love women. But they didn’t mention them, so what can I say? That’s what they did.

“Now we’ve got a war going on. It’s been a great war. It’s going fantastic. Fantastic. And we’re going to win, because I’m a great commander in chief, and I’ve assembled an incredible team, while the other side, they’re a bunch of schmucks. They’re schmucks, and their leaders are a bunch of schmucks. We kicked their ass, right here, on a great battlefield of that war. We won this, and we’re going to win a lot more. A lot. Very, very many.

“We’re going to designate a portion of this field to the dead, and that’s fine, we should. We should. I don’t think there’s any disagreement on that. It’s the right thing to do. But first, I think we should all give a round of applause to the people who survived. To me, those are the real heroes. Give it up for them. . . .”

Albor Ruiz Column Cut From N.Y. Daily News

Albor Ruiz, a Cuban-born columnist at the Daily News since 1993 who often wrote about Latino issues, has been cut from the newspaper for budgetary reasons, Editorial Page Editor Arthur Browne confirmed for Journal-isms on Monday.

Browne responded by email with a simple “correct” when asked whether news of Ruiz’s termination, as reported by Ruiz and the National Institute for Latino Policy, was accurate.

“Friends,

“The year is not beginning all that great for me: I was just told that due to budget cuts my column in the Daily News (where I worked for 22 years) has been scrapped,” Ruiz wrote Saturday on Facebook.

“After 20 years writing it every week, I — and hopefully the readers — will miss it.”

Angelo Falcon, president of the institute, included the Facebook message and wrote in the institute’s electronic newsletter, “Albor, who first joined the Daily News staff in July 1993, had been demoted from full-time status that of a freelance columnist in the May 2013 round of layoffs at the paper.

“His columns were one of the few English-language media outlets that consistently covered Latino immigration issues, as his last column below illustrates.

“Given the Daily News’ poor and at times controversial track record in covering Latino community issues, the absence of Ruiz’ column leaves a hole. There were, [for example, incidents revolving around] their coverage of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade (the naked ladies and Cuban flag mix-up controversies) that illustrated the paper’s editorial disconnection from the Latino community, especially with the forced departure of such Latino journalist as Maite Junco, Carolina Gonzalez and the demotion from the editorial ranks of Robert Dominguez.

“According to the American Society of [News Editors], in 2015, before the latest cuts, Latinos made up only 6.3 percent of the Daily News staff, despite Latinos making up over 29 percent of the city’s population. With the departure of Ruiz, the paper’s only remaining columnist is Juan Gonzalez. What makes the Ruiz cut interesting is that, unlike other high profile and highly paid layoffs made by the paper, which is reportedly losing $30 million a year, Ruiz was only a part-timer. This says a lot about their commitment to fair coverage of the city’s 2.4 million Latinos.

“If you would like to express your concern about the layoff of Ruiz and the future of the Daily News’ coverage of the Latino community, write to or call:

“Bill Holiber, President and CEO, New York Daily News, bholiber@nydailynews.com, (212) 210-2100, Letter to the Editor, bholiber@nydailynews.com”

Cosby Wears a Sweater Intended to Manipulate

“Bill Cosby’s . . . walk was striking for its overwhelming lack of grace and power,” Robin Givhan wrote Monday for the Washington Post, referring to Cosby’s stumbling walk to his arraignment last week on a charge of felony indecent assault. “It was an exploitation of our assumptions of fragile old age. . . .

“It was the explicit manipulation of a studiously unattractive sweater.

“Cosby, who is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004, arrived at the small courthouse in suburban Philadelphia last week on the supportive arms of two attorneys. He looked as though he had been suddenly rousted from a fireside nap, helped up from his comfortable rocking chair and asked to put aside his favorite cigar, then forced to make a bewildering appearance before a judge. That was the first-glance illusion as he stumbled down the path towards the courthouse door.

“For Cosby, of course, none of this — the charges, the . . .walk, the media throng — was a surprise. One of Cosby’s attorneys, Monique Pressley, has said as much. And so, there was time for his costuming to be considered. . . .”

Givhan also wrote, “Taken on its own, the sweater managed to telegraph the dual message of grandfatherly trust and warmth, as well as impish innocence. What the sweater most vehemently did not imply was money and power, which Cosby has in abundance. . . .”

Charlie Hebdo Marks Anniversary of Deadly Attack

“French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo will mark a year since an attack on its offices with a cover featuring a bearded man representing God with a Kalashnikov slung over his shoulder, accompanied by the text ‘One year on: the assassin is still out there,’ ” the Guardian reported Monday, citing news services.

“One million copies of the special edition will be available on newsstands on Wednesday, with tens of thousands more to be sent overseas.

“It will mark a year since brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi burst into Charlie Hebdo’s offices in eastern Paris and killed 12 people, including eight of the magazine’s staff.

“The attack on 7 January 2015, claimed by al-Qaida’s branch in the Arabian Peninsula, came after a 2011 firebombing of its offices that forced it to move premises. Its staff had also been under police protection since it published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in 2006.

“Included in the special edition will be a collection of cartoons by the five Charlie Hebdo artists killed in the 2015 attack as well as several external contributors.

“Cartoonist Laurent Sourisseau, who took over the management of the weekly after the attack, also wrote an angry editorial in defence of secularism. It denounces ‘fanatics brutalised by the Koran’ as well as those from other religions who hoped for the death of the magazine for ‘daring to laugh at the religious.’ . . .”

Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders announced it “is publishing Jihad against journalists [PDF], a report about the war that Islamist armed groups such as Islamic State (Daesh), Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram wage against media personnel.

“The report examines the origins of their hatred for journalists, the totalitarian ideologies and systems that insist that journalists either submit or die, the propaganda machines of their extremist and violent version of Islam, and their strategy for conquering minds by eradicating independently reported news and information. . . .”

Forbes Lists Young People Transforming Media

“What used to be a long-climbed ladder in the news industry is now one built by founders and strengthened by innovators,” Glynnis MacNicol and Emily Inverso wrote Monday in introducing Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30: Meet The Young People Transforming Media.”

“The next generation of media makers are telling the stories and building the companies they couldn’t seem to find when they went looking — and they’re making millions along the way. . . .”

Among the people of color on the Forbes list are Anna Ly, 29, who leads Creative Technology Partnerships at Sesame Workshop; Heben Nigatu, 24, senior editor at BuzzFeed; Angelica Nwandu, 25, founder, the Shade Room; Ashish Patel, 29, senior vice president of social media, NowThis Media; Doreen St. Félix, 23, editor-at-large, Lenny; Zim Ugochukwu, 27, founder, Travel Noire; Amani Al Khatahtbeh, 23, founder, Muslim Girl.

Also, Rembert Browne, 28, writer-at-large, New York magazine; Nisha Chittal, 27, manager of social media and community, MSNBC; Morgan DeBaun, 25, and Aaron Samuels, 26, co-founders, Blavity; and Kimberly Foster, 26, founder, For Harriet.

Judges were Ta-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic; Jim Bankoff, chairman of Vox Media; and Katie Stanton, vice president, Global Media.

Sometimes It’s More Fun Not to Use Fancy Words

It isn’t often that editorial writers devote space to their own craft of writing, but those at the Chicago Tribune did just that in a New Year’s Eve editorial, “Why using exciting words can make you a worse writer.”

“We worry that the admonition to gussy up writing by jettisoning short, common words in favor of allegedly more expressive terms could go awry in the hands of the average seventh-grader,” the Tribune wrote. “Sometimes people do say things. They don’t aver them. Or assert them. Or declare them. . . .”

The editorial also said, “To be crisply effective, writing has to efficiently communicate what the writer wants to say. It must be clear. When words send readers exploring alleys of thought — I wonder if, by laconic, she’s trying to tell me ‘lazy,’ or ‘slow’? — then the less likely they are to rejoin the writer’s journey, let alone ever reach its destination.

“So remember, we beg, that words are tools, not bludgeons. Avoid obscure polysyllabic words that no one else can read, spell or … understand. Because your readers may just stop reading. For them, nothing is easier.

“Once you know all the fancy terms, you can choose to wield the simple ones with greater force.

“In time, a skilled teacher will mention that understatement often is more powerful than overstatement.

“Clarity of purpose, precision of word choice, not letting readers stray from the journey, tools not bludgeons, the power of understatement. Now you’re getting somewhere.

“Writing a true declarative sentence, Hemingway said, is ‘a good and severe discipline.’

“In other words, it’s a lot of fun.”

Ethiopia’s Disaster Too Slow-Moving for Media Attention

“When a poor country is hit with a sudden catastrophe — say, an earthquake or a tsunami — the world is quick to send aid,” Nurith Aizenman reported on New Year’s Day for NPR. 

“But a slow-moving disaster, the kind that unfolds over weeks or even months, is another story. There are no immediate, dramatic TV images, no screaming headlines.

“And that means it’s really tough for aid groups to raise the money needed.

“Just ask John Graham. He’s the head of the aid group Save the Children, and he’s watching a slow-moving disaster unfold in Ethiopia as the world remains largely oblivious.

“It started with last year’s winter rains — or rather, the lack thereof. They were barely a trickle. Then came spring.

” ‘[Spring rains are] not terribly reliable, you see them fail fairly frequently,’ says Graham. ‘But this year they failed quite spectacularly.’

“Everyone hoped the summer rains would make up for it. But they were almost as disappointing due to this year’s El Nino, a periodic warming in the Pacific Ocean that plays havoc with weather systems worldwide.

“Pastoral regions where people raise cattle were among the worst hit. ‘Animals died,’ recalls Graham. ‘People by tens of thousands had to trek into places where they could get water, get food. A lot of the children were severely malnourished.”

“By August, it had become official: Ethiopia is in the midst of its worst drought in decades. . . .”

Aizenman also wrote, “This type of situation is common in aid work, says Tom Kirsch, director of the Center for Refugee and Disaster Response at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. He says the world is just a lot more responsive to immediate disasters than it is to slower-moving ones.

” ‘Where we have a very dramatic sudden event that causes widespread destruction and death it captures a lot of attention,’ says Kirsch.

“By contrast, he adds, ‘When you get to the cases where you can actually prevent a crisis like this — where we can intervene early and prevent widespread death — we don’t get the media attention. We don’t get the politicians falling over themselves to organize funds.’

“Kirsch says the irony is that slower-onset disasters often have more severe and lasting consequences. . . .”

Short Takes

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