Articles Feature Archives

Asian Americans to Outnumber Blacks

by richard12189

Projection for 2065 Should Give Media Pause

Video Airs Vile Comments to Female Journalists

Column Spurs Action on ID for 107-Year-Old

Emerson Tops USA Today’s Undergrad J-Schools

3 Journalists of Color Among New Michigan Fellows

Writer Blasts Fans’ ‘Attention-Chasing Histrionics’

Mexico Cover-Up Called Bigger Issue Than Trump

At Night, Archdiocese Turned Water on Homeless

Nominate a J-Educator Who Promotes Diversity

Short Takes

Traditional Chinese Lion Dance, performed by the Wong People Association (Credit: White House)
The Wong People Association performed a traditional Chinese Lion Dance at the White House on Feb. 20, 2015, to celebrate the Lunar New Year. (Credit: White House)

Projection for 2065 Should Give Media Pause

“PSST! Don’t tell anyone, but the number of Asian Americans will surpass African Americans by the middle of this century,” Ed Diokno wrote Tuesday for AsAmNews.

“A recent report from Pew Research Center, 10 Demographic Trends Shaping the U.S., glossed over this hugely significant shift. In one of [the] graphs accompanying the report, it showed that by 2065, the AAPI community will make up 14 percent of the U.S. population and [puts] the African American population at 13 percent.

“This might not have been worthy to mention in the Pew report, but it is BIG NEWS in the AAPI community which has been struggling to get noticed by demographers, marketers, politicians and anybody else interested in the growing diversity of America.

“At the root of the growth is immigration where immigrants from Asian countries has risen to the point of overtaking the immigration coming from Latin American countries, including Mexico.Pew-Census Projections

“So while this year’s presidential contenders focus their attention on whether or not to build a wall on our southern border —thankfully — no one is talking about building a wall along the West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii. Never mind that that feat is even less feasible than the wall on our border with Mexico.

“With the quality of some candidates’ rhetoric this political season, I’m surprised that someone like GOP frontrunner Donald Trump hasn’t proposed it.

“That’s why I wouldn’t trumpet the growth of the Asian population too loudly (no pun intended), otherwise AAPIs might be more front and center in the Presidential race conversation. . . .”

Diokno is correct that the change in the relative percentages of Asian Americans and African Americans was widely overlooked when Pew first reported it in October 2015.

Deep in a blog post headlined, “Future immigration will change the face of America by 2065,” Pew’s D’Vera Cohn wrote, “Non-Hispanic whites will remain the largest racial or ethnic group in the overall population but will become less than a majority, the projections show. Currently 62% of the population, they will make up 46% of it in 2065. Hispanics will be 24% of the population (18% now), Asians will be 14% (6% now) and blacks will be 13% (12% now). . . .”

Paul Cheung, national president of the Asian American Journalists Association, commented then on the implications of the projected rise in Asian Americans. “Asian American Pacific Islanders represent the fastest growing minority group in America,” he told Journal-isms. “We, the media, have the opportunity to grow alongside this audience by creating an inclusive environment of diverse coverage and hiring practices. Otherwise, we will risk losing this growing audience if we fail to represent their voice and experience.”

Sarah Glover, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, said by email Wednesday, “The growing Asian population coupled with the fact that blacks, Hispanics and Asians will outnumber whites within the next 50 years should signal the need for media companies to consider their business, content and audience strategies. This data should drive newsrooms to reflect on how they are doing with diversity and inclusion, and prepare to do better.”

As the rise of Latinos in the United States and the majority-black population of South Africa demonstrate, numbers don’t always transfer into power and influence.

But they do change the demographics of potential news consumers.

In the most recent diversity survey for the American Society of News Editors, blacks or African Americans were 12.6 percent of the U.S. population but 4.74 percent of newspaper and online journalists, down from 4.78 percent in 2014.

Asians were 4.8 percent of the U.S. population and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander were 0.2 percent. Asian Americans were 2.8 percent in the ASNE survey, down from 3.1 percent in 2014.

Jemele Hill says, ""On every given day, I'm told to go back to the kitchen or go back to Africa." (Credit: ESPN)
Jemele Hill says, “On every given day, I’m told to go back to the kitchen or go back to Africa.” (Credit: ESPN)

Video Airs Vile Comments to Female Journalists

“Women in sports media face a uniquely vile mix of aggression and harassment online,” Sam Laird wrote Tuesday for Mashable. “The problem is widely known — yet how to stop it is more tricky.

“A new online video campaign starring two prominent reporters serves as a call to action and puts the harassment of women in media in stark perspective.

“The four-minute video, called ‘More Than Mean,’ . . . stars reporters Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro — both known for not backing down from trolls online.

In the video released Tuesday, they sit down as men read real comments posted online about them to their face.

“The effect underscores a simple but powerful truth: The vile messages some men send women online are things they’d be far too cowardly to say in real life. . . .”

ESPN’s Jemele Hill said on the network’s “Mike & Mike” that women of color must deal with both racism and sexism. “On every given day, I’m told to go back to the kitchen or go back to Africa. It’s one of those two,” she said. (video)

Among the venues airing the “More than Mean” video were CBS News’ CBSN and the Tuesday edition of the “CBS Evening News With Scott Pelley.” (video)

“I had no idea it would blow up like this,” Spain told ex-ESPNer Josh Elliott on CBSN today, Brian Stelter of CNN Money reported. “Elliott said to his other guest, CBS Sports Network’s Dana Jacobson, ‘This is where our lives as colleagues doing the same exact thing just absolutely diverge.’ Online harassment isn’t gender-specific, but the tone and volume of harassment toward women is different. . . .”

D.C. Mayor Murial Bowser arrives Tuesday at Virginia McLaurin's apartment at a senior center to say a regulation change will mean she will receive an ID. (Credit: Facebook).
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser arrives Tuesday at Virginia McLaurin’s apartment at a senior center to say a regulation change means that she will receive an ID. (Credit: Facebook).

Column Spurs Action on ID for 107-Year-Old

Virginia McLaurin, the 107-year-old woman who charmed President Obama with her dance moves earlier this year, is finally getting a government-issued photo ID thanks to a new regulation in the District of Columbia, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Tuesday, WRC-TV in Washington reported.

The mayor, who visited McLaurin on Tuesday, credited a column by Courtland Milloy in the Washington Post describing McLaurin’s predicament and those of others of similar age and background. The column appeared in Sunday’s print editions.

“On the bright side, I noted, at least the District didn’t require a photo ID to vote,” Milloy wrote. “McLaurin treasured her right to vote and would still be able to cast her ballot in the D.C. primary come June.

“But roughly 30 states have adopted an array of restrictive voter ID laws, and elderly citizens who live in those states seemed particularly at risk of having their rights denied. . . .”

The WRC report continued, “The regulation, which goes into effect immediately, expands the list of documentation D.C. residents over the age of 70 can use when obtaining an ID from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

“A recent Washington Post article revealed that McLaurin could not get a photo ID in the District, because she didn’t have a birth certificate from her home state of South Carolina. But to get a copy of her birth certificate, she needed an ID.

“McLaurin lost her original ID in a purse snatching years ago, according to The Post. . . .”

Milloy wrote on Facebook, “A tip of the hat to DC Mayor Bowser for doing this and a bow to Ms Virginia McLaurin, who, at age 107, lived long enough to see it get done.”

Emerson Tops USA Today’s Undergrad J-Schools

“College Factual, a group of self-proclaimed ‘data geeks,’ analyzed colleges across the country and found that these are the 10 best colleges and universities in the U.S. from which to receive your bachelor’s in journalism,” Carly Stockwell reported Tuesday for USA Today.

“. . . Note that this list only comprises the top bachelor’s degrees in journalism — not master’s degrees.

“1. Emerson College . . .

“2. The University of Texas-Austin . . .

“3. Northwestern University . . .

“4. University of Southern California . . .

“5. Boston University . . .

“6. New York University . . .

“7. University of Missouri-Columbia . . .

“8. University of Maryland . . .

“9. Syracuse University . . .

“10. Washington and Lee University . . .”

3 Journalists of Color Among New Michigan Fellows

Two African Americans and a Latina have been chosen for the Knight-Wallace Fellows Class of ’17 at the University of Michigan, Charles Eisendrath, the program director, told Journal-isms by email on Tuesday.

Amy Maestas
Amy Maestas

The journalists of color and their fields of study are:

Sonya Green, news and public affairs director, KBCS-FM, Seattle. The impact of white privilege on how news is covered.

Amy Maestas, senior editor, Durango (Colo.) Herald. The future for hyperlocal newspapers.

Delece Smith-Barrow, reporter, U.S. News &World Report. Why few underrepresented minorities thrive as professors.

“There is a 28-year age span between the Fellows in the class of 2017, touching the extremes of what we mean by mid-career fellowship,” Eisendrath said in a news release. “But above all we look for capacity for personal and professional growth regardless of age, and the successful candidates share it equally.”

The announcement continued, “While on leave from regular duties, Knight-Wallace Fellows pursue customized studies and attend twice-weekly seminars. Headquarters of the program is Wallace House, a gift from the late newsman Mike Wallace and his wife, Mary. The program at Wallace House includes training in narrative writing and multi-platform journalism. International news tours to Turkey and Brazil are also an integral part of the program.

“Knight-Wallace Fellows receive a stipend of $70,000 for the eight-month academic year plus full tuition and health insurance. The program is entirely funded through endowment gifts by foundations, news organizations and individuals committed to improving the quality of information reaching the public. . . .”

In Minneapolis, People filed past a makeshift memorial next to Prince's star on First Avenue's wall of stars. They took photos and posed for their own, left letters, purple flowers and balloons. Music by Prince blared from the speakers of passing cars. (Credit: Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune)
In Minneapolis, people filed past a makeshift memorial near Prince’s star on First Avenue’s wall of stars. They took photos and posed for their own, left letters, purple flowers and balloons. Music by Prince blared from the speakers of passing cars. (Credit: Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune)

Writer Blasts Fans’ ‘Attention-Chasing Histrionics’

“Controversy” was one of Prince’s early hits, and controversy was what columnist Christian Schneider courted Tuesday with a column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headlined, “Nobody cares that you’re sad about Prince.”

“In 2016, when a celebrity dies, it is best to turn off your computer, slowly back away and proceed with the rest of your day as if you were a grown human adult,” Schneider began.

“Doing so will spare you all the attention-chasing histrionics that now accompany any death of every famous person.

“Soon, your Twitter feed will be full of people posting selfies of themselves ‘ugly crying’ over Prince’s death, sharing phony stories about how they saw ‘Purple Rain’ in the theater even though they were 11 years old when the movie came out (we can do the math), and how the last 55 seconds of Prince’s ‘Let’s Pretend We’re Married’ made them the person they are.

Christian Schneider
Christian Schneider

“These are the same people who believed they had insights into the Paris shootings because they stayed in a hostel there once.

“It is now a requirement that people grieve in public, and in a way that lets everyone know they were much more of a fan than anyone else. The important thing isn’t the person’s death and the hole it leaves in the world; the true effect of a celebrity death is how it affects you. . . .”

Asked about the reaction, Schneider told Journal-isms by email, “As you may have guessed, the feelings have been strong on both sides of the column. I’ve gotten a lot of supportive e-mails, and I’ve gotten some telling me to do things with myself that I didn’t think were physically possible.

“I basically just wrote the column to point out our modern fascination with putting ourselves in the middle of big stories like this one. I think a lot of people think they’re more a part of the story than they actually are. It has nothing to do with Prince, who was truly a genius — it has more to do with how, in the era of social media, people feel the need to express every thought they have, often in order to gain attention for themselves.

“It was pretty much this column that set me off:

“And it’s not just Prince — we actually live in the era of the ‘Nancy Reagan Memorial Selfie.

Schneider became a Journal Sentinel columnist in 2012. “Before I wrote for the Journal Sentinel, I wrote for National Review Online, and for a state-based think tank here in Wisconsin before that. I also worked in the Wisconsin Legislature for about 8 years,” he said.

He also said, “There was no hesitation on the part of the editors, as far as I know.”

Mexico Cover-Up Called Bigger Issue Than Trump

“During my many years as a correspondent in Mexico, some of my best reporting happened around dinner tables,” Ginger Thompson wrote Monday for ProPublica in a piece co-published with the New York Times, her former employer. “So on a recent trip back, I dined with a range of old contacts to catch up on how Mexico was handling its most pressing challenges, like the 2014 student massacre in southern Mexico, which shocked the world and ignited protests across the country.

“But all anyone wanted to talk about was Donald Trump.

“My dinner companions were not alone in their fixation. About a week later, the Mexican government announced it was shaking up its diplomatic corps to address the anti-Mexico rhetoric spewing from the Trump campaign, which a Mexican official told The Washington Post threatened to ‘damage the image of Mexico in the United States.’

“On Sunday, however, Mexico showed that the deeper damage to the country’s image is self-inflicted.

“An independent investigative panel of independent experts released its final report on the massacre in the state of Guerrero, which left 43 students of a rural teachers college in Ayotzinapa missing and presumed dead. Its findings were devastating.

“The Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts, whose work has led to high-profile prosecutions against the Colombian military, a Guatemalan dictator and American oil companies, not only provided the most chilling account of what the students had suffered one night in September 2014, but it also showed that the Mexican government had, at the very least, badly mishandled the investigation, and quite possibly attempted a cover-up. . . .”

Thompson also wrote, “That dynamic plays out most vividly in the media, which relies on hundreds of millions of dollars in government advertising. The day after the panel issued its report, one of Mexico’s leading dailies, El Universal, published a story about it on the bottom of its front page. Splashed across the top was an interview with Mexico’s new ambassador to Washington describing his plans to respond to Trump. The headline read, ‘Mexico Is Not Going to Be a Punching Bag.’ ”

The Los Angeles-based La Opinion was equally critical. “We hope that we are wrong, but all the signs of impunity and of Mexico’s judicial incompetence are present,” it editorialized on Monday.

At Night, Archdiocese Turned Water on Homeless

“There are still radio stations out there creating compelling, important, award-winning, original local news content,” Radio Ink reported Tuesday.

“KCBS in San Francisco is certainly one of them, and behind the hard work of reporter Doug Sovern . . . the station recently uncovered a big story in San Francisco and, in reporting it to its listeners, put radio’s specialty, theatre-of-the-mind, on display. Both Sovern and then-Director of News and Programming, Ed Cavagnaro, will receive an award for the series. The National Society of Professional Journalists will give them its Sigma Delta Chi Award for Best Investigative Reporting in Radio.

Unholy Water, a five-part series, exposed the San Francisco Archdiocese’s installation of an illegal plumbing system at St. Mary’s Cathedral, to pour water on homeless people at night to keep them from sleeping in the cathedral doorways, in the middle of the worst drought in California history. We spoke to Sovern in detail about the series and how it feels to be able to produce this kind of compelling radio. . . .”

Nominate a J-Educator Who Promotes Diversity

The Association of Opinion Journalists, formerly the National Conference of Editorial Writers, annually grants a Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship — actually an award — “in recognition of an educator’s outstanding efforts to encourage minority students in the field of journalism.” The educator should be at the college level.

Julian Rodriguez
Julian Rodriguez
      Nominations, now being accepted for the 2016 award, should consist of a statement about why you believe your nominee is deserving.

The final selection will be made by the AOJ Foundation board and announced later this year, when the presentation will be made.

Since 2000, the recipient has been awarded an honorarium of $1,000 to be used to “further work in progress or begin a new project.”

Past winners include James Hawkins, Florida A&M University (1990); Larry Kaggwa, Howard University (1992); Ben Holman, University of Maryland (1996); Linda Jones, Roosevelt University, Chicago (1998); Ramon Chavez, University of Colorado, Boulder (1999); Erna Smith, San Francisco State (2000); Joseph Selden, Penn State University (2001); Cheryl Smith, Paul Quinn College (2002); Rose Richard, Marquette University (2003).

Also,  Leara D. Rhodes, University of Georgia (2004); Denny McAuliffe, University of Montana (2005); Pearl Stewart, Black College Wire (2006); Valerie White, Florida A&M University (2007); Phillip Dixon, Howard University (2008); Bruce DePyssler, North Carolina Central University (2009); Sree Sreenivasan, Columbia University (2010); Yvonne Latty, New York University (2011); Michelle Johnson, Boston University (2012); Vanessa Shelton, University of Iowa (2013); William Drummond, University of California at Berkeley (2014); and Julian Rodriguez of the University of Texas at Arlington (2015) (video).

Nominations may be emailed to Richard Prince, AOJ Diversity Committee chair, richardprince (at) hotmail.com. The deadline is May 20. Please use that address only for AOJ matters.

Short Takes

 

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Richard Prince’s Journal-isms originates from Washington. It began in print before most of us knew what the Internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a “column. Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity.
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1 comment

Robert A. Qualls April 28, 2016 at 12:42 pm

I read Schneider’s piece yesterday, RP.

Matter of fact, I retweeted it.  I agree w/ him.  You name ’em, and folks were writing articles.  But, I got the impression that the pieces were less about Prince than they were about getting “views”.

What took the cake for me was the WHITE folk linking David Bowie in the same sentence as Prince OR embedding videos w/ Stevie Wynwood and Bruce Springsteen.

It was sad, really.

Stay Tuned….

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