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Ebony Loses Suit Against The Root

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Satire Protected by First Amendment, Judge Rules

Now You Can Get Animated Over Mueller Report

Board Member Wants to Remove SPJ President

Black Voters Feel Talked At, Not Talked To

N.Y. Times Wants Reporters Off ‘Opinionated’ Shows

Univision Airs Faceoff Between Ramos, Maduro

Exposé on Colombia Makes Waves Despite Danger

Univision Opens Studio for Public to Take Selfies

In Uganda, Girls Are Sold for as Little as $14

Correction: Deans vs. Directors

Short Takes

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Lawrence Ross’ satirical cover of Ebony magazine

Satire Protected by First Amendment, Judge Rules

Ebony magazine, stung by a parody on TheRoot.com last year that targeted the magazine’s failure to pay writers, lost a lawsuit Monday that contended that the parody violated Ebony’s trademark.

“In sum, the substantial public interest in free expression far outweighs any risk of confusion created by the Accused Image,” U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York wrote in his decision.

Hellerstein also wrote, “Each of the five headlines on the Accused Image is harshly and unambiguously critical of EBONY Magazine —sarcastically purporting to preview (non-existent) stories about: the magazine being a ‘deadbeat,’ the magazine’s owners ‘show[ing] us how’ to cheat black writers, ‘100 Ways Ebony Doesn’t Pay Writers,’ the magazine’s owners as ‘Slow Pay Kings of Black Biz,’ and ‘Thousands in Back Pay’ owed by the magazine. It is difficult to imagine any reader experiencing confusion as to whether or not EBONY Magazine sponsored or endorsed a cover that portrays it in such a negative light. . . .”

Citing a registered trademark granted in 1946, Ebony Media Group also alleged trademark infringement as well as unfair competition.

It sued the Root’s then-owners, Univision Communications Inc., Fusion Media Group, LLC, and Gizmodo Media Group.

In April, Univision announced it was selling the Gizmodo Media Group, of which The Root was a part, to Great Hill Partners, a private equity company.

The Root piece, published Nov. 28, included a send-up of an Ebony magazine cover and featured Ebony owners Willard Jackson and Michael Gibson. It was headlined, “Dear Ebony Magazine: FU, Pay Your Writers!”

“See this satirical cover of Ebony?” Lawrence Ross wrote in the piece, which is still on the site. “I created it just for y’all. Download it. Put it on your Facebook, IG, and Twitter page. Include the following hashtags: #EbonyPower100 #EbonyGala #EbonyChallenge @EbonyMag #EbonyStillOwes. . . .”

At the time, Ebony was in fact in compliance with a court-ordered settlement schedule for 45 writers who joined a lawsuit filed by the National Writers Union. However, not all writers were part of the suit. The Root corrected its error, acknowledging that Ebony was up to date on its payment schedule.

“In total, we represented about 50 writers who collected about $100,000,” Larry Goldbetter, president of the union, said then.

Kevin N. Ainsworth, a lawyer who represented Ebony, did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

Ross messaged, “As for a comment, nothing really. Glad that it’s resolved.”

 


(Credit: YouTube)

Now You Can Get Animated Over Mueller Report

Haven’t actually read the Mueller Report? A team headed by Melvin Claxton, a former Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist now in the video-game, software and animation business, is producing segments of the 448-page document in easy-to-digest animated form.

“The free animations — developed as part of Epic 4D’s Reinvent Journalism Project — will be hosted on YouTube at ‘Mueller Report Animated,’ Claxton said Tuesday in a news release. “Seven of a planned 60 episodes have already been released, with new episodes out every Monday and Thursday.”

Melvin Claxton

“As local newspapers struggle across the country, we are looking at innovative ways to tell important stories and engage news consumers . . .,” Claxton continued. “Our primary goal is educating the public on the report’s findings in an easily understood and engaging way.”

Claxton told Journal-isms that his three-person team started work on the animations shortly after the redacted report was released in April.

He added in his statement, “We felt this project was important because shortly after the report’s release it was clear Attorney General William Barr misrepresented its findings. In addition, the public discussion on the document showed most people hadn’t read it. . . .”

As most everyone knows, “Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report — the result of his two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election — is at the center of a bitter political battle that has divided the nation. It has prompted calls for the impeachment of President Donald Trump.”

Among future projects, “The 5-year-old company plans to release its first animated film, a short feature on the Syrian war, early next year,” according to the release.

 

Board Member Wants to Remove SPJ President

On April 30, Alison Bethel McKenzie, who last year became the first African American executive director of the Society of Professional Journalists, resigned that position. It turns out that internal issues at the nation’s largest journalism association haven’t stopped there. Now the longest-serving SPJ board member is seeking to forcibly remove the board president, J. Alex Tarquinio.

Michael Koretzky posted the video of SPJ’s Saturday board meeting with these words:

“The nation’s largest journalism organization has a big problem.

“The Society of Professional Journalists is led by a crazy woman. Seriously, SPJ’s president is insane. She talks nonstop. She also interrupts and insults nonstop.

“How do I know this? I’m SPJ’s longest-serving national board member. Saturday afternoon, we held a virtual meeting that fireballed right away.

“Don’t believe me? Above, watch my supercut of crazy. And trust me, it gets crazier the longer you tune in. . . .”

Tarquinio messaged Journal-isms, “It is unfortunate that this board member chose to write such a misleading posting on his journoterrorist blog. This posting does not represent all of the tremendous accomplishments we have achieved this year while advocating for press freedom and for our members.

“In particular, I’ve made diversity a key goal of my term as president. I recruited a new chair and vice chair for our diversity committee and more diverse members for the national board, and worked closely with our previous executive director on this issue. I do hope that SPJ gets through this transition period with dignity and grace, and continues to emphasize press freedom advocacy and diversity.”

Black Voters Feel Talked At, Not Talked To

“Black voters are expected to play a crucial role in the upcoming 2020 election cycle,” P.R. Lockhart wrote May 29 for vox.com. “But a new survey of more than 30,000 black Americans [PDF] finds that a large number don’t believe politicians care about them or their needs — and that while political candidates certainly spend time talking at black voters, they aren’t putting the same effort into talking to them.

“The results come from the Black Census Project survey, which aims to map out what black life in America looks like by highlighting the nuances and distinctions among black Americans. Unlike other surveys of black voters, the Black Census Project focuses on black communities that are often left out of mainstream polling, including younger people, immigrants, LGBTQ people, and people who are currently or formerly incarcerated. . . . .”

Alicia Garza

Alicia Garza, a founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network and a principal of the Black Futures Lab, an advocacy organization that led the survey effort, said in a May 28 op-ed in the New York Times:

“[W]hat surprised us the most was how few candidates treat us as if our differences and experiences matter.

“Here is what we found:

“The most common response among people who were politically engaged was that no politician or pollster has ever asked them what their lives were like. Fifty-two percent of respondents said that politicians do not care about black people, and one in three said they care only a little.

“Yet this doesn’t stifle our participation in politics. Nearly three in four respondents said they voted in the 2016 presidential election, and 40 percent reported helping to register voters, giving people a ride to the polls, donating money to a candidate or handing out campaign materials. Six in 10 women surveyed reported being electorally engaged. These responses debunk the myth that black communities don’t show up to vote — we do and we bring other people with us.

“Black communities, particularly black women, will be instrumental in deciding the next president. Nearly 60 percent of respondents were women, and nearly half lived in the South.

“We want the things that everybody deserves. Ninety percent of respondents, for example, say that it is a major problem that their wages are too low to support a family, and that figure jumps to 97 percent among those who are electorally engaged. . . .”

Rachel Maddow

N.Y. Times Wants Reporters Off ‘Opinionated’ Shows

“The Times has come to ‘prefer,’ as sources put it, that its reporters steer clear of any cable-news shows that the masthead perceives as too partisan, and managers have lately been advising people not to go on what they see as highly opinionated programs,” Joe Pompeo reported Thursday for Vanity Fair.

“It’s not clear how many shows fall under that umbrella in the eyes of Times brass, but [in addition to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow’s] two others that definitely do are Lawrence O’Donnell’s and Don Lemon’s, according to people familiar with management’s thinking. [Sean] Hannity’s or Tucker Carlson’s shows would likewise make the cut, but it’s not like Times reporters ever do those anyway.

“I’m told that over the past couple of months, executive editor Dean Baquet has felt that opinionated cable-news show are getting, well, even more opinionated. Baquet and other managers have become increasingly concerned that if a Times reporter were to go on one of these shows, his or her appearance could be perceived as being aligned with that show’s political leanings. ‘He thinks it’s a real issue,’ one of my Times sources said. ‘Their view,’ said another, ‘is that, intentionally or not, it affiliates the Times reporter with a bias.’ . . . ”

Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy messaged Journal-isms Tuesday, “There is no prohibition. We are simply enforcing existing, longstanding guidelines from our ethical journalism handbook that apply to news reporters and editors, not to Opinion columnists.”

Pompeo replied in his piece, “these guidelines were crafted back in the mid-aughts, a media moment that seems downright quaint compared to today.”

Erik Wemple wrote in the Washington Post, “For the sake of cable news, New York Times, please reconsider! Every minute of airtime filled by an actual reporter, after all, means one less minute of airtime filled by a pundit who will offer ‘analysis’ like this on television: ‘The progressive far-left policies are in some ways fear-based. They rely on a fear about climate change and um, you know, anti-amnesty Republicans.’ Less of that, please. . . .”

Univision anchor Jorge Ramos’ interview with Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, left, lasted 17 minutes before Maduro walked out after accusing Ramos of provoking him. (Credit: Univision)

Univision Airs Faceoff Between Ramos, Maduro

“The tense, 17-minute interview with Nicolás Maduro conducted by journalist Jorge Ramos in February was kept censored by the Venezuelan government — until Thursday,” Maye Primera reported that day for Univision.

“Univision News was able to recover the February 25 interview in its entirety right up to the moment that Maduro cut it short and stormed off after he became upset by the line of questioning by Ramos. Venezuelan officials seized the interview, and Univision’s camera equipment, and deported Ramos and the team of journalists who accompanied him.

” ‘You come to provoke me. You’re going to choke on your provocation. You are going to choke on your provocation with Coca-Cola,’ Maduro told Ramos when the journalist handed him a list with the names of 400 of the 989 political prisoners that human rights groups have registered in Venezuela.

“That was only one of a half dozen threats and insults that Maduro launched against Ramos in response to his questions about the current humanitarian and political crisis in Venezuela, which has led to the exile of more than 3.5 million of its citizens as well as the emprisonment — and death — of hundreds more. . . .”

Exposé on Colombia Makes Waves Despite Danger

Nicholas Casey (Credit: Nicholas Casey)

A front-page New York Times story by Nicholas Casey reported May 18 that Colombia’s army commander-in-chief Gen. Nicacio Martínez had ordered his troops to double the number of criminals and militants captured or killed in military operations, even if that meant more civilian casualties.

The story prompted a spate of insults and threats against Casey and Federico Rios, a freelance photographer who often works for the Times in Colombia. They left Colombia on May 19 as a safety measure.

However, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported Friday, “Despite all the attacks questioning the NYT story’s accuracy, the Colombia government created an independent commission of enquiry into the army directives on 24 May, the attorney-general opened a preliminary investigation into Gen. Martínez on 28 May

“ ‘This case highlights how hard it is for the press to tackle public interest subjects that reflect badly on Colombia’s politicians and authorities,’ said Emmanuel Colombié, the head of RSF’s Latin America bureau. . . .”

The press freedom group also reported, “The affair has also made waves within the Colombian media, some of which already had the information revealed by the NYT. Well-known columnist Daniel Coronell wrote in his column for the newsweekly Semana on 26 May that the magazine had been in possession of this information since February but decided not to publish it. He was promptly fired without any proper explanation being offered although he had worked for Semana for 19 years.

” ‘The government tried to cover up this story without imagining that it might be revived by the New York Times,’ Coronell told RSF, deploring the fact that, ‘self-censorship is standard practice within many news organizations in Colombia. . . .’ ”

 

Viewers pay $25 for an hour in the 18 themed rooms at Univision Communications in Houston.

Univision Opens Studio for Public to Take Selfies

“KXLN-KFTH, Univision Communications’ pair in Houston, has opened a studio in its building that encourages viewers to visit, and share photos on social media from the experience,” Michael Malone reported Monday for Broadcasting & Cable.

“Viewers pay $25 for an hour in the 18 themed rooms, which include the Golden Room, Galaxy Room and one called Purple Haze. Visitors can also pose in front of a green screen.

“Univision calls the setup Upop. Taking up around 10,000 square feet on the fifth floor of the station building on Southwest Freeway in Houston, it opened May 25. There is a dressing room if visitors care to change their outfits for the various selfies. . . .”

 

Overall, more than 9,000 girls and young women are estimated to have been bought at regional markets in eastern Uganda since last year — for as little as 50,000 shillings ($14), according to Betty Atim, a member of Parliament. (Credt: ozy.com)

In Uganda, Girls Are Sold for as Little as $14

“When Christine Nambereke left Uganda for Oman last September, she hoped she was on her way to helping her husband and seven children fight crippling poverty,” Godfrey Olukya reported Thursday for ozy.com. “An agent had promised the 31-year-old a job as a housemaid with a monthly pay of 600,000 shillings ($168). But when she reached Muscat, she was sold as a slave. And when she returned to Uganda in early May, she was dead.

“Nambereke, from Bumbo village in eastern Uganda, is among 16 Ugandans who’ve died in the Middle East over just the past year, according to a parliamentary panel report from April this year. These women — all of whom died unnatural deaths after complaining of abuse — are just the most extreme examples of a growing epidemic of an increasingly open, modern slave trade that starts in Uganda’s eastern region and culminates in closed rooms in Gulf nations.

“Migrant workers from across Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia have for several years complained of abuse in the Middle East. But over the past year, eastern Uganda has emerged as the theater of a double-barreled racket. . . .”

Correction: Deans vs. Directors

The subheadline on the lead item for May 30, “Charles Whitaker Named Medill Dean,” originally read, “Just 2 White J-Schools Have Black Leaders.” However, Keonte Coleman, Ph.D., assistant professor at the School of Journalism and Strategic Media at Middle Tennessee State University, notes, “The information within the article is correct when you only focus on JMC [journalism and mass communication] schools which use the title of dean, but that focus leaves off Black JMC directors who also head JMC schools.”

Coleman mentioned Kathleen McElroy, director of the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin; Craig Freeman, director of the School of Media and Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University; and Timothy Edwards, who in 2017 was appointed interim director of the School of Mass Communication at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. That school has both an interim director and an interim dean.

Short Takes

 

CBS News took advantage of the New Orleans background of reporter Michelle Miller Monday when Miller, a former first lady of the city, delivered a remembrance of Leah Chase, who died Saturday at 96. Chase’s restaurant, Dooky Chase’s, served as a meeting place for civil rights workers and entertainers, and was visited by presidents. Miller met the “Queen of Creole” cuisine 25 years ago.

The diversity of the University of Nevada, Reno’s Reynolds School of Journalism helped win it an Equity & Diversity Award. (Credit: University of Nevada, Reno)
O. Ricardo Pimentel

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