Articles Feature

Impeaching a White Supremacist — Been Here Before

by richard02848

Andrew Johnson Escaped Ouster by One Vote

New Yorker Makes Young Black Woman TV Critic
State Acts on Stories About Locked-Up Kids
Newsweek Shifts Editor of Botched Trump Story
Promotion for Maribel Perez Wadsworth
Ramos Exiting as Indy Star Editor
Andale Gross to Head AP’s Race Team
Richardson Heads Newsroom in Springfield, Ill.
Group to Place 250 Journalists in Newsrooms
NAHJ’s ‘Palabra.’ Aims to Fill Reporting Void
N.Y. Times’ ‘1619 Project’ to Become Book Series

Support Journal-isms
Republicans who controlled Congress enacted the 14th Amendment granting blacks citizenship over the irate protests of President Andrew Johnson. The amendment was ratified in 1868. (uncredited)

Andrew Johnson Escaped Ouster by One Vote

​”When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Vice-President Andrew Johnson became ‘the Accidental President,’ it was a dangerous time in America,” reads the promotional material for Brenda Wineapple’s new book, “The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation.”

“Congress was divided over how the Union should be reunited: when and how the secessionist South should regain full status, whether former Confederates should be punished, and when and whether black men should be given the vote.  

“Devastated by war and resorting to violence, many white Southerners hoped to restore a pre–Civil War society, if without slavery, and the pugnacious Andrew Johnson seemed to share their goals. With the unchecked power of executive orders, Johnson ignored Congress, pardoned rebel leaders, promoted white supremacy, opposed civil rights, and called Reconstruction unnecessary. It fell to Congress to stop the American president who acted like a king.”

Sound familiar?

Manisha Sinha, author of “The Slave’s Cause: a History of Abolition,” wrote Friday for the New York Times Sunday Review, “Much more than impeachment connects the presidencies of Andrew Johnson and Donald Trump. . . . .

“But most significantly, both men made an undisguised championship of white supremacy — the lodestar of their presidencies — and played on the politics of racial division.

“For Johnson, it was his obdurate opposition to Reconstruction, the project to establish an interracial democracy in the United States after the destruction of slavery. He wanted to prevent, as he put it, the ‘Africanization’ of the country. Under the guise of strict constructionism, states’ rights and opposition to big government, previously deployed by Southern slaveholders to defend slavery, Johnson vetoed all federal laws intended to protect former slaves from racial terror and from the Black Codes passed in the old Confederate states.  

Impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson

“This reduced African-Americans to a state of semi-servitude. Johnson peddled the racist myth that Southern whites were victimized by black emancipation and citizenship, which became an article of faith among Lost Cause proponents in the postwar South.

“It is a myth that Mr. Trump seems to have fully bought into, given his defense of ‘beautiful’ Confederate statues and monuments. Like Johnson, he uses derogatory language for people of color and he has expressed his preference for Nordic immigrants. Mr. Trump’s handpicked man in charge of immigration policy, the brain behind the separation of families in immigration detention camps, is Stephen Miller, who has recently been publicly revealed to be a white nationalist. The abolitionist feminist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper called Johnson an ‘incarnation of meanness,” words that are still applicable today. . . .’ ”

Johnson escaped conviction by the Senate by one vote.

Doreen St. Félix , second from right, is flanked on a 2017 panel at Northwestern University by Rembert Browne, in cap, and Wesley Morris. At left is moderator Britt Julious. (Credit: Noah Frick-Alofs/Daily Northwestern)

New Yorker Makes Young Black Woman TV Critic

Three years ago, when she was 23, Doreen St Félix was named one of Forbes magazine’s young people transforming media. On Tuesday, she became the New Yorker’s television columnist, a rarity for a black woman at a mainstream publication.

“Doreen St. Félix, who has written brilliant essays on so many subjects since joining us, will be our new television critic, starting sometime next month,” editor David Remnick wrote. “(Troy Patterson will continue to write about television, style, and other subjects for newyorker.com..) In addition to writing the regular TV column for the magazine, Doreen will also write occasional essays on various cultural and political matters for newyorker.com as well as the occasional Profile.

“It’s cause for celebration all around.”

St. Félix will succeed Emily Nussbaum, who tweeted, “I’m gonna be on book leave for a year, starting in Jan—& when I get back, I’m stepping off criticism, to write profiles, essays, etc.”  

Earlier this year, St. Félix won an Ellie award in the columns and commentary category for three pieces. The awards are sponsored by the American Society of Magazine Editors in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and are administered by ASME

She won for including this one on the 2018 Ford-Kavanaugh hearings, and the Republican party’s politics of entitlement, the New Yorker said.

In 2015, Zeba Blay of the Huffington Post included St. Félix’s work among “the most important writing from people of color in 2015.”

That was the year she wrote “The Prosperity Gospel of Rihanna” for Pitchfork. “To be a black woman and genius, is to be perpetually owed,” St. Félix told readers.

In 2017, shortly after joining the New Yorker, St. Félix appeared on a panel at Northwestern University with fellow journalists Rembert Browne and Wesley Morris.

“As one of only two black women on her staff, St. Félix said editors have often asked her to write about issues that align with her identity,” Alexis White wrote then for the Daily Northwestern. “She said she is not always sure she has the appropriate opinion to represent that group.

“ ‘I really hate that because it creates this culture of censorship within myself where I am constantly doubting my assertions,’ she said at the event. ‘We work in these workplace environments that are not even to the norm of America. America is way more diverse than the newsrooms.’ ”

Earlier in the year, Columbia Journalism Review’s Pete Vernon asked Remnick about the new voices on his staff, including St. Félix. He agreed with her. “Look where we are,” Remnick said. “What world do we live in? [The magazine] should reflect the intelligences and experiences of the world.”

A seclusion room is shown Oct. 11 at Braun Educational Center in Oak Forest, Ill., which is operated by the Southwest Cook County Cooperative Association for Special Education. (Credit: Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)

State Acts on Stories About Locked-Up Kids

“The Illinois State Board of Education announced Wednesday that it will take emergency action to end the seclusion of children alone behind locked doors at schools, saying the practice has been ‘misused and overused to a shocking extent,’ ” Jennifer Smith Richards, Jodi S. Cohen, Lakeidra Chavis and Dan Petrella reported Nov. 21 for the Chicago Tribune.

“Responding to a Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois investigation published a day earlier, Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the isolation of children in the state ‘appalling’ and said he directed the education agency to make emergency rules for schools. He will then work with legislators to make the rules into law, he said. . . .”

Newsweek Shifts Editor of Botched Trump Story

“A Newsweek editor has been demoted following the publication of a story published on Thursday that initially said President Trump could spend Thanksgiving tweeting and playing golf, when he actually spent it in Afghanistan,” Lindsey Ellefson reported Monday for the Wrap.

“ ‘The editor was demoted’” a spokesperson for Newsweek told TheWrap on Monday morning.

The demotion follows the firing of political reporter Jessica Kwong (pictured) on Friday, after the Thanksgiving piece was mocked on Twitter by the president and his son, Donald Trump Jr.

Mike Brest reported Saturday for the Washington Examiner, “Kwong told the Washington Examiner that she was assigned to write a story on what Trump was doing on Thanksgiving. The next day, Kwong reached out to the editor on duty and relayed the president’s latest actions, after which the story was published. When the president’s trip to Afghanistan was announced, that editor then decided to assign another reporter to write a new story about it but neglected to update Kwong’s original piece in a timely manner.

“The story, which received backlash from both the president and Donald Trump Jr., was updated hours later with a new headline, a note at the bottom of the story, and the angle of the piece was changed to focus on the president’s trip. . . .”

Promotion for Maribel Perez Wadsworth

Maribel Perez Wadsworth, previously USA Today Network president, will serve as president of news of the newly merged Gannett Co. and New Media, owner of GateHouse Media, and continue to serve as USA Today publisher, the company announced after the merger was officially announced on Nov. 20.

New Yorker Makes Young Black Woman TV Critic

Three years ago, when she was 23, Doreen St. Felix was named one of Forbes magazine’s young people transforming media. On Tuesday, she became the New Yorker’s television columnist, a rarity for a black woman at a mainstream publication.

“Doreen St. Félix, who has written brilliant essays on so many subjects since joining us, will be our new television critic, starting sometime next month,” editor David Remnick reportedly wrote. “(Troy Patterson will continue to write about television, style, and other subjects for newyorker.com..) In addition to writing the regular TV column for the magazine, Doreen will also write occasional essays on various cultural and political matters for newyorker.com as well as the occasional Profile.

“It’s cause for celebration all around.”

St. Felix will succeed Emily Nussbaum, who tweeted, “I’m gonna be on book leave for a year, starting in Jan—& when I get back, I’m stepping off criticism, to write profiles, essays, etc.”  

Earlier this year, St. Felix won an Ellie award in the columns and commentary category for three pieces. The awards are sponsored by the American Society of Magazine Editors in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and are administered by ASME

She won for including this one on the 2018 Ford-Kavanaugh hearings, and the Republican party’s politics of entitlement, the New Yorker said.

In 2015, Zeba Blay of the Huffington Post included St. Felix’s work among “the most important writing from people of color in 2015.”

That was the year she wrote “The Prosperity Gospel of Rihanna” for Pitchfork. “To be a black woman and genius, is to be perpetually owed,” St. Felix told readers.

In 2017, shortly after joining the New Yorker, St. Felix appeared on a panel at Northwestern University with fellow journalists Rembert Browne and Wesley Morris.

“As one of only two black women on her staff, St. Félix said editors have often asked her to write about issues that align with her identity,” Alexis White wrote then for the Daily Northwestern. “She said she is not always sure she has the appropriate opinion to represent that group.

“ ‘I really hate that because it creates this culture of censorship within myself where I am constantly doubting my assertions,’ she said at the event. ‘We work in these workplace environments that are not even to the norm of America. America is way more diverse than the newsrooms.’ ”

Earlier in the year, Columbia Journalism Review’s Pete Vernon asked Remnick about the new voices on his staff, including St. Felix. He agreed with her. “Look where we are,” Remnick said. “What world do we live in? [The magazine] should reflect the intelligences and experiences of the world.”

​​Ramos Exiting as Indy Star Editor

“Ronnie Ramos, executive editor of The Indianapolis Star, who has overseen the newsroom’s transformation into a digital operation focused on subscription growth and new storytelling efforts, announced to his staff Monday he is stepping down,” the Star reported Monday.

“Ramos, who joined IndyStar in 2013 and has led the news operation since March 2018, said he is leaving to pursue new opportunities.

” ‘After almost six years at IndyStar, it is time for another challenge,’ Ramos said at a Monday morning staff meeting. ‘I love the 11 years I have spent in Indianapolis, and it will always be my second home.’

“Gannett Co. Inc., the parent company of IndyStar and USA TODAY, will conduct a national search for Ramos’ replacement, said Rick Green, Midwest regional editor for the USA TODAY Network and Ramos’ supervisor.

The story also said, ‘”Ramos, a Cuban-American, was the first minority to lead IndyStar’s news operation. He joined the organization as sports director before being promoted to managing director and then executive editor. He played a key role in building an award-winning sports department and also was charged with growing IndyStar’s digital audience.

“Before that, Ramos was the managing director of digital communications for Indianapolis-based NCAA, where he oversaw content strategies.

Ramos, 56, also has been senior editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, executive editor for The Times in Shreveport, La., and managing editor for The News-Press in Ft. Myers, Fla. . . .”

Andale Gross to Head AP’s Race Team

Andale Gross, a member of the Associated Press’ race and ethnicity team who covered the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014, after police shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, has been named the team’s new editor.

He succeeds Sonya Ross, the founding editor of the team who retired from AP at the end of June to run her own journalism initiative, Black Women Unmuted.

“Gross and the AP’s Race and Ethnicity team will be heavily engaged in coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, while also working with AP bureaus in Washington, D.C., across the country and around the world to deliver standout coverage of breaking news and enterprise on the topics of race and changing demographics,” the news cooperative announced on Monday.

He will continue to be based in Chicago, according to the internal announcement from Noreen Gillespie, deputy managing editor for U.S. News, and Josh Hoffner, news editor for national beats.

Separately, Pablo Martinez Monsivais, who joined the AP in 1998 as a photographer in Washington, has been named assistant chief of bureau for photography in Washington.

Richardson Heads Newsroom in Springfield, Ill.

Leisa Richardson, who took early retirement from the Indianapolis Star in January, returned to daily journalism Monday as executive editor of the State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill.

“Life alert: My brother Jeff recently told me I didn’t know how ‘to do retirement.’ He was right,” Richardson wrote on Facebook. “I’m back in the newsroom to lead a talented group of journalists at the State Journal-Register in Springfield, IL Day one is in the books and I’m beyond excited!”

Richardson worked for the Star in several editing roles over the past 19 years, most recently as regional planning director, responsible for planning daily enterprise news coverage, the State Journal-Register reported.

Before the Star, she worked at the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Commercial-News in Danville, Illinois. Long active in the National Association of Black Journalists, she is 2020 conference program chair. That conference is to be held in Washington July 8-12 with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.​

​​

Since 2004, one-fifth of all U.S. newspapers have been closed or merged. (Credit: University of North Carolina School of Media and Journalism)

Group to Place 250 Journalists in Newsrooms

“Report for America announced today that it will field 250 emerging journalists in 164 host news organizations to serve local communities across 46 states in the coming year,” the group said Monday.

“This is more than four times the size of the 2019 class, who have been reporting in some 50 local news organizations across 28 states and Puerto Rico. Today’s news marks the single biggest hiring announcement of journalists in recent memory — and comes as a direct response to the worsening crisis in local news across the country.

“The program announced the winning newsrooms today — full list here — and will select the corps members in a separate application process for journalists that also kicks off today.

“Report for America is a national service program that places talented, emerging journalists into local news organizations to report for one to two years on under-covered issues and communities. . . .”
​​

(Credit: National Association of Hispanic Journalists)

NAHJ’s ‘Palabra.’ Aims to Fill Reporting Void

“The National Association of Hispanic Journalists, frustrated by lackluster coverage of the Latinx community in mainstream outlets, is taking matters into its own hands,” Alexandria Neason reported Nov. 21 for Columbia Journalism Review.

“The thirty-five-year-old organization recently launched palabra., a news site that will do what it says other outlets have failed to: treat Latinx communities as mainstream and not niche, and offer job opportunities in an increasingly stratified media industry.

“ ‘It’s by journalists of color and for communities of color,’ says Ricardo Sandoval-Palos, the public editor at PBS and managing editor of the new outlet. ‘The goal is to be a platform for speaking to a community still on the fringes of mainstream news coverage.’

Neason also wrote, “palabra. will publish three digital ‘issues’ before transitioning to a daily website posting reported features, essays, and media criticism, all engaged with a single theme and written by NAHJ members. Its inaugural stories focus on what Sandoval-Palos calls ‘the state of Latino communities’ in the context of growing anti-Latinx sentiment across the country.

“Among those articles is a report by Dianne Solis on the twin realities of north Texas, an economically thriving region that is at the center of the nation’s immigration detention crisis that is ripping families apart. Romina Ruiz-Goiriena writes about how the national press mishandled coverage of the anti-Latinx mass shooting in El Paso in August. Sandoval-Palos interviews Hansi Lo Wang, national correspondent at NPR, on the importance of the 2020 census to Latinx communities.

“A documentary project by Kael Alford features images and stories about immigrants and refugees in north Texas that challenge the stereotypes and misunderstandings that too often creep into news coverage. Eventually, every story on palabra. will be available in both English and Spanish. There are also plans to launch a weekly podcast that will offer journalists of color a space to comment on the news; Latinx journalists are often left out of the weekend talk shows, says Sandoval-Palos. . . .”

N.Y. Times’ ‘1619 Project’ to Become Book Series

“Random House, a division of Penguin Random House, has acquired a multi-book series based on The New York Times Magazine’s acclaimed and groundbreaking special issue, ‘The 1619 Project,’ ” the Times announced Nov. 20. “One World Publisher Christopher Jackson acquired world rights from Alia Hanna Habib of the Gernert Company, who represented The New York Times. The core project will be a boldly expanded version of the special issue, including new and expanded essays, fiction, and poetry from a variety of noted contributors, and published by One World.

“Additionally, Random House Children’s Books will publish four 1619 Project books for young readers — one young adult, one middle-grade, and two picture books — under the Delacorte Press and Crown Books for Young Readers imprints. The Random House Clarkson Potter imprint will publish a special 1619 Project illustrated edition; while the Ten Speed Press imprint will publish the graphic novelization of the core project.

“The creative team at The New York Times editing the book series will be the same group behind the original initiative: award-winning New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones; Jake Silverstein, editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine; Ilena Silverman, the magazine’s features editor; and Caitlin Roper, the magazine’s special projects editor. . . .”

Short Takes

(More to come)

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