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‘Backlash Hits Boiling Point’

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Outrage Over Tearing Children From Parents

Cheryl Thompson Voted IRE’s First Black President

L.A. Times’ New Owner Might be Good for Diversity

Why Do News Outlets Still Run Raynard Jackson?

NABJ President Responds to Jackson’s Accusation

‘Child of the South’ Is Publisher of 4 News Outlets

Charleston Paper Backs Apology for Slavery

1.2% of Google’s U.S. Workers Are Black Women

How Eurocentric Should World History Courses Be?

Short Takes

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Darrin Bell of the Washington Post Writers Group is one of the few African Americans drawing editorial cartoons in mainstream news media, but he was not alone in weighing in on the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy toward children of migrant parents. (Credit: ©2018 Darrin Bell, Dist. by WPWG, www.darrinbell.com)

Outrage Over Tearing Children From Parents

“ON FATHER’S DAY IN THE UNITED STATES,” Michael Calderone of Politico wrote Monday in his daily summary of media news, “the Associated Press led with the following: ‘Inside an old warehouse in South Texas, hundreds of children wait in a series of cages created by metal fencing. One cage had 20 children inside. Scattered about are bottles of water, bags of chips and large foil sheets intended to serve as blankets.’

It did get even more attention. The story was Topic A on almost every newscast. NBC’s “Nightly News” declared, “Backlash hits boiling point.”

One of the most powerful pieces came from Ginger Thompson at ProPublica. “Listen to Children Who’ve Just Been Separated From Their Parents at the Border,” the headline read. “ProPublica has obtained audio from inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, in which children can be heard wailing as an agent jokes, ‘We have an orchestra here.’ ”

Cheryl Thompson Voted IRE’s First Black President

Cheryl W. Thompson, who teaches investigative reporting at George Washington University and writes investigative stories at the Washington Post,  was elected president of Investigative Reporters and Editors over the weekend, becoming the organization’s first African American leader in its 43-year history.

Cheryl W. Thompson

“My focus is on ensuring that IRE continues to promote excellence in investigative journalism through training and partnerships, and furthering diversity efforts,” Thompson told Journal-isms by email. “When I was elected to the board in 2015, I ran on a platform of increasing diversity in our ranks and boosting student membership. I’ve worked hard to help make that happen and our efforts paid off at this year’s conference. There were more journalists of color from every medium — print, television, radio, digital — than in any year I can remember.

“And I’ve been coming to conferences for 20 years. I was so proud.”

Thompson had been vice president of the organization, but IRE does not operate on a ladder system. “It’s whoever the board decides on. I’m honored and excited that they chose me to lead this amazing organization that I’ve loved and been a part of for so long,” Thompson said. “We currently have about 5,700 members, and while we’re still tallying, the unofficial attendance at the conference was 1,775 journalists representing 20 countries.”

Thompson shared in the Post’s Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2002 and was part of the Post team that worked on the police shooting series that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2016. Thompson was chosen Educator of the Year last year by the National Association of Black Journalists, which noted, among other things, that she started a student chapter of NABJ at George Washington.

At the group’s Saturday luncheon in Orlando, Erica Byfield, a reporter for WNBC-TV in New York, “shared her personal story of being exposed to what a ‘token Black girl’ is,” Nallah Brown of Florida A&M University reported for Journal-isms. “She went on to explain how her old boss in a smaller and local news station told her she was hired because she was Black. Her eyes become glossy as she recalled how the moment made her feel, inviting all 1,800 attendees to share her shame.

“Byfield’s experience is an example of what stands in between the growth that can come from having diverse environments. She also introduced the donation fund IRE has created to sponsor journalism students of color to attend the 2019 IRE conference in Houston.”

Byfield’s presentation was followed by a keynote speech by Bill Whitaker of CBS-TV’s “60 Minutes.” Members who tweeted singled out these quotes: “The long arc of history bends towards justice…but it doesn’t bend on its own,” and “regarding @POTUS and the press: ‘Those he calls the enemy of the people, I call public servants…What he calls the opposition, I call watchdogs.’ ”

Thompson said, “Bill hit just the right note in his speech, including the need for continued diversity and a plea to journalists not to get beaten down by folks who repeatedly attack the press. He urged us to ‘keep on keeping on.’ ”

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong took ownership of the Los Angeles Times on Monday. (Credit: Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

L.A. Times’ New Owner Might be Good for Diversity

“The Los Angeles Times has a new owner, a new editor and, after years of upheaval, a new path forward,” Meg James and Andrea Chang reported Monday for the Times. And that might be good for diversity.

Tim Arango reported in the New York Times that he interviewed Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire biotech executive who on Monday officially took ownership of the Los Angeles Times, as he sat in traffic on his way to the Los Angeles Times office to announce his choice of veteran journalist Norman Pearlstine as its new editor.

“With its diversity — the population of Los Angeles is roughly half Latino — and a dynamic economy that is the world’s fifth largest, California hasn’t been well-served by its journalistic institutions in recent years, he said,” Arango wrote.

“ ‘The Times has not taken advantage of that,’ he said. ‘I look at the paper, it’s a shadow of its former self. We need to fix that.’ . . .”

Times spokeswoman Hillary Manning told Journal-isms by email, “During a town hall with employees today, Norm indicated that he’ll be talking with newsroom staff to get their thoughts and recommendations on how to address diversity and inclusion, and cover the communities within California better. . . . For his part, I think Dr. Soon-Shiong will now defer to Norm on the details, since Norm is now the top editor.”

James and Chang also wrote, “Pearlstine has spent 50 years in journalism helping shape some of the nation’s most prominent publications — including Time Inc. magazines, Bloomberg News, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. . . . It was the first major move by Soon-Shiong, who also bought the San Diego Union-Tribune, Spanish-language Hoy and several community papers from Chicago newspaper company Tronc.

“During the last two months, Pearlstine, 75, has served as an advisor to Soon-Shiong, charged with creating a transition plan for The Times. He will now execute that plan. . . .”

Why Do News Outlets Still Run Raynard Jackson?

Raynard Jackson is a Republican operative who writes a column that is syndicated by the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the trade association of black-press publishers. He is not trained as a journalist. His errors make one wonder why news organizations that value their credibility would publish his work, especially when the integrity of the news media is under such attack.

Raynard Jackson

Jackson’s most recent column flays the White House Correspondents’ Association and the National Association of Black Journalists as it praises the relatively new Multicultural Media Correspondents Association, which last month included Jackson and businessman Herman Cain, a talk-show host and former Republican presidential candidate, among its awardees.

The group said it did so in the name of ideological diversity. Jackson was named “New Media Journalist of the Year.”

Jackson’s column was headlined, “The Multicultural Media Correspondents Association Is a Direct Response to the Whiteness of the White House Correspondents’ Association.”

He wrote:

“The WHCA is an exclusive group of mostly White, liberal journalists who pretend to be ‘objective’ journalists. In reality, the WHCA is an unofficial extension of the Democratic Party and the eyes and ears of liberal Hollywood on the East Coast.

“The WHCA is notoriously known to be the hosting organization that allowed Black comedian Larry Wilmore in 2016 to call the first Black president, [Barack] Obama ‘my n–ga’ while Obama was sitting on the dais. Wilmore and the WHCA called it a ‘term of endearment.’

“At the WHCA’s annual dinner in late April, fake comedienne Michelle Wolf made jokes making light of abortion and ridiculing White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ physical appearance.

“Since the founding of the WHCA in 1914, Black journalists have had little to no significant involvement in the organization or its leadership.

“Thus, the need to create the MMCA. . . .”

Jackson also wrote, “Herman Cain and I will never be recognized by MMCA’s counterpart, the WHCA. Why?

“The answer is very simple. The WHCA will never honor us, because we are Black, Republican, and conservative. So, we don’t fit the liberal media narrative. This, even though we both have a body of work that could easily justify receiving such recognition.”

He went on to ask, “Isn’t it amazing that the National Association of ‘Liberal’ Black Journalists (NABJ), has never, I mean never honored Dana White,” who “just happens to be ‘the Pentagon Chief Spokesperson for both the Department of Defense and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.’ ”

Let’s examine these statements.

We can all agree that the White House Correspondents’ Association is far too white.

Bob Ellison

But have black journalists had “little to no significant involvement in the organization or its leadership”?

Only if you don’t count the late Bob Ellison of Sheridan Broadcasting Network, who was president of the association in 1991; April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks, elected to the board in 2011; and Sonya Ross of the Associated Press, elected as wire representative in 1999 and who served until 2003. She was eventually named secretary.

Not enough, but not of “little to no” significance.

How about the statement that “The WHCA is notoriously known to be the hosting organization that allowed Black comedian Larry Wilmore in 2016 to call the first Black president, [Barack] Obama ‘my n–ga’ while Obama was sitting on the dais.”

“Allowed”?

Brittany Gilpin, a spokeswoman for Wilmore, told Journal-isms by email on Monday, “Larry did not share his speech with anyone for approval prior to delivering it.”

The current WHCA president, Margaret Talev, added by telephone, “We’re a First Amendment organization” and “We don’t screen the things” the comedians say. One has only to look at the uproar after Wolf’s performance at the most recent dinner in April, she said.

Talev also said the association has no idea about the personal politics of its members.

Another Jackson statement: “The WHCA will never honor us, because we are Black, Republican, and conservative. So, we don’t fit the liberal media narrative. This, even though we both have a body of work that could easily justify receiving such recognition.”

To that, Talev points out the association’s mission: “to promote excellence in journalism as well as journalism education, and to ensure robust news coverage of the president and the presidency. We support awards for some of the best political reporting of the past year, and scholarships for young reporters who carry our hopes for vibrant journalism in the years to come.. . . .”

Margaret Talev (Credit: George Tolbert IV)

Neither Jackson nor Cain engages in “robust news coverage of the president and the presidency.”

Jackson went on to lambaste NABJ — an association of journalists whose profession’s stated mission is to seek the truth and be a watchdog on government — for not honoring a government press secretary. That job often involves spinning information to put his or her employer in the best light, or, as in the case of the current White House, telling outright falsehoods.

Not even Bill Burton, the biracial deputy White House press secretary under President Obama, received an NABJ honor.

The lack of fealty to facts is not new. It extended to an April 30 column headlined, “Martin Luther King Jr. Wanted Equal Treatment for Blacks, not Special Treatment.”

Jackson wrote, “King didn’t want special treatment for Blacks; he simply wanted equal treatment. He didn’t want Blacks to become a protected class; he simply wanted America to enforce the Constitution. . . .”

Such a statement is easily fact-checked. As Jarvis DeBerry pointed out in 2014 for NOLA.com | the Times-Picayune, “In 1965 the writer Alex Haley interviewed King for an interview that ran in Playboy Magazine. Haley asks him about an employment program to help ‘20,000,000 Negroes.’ After expressing his approval for it, King estimates that such a program would cost $50 billion.

“Haley then asks: ‘Do you feel it’s fair to request a multibillion-dollar program of preferential treatment for the Negro, or for any other minority group?’

“King: ‘I do indeed. Can any fair-minded citizen deny that the Negro has been deprived? Few people reflect that for two centuries the Negro was enslaved, and robbed of any wages — potential accrued wealth which would have been the legacy of his descendants. All of America’s wealth today could not adequately compensate its Negroes for his centuries of exploitation and humiliation.

“It is an economic fact that a program such as I propose would certainly cost far less than any computation of two centuries of unpaid wages plus accumulated interest. In any case, I do not intend that this program of economic aid should apply only to the Negro; it should benefit the disadvantaged of all races. . . .”

NABJ President Responds to Jackson’s Accusation

Raynard Jackson, who identifies himself as “Founder and Chairman of Black Americans for a Better Future (BAFBF), a federally registered 527 Super PAC established to get more Blacks involved in the Republican Party,” mass emailed his column with a request, “Let me know if you agree with me on my assessment of the LIBERAL National Association of Black ‘Liberal’ Journalists (NABJ).”

Sarah Glover

Sarah Glover, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, provided this “quick” response to Jackson’s column at Journal-isms’ request.

Rodney Mahone says, “Yes, as an African-American man of the South, I know the darkness that is part of our story.” (Credit: McClatchy)

‘Child of the South’ Is Publisher of 4 News Outlets

Rodney Mahone, named in April to be president and publisher of the Charlotte Observer, the State in Columbia, S,C., the Herald in Rock Hill, S.C., and the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette in Hilton Head, S.C., has been introducing himself to readers as a child of the South.

“When I was introduced as the new president and publisher of The State and four other McClatchy Co. newspapers in South Carolina and North Carolina, some were wondering, ‘Who is this guy, and what might we expect?’ Mahone wrote in an op-ed piece published most recently on June 3 in the State.

“At the heart of the answer is this: I’m a child of the South, raised with the values of family, faith and service. I’m a man of the South, who has lived and raised his children in the goodness of this region. And, yes, as an African-American man of the South, I know the darkness that is part of our story.

“I’m also an Army brat, who moved every two years until eighth grade, learning new places, new cultures and new countries, making new friends, and seeking to become part of new communities over and over. . . .”

Mahone also wrote, “As a man of the South, I will seek to have our organizations reflect this rich and varied place. I hope we write the stories of our community’s triumphs and struggles. We will cover the goodness that is here, and shine a light on the not-so-good. We will cover all races and creeds. We will welcome newcomers, new industries, new views, while honoring our rich heritage and celebrating our past. . . .”

“Previously, Mahone led McClatchy’s Columbus Ledger-Enquirer and The (Macon) Telegraph in the role of Georgia regional president and publisher,” the McClatchy Co. said in its April announcement.

Charleston Paper Backs Apology for Slavery

The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., Saturday called for the city to approve an apology for its role in slavery.

“At this moment, with the country deeply divided on many fronts, an apology feels right,” the newspaper editorialized. “So does the timing. The proposal comes as the city remembers the nine black parishioners killed by a white supremacist at Emanuel AME Church, a horror that united the city and showed the world that modern Charleston is not the antebellum Charleston. And the annual Juneteenth celebration is Tuesday, when council is expected to consider the two-page document.”

Separately, Hannah Alani and Abigail Darlington wrote for the newspaper Monday, “The resolution does have tangible goals. It calls for the creation of an office of racial reconciliation, which would help uncover racial disparities in the community and serve people who feel they’re being discriminated against.

” ‘Until we can cut out the systemic parts of our institutions that contribute to discrimination, no matter how subtle they may be, we will never really become whole,’ said Councilman William Dudley Gregorie, also a black member of council and who proposed the resolution.

“Other goals in the doctrine include:

“Memorializing unmarked graves of African-Americans and enslaved Africans.

“Better public education.

“Policies that encourage businesses to strive for racial equality in health care, housing and wages. . . .”

1.2% of Google’s U.S. Workers Are Black Women

“Google released its annual workforce diversity report Thursday, marking only modest changes from last year,” Hamza Shaban reported Friday for the Washington Post. “The company remains mostly white and male. But the report offers a better view of what the workforce looks like as the company revealed its gender breakdown across ethnicities for the first time.

“Overall, Google’s global workforce is 69.1 percent male and 30.9 percent female, virtually unchanged from 2017.

“In its breakdown on race and ethnicity, which covers only U.S. employees, 2.5 percent of Googlers are black/African American, up from 2.4 percent in 2017. Figures for Latinx workers also showed a modest improvement. Google reported that 3.6 percent of its workforce is Latinx, compared with last year’s 3.5 percent. Asian representation at Google has increased modestly from 34.7 percent in 2017 to 36.3 percent.

“When looking at the gender by ethnicity breakdown, women are less represented in the company’s U.S. ranks when compared with men. Black women make up only 1.2 percent of the workforce, compared with 1.8 percent for black men. Women identified as Latinx make up 1.7 percent, compared with 3.6 percent for Latinx men; Asian women account for 12.5 percent of the U.S. workforce, compared with 25.7 percent for Asian men. White women make up 15.5 [percent] of the workforce, compared with 41.1 percent for white men. . . .”

How Eurocentric Should World History Courses Be?

“The American Historical Association this week urged the College Board to rethink its plan to effectively begin the Advanced Placement World History curriculum in the year 1450. In so doing it joined a contentious debate over what world history means and who gets included,” Colleen Flaherty reported Thursday for Inside Higher Ed.

“Specifically, critics of the board’s decision say that beginning the AP World History exam — and by extension AP World History courses — in 1450 instead of earlier erases various world cultures prior to their interactions with white Europeans. The board and its defenders argue that the content covered in the current exam is too much, however, as it [necessitates] teaching 10,000 years of world history in a single academic year.

“ ‘While recognizing the challenges of teaching the current course with its broad scope, the AHA believes that this particular revision is likely to reduce the teaching of precolonial histories at the high school level,’ Mary Beth Norton, association president and Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History at Cornell University, and James Grossman, the association’s executive director, said in an open letter to Trevor Packer, senior vice president of AP and instruction at the College Board.

“The change ‘risks creating a Western-centric perspective at a time when history as a discipline and world history as a field have sought to restore as many voices as possible to the historical record and the classroom,’ Norton and Grossman added, echoing the many critics of the board’s plan. . . .”

Short Takes

Mark Morales (Credit: Melanie Schuman)

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