George Chidi Booted Out of Meeting of Fake Electors
Two NABJ Award Winners Test Positive for COVID
Randall Pinkston: Here Is My COVID Story
‘I Love My Island So Much,’ Says Maui Reporter
Neeraj Khemlani to Exit as CBS News President
Newspaper Raided by Cops; Race Not a Factor!
Julianne Malveaux Leaves College, Keeps Opinions

Homepage photo: George Chidi, interviewed by Erin Burnett of CNN.

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George Chidi Booted Out of Meeting of Fake Electors

• Aug. 14 update: “George Chidi, an independent journalist, had tweeted previously that he was asked to testify on Tuesday, but later posted he was going to court on Monday, adding: “They’re moving faster than they thought.” (Associated Press)

Independent journalist George Chidi, who walked in on a group said to be trying to rig the Georgia election results — and went live on Facebook — is scheduled to testify Tuesday as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (pictured below) begins presenting her 2020 elections-interference case against former president Donald Trump and his allies to a grand jury, Chidi confirmed Saturday.

“I went to Georgia’s state Capitol on December 14, 2020, to watch the solemn and usually forgettable ritual casting of electoral votes,” Chidi wrote July 31 for The Intercept.

“As Stacey Abrams led the Democratic delegation upstairs, Republicans sat in a reserved room on the Capitol’s second floor to prepare a competing — and potentially illegal — slate of their own.

“The Republicans threw me out of the room moments after I entered, camera phone in hand, going live on Facebook. When I asked what kind of gathering they were having, they told me it was an ‘education meeting.’ As it turns out, Donald Trump’s election team had sent an email the previous night, instructing the group to maintain ‘complete secrecy.’ “

Chidi also wrote, “Journalists should not be testifying in front of grand juries. We are not agents of the government, gathering intelligence to be used in prosecutions. Our role should be adversarial, and my role as a journalist in Atlanta has regularly been just that with regard to Fulton County government, law enforcement, and even the operation of its courts. The county jail is in shambles, the courts are backed up, and prosecutors’ increased emphasis on gang cases raises questions about criminal justice reform in this city.”

Ja’han Jones, writing Aug. 1 for TheReadOut blog, said, “Chidi is a seasoned politics and crime reporter who’s extremely plugged in to the Georgia criminal justice scene. If you’re a frequent ReidOut Blog reader, his name may ring a bell: I’ve cited his reporting on the YSL racketeering case in Atlanta (involving rapper Young Thug) and, in particular, I’ve highlighted Chidi’s view that the trial could be seen as a test run for filing similar RICO charges against Donald Trump. . . . “

“Chidi testified last summer before the special grand jury that weighed whether to recommend charges in the case. In an interview last September with WABE, the local NPR and PBS affiliate, he said he initially fought the subpoena on principle as a journalist, but ‘frankly given the stakes, I did not fight all that hard.’

“Personally, as a fellow journalist who believes we do this work to enlighten the public and reduce harm, I agree with that calculation. . . .”

Chidi also told WABE, “I had been watching the Capitol for a few weeks before Dec. 14,” the day legitimate members of the Electoral College would meet and certify their states’ results. “There were groups of white supremacists and white nationalists who had been agitating on the Capitol steps, where the open discussion had broken out about disrupting the Electoral College vote. And I have been tracking extremist activity in Georgia for years. I thought something might happen. So I went to the Capitol expecting craziness.”

Chidi says he then “saw one of the electors, the Republican electors, walk into a room and somebody I knew and I realized that if he was there then the others might be there and they might be trying to pull something. So I pulled out my phone and went Facebook Live, walked in and asked what was going on. And they saw one look at me and saw that I had a phone recording and somebody said ‘he’s got a phone going,’ and they booted me out. But I managed to ask a question first. You’re having a meeting what kind of meeting and somebody blurts out, it’s an education meeting.”

As Tamar Hallerman and Greg Bluestein reported Saturday for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan also confirmed that he received notifications he will testify on Tuesday.

“The developments raise the likelihood that the public should know whether jurors hand up indictments against the former president and others by Tuesday evening. Willis is expected to begin her presentation to grand jurors on Monday,” they wrote.

• Robert Draper, New York Times: For an Atlanta Reporter, a Trump Scoop Long in the Making

• Toluse Olorunnipa, Washington Post: Country lacks a unifying voice in aftermath of Trump charges (Aug. 5)

Two NABJ Award Winners Test Positive for COVID

At least four more attendees at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Birmingham, Ala., Aug. 2-6 say they have tested positive for COVID, including two recipients of the association’s top awards. One saw racism at play in seeking treatment.

“I did test positive for COVID after the convention,” said Marquita Pool-Eckert (pictured), the first Black woman in a senior producer position at CBS News. Pool-Eckert won the Chuck Stone Lifetime Achievement Award. She messaged that she “returned home late Sunday night after several flight delays in Atlanta. I thought I had a bad cold from air conditioning either in the hotel ballroom or the airport. By Tuesday my symptoms included coughing, sore throat, mild headache, occasional sneezing and at night, chills. I took the COVID test on Tuesday. The Dr. prescribed Paxlovid and I was feeling much better by Thursday.”   (Pool-Eckert is flanked by Salute to Excellence hosts DeMarco Morgan of ABC News and Somara Theodore, ABC News meterologist. Credit: NABJ)

Alexis Yancey (pictured below), another NABJ veteran, produced the NABJ Authors Showcase. Yancey messaged, “Yes it’s true. I tested positive Tuesday after getting cold symptoms early Monday morning.

“I left Birmingham Sunday afternoon and drove to Selma with a friend to walk the Pettus Bridge then drove to Orange Beach. Monday I had extreme fatigue and after breakfast could only sleep. So much for my couple of days at the beach. I had some Zicam nasal swabs with me which I believe prevented the nasal congestion symptoms and helped me if I started getting texts from NABJers who tested positive.

“Couldn’t find tests in Orange Beach (sold out) finally found last two at a CVS on the way to Mobile. Tested positive that evening after getting to Montgomery.  

“Taking Paxlovid and even though I met criteria by age, still had to insist on getting it because my symptoms were considered mild, probably due to me using the Zicam swabs. Also found some drug stores were out of it as I had a script phoned into Walgreens but couldn’t get to the one in Montgomery that had filled it before it closed. Went to another Walgreen’s pharmacy that was open and they didn’t have Paxlovid.”

Randall Pinkston (pictured), veteran broadcaster who was inducted into the NABJ Hall of Fame, also caught the infection. He wonders, “how many people of color are routinely denied essential medications because of deliberate or implicit bias?” Pinkston’s account appears below.

As reported Friday, Will Sutton, a columnist for NOLA.com and a past president of the National Association of Black Journalists; Terace Garnier, a national journalist and Ms. International World United States, and Gayle Pollard-Terry, veteran Los Angeles-based journalist, all say they caught the infection. Pollard-Terry reported, “at least four of us who sat at the same table Saturday for the awards, have tested positive.” [Boston journalist Derrick Z. Jackson stopped by that table. “I thankfully have had minimal symptoms with Paxlovid.,” he messaged on Monday.]

No one appears to be tracking those who caught COVID at this year’s journalism conventions. Few were wearing masks, and, like many elsewhere, thought the danger from the COVID pandemic was over. Some say the anecdotal evidence points to at least 20 at NABJ alone. “I suspect that there are way more than 20,” said writer Katti Gray, who has tested positive. “We let our guards down too soon,” she said.

The NABJ convention drew 3,644, Executive Director Drew Berry told the board of directors on Aug. 6, the convention’s final day.

The Asian American Journalists Association sent a post-convention message to its attendees saying, “We have heard about a handful of people who have tested positive for COVID-19, and we wish them the speediest recovery. .  . . We urge our participants to stay alert for signs of symptoms and follow CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines for taking precautions, including possible self-isolation and testing.”

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists did not reply to requests for comment.

One of most popular events at NABJ’s conventon was its Sports Task Force Jam, for which Task Force Chair A. Sherrod Blakely said more than 1,000 tickets were sold.

“I did hear from some NABJ members — some in sports, some not — who tested positive for Covid, as well as friends of NAHJ amd AAJA following their national conventions who also tested positive,” Blakely messaged Journal-isms.

“Still tallying the final numbers. We sold more than 1000 tickets, but there’s another 200 or so tickets that went to corporate partners, which will bring our final number close to 1,300 attendees.”

Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah, who was also at the NABJ convention, gave her Twitter followers an update Sunday: “I’ve been six days since started having symptoms, and five days since I tested positive for Covid. I was prescribed Paxlovid, and slept, slept, slept.

“Happy to report, I feel like my normal self again.

“Lesson learned, though. Covid is out there. Be careful and mask up.”

Randall Pinkston: Here Is My COVID Story

By Randall Pinkston

I have had Covid twice in just over a year. Each time, I discovered the infection while visiting family in Mississippi and each time, I had difficulty receiving appropriate medication for my age group and medical profile. I am a Black male over 70, overweight, and pre-hypertensive.

Since early 2022, CDC protocols strongly recommend that people in my age group, with my medical history, should receive Paxlovid (or, while it was still in use, an infusion of monoclonal antibodies).  Last May, during my first encounter with Covid in Oxford, Miss., my physician with Weill Cornell Associates in New York did a virtual examination (via Zoom) and sent a prescription for Paxlovid to a CVS in Oxford. (Photo credit: DeWayne Wickham/Facebook)

According to my physician, the Oxford CVS pharmacist refused to fill the prescription, claiming that the drug store needed measurements of my liver and kidney functions. My physician insisted that liver and kidney function tests weren’t necessary, but that I did need medicine to treat what, at the time, was a severe case of Covid.

After CVS’s refusal, I went to a MinuteClinic, which provided me with cough medicine and a prescription for an infusion at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Oxford. (Oddly, after I received the infusion, but before I had finished the one-hour observation period after the infusion, the Baptist hospital medical office called to tell me that they did not accept my insurance — Medicare and UnitedHealthcare — and that I would have to find another place to get the infusion. Thankfully, by the time the call came I already had the infusion).

Earlier, after attending the NABJ convention in Birmingham, I traveled to Yazoo City, Miss., where I was, again, diagnosed with Covid — this time at a MinuteClinic called Fast Pace Health. The nurse practitioner gave me a prescription for over-the-counter meds.  When I asked her for Paxlovid (given my age and medical condition), she repeated what I heard a year earlier — that the Fast Pace medical director required liver and kidney function tests (which could take up to two days) prior to writing a prescription for Paxlovid.

I then went to my mother’s physician in Yazoo City, where a nurse practitioner quickly gave me a prescription for Paxlovid. I don’t know why CVS in Oxford in 2022 and Fast Pace Health in 2023 refused to provide appropriate medication for me. I don’t know if either facility based the denial on my race. But I have subsequently learned that a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates racial bias in treatment for Covid.

According to the CDC, the percentage of COVID-19 patients over 20 years old who were treated with Paxlovid was 36% lower among Black patients than among White and non-Hispanic patients. I was fortunate to get the medications I needed. But how many people of color are routinely denied essential medications because of deliberate or implicit bias? More quantitative studies are needed. But, based on the CDC’s 2022 findings, medical providers should receive stern reminders from appropriate regulatory health agencies to provide appropriate treatment without regard to race or ethnicity.

Chelsea Davis, a reporter with Hawaii News Now, talks about the impacts from wildfires in Maui and delivers real-time updates about what’s happening on the ground. This interview is from Aug. 9 at 9 a.m. (Credit: YouTube)

‘I Love My Island So Much,’ Says Maui Reporter

“It’s been so tough. But Maui, I assure you, my @hawaiinewsnow team and I are doing our absolute best to get you the most accurate, up-to-date information that we possibly can. We are all working around the clock and working so hard to explain the magnitude of this devastation & trying to reunite loved ones with family members, get supplies into West Maui & so much more,” tweeted Maui native Chelsea Davis, a reporter for Hawaii News Now who is covering the devastation.

“Mahalo, [an expression of gratitude] for trusting us, Maui.

“Mahalo for allowing me to share your stories.

“I love my island so much & my heart & soul are broken 💔… “

“Maui confirmed four additional fatalities in the Lahaina wildfire on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 93, and Gov. Josh Green warned the number of deaths will ‘continue to rise’ as crews with cadaver dogs make their way into burned-out structures,” Hawaii News Now reported Saturday, updated Sunday.

“The disaster is now the deadliest wildfire in the US in more than a century. . . .”

Neeraj Khemlani to Exit as CBS News President

• Aug. 14 update: Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews Takes Direct Oversight of CBS News in Restructure (Variety)

“The headlines coming out of CBS News will soon be guided by a new executive,” Brian Steinberg reported Sunday for Variety.

“Neeraj Khemlani, who arrived at the Paramount Global unit in 2021 to oversee CBS News and local stations along with Wendy McMahon, is leaving his role running the unit that produces ’60 Minutes,’ ‘CBS Evening News’ and ‘Face The Nation,’ among other programs. Khemlani told CBS News staffers Sunday that he has decided to exit and will instead pursue a new multi-year first-look deal with CBS that has him developing content including books for Simon & Schuster, documentaries and scripted series.

“Many senior news executives and anchors sign contracts for three years or more. Khemlani has during a two-years-plus tenure helped to rework CBS News’ morning programming; eliminate divisions between the linear news staff and CBS News streaming operations; bolster its investigative unit; and inject new talent into the famously insular division, including Robert Costa, Natalie Morales and Cecilia Vega. Under his aegis, staffers at CBS News had been gearing up for the 2024 presidential election cycle, and had in April unveiled a new streaming program that featured a roundtable of Washington correspondents hashing out the latest political news. . . .”

Khemlani, of Indian heritage, was born in Singapore and raised in New York. He attended the Asian American Journalists Association convention in Washington, D.C., last month.

• Alexandra Steigrad, New York Post: CBS News boss Neeraj Khemlani faces HR clampdown over ‘disrespectful’ tirade aimed at female execs: sources (July 30)

Newspaper Raided by Cops; Race Not a Factor!

Students of Black journalism history know that in 1892, the Memphis office of Ida B. Wells’ newspaper, the Free Speech, was gutted, with her partner and co-owner J.L. Flemng run out of the city upon the threat of being hanged and castrated, and a former owner of the paper, the Rev. Taylor Nightingale had been pistol-whipped an forced to recant the words of an anti-lynching editorial.

They know that in 1898, white supremacists in Wilmington, N.C., overthrew the results of a local election. In the process, they killed dozens of Black people and burned down much of Wilmington’s prosperous Black neighborhood. And they set ablaze The Daily Record, the city’s only African American newspaper.

They might recall that in 1837, a mob drove off the office staff of the Alton (Ill.) Observer, edited by white abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy, by throwing rocks through the windows. Then, as soon as the staff had fled, the mob broke into the newspaper’s office and destroyed the press and all the type. Soon afterward, Lovejoy was shot dead.

As demonstrated over the weekend, such outrages still happen — even when race is not a factor.

“In an unprecedented raid Friday, local law enforcement seized computers, cellphones and reporting materials from the Marion County Record office, the newspaper’s reporters, and the publisher’s home,” Sherman Smith, Sam Bailey, Rachel Mipro and Tim Carpenter reported for the Kansas Reflector.

There was more: “Stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief after illegal police raids on her home and the Marion County Record newspaper office Friday, 98-year-old newspaper co-owner Joan Meyer, otherwise in good health for her age, collapsed Saturday afternoon and died at her home,” the Marion County Record reported.

Advocates for the press spoke out quickly.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 34 news media and press freedom organizations condemned the raid [PDF].

“This search violated the rights of the journalists at the Marion County Record to serve their community by gathering and reporting the news,” said Eileen O’Reilly, president of the National Press Club, and Gil Klein, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute, in a statement.

“We stand by the Marion County Record in its efforts to continue publishing despite the seizure of important reporting material and equipment. We demand local authorities return the reporting equipment to the Marion County Record immediately, and we expect a full investigation by appropriate state and federal authorities into why this search warrant was requested, authorized and executed.”

PEN America said, “Journalists rely on confidential sources to report on matters of vital public concern. Law enforcement’s sweeping raid on The Marion County Record and confiscation of its equipment almost certainly violates federal law and puts the paper’s very ability to publish the news in jeopardy. Such egregious attempts to interfere with news reporting cannot go unchecked in a democracy. Law enforcement can, and should, be held accountable for any violations of The Record’s legal rights.”

• Editorial, Wichita Eagle: Raid on Kansas newspaper is an intolerable overreach by police

• Kathy Kiely, Wichita Eagle: Raid on Marion County, Kansas, newspaper shows why would-be tyrants fear journalists

• Joel Mathis, Wichita Eagle: Small town Kansas newspaper raided by police, maybe over liquor, is part of an old story

Julianne Malveaux Leaves College, Keeps Opinions

After two years, Julianne Malveaux (pictured) has resigned as dean of the new College of Ethnic Studies at Cal State LA, the first such college to be established in the United States in 50 years.

But that doesn’t mean the economist and columnist, and former president of Bennett College for Women, is no longer offering opinions.

Malveaux wrote last week, “We need to watch our language. The debacle at the Montgomery Pier, where enslaved people were once offloaded and sold, is described as a ‘brawl.’ The dictionary says a ‘brawl’ is a “fight or quarrel in a rough and noisy way.” The Saturday, August 5 attack on a Black dock worker, Damien Pickett, who attempted to do his job should be described as a vicious and racist attack, not a brawl. To be sure, thanks to the vigilant Black people who defended a conscientious worker, an attack descended into a brawl, but let’s not make it a mutual thing. According to the video I saw, three white men attacked a Black man, and others attempted to defend him, with one swimming across the water to protect him.

“Language is essential, especially in a racial context. . . .”

Malveaux announced her resignation in a Facebook posting. “Headed back to DC for good (kind of),” she said. She told Journal-isms that Los Angeles wasn’t a good fit and that she hadn’t decided what she would do in Washington. She continues to host a Monday morning talk show on WPFW-FM.

The College of Ethnic Studies, with Malveaux as its founding dean, “focuses on an interdisciplinary analysis of the histories, cultures and social experiences of people of color, as debates over racial injustices and pedagogy make headlines,” according to the 2021 announcement of its founding.

NAJA Votes Name Change to ‘Indigenous’

August 11, 2023

NAJA Votes Name Change to ‘Indigenous’:
Rationale Includes Connection to Natives Worldwide
Some Returning From Conventions With COVID
Gilbert Bailon Lands as Editor at WBEZ Chicago
Robbie Robertson Was Also an Indigenous Musician
Goldberg Pledges Diversity on ‘Washington Week’
A Revelation About Mental State of Child Shooter
ProPublica Reveals Even More About Thomas
People of Color Lacking Among Late-Night Writers
Hampton J-School Regains Full Accreditation

Short Takes: Gracie Lawson-Borders; Kat Stafford; Laura Jarrett; racism vs. remote work; Alexi McCammond; Ryan Williams, Malika Andrews, ‘Big Brother’ and the ‘N’ word; Chronicle of Higher Education’s scholarship winner; Online News Association.

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Graham Lee Brewer of NBC News, now president of the Indigenous Journalists Association, narrated this video on “Reporting on Native American Communities” in 2021. The NBCU Academy, a multiplatform journalism training and development program designed to prepare college-level students for a media career, made a presentation at this year’s conference in Winnipeg, Canada. (Credit: YouTube)

Rationale Includes Connection to Natives Worldwide

“Members of the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) voted to change the organization’s name and elected the 2023-2024 Board of Directors during the 2023 National Native Media Conference held this week in Winnipeg, Canada,” the organization announced Friday. The conference has 304 registered attendees, associate director Francine Compton told Journal-isms.

The announcement continued, “ ‘It’s so inspiring to see Indigenous journalists around the world asserting themselves in newsrooms and taking their place as the rightful storytellers of their own narratives. It’s long overdue, and we’re so proud and excited to be a part of that movement,’ said NAJA/IJA President Graham Lee Brewer. ‘Connecting with our brothers and sisters across the globe, from Canada to New Zealand, has made it clear that as Indigenous peoples the struggles we face in this industry are universal.’

” ‘The group began in 1983 when several Native American journalists met to form the Native American Press Association. In 1990, the group changed its name to NAJA to expand support for Native voices across all media platforms and ensure accurate and contextual reporting about Native communities.

“ ‘Despite the colonial framework that has warped our histories and shapes the stories told about us today or the challenges of working within structures that weren’t designed for us to thrive, we see Indigenous journalists at every level doing the important work of representing their people. We live in a time when it is possible to connect and create deep, meaningful relationships with Indigenous journalists no matter where they are, and we look forward to helping them find each other to share their knowledge and support,’ Brewer said.

“NAJA/IJA Executive Director Rebecca Landsberry-Baker said the operation has been preparing for the proposed rebrand for the last year, including developing a new website. . . .”

• Michael Warren, Associated Press: ‘Native American’ or ‘Indigenous’? Journalism group rethinks name

Some Returning From Conventions With COVID

Will Sutton, a columnist for NOLA.com and a past president of the National Association of Black Journalists, wrote columns urging caution during the peak of the COVID pandemic, especially during last year’s joint convention in Las Vegas of the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists.  

Sutton described for Journal-isms what happened at the NABJ convention that ended last weekend in Birmingham, Ala.: “Arrived Wednesday night. Left Sunday morning. Last event was the Chicago kickoff. I had a great NABJ convention experience.”

He tested positive when he returned home.  

“This was not what I expected. I’m fully vaccinated and boosted,” Sutton continued. “I got so NABJ happy that I guess I let my guard down too much with the kisses, hugs, handshakes and close proximity with my NABJ family.

“It’s the second time. Happened last year.”

Terace Garnier, a national journalist and Ms. International World United States, tested positive as well. She messaged Journal-isms Friday, “I’ve never had Covid, but I figured it out when I blacked out in my car for 3 hours after landing back in DC Monday. But I also had been up for 24 hours because of all the flight delays so I initially thought it was because of that. But then I started getting crazy headaches, body aches, and a sore throat. I got tested Tuesday morning via a home test and then again at the ER that evening.”

Gayle Pollard-Terry, veteran Los Angeles-based journalist, said that “at least four of us who sat at the same table Saturday for the awards, have tested positive.”

No one appears to be tracking those who caught COVID at this year’s journalism conventions. Few were wearing masks, and, like many elsewhere, thought the danger from the COVID pandemic was over.

The health department in Jefferson County, Ala., which includes Birmingham, site of the NABJ convention, messaged Journal-isms, in part, “We have not had any direct reports related to this event, but Jefferson County is seeing a small increase in reported cases in the county from an average of about 37 positive tests a day the week of 07/24/2023 to about 80 positive tests per day the week of 08/07/2023.  For comparison, the last significant wave of COVID-19 in Jefferson County resulted in an average of 210 cases per day in January 2023.  We are continuing to monitor for new cases.

“The Jefferson County Department of Health recommends that persons who are increased risk for hospitalization or death from COVID-19 should stay up-to-date on their COVID-19 boosters. . . .

“Persons at increased risk include: persons over the age of 65 years, persons who are pregnant, persons with cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung disease, HIV infection, or weakened immune systems. 

“We recommend that persons in vulnerable groups speak with their health care provider about timing of vaccines to provide optimal protection against COVID-19. The United States Food and Drug Administration is preparing to review data for an updated booster meant to provide better protection against circulating strains of COVID-19, and decisions and recommendations for these vaccines are expected in the coming months.”

NABJ’s was not the only convention affected. “We had a few people let us know they tested positive after convention, but we are not keeping a running count,” messaged Ai Uchida, deputy director of the Asian American Journalists Association, which met in Washington, D.C., last month.

AAJA sent this message to convention attendees on July 25:

“Dear AAJA23 Participant,

“It was wonderful to have more than 1,500 members and supporters come together at #AAJA23 in Washington, D.C. We look forward to sharing recaps of our time together.

“Registering for #AAJA23 required vaccination and boosters against COVID-19, but any large gathering increases exposure to the illness through close contact with others. We have heard about a handful of people who have tested positive for COVID-19, and we wish them the speediest recovery.

“We urge our participants to stay alert for signs of symptoms and follow CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Peevention] guidelines for taking precautions, including possible self-isolation and testing. The CDC defines close contact as being within 6 feet of someone for more than 15 minutes. If you have tested positive, we encourage you to alert people who may have had close contact with you during the convention.

“Stay well, and have a safe rest of the summer.

“In solidarity,

“AAJA-HQ.”

Gilbert Bailon Lands as Editor at WBEZ Chicago

Veteran journalist Gilbert Bailon will join WBEZ in Chicago as the newsroom’s executive editor, the station announced Friday.

“Bailon will oversee the organization’s growing news operation, both online and on air. He will also lead the station’s partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times, which Chicago Public Media acquired in 2022,” the announcement said.

“It’s really a very unusual, if not unique opportunity for a big market to have radio, digital and print all balled into one big operation that can collaborate, share content and reach new audiences,” Bailon said.

Bailon, one of the highest ranking Latino editors in the mainstream media, abruptly resigned in May as executive editor at public media station KERA in Dallas after just 15 months.

Chicago Public Media’s Chief Content Officer Tracy Brown said Bailon’s decades of experience leading newsrooms in places like Dallas and St. Louis make him well positioned to do “transformational work” in Chicago.

Bailon, 64, joined KERA News from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he was its top editor, overseeing the news organization’s coverage of the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson, Mo., and the social unrest that followed. The Post-Dispatch won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. Within the news industry, Bailon was called upon as a speaker to discuss “best practices” after the incident went national and drew scores of reporters to the area.

Bailon had long been a newspaper industry figure, having headed both the old American Society of Newspaper Editors and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

In 2007, he became the first ASNE president from a Spanish-speaking newspaper. Bailon was then editor and publisher of Al Día, the Spanish-language daily product of the Dallas Morning News.

In this video from 2010, Robbie Robertson performs two songs (“Ghost Dance,” “Mahk Jchi”) from his “Music for the Native Americans” album live on the BBC. (Credit: YouTube)

Robbie Robertson Was Also an Indigenous Musician

You might not know it from the mainstream media coverage, but songwriter and guitarist Robbie Robertson, who died Wednesday at age 80, identified as Native American.

After narrating the four-part PBS documentary “Native America” in 2018, Robertson said, ““Partly because of my heritage, the subject is something I’m drawn to.” His Mohawk/Cayuga mother grew up on Canada’s Six Nations of the Grand River reserve. She taught him to “be proud you’re an Indian, but be careful who you tell,” he said.

Miles Morrisseau wrote for ICT, formerly Indian Country Today, “His legacy in the foundation of contemporary music is definitive but his contribution to the evolving sound of Indigenous music is less known but just as apparent.”

In the Winnipeg Free Press in Winnipeg, Canada, site of this year’s National Native Media Conference, which began Thursday, Alan Small interviewed admirer David McLeod, who “idolized Robertson, not just from the music he created with the Band in the 1960s and ’70s but also his solo career, during which Robertson often drew upon his roots with the Six Nations of the Grand River.“

” ‘When he started to talk about his Indigenous connections, especially his home community, it was gratifying to know he was acknowledging it,’ McLeod says.

“ ‘He was way ahead of his time. We’re talking pre-Jeremy Dutcher, pre-A Tribe Called Red. He was working with musicians of the time to mix traditional sounds and historic recordings with modern beats.

“ ‘I think he needs to be recognized for that and I don’t believe it is recognized enough.’

“Among the songs on McLeod’s autographed disc, which was released in 1998, is Sacrifice, which includes words spoken by Leonard Peltier, a member of the American Indian Movement who was found guilty of murdering two FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1975.

“Peltier, 78, was sentenced to life in prison but his ongoing legal fight has made him a symbol for Indigenous protest in the United States. Robertson recorded a phone conversation with him and included some of Peltier’s words in the song.

“ ‘That song is not a commercial release, that’s an artistic release and that’s a community release,’ McLeod says. ‘He recognized the importance of Leonard Peltier’s voice, to give thought to what happened to him and that whole era. I was ecstatic when he did that.’ . . .”

Goldberg Pledges Diversity on ‘Washington Week’

When Yamiche Alcindor left the moderator’s chair on PBS’ “Washington Week” in February to devote more time to her day-to-day job as an NBC News correspondent and to work on a memoir, she had hosted the most diverse incarnation of the reporters-roundtable show since it debuted on Feb. 23, 1967.

Subsequent guest-hosted shows were not nearly as diverse by race, gender and age. But Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic magazine who began hosting the show Friday night as part of a new partnership with The Atlantic, promises inclusion as well.

Goldberg, who is white and male, messaged Journal-isms Friday, “Ensuring a diversity of voices and perspectives is essential for us. This will come through in the panel of journalists who join the show each week, in the reporting they’ve done, and in the stories we discuss. Just as my predecessors have done, and done exceptionally well, we will involve a wide and diverse group of journalists, including from our diverse team here at The Atlantic.”

Friday’s panel of reporters were Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, who is white; Laura Barrón-López, White House correspondent for “PBS NewsHour,” who is Latina; and Adam Harris, staff writer at The Atlantic, an African American.

Under the new arrangement, The Atlantic is to co-produce the show, renamed “Washington Week with The Atlantic.” The magazine will cover some of the costs and help to sell sponsorships, Benjamin Mullin reported for The New York Times.

Mullin also wrote that Gwen Ifill, “a groundbreaking Black journalist in a field dominated by white men, was synonymous with ‘Washington Week’ for more than a decade. She died from complications of uterine cancer in 2016, days after the presidential election. Mr. Goldberg said the prospect of moderating the same program as Ms. Ifill, a close friend, was a weighty responsibility and a major factor in his decision to join the program. . . .”

A Revelation About Mental State of Child Shooter

In January, after a 6-year-old was accused of having shot his teachers, this column said, “The race of the 6-year-old accused of shooting his teacher in Newport News, Va., has not been made public, but the issue should have particular resonance in Black communities.

“The rate of firearm-related deaths among Black youth is six times higher than White youth ‘and substantially higher than any other racial and ethnic group,’ the Kaiser Family Foundation reported in October, analyzing national 2021 figures.”

It has since been determined that the child’s mother is Black. And a mainstream newspaper, The Washington Post, revealed this week how disturbed the child appeared to be.

“Amy Kovac was approaching Abigail Zwerner’s first-grade classroom at Virginia’s Richneck Elementary School the moment a 6-year-old student pulled out a gun,” Justin Jouvenal reported Wednesday.

“The reading specialist said in an interview with The Washington Post that she heard the blast from the hallway and thought: ‘Oh my God.’ Suddenly, the door to Zwerner’s classroom burst open and panicked students ran out.

“Zwerner, who had been shot through the hand and in her shoulder and was bleeding badly, followed.

“Kovac, 54, said instinct kicked in. She went into the classroom. She said the boy looked proud.

“ ‘I did it,’ Kovac said the boy told her. ‘I shot the b—- dead.’

“The account is the first time Kovac has spoken publicly about the Jan. 6 tragedy in the Newport News school that generated nationwide attention and outrage after teachers alleged that officials ignored multiple warnings on the day of the shooting that the boy had a gun. The incident ultimately led to the ouster of Newport News’s superintendent and criminal charges for he six-year-old’s mother, and a special grand jury is investigating the actions of administrators and others before and during the incident. . .

“Zwerner later filed a $40 million lawsuit against school officials, and the boy’s mother, Deja Taylor, pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the case. She is expected to plead guilty to a second set of state charges next week. . . . The boy’s mother has said publicly he has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. . . .

“The boy brought the gun to school in his backpack, and it belonged to his mother, authorities have said. . . .”

• Lauren Nutall, Black Enterprise: Black Journalists Gather at 2023 NABJ Convention to Discuss the Importance of Black Press

ProPublica Reveals Even More About Thomas

“During his three decades on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas has enjoyed steady access to a lifestyle most Americans can only imagine,” Brett Murphy and Alex Mierjeski reported Thursday for ProPublica.

“A cadre of industry titans and ultrawealthy executives have treated him to far-flung vacations aboard their yachts, ushered him into the premium suites at sporting events and sent their private jets to fetch him — including, on more than one occasion, an entire 737. It’s a stream of luxury that is both more extensive and from a wider circle than has been previously understood.

“Like clockwork, Thomas’ leisure activities have been underwritten by benefactors who share the ideology that drives his jurisprudence. Their gifts include:

“At least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas; 26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter; a dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, typically perched in the skybox; two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica; and one standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast.

“This accounting of Thomas’ travel, revealed for the first time here from an array of previously unavailable information, is the fullest to date of the generosity that has regularly afforded Thomas a lifestyle far beyond what his income could provide. And it is almost certainly an undercount. . . .”

The “PBS NewsHour” Thursday interviewed Joel Anderson (pictured), host of Slate’s “Slow Burn” podcast, whose current season is “Becoming Justice Thomas.”

Anderson said, “Well, yes, for a man who understandably prides himself on his bootstraps origin story, it’s not surprising that he elides the truth about these wealthy white Republican benefactors and what they have been doing for him for the last 30 years or so. . . .”

People of Color Lacking Among Late-Night Writers

“BIPOC late-night and variety show writers say the lack of diversity on-screen and behind it is due to a lack of chances and opportunity given to people of color,” Raquel ‘Rocky’ Harris reported Thursday for The Wrap.

“ ‘If you look at traditionally… the hosts that we remember a lot, the ones from those 11:30 p.m. 12:30 a.m. shows, they got so many chances,’ Greg Iwinski, who has written for Comedy Central’s ‘Last Week Tonight With John Oliver’ and CBS’ ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert‘ said Thursday during TheWrap’s strike roundtable, ‘BIPOC Late-Night and Variety Writers Speak Out.’

“ ‘But if you’re a person of color, it’s like, “Here are six episodes, each year that we’re going to call a season. So you have six half-hours,” Iwinski continued. ‘And [executives] are saying, “Well, if [hosts of color] can’t do it in two and half hours a year, I guess we’ll just let your show get canceled after two or three seasons.” ‘

“Historically, late night TV has been a predominately white man’s playground. Vanity Fair’s 2015 photoshoot with the “titans of late-night” made that abundantly clear. Though Larry Wilmore (“The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore”) and Trevor Noah were the two exceptions out of the lineup of 10 hosts. . . .”

• LZ Granderson, Los Angeles Times: The writers’ strike has brought studios to the bargaining table. The outcome matters for us all (Aug. 4)

• J.J. McCorvey, NBC BLK: Black WGA strikers say they’ve helped streamers boost diversity — and wound up worse off (May 16)

Hampton J-School Regains Full Accreditation

Hampton University’s Scripps Howard School of Journalism & Communications, one of the most prominent journalism schools at a historically Black college or university, has regained accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, which granted the school provisional status [PDF] in 2020.

“The School experienced setbacks during the onset of COVID-19 that stymied efforts to address the areas that had been cited as deficient by the 2020 accreditation site team,” the report said. “This makes the progress that has occurred since the arrival of a new dean [Julia Wilson, pictured] in 2021 and a new president [Darrell K. Williams] in July 2022 even more remarkable.

“The new dean’s credentials are impressive, and the impact of her leadership is being felt in several areas, most significantly those related to the three standards that were deemed noncompliant in 2020.

“When she arrived in fall 2021, she immediately took steps to address the issues noted in the site team report. At the same time, she articulated her vision of a new global focus, while committing to enhance the School’s academic foundation and experiential opportunities. She seems to have the enthusiastic support of the new president, whose focus is on ‘providing a supportive environment and academic excellence,’ and it appears that the Scripps Howard School is benefitting in substantive ways. Meaningful investments are being made and, while the hill to be climbed remains steep, the School appears to be making steady and meaningful progress.

“The School’s revisit report asserts that both the dean and the president are focused on ‘graduating students with knowledge, skills and competencies that are in alignment with the ACEJMC 11 professional values and competencies.’ This is backed up by enhancements to curriculum, investments in infrastructure, and a more robust program for academic assessment. . . .”

Wilson told Journal-isms of the April development, “I am thrilled our school has received reaccreditation, which was my highest priority when I came onboard as dean. It also was a top priority of our new president, Darrell K. Williams, who is leading Hampton in delivering the #1 student experience in America.” 

She added, “We are moving full steam ahead to realize my global vision of preparing our aspiring journalists and communicators for international careers in which they can showcase the school’s high standards of excellence.

“I’m also very excited that our student enrollment is up for the fall, and we’ve hired new multicultural faculty (from African and Indian descent) to join and diversity our mainly Black American academic team. We’ve also hired a first-class broadcast engineer from Turner Broadcasting.”

Short Takes

• Gracie Lawson-Borders, PhD (pictured), dean of the Cathy Hughes School of Communications (CHSOC), will depart the position at the culmination of the 2023-2024 academic year. The University will promptly launch a national decanal search for the CHSOC,” Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick announced Aug. 2. Frederick also said, “Dr. Lawson-Borders has served as the CHSOC dean since 2013. Under her leadership, it has continued to be at the forefront of communications education, receiving full reaccreditation twice through the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) and the Council on Academic Accreditation. . . . Furthermore, contributions to the CHSOC increased significantly during Dr. Lawson-Borders’ tenure as dean. . . .”

• “Award-winning journalist Kat Stafford (pictured) has been appointed as our Global Race & Justice Editor, effective Sept 5,” Mark Bendeich, Reuters global managing editor, politics, economics and world news, announced Wednesday. ” Kat comes to us from the Associated Press, where she is a national investigative race writer and global investigations correspondent. . . .”

• Many Black workers and other people of color have “found that remote work lessened the racism they faced on the job,” Samantha Masunaga reported Tuesday for the Los Angeles Times. “But it forces workers to make a difficult choice — prioritize your mental health or endure for the sake of your career. Remote job opportunities are shrinking as more companies require that workers come back to the office. And even in hybrid workplaces, remote employees can be at a disadvantage for career advancement since managers sometimes forget about them or assume they are less productive than their in-person peers, a concept called proximity bias. . . .”

• “NBC News’ Laura Jarrett (pictured) will co-anchor Saturday Today, this fall, joining Peter Alexander as the weekend broadcast moves back to Studio 1A in New York after originating from Washington,” Ted Johnson reported Wednesday for Deadline. “Jarrett, who starts on Sept. 9, will succeed Kristen Welker as she steps into her new role as moderator of Meet the Press. She also will continue as NBC News senior legal correspondent and Alexander will continue as the network’s chief White House correspondent. She is the daughter of Valerie Jarrett, Barack Obama confidante and former White House official.

• Alexi McCammond (pictured) has joined The Washington Post as an associate editor with the Post Opinions team, the Post confirmed on Friday. McCammond tweeted, “I’m at the @washingtonpost now after 6 amazing years at @axios with the sharpest minds in media. I’ll still be covering politics—but this time with the stellar @PostOpinions team. So send me your op-ed ideas that you want to read! Or write! Alexi.McCammond@washpost.com McCammond returned to Axios in 2021 after an ill-fated appointment as editor in chief of Teen Vogue.

• Ryan Williams (pictured), a board member of the Washington Association of Black Journalists and digital/special events producer at the D.C Public Library, is the recipient of the 2023 NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists Leadership Award, NLGJA announced. The award “recognizes individuals who have made a positive impact on their newsrooms by increasing diversity and improving news coverage of the LGBTQ+ community.”

• “Malika Andrews’ (pictured) skyrocketing career continues, as she is becoming the new host of the NBA Finals for ESPN, The Post has learned,” Andrew Marchand reported Wednesday for the New York Post. “Andrews, 28, will succeed Mike Greenberg, who hosted the marquee show for the past two years. . . . Andrews will continue as the host of ‘NBA Today’ as her impressive rise to power at the network moves to a new stage. During the NBA bubble in 2020, she emerged as ESPN’s on-site reporter in Florida. . . .”

• “The latest episode of ‘Big Brother’ has addressed the removal of contestant Luke Valentine following his use of the N-word during a Paramount+ live feed,” Jaden Thompson reported Friday for Variety. “This controversy unfolded just one week into the start of Season 25. Valentine used the racial slur during a casual conversation with other contestants Jared Fields, Cory Wurtenberger and Hisam Goueli. After dropping the slur at the end of a sentence, he seemed immediately aware of his on-camera faux pas. He covered his mouth, laughed and quickly said ‘dude’ instead, while his fellow contestants stared at him. The moment can be watched here.”

• Jasper Smith (pictured), a senior journalism student at Howard University who is editor in chief of The Hilltop, the student newspaper, has been chosen for the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Scholarship for Diversity in Media, the Chronicle reported. “Thanks to The Chronicle of Higher Education, I will be graduating from Howard University debt-free this spring!,” Smith wrote. The Chronicle’s scholarship is $10,000. Smith is also a digital-media intern at The Arizona Republic and an HBCU Student Journalism Network Fellow.

• The Online News Association community will honor award recipients Siri Carpenter, Finbarr O’Reilly, Jean Friedman-Rudovsky, Cassie Haynes and the late Mandy Jenkins at the 2023 Online Journalism Awards Ceremony and Banquet, hosted by NPR’s Gene Demby, on Aug. 26, 7 p.m., in Philadelphia, the organization said Friday. “This celebration is the closing event of the ONA23: Philadelphia conference; a livestream will be available for people who can’t attend in person. Learn more about where to watch the 2023 OJAs.”

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