Articles Feature

NAHJ Members Challenge Election Cancellation

by richard04476

Balta: ‘We’re Not Tone Deaf,’ Will Reconsider
NABJ, NAHJ to Hold ‘Virtual’ Convention
Report for America to Send 225 to Newsrooms
Kane Died of ‘Natural Causes,’ Not Virus
Pregnant Reporter Kidnapped After Live Shot
Eric Barrow Named Editor of Deadspin
Valencia: Virus Threw Me Into a ‘Tailspin’
How Did Trump Win? ‘It’s the Economy, Stupid!’
‘The Last Dance’ Sets ESPN Records
Stories on Reservation Predators Awarded
Nominate a J-Educator Who Promotes Diversity

Short Takes

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Members of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists at the Excellence in Journalism convention last year. (Credit: Warner Media)

Balta: ‘We’re Not Tone Deaf,’ Will Reconsider

A letter from prominent Hispanic journalists Thursday called on the board of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists to reconsider its decision to cancel elections in 2020 as violating NAHJ bylaws, saying it “left out the voices of the people NAHJ was created to serve: its members.“ [PDF]

The letter was signed by 45 members, including 31 in the “lifetime” category, 12 Hall of Fame inductees, 11 former board members, seven former presidents, two founders and 11 other members, including student project leaders. Some have more than one distinction.

NAHJ President Hugo Balta messaged Journal-isms that the board will reconsider its decision.

“I appreciate the time, thought and tone of the letter,” Balta wrote Thursday. “The NAHJ leadership is not deaf to the concerns and inquiries being brought up over our decision to cancel the elections this year. Rest assured that we will review, discuss the letter, and at the appropriate time engage members.

“The extraordinary action we took is in reaction to the extraordinary time we are living in [due] to covid-19. It’s always comforting to see members engage in discussion and debate over the [well being] of our organization.”

NAHJ announced last week that “After much consideration, the board voted to temporarily limit any unnecessary radical change in the interest of preserving a strong and effective organizational foundation.”

Therefore, Balta said afterward, “Basically every term is pushed by a year, that is to say everyone serving on the board right now will serve 3 years (and not 2).”

That did not sit well with the letter’s signatories, who wrote, “This action violates NAHJ bylaws. The board of directors is not empowered by its bylaws or the non-profit laws of the District of Columbia, in which NAHJ is incorporated, to take this action. In addition, the bylaws clearly set term limits for all board positions. It is astonishing that the legally required exercise of members’ rights to vote and choose [NAHJ’s] next slate of leaders, even in the current crisis, is considered either ‘unnecessary’ or ‘radical. . . .”

The association, which counts 2,349 members, has employed electronic voting, the signatories noted.

Additionally, “Elections are sacred, canceling them sets a bad precedent. More than 70 countries have postponed elections by a few months, still, many others have held elections, We understand it is a time of uncertainty but NAHJ board members voting to extend their own terms is a blatant conflict of interest, and smacks of the kinds of authoritarian maneuvers that take place in the countries our members cover.

“Elections are an important part of NAHJ’s core mission, therefore, we the undersigned below urge the board of directors of NAHJ to:

  • Abide by and uphold NAHJ’s bylaws and the rights of members to vote.

  • “Immediately re-launch the election process establishing a new timeline that requires elections to be held no later than September/October.

  • “Follow the bylaws that allow for secure electronic voting.

  • “Keep the membership better informed about elections, offering details and information that [go] beyond a simple press release. . . .”

The former NAHJ presidents who originally signed were Gilbert Bailon, Dino Chiecchi, Evelyn Hernandez, Mekahlo Medina, Rafael Olmeda, Michele Salcedo and Veronica Villafañe. Olmeda wrote an introduction to the letter. A petition from NAHJ members, led by Marilyn Garateix, a former vice president, also began circulating Thursday.

Olmeda said Friday that the number of signatories appears to be around 84 and that they included broadcaster John Quinones and former NAHJ president Juan Gonzalez. 

NABJ, NAHJ to Hold ‘Virtual’ Convention

The joint convention of the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists will be held after all, but it will be “virtual,” complete with a 3-D career fair, 85 sessions and vouchers for meals, NABJ announced on Friday.

“We love you but we will not touch you,” NABJ President Dorothy Tucker said at an NABJ board meeting on Friday, transmitted via Zoom. She and Executive Director Drew Berry said they were excited by the unprecedented nature of the event and promised a “first-class” conference, now scheduled for Aug. 5-9. It was originally July 8-12, to be held in Washington, D.C.

Tucker said in an email sent to members simultaneously with the board-meeting announcement, “First, it’s important that you understand our strategy has always been to help keep our members safe and to avoid $1.3 million in hotel contract cancellation penalties. . . . Timing, legal counsel and other requirements, along with tough negotiations on the part of NABJ and Marriott, were all essential parts of getting to a final successful resolution for our members and attendees.  

“I understand you may have been frustrated by updates that appeared to be vague, but the language was deliberate so as not to trigger an unnecessary catastrophic negative impact on our organization. To do so would have damaged our negotiations and put us in legal peril. You elected me to do what was in the best interest of NABJ. I am happy to say we have negotiated a deal that prevents NABJ from financial ruin. Thank you for trusting me.”

The letter also said, “You will be able to get full conference registration refunds by emailing the national office at membership@nabj.org.
— You can apply it to next year’s conference
—You can donate it to fund student registrations

Tucker and board member Ken Lemon also appealed for contributions to an NABJ relief fund for journalists affected by the COVID-19 virus. “Please give, our members are hurting and we want to help as much as we can,” Tucker said.

In a message sent simultaneously to its members, NAHJ added, “NAHJ is currently programing a series of webinars, e-training and tutorials designed to benefit our members nationwide. These programs include the Google News Initiative Digital tools training (Spanish only), Digital Security (English & Spanish), Learn to WFH Webinars (English & Spanish), and e-training (English & Spanish) for students starting a career during COVID-19. . . . “

​

Report for America to Send 225 to Newsrooms

“Report for America today announced the selection of 225 journalists for its 2020 reporting corps,” with about 40 percent of color, Sam Kille wrote Thursday for the national service organization.

“The new cohort will be placed with more than 160 local news organizations across 46 states, Washington, D.C.,  and Puerto Rico.

“These reporting positions come at a time when local journalism is already reeling from years of newsroom cuts and unforeseen challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. They also mark a major expansion from the current corps size of 59, of whom, more than 90 percent are returning.

“Report for America is a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities through its reporting corps. It is an initiative of the nonprofit news organization, The GroundTruth Project.”

The full list of 2020-21 corps members is attached. The journalists start in June and reflect wide ranging backgrounds of the communities they will serve:

● “225 reporters in 162 newsrooms

● “About 40 percent are journalists of color

● “More than a quarter speak Spanish

● “More than two thirds are women

● “5 are post-9/11 military veterans . . .”

Among those pleased with the help were the Associated Press and the MLK50 project in Memphis.

In this 2016 interview, Eugene Kane speaks to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about his experience with diabetes, including a severe diabetic seizure that led to a stroke. His sister said he died this month of “natural causes.” (Credit: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) (video)

Kane Died of ‘Natural Causes,’ Not Virus

Eugene Kane, the longtime Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist who was found dead in his apartment on April 16, tested negative for the coronavirus, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Thursday.

Edna Kane Williams, Kane’s sister, posted Sunday on Facebook, “I believe that death details should be a private thing. I also understand that my brother lived his last years through social media, and that in many ways he belonged to the city of Milwaukee. You all loved him. So he would want me to set the record straight: the Medical Examiners office has officially declared that Eugene Kane died of natural causes, and not COVID 19.

“I’ll be flying his body back to his beloved North Philly this week for a small graveside service and burial. The outpouring of love posted on his Facebook page serves as a fitting tribute to his life. Thank you all so very, very much. And special thanks to James Causey,” Kane’s Journal Sentinel colleague who wrote Kane’s obituary as well as a remembrance. “My children and I are grateful.”

Separately, the District of Columbia Medical Examiner’s Office said Thursday that its investigation into the death of Washington Post reporter Darran Simon, who was found dead at 43 in his apartment on April 9, is “still pending.”

Iyani Hughes and her station’s news van.

Pregnant Reporter Kidnapped After Live Shot

“An Atlanta woman facing a slew of charges including kidnapping for her alleged involvement in the carjacking of a CBS46 news reporter was denied bond Friday,” Angelina Velasquez reported April 17 for WGCL-TV, also known as CBS46.

“Atlanta Police say Seniqua Lunsford was connected to a separate and nearby crash scene at Atlantic Station, one that was being covered by CBS46 reporter Iyani Hughes and her photographer when the incident occurred around 6 a.m. on April 14.

“After her live report, Hughes returned to her marked news van and powered it up before preparing to edit video. Just as Hughes was reaching to lock the doors, Lunsford entered the vehicle and sped away.

“Hughes, who was in the back of the van, fell to the floor while screaming for help. Atlanta Police, hearing the screams, quickly pursued the van to Ansley Park where Lunsford crashed in the 180 block of Peachtree Circle NE. . . .”

· Adam Murphy, WGCL-TV, Atlanta Suspected CBS46 kidnapper appears in court (April 17)

 

Eric Barrow

Eric Barrow Named Editor of Deadspin

Eric Barrow, a 25-year sports journalist whose position as sports editor at the Daily News in New York was eliminated in January 2019 amid cutbacks there, has been promoted from deputy editor to editor-in-chief of the sports blog Deadspin.

Barrow’s promotion comes as Jim Rich, a former Daily News top editor, moves up to editorial director of the parent G/O Media, where Rich “will oversee each of the eleven brands’ newsrooms — Gizmodo, The A.V. Club, Deadspin, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Kotaku, Lifehacker, The Takeout, The Root, The Onion and The Inventory — and guide investigative journalism and original reporting, and manage content creation,” Mónica Marie Zorrilla wrote Wednesday for Adweek.

CEO Jim Spanfeller said of Barrow in a memo to staffers, “While Sports Editor at The New York Daily News, his Sunday section at Daily News was named Top 10 by APSE [Associated Press Sports Editors] 9 years running, and he is a multiple award-winning sportswriter.

“Eric has played a huge part in the revival of the Deadspin brand helping it to assume its place as one of the best sports news and opinion sites on the web. Since its relaunch, even through economic distress and a complete shutdown of sports, we’ve seen Deadspin gaining back audience with momentum during the toughest of times for the sports world, writing compelling sports journalism, and crafting a unique brand voice that is curious and thoughtful. We are incredibly excited to see Eric and his team take the brand to incredible new heights. . . .”

The “reboot” refers to an implosion at Deadspin last year. Samer Kalaf wrote in January for Columbia Journalism Review, “Deadspin, the site I helped run as managing editor, had weathered severe storms. There was the bankruptcy following a vicious — and successful — lawsuit, brought by the wrestler Hulk Hogan and secretly funded by the right-wing tech billionaire Peter Thiel, as well as a sale to the Spanish-language media company Univision. . . . . We worked directly for private equity now, and private equity is undefeated against journalists. . . .”

Some, such as Justin Peters, writing last month in Slate, have not been pleased with the new direction, disagreeing with Spanfeller’s “edict that the wide-ranging website refrain from publishing any nonsports stories.”

However, Rich had told CNN, “If anybody knows me or knows any of the work that I’ve done over my career, I think you’ll understand quickly that I’m the farthest thing from the stick-to-sports sort of person. It’s a lazy form of journalism, and it’s an excuse to avoid difficult topics.”

Barrow says much the same. “The ‘stick to sports’ was misunderstood,” he messaged Journal-isms on Friday. “We have the freedom to address sports stories whether they be about politics, social justice, the environment what have you. I think if you go to the site that’s pretty clear. We’re just not going to do non sports stories. If there’s the slightest of sports connection it’s fair game.”

Barrow, 50, will be joined by writers Carron J. Phillips, with whom he worked at the Daily News, Donovan Dooley and DeArbea Walker.

He said he is looking for talented editors and writers.

On CNN’s “New Day” on April 14, Nick Valencia looks at the effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on Latino communities. (Credit: CNN)

Valencia: Virus Threw Me Into a ‘Tailspin’

“Last night, I revealed some deeply personal news,” CNN’s Nick Valencia wrote Sunday on Facebook. “In January, I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder, depression, and post traumatic stress.

“I have been quietly suffering through it with my family and best friends.

“The last few months have been great, and then the coronavirus happened and it threw me into a tailspin.

“During a CNN segment highlighting the economic disparities and social inequalities that [have led] to an alarming impact on Latinos, I felt like I needed to speak my truth.

“This pandemic has impacted people everywhere, and in my opinion it’s mental health that is the great equalizer.

“Even those who don’t have diagnosed struggles like me are dealing with mental health issues.

“Some people, especially on social media where everything is the best version of yourself, may think I am weak or looking for attention.

“When in fact I just wanted to let people know they’re not alone.

“I got into journalism to help people.

“I hope last night my words helped someone know they are not alone.”

Meanwhile, the Pew Research Center reported Tuesday, “Roughly six-in-ten Hispanic adults (61%) say they or someone in their household has lost a job or taken a cut in pay due to the coronavirus outbreak, compared with roughly half or fewer black and white adults.”

It also said, “Financial emergency preparedness also varies significantly across demographic groups. Overall, 47% of Americans say they have rainy day funds on hand that would cover their expenses for up to three months, but this is the case for only about a third or fewer among black and Hispanic adults, those younger than 30 and those with no college experience.”

 

President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump talk to members of the media during a meeting in the Oval Office in November 2016. (Credit: Jabin Botsford/Washington Post)

How Did Trump Win? ‘It’s the Economy, Stupid!’

As “we bore witness to Donald Trump’s victory back in 2016, we wondered what [went] wrong; what made a fascist demagogue ascend to the Oval Office where a political luminary faithfully served for eight years?” blogger Beatrice Phi wrote April 17 for medium.com.

She and George Packer, writing for the June issue of The Atlantic, reached similar conclusions: In the words of the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign, it was the economy, stupid.

Packer, an Atlantic staff writer, wrote, “Partisan politics and terrible policies, especially the Iraq War, erased the sense of national unity and fed a bitterness toward the political class that never really faded. The second crisis, in 2008, intensified it. . . .

“All of the lasting pain was felt in the middle and at the bottom, by Americans who had taken on debt and lost their jobs, homes, and retirement savings. Many of them never recovered, and young people who came of age in the Great Recession are doomed to be poorer than their parents. Inequality — the fundamental, relentless force in American life since the late 1970s — grew worse.

“This second crisis drove a profound wedge between Americans . . . .

“Both parties were slow to grasp how much credibility they’d lost. The coming politics was populist. Its harbinger wasn’t Barack Obama but Sarah Palin, the absurdly unready vice-presidential candidate who scorned expertise and reveled in celebrity. She was Donald Trump’s John the Baptist. . . .”

In her piece, “Barack Obama Was Never the Man We Thought He Was,” Phi echoed that line of thinking.

“Barack Obama did not keep his promise that our country provided opportunity to all who had a dream,” she wrote April 17. “When he took the presidential helm in 2008 and inherited a recession, he immediately beckoned to Wall Street in bailouts that [cost] taxpayers billions upon billions of dollars.

“Though the 2008 recession very much resembled the Great Depression, Barack Obama did not push a policy equivalent of the New Deal; instead, he offered a continuation of the crony capitalism that had been well-established on Capitol Hill for decades ever since the years when Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were our presidents.

“As a result, the Rust Belt witnessed the death of the American Dream as factories closed and countless manufacturing jobs disappeared, leaving behind millions of unemployed and impoverished Americans who soon became the Obama-Trump voters longing to make America great again. . . .”

 

‘The Last Dance’ is a 10-part documentary series about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ quest to win a sixth NBA title in eight years. (Credit: ESPN)

‘The Last Dance’ Sets ESPN Records

“Fans missing sports tuned to ESPN and ESPN2 in droves to watch the first two episodes of ‘The Last Dance,’ the 10-part documentary series about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ quest to win a sixth NBA title in eight years,” ESPN announced Monday.

“On ESPN alone, the two hours averaged 5.3 million viewers, with episode 1 delivering 5.7 million viewers and episode 2 delivering 5 million.

“The premiere episodes rank as the two most-viewed original content broadcasts on ESPN Networks since 2004, surpassing the 2012 film ‘You Don’t Know Bo’ (3.6 million). This year, it is also the most-viewed telecast on ESPN since the [College Football Playoff] National Championship Game. Additionally, ‘The Last Dance’ ranks as the most-watched telecast among adults 18-34 and 18-49 since sports halted across broadcast and cable networks. . . .”

For more than two decades, government pediatrician Stanley Patrick Weber raised suspicions that he was a pedophile. The Wall Street Journal and Frontline investigate how the Indian Health Service doctor was transferred from reservation to reservation. (Credit for photo composite: Adele Morgan and Mike Shum/Frontline/Wall Street Journal) (video)

Stories on Reservation Predators Awarded

 “ ‘Forsaken by the Indian Health Service,’ a joint investigation by The Wall Street Journal and PBS’s ‘Frontline,’ is the winner of the 2019 Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism,” the Nieman Foundation announced Tuesday. “The reporting exposed decades of abuse, negligence and dysfunction inside the Indian Health Service, the federal agency that provides health care to more than two million Native Americans.

“In articles and in the accompanying documentary ‘Predator on the Reservation,’ the reporters revealed that the IHS failed to stop child predators and other dangerous doctors practicing in hospitals that serve some of the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens, many of whom have no other health care options.

“The reporting began with a profile of Stanley Patrick Weber, an Indian Health Service pediatrician who was transferred from reservation to reservation and allowed to practice despite accusations that he was sexually abusing Native American boys. Later articles showed that IHS — often in violation of the agency’s own policy — had hired other physicians with criminal records, sanctioned licenses or malpractice suits and showed how those doctors’ inferior care caused injury and even death to some IHS patients. . . .”

    (Credit: WISN-TV)

​Mike Anderson, Milwaukee Anchor, Dies at 67​

“Mike Anderson, who was a reporter and news anchor at WISN-TV (Channel 12) for 36 years, died Tuesday morning,” Chris Foran reported Tuesday for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He was 67.

“Jan Wade, president and general manager of WISN-TV, said in an interview Tuesday that Anderson had not been feeling well Monday and went to the hospital Monday night. He died suddenly Tuesday morning, surrounded by family.

” ‘He was beloved by the WISN family,’ Wade said. ‘ … He was a dear mentor to many people in the newsroom, and just a wonderful human being.’

“In a statement, WISN news director Ben Hart said: ‘Mike Anderson was a transformative figure in the history of television news in Milwaukee. In his storied career, he broke class and color barriers and set the tone for what professionalism looks like. His legacy is clear.’ . . .”

Nominate a J-Educator Who Promotes Diversity

Beginning in 1990, the Association of Opinion Journalists, formerly the National Conference of Editorial Writers, annually granted a Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship — actually an award — “in recognition of an educator’s outstanding efforts to encourage minority students in the field of journalism.”

 

Laura  Castaneda, 2019 winner

AOJ merged in 2016 into the American Society of News Editors, which as the News Leaders Association is continuing the Bingham award tradition.

Since 2000, the recipient has been awarded an honorarium of $1,000 to be used to “further work in progress or begin a new project.”

Past winners include James Hawkins, Florida A&M University (1990); Larry Kaggwa, Howard University (1992); Ben Holman, University of Maryland (1996); Linda Jones, Roosevelt University, Chicago (1998); Ramon Chavez, University of Colorado, Boulder (1999); Erna Smith, San Francisco State (2000); Joseph Selden, Penn State University (2001); Cheryl Smith, Paul Quinn College (2002); Rose Richard, Marquette University (2003).

Also, Leara D. Rhodes, University of Georgia (2004); Denny McAuliffe, University of Montana (2005); Pearl Stewart, Black College Wire (2006); Valerie White, Florida A&M University (2007); Phillip Dixon, Howard University (2008); Bruce DePyssler, North Carolina Central University (2009); Sree Sreenivasan, Columbia University (2010); Yvonne Latty, New York University (2011); Michelle Johnson, Boston University (2012); Vanessa Shelton, University of Iowa (2013); William Drummond, University of California at Berkeley (2014); Julian Rodriguez of the University of Texas at Arlington (2015) (video); David G. Armstrong, Georgia State University (2016) (video); Gerald Jordan, University of Arkansas (2017), Bill Celis, University of Southern California (2018) and Laura Castañeda, University of Southern California (2019).

Nominations may be emailed to Richard Prince, Opinion Journalism Committee, richardprince (at) hotmail.com. The deadline is May 17. Please use that address only for NLA matters.

Short Takes

  • President Trump’s attacks on the news media have “dangerously undermined truth and consensus in a deeply divided country” at a time when the nation faces the unprecedented challenge of the coronavirus, concludes the Committee to Protect Journalists in a report from Leonard Downie Jr., former executive editor of The Washington Post, now a journalism professor at Arizona State University. Paul Farhi wrote April 16 in the Post, “The document is based on interviews with nearly 40 journalists, press freedom advocates, academics, media lawyers, and current and former administration officials. . . .”

 

Brett Pulley

  • “Brett Pulley  – award-winning reporter and editor, author and our former Bloomberg colleague – will be rejoining us as Atlanta bureau chief,” Bloomberg editors Jacqueline Simmons and Flynn McRoberts announced on Monday. “In Atlanta, he will use those talents to cover the global beverage icon, Coca-Cola, and a broad array of themes in a city that has become the capital of black wealth in the U.S. and the Hollywood of the South. . . .” Pulley has been dean of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University, a senior editor at Forbes magazine, correspondent for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and most recently, executive vice president at the Weber Shandwick advertising agency.

 

Alicia Shepard

  • Longtime Houston TV personality Lisa Hernandez, who announced in January that she would not be returning to KHOU following maternity leave after the birth of her newborn daughter. will co-anchor KPRC-TV’s morning show with Owen Conflenti beginning this June, Marcy de Luna reported Wednesday for the Houston Chronicle. “Hernandez replaces Taniya Wright . . . who is no longer at KPRC, according to social media. ‘I am no longer there. It was a management decision,’ Wright posted on Facebook. . . .”

 

Donna Stewart

  • Donna Stewart, publisher and longtime journalist at the Kansas City weekly, The Call, died Saturday, according to the newspaper’s acting managing editor,” Kaitlyn Schwers reported April 11, updated April 13, for the Kansas City Star. “She was 65 years old. Stewart had been with the newspaper since May 1977, said Eric Wesson. She started writing for the newspaper after graduating from Lincoln University in Jefferson City [Mo.]. She later became the publisher and managing editor. . . .”

  • “Secrets of the Caribbean,” a project of veteran television producer Tom Jacobs, began airing on the Black News Channel Friday at 2:30 p.m. EDT, with repeats at 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays on Spectrum Cable, Xfinity and the ROKU Channel on ROKU. The black-produced program features journalists reporting on “culture, history, people, food, music and art,” “sailing the seas to bring you exciting stories of the ‘real’ Caribbean.” Veteran broadcast journalist Maureen Bunyan, Aruba-born, wasn’t speaking of African Americans when she told the Journal-isms Roundtable last year, “the Caribbeans are completely dependent on the public relations industry in North America, because the public relations industry controls the image that people in this country have. . . .” Travel Noire

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