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N.Y. Times Picks Diverse No. 2 Team

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"A team is being assembled to focus on a variety of gender issues, including those of particular importance to women," New York TImes Public Editor Liz Spayd writes. "Meanwhile several top editors described active efforts to both hire more female editors and include women more in coverage." (Credit: Angel Franco/New York Times)

Marc Lacey, Carolyn Ryan Named to M.E. Posts

Omarosa Manigault Newman in the News Again
Black News Channel to Get $1.6 Million Infusion
Patrick Gomez to Lead Entertainment Weekly
Gray TV Readies Training Center in Miss.

Short Takes: “Origins of Hip Hop”; CNN employee’s kidney donation to CNN vet; next Dow Jones News Fund class; Washington Post’s Carla Broyles.

Homepage photo: New York Times interior: The heart is the main newsroom, on the second, third and fourth floors, topped by a skylight and linked by stairways, with a wraparound balcony on the highest level. (Credit: Fred R. Conrad/New York Times, 2007)

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Marc Lacey and Carolyn Ryan will help advance “major priorities like independence and trust, digital excellence and cultural transformation.” (Credit: Celeste Sloman for The New York Times)

Marc Lacey, Carolyn Ryan Named to M.E. Posts

Marc Lacey and Carolyn Ryan, two veteran New York Times journalists, are to serve as managing editors under incoming executive editor Joseph F. Kahn, Michael M. Grynbaum reported Wednesday for the Times.

Grynbaum also wrote, “Ms. Ryan will be the first openly gay journalist to serve as managing editor of The Times. Mr. Lacey is the third Black journalist to serve in the role, after Gerald Boyd and Dean Baquet, the current executive editor.”

The appointments are effective June 14.

“ ‘Both will share with me responsibility for overseeing the breadth of our coverage and news operation,’ Mr. Kahn wrote” in a memo, “as well as ‘advancing major priorities like independence and trust, digital excellence and cultural transformation.’

“Mr. Lacey, 56, is an assistant managing editor who previously oversaw The Times’s national coverage; before that, he was a Times correspondent in Mexico City; Nairobi, Kenya; Phoenix; and Washington.

“Ms. Ryan, 57, is a deputy managing editor who most recently led recruiting for The Times, overseeing the hiring of more than 400 journalists, and she helped lead its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Before that, she was the paper’s political editor, Washington bureau chief and metropolitan editor. . . .”

Moderator Ed Gordon spars with Omarosa Manigault Newman at a National Association of Black Journalists panel in New Orleans in 2017. (Credit: YouTube)

Omarosa Manigault Newman in the News Again

Now, journalists get to write again about Omarosa Manigault Newman, who has been largely missing from the news during the Biden presidency.

“A court arbitrator has ordered former President Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign to pay nearly $1.3 million in legal fees to Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former ‘Apprentice’ star, White House aide and author of the first tell-all book about the Trump White House,” Maggie Haberman wrote Wednesday for The New York Times.

“The award, handed down on Tuesday, concludes a protracted legal fight after Mr. Trump unsuccessfully sued Ms. Manigault Newman over her book, ‘Unhinged,’ arguing that she had violated a nondisclosure agreement she had signed while working for his campaign in 2016.”

After Manigault Newman won an effort over the same issue last year, the onetime Trump aide said with satisfaction, “Donald has used this type of vexatious litigation to intimidate, harass and bully for years. Finally the bully has met his match!”

Trump called her a dog. Manigault Newman found herself treated similarly to other Black women, particularly those in the White House press corps.

But she won little sympathy. She and Washington correspondent April Ryan feuded, and Manigault Newman made the wrong kind of news when, as Sam Sanders wrote then for NPR, “A panel at the 2017 National Association of Black Journalists conference in New Orleans featuring White House aide Omarosa Manigault quickly went south after Manigault refused to answer questions about the administration in which she serves.” The panel was on a different subject, police brutality.

The next year, after Manigault Newman was derided by Trump, the shabby treatment didn’t improve her standing much with other Black women, journalists included.

“The challenge to Omarosa is, how you can now, after the fact, run on television and say, ‘Oh, I misjudged him’? No. You knew him for 15 years,” commentator Julianne Malveaux said in 2018. “I will not allow her to be called a dog. But I also will not allow us to give her a pass.

“The challenge is [Trump’s] colleagues are so excited about the spoils, that they don’t understand the extent to which the game has basically eroded all of our dignity,” Malveaux said, wrote the late Askia Muhammad. “In other words, Republicans are getting the Supreme Court. That’s what they wanted. That’s what they’re happy about. But at what cost?”

Black News Channel to Get $1.6 Million Infusion

“Black News Channel has won a federal judge’s permission to borrow desperately needed funds from its owner so the troubled media outlet can keep operating while it searches for a buyer,” Jeremy Hill reported Tuesday for Bloomberg.

“U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen Specie said in a hearing Tuesday she’d let the television network borrow about $1.6 million from an entity affiliated with Shahid Khan (pictured), the billionaire who has been financing BNC since 2018. The cash will let BNC keep paying vendors and its few remaining employees while it tries to quickly line up a buyer for the operations.

” BNC, a television outlet catering to people of color, was on the precipice of shutting down entirely and selling itself in pieces late last month after running desperately low on funds. The outfit shrank its operations and fired almost all of its employees, many of whom still haven’t been paid for work done just before the bankruptcy, court papers show.

“Instead of liquidating, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has since worked to keep operating on a much smaller scale. . . .” (Photo credit: Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports)

Patrick Gomez to Lead Entertainment Weekly

“A year after becoming Entertainment Weekly’s first female editor-in-chief, Mary Margaret is stepping down from the role. She’ll be replaced by EW executive editor Patrick Gomez (pictured), who has been named to the position of General Manager, a representative for EW’s parent company, Dotdash Meredith, confirmed to TheWrap,” Sharon Knolle reported Tuesday for The Wrap.

Gomez, who identifies as Latino and gay, “succeeds Mary Margaret, who has made the decision to step away from EW to relocate to Austin, Texas with her family. She will remain in her role until June 1,” the spokesperson said.

“Gomez has been in charge of TV and music coverage for the past year. He previously worked for 10 years at EW’s sister publication, People, and served as editor-in-chief of The AV Club. . . .”

“Patrick is absolutely the right person at the right time to lead one of our most iconic entertainment brands,” said Leah Wyar, president of Dotdash Meredith’s entertainment group. “His strong digital know-how, deep knowledge of entertainment and celebrity news, and pop culture prowess make him the perfect person to lead this next chapter of digital growth.”

Gomez says on his LinkedIn profile, “After cutting my teeth at People magazine and a stint running The A.V. Club, I’ve been lucky to find a position at Entertainment Weekly that puts all my skills to use — balancing the artistry of producing unique and engaging content that also grows an audience across platforms. I’m one of those odd people who is equally excited about booking, editing, and guiding the creative behind a cover story with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars as I am pouring over analytics. Leading a team of entertainment enthusiasts who are just as passionate as I am about the award-worthy highbrow and delicious lowbrow is the greatest professional honor.”

In 2018, Gomez became one of three hosts of “Glitterbomb,” described by Hispanic Network magazine as the first LGBTQ Latinx talk show. The platform was LATV, called “the original national, bicultural television network.”

“Their queer Latino perspective — drizzled with wit, humor and first-hand insight into A-lister life — gives ‘Glitterbomb’ a festive and unique flavor that everyone can enjoy,” the announcement said. “Combining their experience in acting, radio and journalism, there’s no subject too hot to handle and no scandal too spicy to dig into.”

The bio also says Gomez was a National Hispanic Scholar, student government president and a member of the National Honors Society while at Bellaire High School, which is in the Houston Independent School District in Texas.

Asked to elaborate on Lopez’s family background, a Dotdash Meredith publishing family spokeswoman messaged, “Patrick Gomez is 1/64th of European descent (his maternal grandmother’s grandfather).

“Aside from that he is entirely of Mexican and Native American descent. On his maternal grandfather’s side he is mostly Native American and longtime Texan; all three of his other grandparents were first generation or immigrants themselves — all from the Nuevo Leon region.”

WLBT effort “will prepare students for today’s unique operating environment, while simultaneously improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in media.”

Gray TV Readies Training Center in Miss.

In a landmark case in broadcast and civil rights history, the Federal Communications Commission revoked the station’s license of WLBT-TV in Jackson, Miss., in 1969 “because its then-licensee failed to serve the public interest, and specifically failed to serve the Black community in the Jackson area,” as the station recalled in a February announcement of its latest project.

“It was the same station that civil rights leader Medgar Wiley Evers began petitioning in 1957‎ for an opportunity to speak on behalf of the black community,” broadcast veteran Randall Pinkston, who once worked there, has written. “He was finally permitted time on WLBT in 1963. One month later, Evers was assassinated. Many believe that his appearance on WLBT made him a target.”

Today, the station’s current owners, Gray Television, plan a training center to prepare students for broadcast careers, specifically targeting students at Mississippi’s historically Black colleges and universities.

Michael A. White, Jr. (pictured) has been named director of operations for the Gray/WLBT Media Training Center, launching later this year, the station announced Thursday. “The Training Center program will be housed at WLBT, and will prepare students for today’s unique operating environment, while simultaneously improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in media.

“The Center will educate and train students who attend Mississippi colleges and universities, with a focus on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the state, namely Jackson State, Alcorn State, Mississippi Valley State, Rust College and Tougaloo College. White, as the program’s Director of Operations, will lead the charge in developing the program at WLBT.”

The station explained, “White started at WLBT as an intern before being hired as a Studio Operator. From there, White moved into the newsroom as an Associate Producer, advanced to News Producer, and was then promoted to Morning Executive Producer, serving as an executive producer since 2020.

“Over the past two years, Michael has taken the lead on our news internship initiative, creating one of the most successful programs in station history. Because of his involvement with the internship program, Michael is already working with many of the schools that will participate in the Training Center project,” said WLBT Vice President and General Manager, Ted Fortenberry. “Those established relationships will help us ramp up quickly, which is important since we are targeting September as the start date for the inaugural class.”

Gray describes itself as “a leading media company that owns and operates high-quality stations in 113 television markets that collectively reach 36 percent of US television households.“

Short Takes

(Credit: YouTube)

Longtime CNN reporter Richard Roth is recovering after receiving a kidney transplant thanks to a Samira Jafari, deputy managing editor of CNN’s investigations unit, Dominick Mastrangelo reported Monday for The Hill. “Roth, CNN’s last remaining original employee, sent a letter to the entire organization in September noting that he was in need of a kidney. . . . Jafari, who is based in Atlanta, said she had never met Roth in person but had ‘a great admiration for what he did’ and his status in the company as its longest-serving journalist. ‘It just felt like as a human something I could do at that point in my life,’ she said. . . .” (Photo credit: CNN)

Malcolm Nance Joins Fighters in Ukraine

April 19, 2022

‘I’m Done Talking,’ Terrorism Analyst Tells MSNBC
Baquet Praises ‘1619 Project’ as He Steps Down
Texas Anchor, 27, Loses Fight With Brain Cancer

Short Takes: No-knock warrants; Jim Crutchfield; disinformation and young Latino men; Tracy Jan; diminishing Latin American press freedom; jailing of Somali journalists.

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‘I’m Done Talking,’ Terrorism Analyst Tells MSNBC

“Newly departed MSNBC foreign policy analyst Malcolm Nance revealed Monday evening that he is on the ground in Ukraine fighting the invading Russian forces,” Zachary Petrizzo and William Vaillancourt reported for the Daily Beast.

“Nance, a retired Naval intelligence officer, told Joy Reid on The ReidOut that he had joined the country’s international legion about a month ago.

“ ‘The more I saw of the war going on, the more I thought, “I’m done talking, all right? It’s time to take action here,” ‘ said Nance, suited up in a flak jacket and carrying an assault rifle. ‘I am here to help this country fight … what essentially is a war of extermination. This is an existential war and Russia has brought it to these people and they are mass murdering civilians, and there are people here like me who are here to do something about it.’ “

Russian missiles landed in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv as NBC News’ Ali Arouzi was interviewing Nance, NBC News reported on Twitter.

The Daily Beast continued, “Nance, the executive director of a think tank called the Terror Asymmetrics Project, was asked if the fact that he is a foreigner ‘poses any special danger’ to others there like himself.

“ ‘No, it doesn’t, because the war that’s being waged here is being waged against everybody,’ Nance said. ‘[The Russians] are not going around hunting for American flag patches or to see who’s Black, who’s Asian, who’s Latino.’

“In a subsequent exchange with The Daily Beast on Monday evening from what he said was a secure outpost in Ukraine, Nance said he was ‘touched’ when he first met his platoon.

“ ‘The international legion is one of the best-kept secrets in the country. That’s the story. They were higher-level people than I am. Most journalists have never seen an actual member or been following freelancers all over the battlefield. I really can’t tell you how diverse a group it really is. It is literally a multinational force of men and women who are here to defend Ukraine,’ the U.S. Navy veteran told The Daily Beast. ‘I was very touched when I met the first platoon and saw they were here for the right reasons.’

“ ‘They were not here just to get guns,’ he noted. . . .

“An MSNBC spokesperson told The Daily Beast that Nance is no longer an analyst for the network now that he has joined the international legion. . . .”

Nance spoke to the Journal-isms Roundtable March 1, just after the Russians followed through on their threat to invade Ukraine. He had just returned from a month in the country as part of his Terror Asymmetrics Project, in which he spoke with Ukrainian soldiers and analyzed the military capabilities of both sides.

“I think the Ukrainians are going to win this war because now that they have the resources coming from the West,” Nance told the group. “Their ammunition resupply, their anti-tank resupply is coming,” he said. “The Russians are marching in a way that is going to get them slaughtered.”

Joseph Kahn, right, with Dean Baquet (Credit: Celeste Sloman for The New York Times)

Baquet Praises ‘1619 Project’ as He Steps Down

Dean Baquet’s eight-year tenure as executive editor of The New York Times — he is the first African American in the role — is expected to conclude in June, Michael M. Grynbaum and Jim Windolf reported Tuesday for the Times.

Baquet is to be succeeded by Joseph F. Kahn, a Pulitzer Prize-winning China correspondent who rose to lead the international desk and then became managing editor, as Grynbaum noted in a profile.

Two years into Baquet’s tenure as top editor, then-public editor Liz Spayd blasted the “blinding whiteness” of the newsroom. Asked by Journal-isms Tuesday what he would say today, Baquet pointed to “the 1619 Project,” published in 2019 on his watch. “Today I would say we are a much more diverse newsroom, with a much more diverse leadership team,” he messaged. Of course we have work to do. But I’m not sure another newsroom could have produced the 1619 project, which is one of the most ambitious works of journalism anyone has published.”

[The 1619 Project creator, Nikole Hannah-Jones, replied on Twitter, “I haven’t told this story much, but I never aspired to work at the NYT. I simply didn’t dream that big and so never even applied here.Then one day Dean Baquet called me in & convinced me it shld be my home. Proud to have worked for the first Black editor of the NYT. An era ends.”]

Responding to a request, Baquet also listed journalists of color with leading positions in his newsroom: Marc Lacey, promoted to assistant managing editor, specializing in the Times’ live digital report; Monica Drake, an assistant managing editor, overseeing new digital features and projects; Randy Archibold, sports editor; Gilbert Cruz, culture editor; Jia Lynn Yang, national editor; deputy foreign editor Greg Winter; Nikita Stewart, real estate editor; Hanya Yanagihara, editor in chief of T Magazine, and “Probably others I’m forgetting.”

“Mr. Baquet — who, at 65, has reached the traditional age when executive editors at The Times step down — declined in an interview to comment on his plans,” Grynbaum and Windolf continued. In a memo on Tuesday, Publisher A.G. Sulzberger wrote only that Baquet “will remain at The Times to lead an exciting new venture.”

“The first Black executive editor of The Times, Mr. Baquet urged his journalists to pursue investigations that could yield the highest possible impact. He helped steer exposés of Mr. Trump’s decades-long tax avoidance and the sexual misconduct of the Fox News star Bill O’Reilly and the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, reporting that helped usher in a sea change in global attitudes toward workplace behavior.

“During Mr. Baquet’s tenure, readership swelled to roughly 10 million digital subscribers, from 966,000 in early 2014, as Mr. Sulzberger sought to reduce the paper’s reliance on a collapsing advertising market and emphasize revenue from paid subscriptions to the company’s digital products.”

Sulzberter, too, mentioned ‘1619’ among Baquet’s accomplishments.

“In the last eight years, Dean has fearlessly led The Times through an unbelievably challenging and consequential period, from guiding our transformation into a truly digital newsroom to confronting the escalating pressures on independent journalism to keeping pace with a historic flood of giant news stories. At the same time, Dean built the strongest investigative reporting operation on earth and oversaw a bounty of journalism that repeatedly changed the national conversation, from #MeToo, to ‘The Daily,’ to the 1619 Project, to our coverage of the Trump administration, COVID pandemic and conflict in Ukraine. . . .”

The news story went on “Mr. Baquet also navigated controversies inside and outside the paper. . . .”

Newsroom colleagues at KFDX-TV in Wichita Falls, Texas, remember Shatanya Clarke.

Texas Anchor, 27, Loses Fight With Brain Cancer

“Shatanya Clarke, a 27-year-old news anchor for the northern Texas TV station KFDX, died last Thursday following a fight with brain cancer,” Peter Sblendorio reported Monday for the Daily News in New York.

Her death was confirmed by the news station, where she had worked since 2018.

Adam P. Bradshaw, news director for the Wichita Falls, Texas, station, wrote Thursday, “Clarke, 27, passed away at her home Thursday morning. She had been battling brain cancer but was optimistic about upcoming medical treatments.

“A native of Jamaica, Shatanya joined KFDX in August of 2018 as a News Reporter and moved into the anchor chair last year. She hosted the station’s ‘Helping the Helpers’ franchise during the pandemic to make sure local charities received the donations they so badly needed.

“Ms. Clarke was heavily involved in the community as a volunteer for many organizations, including the Junior League of Wichita Falls. Along with station Photographer Brandon Cooper, Shatanya created the ‘Soups and Socks’ annual fundraiser for Faith Mission in Wichita Falls. She also served on the Child Care Partners’ board and was a mentor at Booker T. Washington Elementary School.

“Clarke attended Florida A&M University where she was a member of Zeta Phi Beta.

“ ‘Shatanya was a bigger-than-life spirit,’ said News Director Adam P. Bradshaw. “Her wit and personality could brighten anyone’s day. She had a passion for telling stories in a way that really hit home. To say our family and this community will miss her is the understatement of the year. ‘”

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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@groups.io

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