Site icon journal-isms.com

L.A. Times Apologizes for Racist Past

richard

Sunday News Report Makes Attempt at Redress

Breonna ‘Could Have Been Me’:

‘Objectivity . . . Is So Whitewashed’
New Roles for Sims, Givhan, Wilson
Parks Was First Woman to Lie in Honor in Capitol
‘Race and Violence in Our Cities’ — Really?
White Share of Eligible Voters Is Dropping
More of Color Want News From Those Like Them
Nonprofit Newsrooms Lag on Inclusion
Diversity Program to Mentor H.S. Seniors
A Video Game on Plight of Journalists of Color
Exit Leaves Tenn. Station With No Black Anchors
Journalists’ Podcast Focuses on Social Justice

Short Takes

Support Journal-isms

Credit: Los Angeles Times (video)

Sunday News Report Makes Attempt at Redress

The Los Angeles Times Sunday apologized for the paper’s history of racism and gave space to the organization’s Black, Latino and Asian American staffers to report on that history and suggest what needs to be done.

“On behalf of this institution, we apologize for The Times’ history of racism,” an editorial said after recounting examples of the newspaper’s  racist practices and outlook since its 19th-century founding.

“We owe it to our readers to do better, and we vow to do so. A region as diverse and complex and fascinating as Southern California deserves a newspaper that reflects its communities. Today, 38% of the journalists on our staff are people of color. We know that is not nearly good enough, in a county that is 48% Latino and in a state where Latinos are the largest ethnic group. We know that this acknowledgment must be accompanied by a real commitment to change, a humility of spirit and an openness of mind and heart.”

The paper outlined its regrettable posture toward Japanese- and Chinese Americans, Mexican Americans and Blacks, citing “an insidious problem that has marred the work of the Los Angeles Times for much of its history: While the paper has done groundbreaking and important work highlighting the issues faced by communities of color, it has also often displayed at best a blind spot, at worst an outright hostility, for the city’s nonwhite population, one both rooted and reflected in a shortage of Indigenous, Black, Latino, Asian and other people of color in its newsroom.”

This story was cited as one that reinforced harmful stereotypes about Black and Latino Angelenos. It appeared on the front page on July 12, 1981. (Credit: Los Angeles Times)

The editorial continued, “The Times will redouble and refocus its efforts to become an inclusive and inspiring voice of California — a sentinel that employs investigative and accountability reporting to help protect our fragile democracy and chronicles the stories of the Golden State, including stories that historically were neglected by the mainstream press.

“Being careful stewards of this new company, privately owned but operated for the benefit of the public, is our first obligation. But that stewardship will also require bold and decisive change. If we are to survive as a business, it will be by tapping into a digital, multicultural, multigenerational audience in a way The Times has never fully done.”

The Times’ effort is part of the national racial reckoning that followed the Memorial Day shooting of George Floyd, an African American, by Minneapolis police, but much of it is unique to that newspaper. Executive Editor Norman Pearlstine and Publisher Patrick Soon-Shiong (pictured) pledged change and responded positively to demands from the newly formed Black and Latino caucuses.

A look at the credits in Sunday’s report shows how much the effort at inclusion has affected the once nearly all-white operation, at least for this project.

“Editing by Hector Becerra, Sewell Chan, Sue Horton, Steve Padilla and Alice Short. Photo editing by Kirk McKoy. Video by Carla Hall, Robert Meeks and Mark Potts. Copy editing by Richard Nelson and Jared Servantez. Art direction by Kelli Sullivan and Allison Hong. Digital design by Courtney Lewis. Fact checking by Mariah Kreutter. Additional help by Alexa Díaz, Louisa Frahm, Samantha Melbourneweaver and Lora Victorio. Illustration by Lincoln Agnew.”

Two of the Sunday pieces were by African Americans. Columnist Sandy Banks spent more than three decades at the Times, also working as a reporter, editor, editorial writer and internship director.  Her story was headlined, “Navigating the complexities of race in L.A. — and in The Times’ newsroom — as a young, Black reporter.”

Greg Braxton, who covers television for the Calendar section, wrote, “But as I look around me every day, the cultural climate of the newspaper is still troubling. I am the most senior African American journalist at The Times. But there are so few who look like me, and there is almost no one who can relate to my present and past experience. Listening to the current, impassioned testimonials and the depth of emotion from colleagues who are also disturbed about the lack of inclusion and coverage is an illustration of a dangerous cycle.”

Bottom row, from left: David Reyes, Virginia Escalante and Louis Sahagun. Top row, from left: George Ramos, Noel Greenwood, Frank Sotomayor, Frank del Olmo, Jose Galvez and Robert Montemayor at the 1984 Pulitzer Prize ceremony in New York. (Credit: Los Angeles Times)

Gustavo Arellano, a relatively recent addition who had been known outside of California chiefly for his “Ask a Mexican” column, was hopeful, even as he recounted the paper’s often reprehensible treatment of Mexican Americans.

“We as a news organization must acknowledge our dark past to move forward. You as readers need to know it, to see how much we’ve improved. I remember a meeting last year between Latino leaders and masthead editors. The former blasted The Times for not covering Latino issues enough; the latter had to gently let them know that the paper had, in fact, covered some of the very issues we were accused of ignoring. It was obvious those leaders hadn’t read us in a good while.

“And we in the Latino Caucus should study our employer’s anti-Latino history, not only to ensure we never allow a repeat of those embarrassments but also to learn about how the pioneers before us pushed the paper to change.”


Under the headline, “How do you cover a group as diverse as Asian Americans in Southern California?” Teresa Watanabe (pictured) recalled that it was only in 1979 that the newspaper hired Edwin Chen, the first Asian American reporter to join the paper’s Metro staff. “Chen, hired as a science writer in 1979, remembers being met by an editor on his first visit to the Metro newsroom with the greeting, ‘It’s Charlie Chan!’ He was stunned, he says, and kept walking amid chuckles from his new colleagues.”

“How to do better? One idea is for reporters across the paper — Asian American or not — who know and love certain communities to keep an eye on them,” Watanabe wrote. “While I cover higher education, I also do stories about Japanese Americans and Little Tokyo every now and then, because I know what’s happening in my community and people reach out to me with story ideas. Editors should give all reporters with a similar desire the time to break from their beats for the occasional cultural story.

Referring to Craig Matsuda, a longtime Times employee who left in 2008, Watanabe continued, “More broadly, however, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders should be part of the warp and woof, as Matsuda says, of our overall coverage. The question isn’t really how to cover Asian Americans; it is how to cover Los Angeles, because we, along with other racial and ethnic communities are Los Angeles.

“The Times needs to invest in equipping all staff members with the cultural IQ and linguistic skills to understand our diverse communities. We live in one of the most diverse spots on the planet — both ethnically and religiously. Today, more than ever, our coverage needs to reflect that.”

Breonna ‘Could Have Been Me’

Support Journal-isms

‘Objectivity . . . Is So Whitewashed’

“Malika Andrews has emerged as one of ESPN’s top young talents during her reporting stint in the NBA bubble and her ceiling is as high as anyone’s,” Kyle Koster reported Thursday for the Big Lead. “She struck a different tone than usual late last night during an appearance with Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter.

​”Asked how the deafening indifference of the Breonna Taylor grand jury fell on players who have made the frustrating difficult project of convincing people that black lives matter a top priority over the past few months, Andrews shared the hurt and lack of surprise permeating the bubble.

“Then, she turned personal.

” ‘I’m sorry that I’m getting choked up here because this is about the players and their response,’ she said. ‘We’ve talked before, Scott, about how my job here is to objectively cover the truth and to share what these players are going through. Today what they’re going through is that they’re hurting.

“I have prided myself in being able to be objective and cover these sorts of issues. But when it is so clear that the system of objectivity in journalism is so whitewashed and doesn’t account for the fact that when I am walking up the hill my wonderful producer Melinda reminds me that Breonna Taylor was 26 and I am 25 and that could have been me, it is very hard to continue to go to work.’

“Van Pelt was immediately supportive, encouraging Andrews to reach out to him and the larger ESPN family if she needed anything. . . .”

It was the latest example of the toll that reporting on injustice befalling other Black people can have on Black journalists.

As Jon Allsop reported for Columbia Journalism Review, on Wednesday, Daniel Cameron, Kentucky’s attorney general, called the police killing of Taylor, an emergency medical technician, in her home a “tragedy.” Then Cameron “revealed that none of the officers involved would face criminal charges for it. A grand jury in Taylor’s case did indict one of the officers, Brett Hankison, on three charges of ‘wanton endangerment’ — related not to Taylor, but to Hankison spraying bullets into a neighboring apartment. (None of the occupants of that apartment were harmed; a federal investigation into Taylor’s killing has yet to be concluded.) . . . .

​”On the streets of Louisville and other cities, where protesters have massed every day for months to demand justice for Taylor, the announcement triggered a fresh outpouring of shock, sorrow, and anger. Initial coverage on MSNBC, in particular, channeled similar emotions — Joy Reid called the decision a ‘Black Lives Don’t Matter ruling’ — and chyrons and headlines accurately communicated, sometimes in pained terms, that no officers had been charged. The coverage wasn’t uniform, though. .  . .

“Even before any protests got going — before Cameron’s announcement, in fact — coverage fed ominous warnings: downtown Louisville was being boarded up; the mayor had declared a ‘state of emergency’; a curfew would be enforced. These were all statements of fact — but they also adopted the narrative framing devices of law enforcement. Militaristic police tactics have become so commonplace in America that, too often, we fail to note how inappropriate they are.

“As the hours went on, I saw much less reporting — and received no push alerts — about the incidents of police aggression: officers in Louisville threatening to deploy tear gas; cops in Minneapolis and Atlanta actually deploying tear gas; an officer in Seattle rolling his bike over the head of a protester lying on the ground. In Denver, Buffalo, and, last night, LA, members of the public drove their vehicles into the crowds. . . .”

​
New Roles for Sims, Givhan, Wilson

New roles were announced last week for veteran journalists Calvin Sims, Robin Givhan and Lisa Wilson.

“CNN announced today that Calvin Sims (pictured) will join the network as executive vice president of Standards and Practices, reporting to Jeff Zucker, Chairman, WarnerMedia News and Sports,” the network said on Tuesday.

​”He will begin his new role on September 30th.  Sims is an accomplished media executive, with more than 30 years of experience in news, foreign affairs and philanthropy, serving in senior roles at International House, The New York Times, Discovery Times Channel, Ford Foundation and Council on Foreign Relations.

“Sims succeeds CNN’s S&P chief Rick Davis, who has announced he will retire in January 2021. They will work alongside each other in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition upon Davis’ exit at the end of January. . . .”

Wilson (pictured), managing editor of The Athletic’s NFL vertical and this year’s president of the Associated Press Sports Editors, was named editorial director of the subscription-only sports news service. “Lisa will play a key role on the company’s editorial leadership team and will be responsible for overseeing many facets of the company’s editorial operations, developing and iterating on overall content strategy, and partnering on various HQ departments on new growth and product initiatives,” the company announced Wednesday.

“Lisa started her career with The Athletic two years ago, joining as Managing Editor of the NFL Vertical. She was previously Senior Editor, Sports at The Undefeated and spent nearly twenty years at The Buffalo News, most recently as Executive Sports Editor. . . .”

Givhan (pictured) “has been promoted to senior critic-at-large and will write about a broad range of subjects, including politics, race, business and the arts,” The Washington Post said Wednesday in an emailed announcement. “In the coming weeks, Robin will begin writing a weekly column that will be featured in the A-section of The Post’s print edition.

“Robin is one of the world’s most recognized critics in the realm of fashion, which she has viewed as a business, as a cultural institution and as pure pleasure.

“She will report to Krissah Thompson, who was recently named The Post’s Managing Editor for Diversity and Inclusion.” Thompson’s statement is here.

Givhan has since written two pieces as critic-at-large, “Miss Breonna Taylor” and “Notorious ACB? No and no. Trump’s nominee is no RBG.”

In 2005, thousands waited for five to six hours between the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall to view Rosa Parks’ casket. (Credit: Architect of the Capitol)

Parks Was First Woman to Lie in Honor in Capitol

The phrase was repeated in newspaper headlines, by network anchors and reporters in various media so often that it became a mantra: Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol — and isn’t it remarkable that it took this long?

But the body of civil rights icon Rosa Parks rested in the Capitol Rotunda as well, from Oct. 30 to Oct 31, 2005. The distinction between the appreciations accorded the two women is largely a question of semantics and title. Parks rested “in honor.”

According to the Architect of the Capitol, “The Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol has been considered the most suitable place for the nation to pay final tribute to its most eminent citizens by having their remains lay in state (in the case of government officials and military officers) or in honor (in the case of private citizens).”

Parks (pictured)) was one of four private citizens given the honor. The others were Capitol Police officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson and evangelist Billy Graham. As with Ginsberg, networks carried services for Parks live. Morgan State University’s choir sang, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” as Parks’ body was brought into the Rotunda.

Thousands waited for five to six hours between the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall to view the casket.

Ken Thomas reported at the time for the Associated Press, “In most cases, only presidents, members of Congress and military commanders have been permitted to lie in the Rotunda.

“Parks would be the first woman and second black American to receive the accolade. Jacob J. Chestnut, one of two Capitol police officers fatally shot in 1998, was the first black American to lie in honor, said Senate historian Richard Baker.”

Stories about Justice Ginsburg (pictured), who died at 87 on Sept. 18, often compared her contribution to social justice with that of Justice Thurgood Marshall, who died in 1993.

One prescient piece, by Dr. Adam Feldman on Aug. 10 on the blog empiricalscotus.com, was headlined, “RBG’s Departure Might Look A Lot Like Thurgood Marshall’s.”

As with the highly contested replacement of the liberal Marshall with the conservative Clarence Thomas, President Trump Saturday nominated conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to Ginsburg’s seat.

The Washington Post produced an “in-depth look at how Donald Trump and Joe Biden have approached criminal justice and race issues throughout their public lives.” (video) (Credit: JM Rieger/Washington Post)

‘Race and Violence in Our Cities’ — Really?

“The topics for the first presidential debate focus on issues that have dominated the news throughout 2020 — the economy, the coronavirus pandemic and the records of the two leading contenders,” Paul Farhi and Elahe Izadi reported Wednesday for the Washington Post.

“But the framing of one of the debate topics has set off alarms and objections.

“ ‘Race and Violence in Our Cities’ — the title of one of the segments announced by moderator Chris Wallace (pictured) of Fox News on Tuesday — seems to echo President Trump’s contentious characterization of the protests that have swept American cities this summer and gives a false sense of the issue, critics say.

“Instead of alluding to the concerns about racial justice and police brutality that inspired the protests, liberal commentators and advocacy groups complained the phrasing suggests Trump’s framing of Black Lives Matter as an inherently violent movement. . . .”

Wallace has not responded to questions about the debate, which takes place on Tuesday.

White Share of Eligible Voters Is Dropping

“In all 50 states, the share of non-Hispanic White eligible voters declined between 2000 and 2018, with 10 states experiencing double-digit drops in the share of White eligible voters,” Ruth Igielnik and Abby Budiman reported Wednesday for the Pew Research Center.

“During that same period, Hispanic voters have come to make up increasingly larger shares of the electorate in every state. These gains are particularly large in the Southwestern U.S., where states like Nevada, California and Texas have seen rapid growth in the Hispanic share of the electorate over an 18-year period. . . .

“These trends are also particularly notable in battleground states –- such as Florida and Arizona –- that are likely to be crucial in deciding the 2020 election. . . . In Florida, two-in-ten eligible voters in 2018 were Hispanic, nearly double the share in 2000. And in the emerging battleground state of Arizona, Hispanic adults made up about one-quarter (24%) of all eligible voters in 2018, up 8 percentage points since 2000. . . .”

More of Color Want News From Those Like Them

. . . Separately, Jeffrey Gottfried, Mason Walker and Amy Mitchell reported for Pew Aug. 31, “When asked whether six different aspects of personal connections between news organizations and their audiences are important in deciding where to get their news from, Black Americans are more likely than White Americans to say each is at least somewhat important.

“But two factors related to representation stand out: Nearly seven-in-ten Black adults (68%) say it is at least somewhat important that their news outlets cover people like them, 27 percentage points higher than White adults (41%) and 14 points above Hispanic adults (54%). And nearly four-in-ten Black Americans (38%), along with a third of Hispanic Americans (33%), think it is important for the journalists themselves at a news outlet to look or sound like them, compared with just 13% of White Americans who say the same.”

Nonprofit Newsrooms Lag on Inclusion

“The ranks of nonprofit newsrooms are growing as more founders choose community-supported models over dependence on advertising,” Sarah Scire wrote Tuesday for Nieman Lab. “But are nonprofit newsrooms reflecting the people they want to serve?

Referring to the Institute for Nonprofit News, Scire continued, “The INN Index surveyed 117 nonprofit news organizations — roughly half of the Institute for Nonprofit News’ membership — on the diversity of their staffs in 2019 and asked related questions about hiring practices and inclusion efforts. The report represents the broadest sampling of diversity, equity, and inclusion data in the sector to date. . . .”

“The timing is worth noting. Newsrooms responded in February and March 2020, a few months before protests over racial injustice and police brutality put internal discussions over diversity in coverage and representation in the spotlight at major outlets across the country. (Relatedly, newsrooms reported that ‘the most forceful advocacy for improving diversity comes from within their organization rather than from outside sources,’ according to INN.)

“Back in 2016, INN found only eight member organizations either led by people of color or serving communities of color out of more than 100 members. Three years later, with more than 285 members, INN found that ‘about 60’ are led by people of color and 30 are dedicated to covering underrepresented communities.  

“Despite that upward trend, INN found the majority of respondents said their staff does not reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. . . .”

“The program will offer regular training workshops to prepare high school seniors for a media career, and also give them academic advising support to get them on the college path, and navigate toward getting a college degree.” (Credit: Fresno State Institute for Media and Public Trust)

Diversity Program to Mentor H.S. Seniors

“We believe that America’s newsrooms should reflect the diversity of the communities that they cover. Unfortunately, that’s mostly not the case, and we at the Institute for Media and Public Trust are working with partner organizations to launch a program that will mentor young journalists of color,” Jim Boren, executive director of the Fresno State Institute for Media and Public Trust, wrote Thursday. Boren is former executive editor of The Fresno Bee.

“The goal is to increase the diversity in San Joaquin Valley newsrooms. We are particularly concerned with the under-representation of Black journalists in news media today, and it is time that this diversity challenge be rectified.

“Our program will offer a five-year paid pathway to a journalism degree, and ultimately employment at local media outlets. Each year, we will add a new class of students of color, building an ongoing pipeline of multi-media journalists to our region.

“We are working with the journalism programs at Fresno City College and Fresno State, and we are partnering with The kNOw Youth Media, which since 2006 has been helping young journalists with media training so they can tell stories about the communities they live in.

“Applications soon will be available for the program, and the first cohort of eight students will be chosen in October. Applicants must be high school seniors, and the goal is for them to stay with the program through college graduation. They will be paid $300 per month for nine months each academic year.”

Screen shot of “Off the Record”

A Video Game on Plight of Journalists of Color

“Some video games invite us into fantastical worlds, where the villains breathe fire, cast mythical spells, or take to the skies in winged flight,” Adrienne Westenfeld wrote Friday for Esquire. “Other video games, like Off the Record, invite us to reconsider our own run-of-the-mill reality, where the villains are far more insidious — and can’t be neatly cut down by a mythical sword.

“In this incisive, choose-your-own-adventure game, your character is Z. Khan, the Identities Reporter at a buzzy digital publication called CLIX. After three years in the digital media trenches, you’re up for a promotion to managing editor — but before the powers that be can make you a formal offer, you’re heading off to a journalism conference, where you’ve been asked to sit on a diversity panel.

“Your time at the conference illuminates the daily minefields that journalists of color must navigate on the job, from microaggressions in the newsroom to inappropriate comments from colleagues. In Z. Khan’s shoes, you’ll be told by your boss to be more ‘realistic’ about diversity initiatives, lectured by a colleague on how tiresome they find political correctness, and racially profiled at the door of the conference, among other brutal hurdles. . . .”

The game’s creator is Farah Mohammed (pictured, above), an editor at Narratively and a freelance writer; “she left full-time employment in journalism to pursue a Masters of Mental Health at the University of Edinburgh, owing in part, she says, to the constant trauma she witnessed in the field of journalism. . . .”

Exit Leaves Tenn. Station With No Black Anchors

“Tom Randles (pictured) is out at News4, leaving WSMV with no anchors of color,” Brad Schmitt reported for the Tennessean in Nashville on Sept. 14, updated Sept. 18.

“Randles and station management said they couldn’t come to an agreement for a new contract, and his old contract expired Monday.

” ‘My contract expired hours ago without reaching another signed agreement,’ Randles posted on his Facebook page around 10 a.m. Monday. ‘So this is a bittersweet time.’

“Nearly 200 people commented on the Facebook page . . .

“In a text message exchange Monday night, Channel 4 news director Mitch Jacob said finding an anchor of color will be a priority for the station.”

From left, Maria Schiavocampo, Wesley Lowery, Keith Reed

Journalists’ Podcast Focuses on Social Justice

“Four-time Emmy Award winning journalist Mara Schiavocampo, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Wesley Lowery, and former magazine editor and sportswriter Keith Reed have announced the launch of a news and social justice podcast entitled Run Tell This,” the producers said in a news release Wednesday.

“The weekly podcast combines unimpeachable journalistic integrity with the life experience of being young and Black in America while providing a fresh and unvarnished analysis of the most important news and culture stories of the day.

“ ‘The news often feels like an overwhelming firehouse of information,’ says Wesley Lowery. ‘I’m looking forward to getting together once a week with smart friends to talk through the headlines and make sense of the chaos.’

“Run Tell This will also welcome guests from the worlds of journalism, politics, sports, entertainment, and law. The premier episode takes an in-depth look at Louisville, Kentucky bracing for a grand jury decision about the cops who killed Breonna Taylor. The first guest is veteran journalist and media strategist Goldie Taylor and upcoming guests include Soledad O’Brien among others.”

Short Takes

Google celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month, which began Sept. 15. Google also called it Latin American History Month.
Vogue’s credits: ” Taffeta dress by Moschino Couture. Sylva & Cie earrings. Rings and bracelets by Chopard and Tiffany & Co. (worn throughout). Fashion Editor: Carlos Nazario. Hair, Shelby Swain; makeup, Alexx Mayo.Photographed by Hype Williams, Vogue, October 2020.”
Frederick Douglass is remembered in Waterford, Ireland.


Support Journal-isms

To subscribe at no cost, please send an email to journal-isms-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and say who you are.

Facebook users: “Like” “Richard Prince’s Journal-isms” on Facebook.

Follow Richard Prince on Twitter @princeeditor

Richard Prince’s Journal-isms originates from Washington. It began in print before most of us knew what the internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a “column.” Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity. Send tips, comments and concerns to Richard Prince at journal-isms-owner@yahoogroups.com

About Richard Prince

View previous columns (after Feb. 13, 2016).

.  

Exit mobile version