Articles Feature

NAHJ Leader’s Controversial Farewell

by richard04014

Endorsement Leaves Bad Taste
Essence Begins Furloughs, Citing COVID
More Named to Diversity Posts
‘Why Do You Always Write About Race?’
Trump Backer Attacks Photojournalist
Sports Anchor Out; Called Scott a ‘Tom’
. . . Something About Black Journalists?
3 Groups Seek ‘Anti-Racist’ Newsrooms

Short Takes

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Board of National Association of Hispanic Journalists meets by Zoom on Thursday. (Credit: Rebecca Aguilar)

Endorsement Leaves Bad Taste

A day before online voting for president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists comes to an end, President Hugo Balta endorsed his vice president/print for the position during an official NAHJ board meeting Thursday and turned the Zoom session over to her.

Board members and candidates immediately — if gently — reproached Balta and said he had violated norms against campaigning during board meetings.

The recipient of Balta’s endorsement, Nancy San Martin (pictured), until last week managing editor of the Miami Herald’s El Nuevo Herald, agreed to step aside from chairing the meeting after hearing the objections, saying, “My priority has been and will always be what’s best for this organization, so if the sentiment is that my leading a meeting as I have done in the past is inappropriate, I totally respect that, and I would happily turn it over to Hugo again if he wants to take the reins.” Balta did so.

San Martin’s opponent, Nora Lopez (pictured), metro editor of the San Antonio Express-News, messaged Journal-isms Friday, “This may not have violated any written rules, but it was a breach of norms under the circumstances. It struck me as a blatant attempt to use the board meeting as a last minute campaign ad to boost Nancy’s candidacy. Permitted or not, it was an abuse of the power of his position to influence the election. 

“It should have gone without saying that while board members are free to endorse anyone they want, it is inappropriate to use the power of the office to do so. The office belongs to NAHJ members who signed into the meeting to watch our board at work, not to listen to a campaign ad. I suppose future boards will need to make this explicit to prevent such an abuse from occurring in the future.”

During the meeting, Balta defended his decision to turn over the meeting to San Martin, saying he had done something similar the previous weekend in having Yvette Cabrera, vice president for online, lead the session when he was late. However, Robert Hernandez (pictured), academic officer, noted that unlike San Martin, Cabrera was running unopposed. 

“I feel like I’m being used and the board is being used,” Hernandez said. “Nancy, I love you, it’s great, but I do think it’s inappropriate.”

Julio-César Chávez, a Reuters producer in Washington who is running for vice president/broadcast, added for Journal-isms, “it took 20 minutes for the board to address the endorsement and Hugo to reluctantly take back the meeting lead (4 minutes for Robert to make the initial call and Hugo to ignore it).”

San Martin and Lopez are vying for the presidency of NAHJ in the first contest for the top post since 2012.

All told, seven of 10 positions are contested. Polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern time. As of Friday morning, 383 votes had been cast. Elections chair Geraldine Cols Azocar said the association needed 200 more votes in order to meet quorum requirements for amendments to pass. NAHJ counts 3,031 members.

San Martin and Lopez were on opposite sides of the controversy last spring over the board’s decision to delay this year’s election because of the “unpredictability” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The board, which included San Martin, eventually relented and agreed to an all-electronic election, now taking place.

During and after a Sept. 10 candidates forum, some NAHJ members raised questions about San Martin’s posture toward the News Guild as managing editor at El Nuevo Herald. She resigned from the newspaper last week after offensive comments were published in an independently produced weekly newspaper focused on Cuban exiles. 

Balta (pictured in video of board meeting, below) messaged Journal-isms Friday, “sometimes the intent does not match the impact, and that was certainly the case last night.

“I am proud, grateful and inspired by the work Nancy San Martin has led as a member of the NAHJ national board — she has my confidence and my vote.

“I understand the concerns and criticism of both board members and members attending last night’s board meeting at my public endorsement of Nancy, and complied with their request that I lead the meeting.

“I look forward to supporting the next NAHJ national board in any capacity they see fit. We (NAHJ members) need them to succeed because if they succeed, we all succeed.”

Essence Begins Furloughs, Citing COVID

“After a thorough analysis of our business and its financial position and carefully exploring all options for continued viability, we have made the very difficult decision to implement temporary measures to account for the ongoing significant negative impact of the pandemic, including furloughs,” Essence Communications announced on Tuesday.

“While the business was able to prevent taking such measures during the initial onset of the pandemic via significant personal investments from ownership along with limited PPP funds, the prolonged situation and unforeseeable business now require us to take additional action to ensure the long-term sustainability of ECI [Essence Communications, Inc.]”

Maxwell Tani added for The Daily Beast, “The publication said that while it would only pay staff salaries through the week, it did not anticipate the furloughs lasting longer than six months. Essence is the latest in a series of media publications that have implemented furloughs during the pandemic, including Vox Media, magazine publisher Condé Nast, and BuzzFeed News, which restored full salaries for employees in recent weeks.”

Spokesperson Sheila Harris would not specify who was being furloughed, “We don’t comment on individual personnel matters,” she messaged Journal-isms. 

However, Joi-Marie McKenzie (pictured), senior entertainment editor, announced on Facebook on Sept. 18, “After two years of serving Black women at Essence, it’s bittersweet to share that today is my last day. Thank you so much ladies (and a few good men) for allowing me to not only spread my wings but soar. I can’t wait to continue to root for the amazing creatives there from afar!” McKenzie is now deputy editor of entertainment at Insider.

More Named to Diversity Posts

The magazine publisher Condé Nast has named Yashica Olden as its first global chief diversity and inclusion officer; at the Baltimore Sun, Sundra Hominik “will be the Content Editor for a new beat: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” and at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, the Star Tribune on Tuesday named Kyndell Harkness its first assistant managing editor for diversity and community.

The creation of such positions has increased since the racial reckoning brought on by the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

Mary Lynn Smith reported Thursday for the Star Tribune, “Kyndell Harkness (pictured), a photo editor and 20-year veteran at the newspaper, is expected to move into the leadership role in the next few weeks. Her appointment comes on the heels of an internal discussion about racism, diversity and inequity in the newsroom and the effect it has on the newspaper’s community coverage.

“That discussion reached new heights after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police in May, setting off protests across the country.

“As in other newsrooms nationwide, journalists of color at the Star Tribune discussed needed changes and presented a list of demands to management, which included the hiring of an editor who could create a more equitable newsroom culture and hold the paper internally accountable for its news coverage.

“A major push by the group is to hire more people of color and publish an annual diversity report that gives readers a better understanding of who is telling their community stories. . . .”

At Condé Nast, “Olden (pictured) will be responsible for developing and implementing diversity and inclusion strategies across the company’s entire portfolio,” Freya Drohan wrote Wednesday for Fashion Week Daily’s The Daily Front Row.

“Tennessee-native Olden was previously the executive director of inclusion and diversity on [the marketing and advertising company WPP’s] global culture team. She also served as the interim global inclusion lead for British insurance company Aviva and as the first head of diversity and inclusion for the United Nations World Food Program in Italy. Her impressive resume also boasts experience working on diversity and inclusion teams for Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, and Sandoz. . . .”

Sun Managing Editor Sam Davis wrote Thursday to staffers, “Sundra (pictured), who joined us in January as the Content Editor for magazines, will be the Content Editor for a new beat: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

“Yvonne Wenger and her beat covering poverty and social issues will be part of Sundra’s team. Sundra will continue to have a role working with Diana Sugg as she manages our two Report for America journalists covering issues concerning African American and Hispanic communities.

“We will be adding another Reporter to the DEI team.

“Sundra will also have a role in helping the newsroom in our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in recruiting, training, retention and mentoring. We will also continue to rely on all of our editors and content creators to contribute to our efforts to include diversity, equity and inclusion in our content and staffing.”

Davis added, “We are pleased to announce that John-John Williams (pictured) has been selected as the second reporter on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion beat.

“John-John has worked for The Baltimore Sun since 2005 after joining the paper as an education reporter. He joined the features staff as the fashion reporter in 2011. His role in features expanded to covering home, food, travel and popular culture. As a champion of diversity and inclusion, he has led the paper’s Diversity Committee for the past two years.”

‘Why Do You Always Write About Race?

“Why are you always writing about race?” Vilona Trachtenberg asked Rod Watson (pictured), columnist and urban affairs editor with The Buffalo News and past president of Buffalo Association of Black Journalists, on Sept 3.

” ‘Well, of course, I don’t always write about race,’ Watson said. ‘But to the degree that I do, it’s because race-based inequity continues to exist here in Western New York and across the nation. Not to deal with that would be a betrayal of all those people who stood in front of fire hoses and had police dogs sicked on them and took batons up beside the head, and even gave their lives so that people like me could be in positions like this, and have this platform.

“Because diversity is not just checking a box on an EEO form; it’s incorporating and valuing the perspectives and insights that come with being black in America so that the media can present a more accurate and comprehensive portrayal of society, and that society is still filled with racial inequity no matter what metric you look at – whether it’s the wealth gap, the income gap, the poverty gap, the education gap, or the health care gap – which we’ve seen play out recently in the disparate impact of COVID-19 on people of color.’ . . .”

Dymanh Chhoun was taking video of a man confronting supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden before President Trump’s campaign visit. (Credit: WCCO)

Trump Backer Attacks Photojournalist

“A supporter of Donald Trump attacked a photojournalist covering protests near the president’s rally Wednesday, punching a phone out of the videographer’s hand while it was recording,”  Katie Galioto reported Thursday for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.

“WCCO-TV aired footage from photojournalist Dymanh Chhoun, who was taking video of a man confronting presidential candidate Joe Biden supporters gathered near Duluth’s airport before Trump’s campaign visit, the station reported.

” ‘You guys want to be peaceful? Be peaceful. You want to be violent? Come to me,’ the man said, turning to punch Chhoun’s phone.

“Duluth police, who are investigating the incident, said Chhoun was unhurt and his phone was not damaged. . . .”

Galioto also wrote, “Chhoun was born in a Thai refugee camp after his family fled Cambodia. In elementary school he moved to Minnesota, where he became a U.S. citizen and attended college. His assignment manager, Guy Still, on Twitter condemned the attack and called Chhoun ‘a true American patriot.’ “

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., with Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett in the U.S. Capitol. (Credit: Tim Scott office)

Sports Anchor Out; Called Tim Scott a ‘Tom’

“A two-time Emmy-nominated sports anchor in Connecticut is out of a job after he called Republican Sen. Tim Scott ‘Uncle Tom’ on social media Wednesday,”  Jessica Chasmar reported Thursday for The Washington Times.

“Fred Gerteiny, a sports anchor at News 12 Connecticut, tweeted, ‘Thanks Uncle Tom,’ in response to Mr. Scott saying President Trump likely ‘misspoke’ when he told the right-wing group Proud Boys to ‘stand back and stand by‘ during Tuesday night’s first presidential debate.

“News 12 said in a statement Wednesday night that it fired Mr. Gerteiny due to its ‘zero tolerance policy for racism.’ ”

. . . Something About Black Journalists?

. . . . Meanwhile, Journal-isms asked Black journalists to comment on a Facebook posting from Gregg W. Morris of Hunter College in New York. “Roland Martin (pictured, below) should moderate all of the remaining presidential debates. He, and he alone, has the fangs, savvy and intellect to put that white supremacist in his place,” Morris wrote.

As previously reported, commentator Michele Norris said Tuesday on Twitter, “Today is Gwen Ifill’s [birthday] and I can’t help but wonder how her ‘mama don’t take no mess’ strategy of moderating would have kept this train from veering off the track. Missing her and I know….I know …. I am not alone.”

Is there something about Black journalists — or is it just these Black journalists?

Veteran Roger Witherspoon replied, “There’s a long history of Black Journalists standing up to racist officials.” Naming two Black journalists, including this one, he added that he couldn’t imagine them “tolerating the conduct [debate moderator Chris] Wallace allowed.”

Martin replied, “Ha! Too Black.”

Black journalists who have moderated presidential or vice presidential debates or appeared on a debate panel include Robert Maynard of The Washington Post in 1976, between Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter (video); William Hilliard of the Oregonian in Portland in 1976 between Carter and Ronald Reagan; Lee May of the Los Angeles Times in 1980 between Reagan and John Anderson; Bernard Shaw of CNN between Michael Dukakis and George H.W. Bush in 1988 (video).

Roger Simon later wrote in Politico, “Shaw really liked to see the candidates sweat. He liked to see the panic in their eyes.“

Also, Carole Simpson of ABC News in 1992, between George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot; Gwen Ifill of PBS, vice presidential debates in 2004 (Dick Cheney–John Edwards) and in 2008 (Sarah Palin–Joe Biden) (video); and Lester Holt of NBC News in 2016, between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump (video).

3 Groups Seek ‘Anti-Racist’ Newsrooms

Three organizations Thursday announced “a catalyst in a social change movement that seeks to build journalistic institutions where newsrooms are actively anti-racist and collaborative, and journalists of color feel like they truly belong.”

The announcement, made as the Online News Association met for a 10-day virtual convention that as of midday Friday had registered 1,650 people, with attendees continuing to join, according to ONA spokesperson Leah Rush.

The joint statement said, “Our organizations came together because we found that we were each fighting the same fight, but on different fronts, to create social change. Each of us — Online News Association, Maynard Institute, and OpenNews — had been tackling this change separately, but once we started imagining what could be possible if we combined the leadership power and reach of ONA with Maynard’s training on dismantling systemic racism and OpenNews’s expertise in community organizing and support, we knew that we had to join forces.

“Vision25 is a commitment by our three organizations to advance racial equity in journalism.”

ONA opened its conference with a session featuring Black Journalists, “More Equitable Coverage for Black America.“

Participating were Todd Johnson, chief content officer, theGrio.com; Glenn Burkins, publisher, QCity Metro; Tiffany Walden, co-founder and editor-in-chief, The TRiiBE; Wendi C. Thomas, editor and publisher, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism; and freelance writer Patrice Peck. Imaeyen Ibanga, a presenter with AJ+, was moderator.

Short Takes

(Credit: Illustration by Aaron Turner; photo courtesy of Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection/ University of Texas at Arlington Library via The Atlantic)

  • Black children who desegregated schools “are in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s now. Many of them are no longer with us. But those who are have stories to tell,” Rebecca J. Rosen wrote for the Atlantic Tuesday, under the headline, “The Children Who Desegregated America’s Schools.” Rosen tells the stories of Hugh Price, Jo Ann Allen Boyce, Sonnie Hereford IV, Millicent Brown and Frederick K. Brewington.

  • “Ten of the nation’s leading Black publishers have come together to reimagine the Black press in America,” Local Media Association CEO Nancy Lane writes. “Their first official initiative is the launch of Word in Black, a news collaborative, unlike anything we have seen in the industry. . . . Word in Black frames the narrative and fosters solutions for racial inequities in America.” Its website also says, “A central team, led by Nick Charles, will turn their local stories into powerful national stories. . . . The first project focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on K-12 education in Black communities across the United States. Two funders have made this work possible.” Charles, a veteran journalist who is the project manager, national writer and editor, said Elinor Tatum of the New York Amsterdam News is lead publisher.

  • A Washington Post project, “The covid-19 recession is the most unequal in modern U.S. history,” was deemed to have the “most impressive graphics of the day” Wednesday by the Poynter Institute’s Tom Jones. The Post’s subhead is, “Job losses from the pandemic overwhelmingly affected low-wage, minority workers most. Seven months into the recovery, Black women, Black men and mothers of school-age children are taking the longest time to regain their employment.” The project is credited to Heather Long, Andrew Van Dam, Alyssa Fowers and Leslie Shapiro.

  • “The giant, light-up sign visible from The Columbus Dispatch’s newsroom proclaims it to be ‘Ohio’s Greatest Home Newspaper,’ ” begins a piece Monday by Marion Renault in Columbia Journalism Review. “A more honest description might be ‘Ohio’s Whitest Home Newspaper.’ In its almost 150 years of existence, the paper has consistently failed to reflect, and therefore serve, Columbus’s residents of color. . . .”

 

Left: Nola, Ramona and Yvonne Latty take a selfie before a Black Friday shopping trip. Right: Yvonne, Margo, Nola and Ramona Latty pose for a similar picture. (Courtesy Yvonne Latty via NPR)

  • Yvonne Latty, director of Reporting New York, Reporting the Nation graduate concentrations at New York University, delivered a moving piece, “Portrait Of A Parent With Alzheimer’s,” for NPR on Monday. “I love my mom, and I miss who she was,” Latty wrote. She was a beautiful Dominican immigrant who loved to dance in the kitchen. She loved Tito Puente, Celia Cruz and the merengues of Johnny Pacheco. . . . I feel so alone in this disease, but I know I am not. There are millions of people just like me, holding on to and loving someone with this wicked form of dementia.”

  • In San Francisco, “KGO anchor-reporter Eric Thomas has said goodbye to his news team after 26 years,” Stephanie Tsoflias Siegel reported Monday for TVSpy. “The San Francisco and Bay Area journalist posted that Sunday was his last day on the morning anchor desk at the ABC station. ‘This is my last day on the anchor desk at ABC-7,’ Thomas wrote on Facebook. ‘I’ve got another day of reporting to finish, then I’ll say goodbye to this chapter of my career after 26 years. It’s a mutual decision and KGO-TV has been very good and very respectful. . . .”

  • Cameron E. Jones (pictured) has been named manager, Office of the President at ABC News, James Goldston, president of ABC News, wrote staffers Wednesday. “From 2012-2018, he was an integral part of the GMA [‘Good Morning America’] team. He worked on a variety of special events, spanning presidential elections coverage, a record number of Dancing With The Stars cast reveals and GMA Summer Concerts. A former ABC News MVP, Cameron conducted one-on-one interviews on camera for our digital operations with Oprah Winfrey, LeAnn Rimes, Kelly Rowland and Raven-Symoné. Last year he helped produce the Disney Advertising Sales Upfront, the first time ABC Entertainment, ABC News, ESPN, Freeform, FX and National Geographic had ever come together to present one massive upfront event. He worked closely with teams across the company on financial reporting, operations support and strategic communications. . . .”

  • “Fall sports tentatively resumed across America’s college campuses under the shadow of a deadly pandemic that has already cost one college football player his life,” Frank LoMonte wrote Sept. 23 for the Poynter Institute. “Abusive behavior by coaches is belatedly coming to light as former athletes share their stories. And the young Black men who disproportionately make up the rosters of revenue-generating sports are also those at greatest personal risk of overzealous police violence. Yet for athletes at many of the nation’s top athletic programs, talking to the news media is regarded as a punishable offense. Players caught giving interviews without their athletic department’s approval — about any topic, even one unrelated to sports — can be punished with sanctions including withdrawal of their scholarships, ending their college careers. . . .”

 

Beth Nakamura (Credit: Doug Brown via Poynter Institute)

  • Beth Nakamura, Oregonian photojournalist in Portland, “hasn’t had time to stop and think about the challenges of covering a pandemic, protests and wildfires,” Kristin Heare wrote Thursday in a profile for the Poynter Institute. “It’s been enough to work, rest and rise to do it all again. But Nakamura knows it will all become part of history. ‘I feel like we are in stories that are the things our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be asking us about.’ There’s also never been a greater need for local journalism, she said, and it’s never been more under threat. But it matters. . . .”

  • “Who are the Americans who get news on YouTube? Compared with U.S. adults overall, they are more likely to be young and male, and less likely to be White,” Galen Stocking, Patrick van Kessel, Michael Barthel, Katerina Eva Matsa and Maya Khuzam wrote Monday for the Pew Research Center. They also wrote, “YouTube news consumers are also more racially diverse. Half are White (50%), while 14% are Black and 25% are Hispanic. In contrast, 63% of U.S. adults are White, 12% are Black and 16% are Hispanic.”

 


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