Articles Feature

Ron Martin Saw Diversity as ‘an Opportunity’

by richard02569

Consummate Leader at USA Today and in Atlanta
. . . He Set an Example for Today’s Editors to Emulate

Homepage photo: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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In September 1983, a year after USA Today debuted, C-SPAN spent a day looking at the operations of USA Today. Ron Martin was featured. (video)

Consummate Leader at USA Today and in Atlanta

“Ron Martin, USA TODAY’s first executive editor and lauded as a consummate newspaperman who helped set the paper’s tone, died Saturday. He was 84,” Elizabeth Weise reported Monday for USA Today.

“Originally from Joplin, Missouri, Martin began his journalism career at small papers after graduating from the University of Missouri. He worked at a series of increasingly larger papers including several owned by Gannett, the newspaper chain that would launch USA TODAY in 1982.

“Prior to coming to USA TODAY, Martin worked on the staff of the Detroit Free Press, the Baltimore News-American and as managing editor of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle in New York and the Miami Herald.

“When he left USA TODAY in 1989, Martin went to Atlanta where he helped oversee the merger of the city’s two newspapers into the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, according to the paper. He is credited with bringing the Journal-Constitution into the internet age and giving it a shorter, newsier style.

“His daughter, Jen Martin, told the Journal-Constitution her father was a voracious reader who read as many as eight newspapers a day and often a book a day as well.

“Martin was also known for working to make newsrooms look like the face of America at a time when that wasn’t an emphasis in the news industry.

” ‘While others wouldn’t ‘take a chance’ on women or people of color, Ron saw it as an opportunity,’ said Julia Wallace (pictured), a USA TODAY reporter under Martin and later editor-in-chief of the Journal-Constitution.

” ‘There are so many women and people of color in news today because of him,’ said Wallace, now chair of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University in Phoenix.

“Martin was also someone who intuited what technology would mean for journalism and pushed hard for the Journal-Constitution to be ready, already focusing his attention in the mid-1990s on creating digital products and audiences.

” ‘He understood the way people consumed news was changing and used the readers-first mentality he honed at USA TODAY to transform those concepts for a digital world,’ she said.

Writing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ty Tagami added Monday, “Cynthia Tucker (pictured), a Black woman, said Martin gave her her best job ever: ‘He had enough confidence in me to make me the editorial page editor.’ She oversaw first the opinion pages of the Constitution and then of the combined newspaper. She was the first Black person and first woman to do so, and went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2007. . . .”

. . . He Set an Example for Today’s Editors to Emulate

By Wanda S. Lloyd

Ron Martin hired me in two daily newspaper newsrooms. For a long time, he supported me, encouraged me and often pushed me beyond the limits of what I believed I could do. In so many ways, he was a mentor for me (pictured)

Ron passed away at age 84 on Saturday, May 14, 2022, according to his family. I’m
usually not one to write about passings, but in this case my spirit tells me that the example of
Ron’s contributions may be lost on current and future generations of journalists who should
know that newsroom diversity doesn’t just happen. It takes leaders to push for the institutional
values that are important. Diversity is one of those values and Ron Martin was one of those
leaders.

He was a soft-spoken man who spoke mostly with his actions, never with a booming or
threatening voice. He knew how to find good people to work in newsrooms. An avid reader of
books and newspapers (and later digital sites, I’m sure), Ron would scan dozens of publications
daily and follow journalists who were doing outstanding work. When he had his sights set on
prospects, he would tell his sub editors something like “Here’s a good person we should
consider.” At USA Today, there was always the running phrase “Ron wants …,” which meant we
should get it done.

Diversity was one of those things Ron always “wanted,” and he gave me the agency to go after talent, even at times when we didn’t have a job opening. “Find good people,” he would tell me and then we’ll figure out how use their talent.

Original planning editors for USA Today: From left, John Curley, editor; Richard Curtis, design, graphics and photography; Bill Tudor, systems; Henry Freeman, sports; Dave Doucette, Money; Ron Martin, executive editor; Nancy Woodhull, news; Sheryl Bills, features. (Credit: USA Today, August 1982).

My first encounter with Ron was when, as managing editor, he interviewed me for a copy desk position at The Miami Herald. He was second in command there at a time when media organizations were grappling with the demand to enlarge the pool of journalists of color, especially African Americans in 1973 when I accepted his job offer.

I left a newsroom in Providence, R.I., where I was often an “only,” the sole person of color. In Miami, I realized how serious Ron and his team were about diversity. I joined a group of African American journalists that included Gayle Pollard (Terry), Courtland Milloy, Tom Morgan, Dorothy Gaiter, Bea Hines and others. It was the first time I worked with a “group” of African Americans in a newsroom and it made the job much more palatable.

After I left Miami and eventually ended up at The Washington Post for more than a decade, Ron made it possible for me to join the USA Today newsroom across the Potomac River from The Post. That’s where the mentoring began.

A year after I was hired as a deputy managing editor (a title I frankly didn’t expect to get), Ron encouraged me to stretch personally and professionally by attending what was then the Management Training Center (MTC), a Maynard Institute program at Northwestern University that would increase the number of people of color as publishers, executive editors, and advertising, circulation and finance department directors.

On the day he presented me with a brochure about MTC, I quickly said it would be difficult to leave my family — including my four-year-old daughter — for such a long time to study in Illinois. He encouraged me to take the brochure anyway and discuss it with my husband. I returned the next day and told Ron I would go to Northwestern, provided he would spring for extra weekend trips home. He agreed. That’s another lesson learned from Ron. In order to retain good people, find ways to reasonably accommodate their personal needs. (Pictured: USA Today’s first issue, Sept. 15, 1982)

On the day I returned to USA TODAY, Ron grilled me about what I learned in the program, and then he promoted me that same day to managing editor for newsroom administration, a role that included recruiting many more women and people of color to work at USA Today. Three years later, yet another promotion to senior editor, which put me in a position to lead two of the daily meetings of top editors and hold all accountable for the then-unique practice of positive stories and images of women and people of color above the fold on Page One every day.

Ron also encouraged me to join and get active in ASNE, the American Society of Newspaper Editors (now the News Leaders Association), and again, my agency increased when I was elected to the ASNE board and chaired the Diversity Committee. From there, my ability to make it possible for many more women and journalists of color to be trained for newsrooms across the nation.

I still hear Ron’s voice in my head, his admonition to just find good people and position them for success, not failure. In 2020, as soon as I received the first shipment of my memoir, “COMING FULL CIRCLE: From Jim Crow to Journalism,” one of the first signed copies went to Ron, a tribute I couldn’t wait to share with him.

Wanda S. Lloyd is a member of the Journal-isms Inc., Board of Directors.

Where Does ‘Pure Evil’ Come From?

May 15, 2022

Editorial Asks After Racist Buffalo Shooting
Israeli Police Beat Mourners at Journalist’s Rites
L.A. Times’ Romero Now Rare Latina Sports Editor
Bennett, Nawaz Expected to Co-Host ‘NewsHour’

Lightfoot Criticized by Journalists of Color
Democrats Plan Media Campaign Targeting Latinos
6 Million Adults Identify as Afro Latino
Forbes Contrasts Two Black Media Men
African Journalist Disrupts White House Briefing
‘Being Black in Canada,’ and ‘In the Prairies’

Short Takes: All-Black, all-female news anchor team; suicide rate for Black children; nonpayments to freelancers; commentators on abortion by race and gender; Keith Herbert; complaints of racism inside police department; Corky Lee documentary; Tia Mitchell; Worcester Business Journal’s diversity-conscious coverage; Ben Holden; Canadian tracking of diversity of sources; revival of alternative Baltimore Beat; Cesar Aldama; Telemundo’s 24-hour news channel; Impremedia sold; surveillance of Botswana journalists;  

Camilla Velasquez; Art Franklin; Kenya Young; Jarrett Bell; James Dao; “Miss Missouri” Mikala McGhee; Symone Sanders; Catholic News Service; settlement in NPR discrimination allegation; Ray Suarez;  Dulce Zmora, Derrick Z. Jackson and Jessica Farthing; Weather Channel en Español; Kareem Fahim; five new photojournalists at Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Francesca Chambers;  Joon Lee; slain Chilean, Mexican journalists; stranded Afghan journalists; fleeing Jammu and Kashmir.

Homepage photo: Police respond to the mass shooting at the Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo. (Credit: Mark Mulville/Buffalo News)

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Neighborhood people gather at the scene of a mass shooting that killed 10 people at a Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo. (Credit: Derek Gee/Buffalo News)

Editorial Asks After Racial Buffalo Shooting

“The information is coming quickly, and it is enraging,” the Buffalo News swiftly editorialized Saturday, after 10 people were gunned down at a supermarket in that city. It was a mass shooting that officials were quick to label as ‘pure evil’ and racially motivated.

“Not only did a heavily armed kid from the Binghamton area drive to Buffalo to commit mass murder, but almost a decade after Sandy Hook, these crimes are still happening,” the editorial continued.

[The editorial was written before this revelation Sunday, as reported by the News‘ Stephen T. Watson and Lou Michel: “In chilling detail, the accused shooter laid out in a 180-page manifesto why he wanted to kill, how he came to believe a racist conspiracy theory and then recorded himself driving to a supermarket on Jefferson Avenue and carrying out the attack.

[Law enforcement officials on Sunday told The Buffalo News they’re convinced of the authenticity of the manifesto, which they say Payton Gendron posted online Saturday sometime before he pulled up to a Tops Markets in Buffalo and began a racist shooting spree.”

[Also on Sunday, Oliver Darcy wrote for CNN: ” Fox News created a safe space for its viewers who have bought into the Great Replacement theory, sold by the right-wing network’s top host, Tucker Carlson. “The network largely ignored the theory at the heart of the suspect’s apparent screed. I searched rush transcripts and could not find any mentions of the Great Replacement theory, outside one instance in which anchor Eric Shawn briefly referenced it in Sunday’s 4pm hour. It’s a glaring omission from the network that has promoted the racist theory over and over again to its audience…]

“This time, it happened here.

“ ‘We are hurting, and we are seething right now as a community,’ Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said.

“It is a righteous and jumbled anger, crosscut with alarm and heartbreak and confusion about how to express it all.

“Anger that someone hardly out of childhood was so consumed with racial hatred that he traveled for hours to murder strangers in Buffalo. So say municipal and law enforcement officials.

“Alarm that the horrors that have afflicted other parts of the country – in Orlando, in Las Vegas, at Sandy Hook – have now broken into our city.

“Heartbreak for the 10 people massacred at the Tops market on Jefferson Avenue and for their families, friends and neighbors. How is it that so routine an errand as grocery shopping can be so fateful a decision?

“Confusion at trying to make sense of an 18-year-old wearing body armor and livestreaming as he fires a high-powered rifle at people whose only mistake was to be in the way of an adolescent consumed with hatred and bent on bloodletting. Four of those who were killed worked at the store. One, a recently retired Buffalo police officer, was a security guard. He tried to stop the shooter and paid with his life.

“Said Erie County Sheriff John Garcia, ‘It was straight up, a racially motivated hate crime.’

“The suspect, Payton Gendron, is white. Of 13 people shot, 11 were Black.

“This person,” he said, ‘was pure evil.’

“Where does that come from?

“Gendron was arrested at the scene and quickly arraigned on a charge of first-degree murder.

“Other questions arise. What drove this person to kill people he didn’t even know? Why Buffalo? Where did he get the body armor and the rifle? Were any clues missed that could have prevented this cruel attack? Did he have accomplices? Is he known to police in his area?

“And: How do we prevent these horrific shootings from happening? Do we once again shrug and just go on about things, pretending that it won’t happen again?

“We will know more in the days and weeks ahead, but for some, the weeks will be difficult, especially those who lost loved ones on Saturday. For them, family, friends and counselors may provide solace and support. They will need it. Buffalonians know how to provide it.

“For others, what is important is patience as police and prosecutors work through the evidence and push for whatever kind of justice is available. Whatever that may be, it won’t atone for what was done.”

Israeli police attacked the funeral procession for Shireen Abu Akleh, nearly forcing pallbearers to drop Abu Akleh’s coffin. Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker reports from occupied East Jerusalem. (Credit: Al Jazeera/YouTube)

Israeli Police Beat Mourners at Journalist’s Rites

“Israeli police say they will hold an investigation ‘into the events that ensued during the funeral’ procession of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on Friday,” Abeer Salman, Celine Alkhaldi and Colin McCullough reported Saturday for CNN.

“ ‘Unfortunately, during the course of the funeral, severe violent events unfolded on the part of those participating that worsened the situation on the ground,’ Israeli Minister of Public Security Omer Bar-Lev said in a statement to CNN.

“ ‘The investigative team appointed by Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai and headed by Brigadier General Anna Ben Mordechai – a seasoned commander who is familiar with the area in which the funeral took place – will hold a comprehensive investigation into what happened during the funeral over the next day, in order to produce lessons from the incident. These lessons will be presented to the police commissioner and then to me,’ he added.

“Israeli police came under criticism following Friday’s procession, in which television footage showed officers striking mourners with batons, forcibly taking down Palestinian flags, and arresting individuals carrying the flag. One video released by the Israeli police shows officers ripping Palestinian flags off the hearse carrying Abu Akleh’s coffin.

“The Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruled in September 2021 that flying the Palestinian flag is not a criminal offense in Israel. Nevertheless, CNN witnessed the arrest of at least two individuals carrying a flag during Abu Akleh’s procession. . . .”

L.A. Times’ Romero Now Rare Latina Sports Editor

“Iliana Limón Romero (pictured) has been named assistant managing editor for Sports, reporting to Deputy Managing Editor Julia Turner,” Executive Editor Kevin Merida announced Thursday at the Los Angeles Times.

“In her new role, Limón Romero joins The Times masthead and becomes the first female sports editor in its history, and the only Latina sports editor at a major U.S. newspaper.

“Limón Romero, who joined the paper as deputy sports editor in 2021, has built bridges both within The Times newsroom and in the larger Southern California sports community. She has led initiatives to cover new spaces in new ways, beefing up the department’s investigative coverage, helping lead The Times’ successful cross-departmental Super Bowl LVI coverage and building major community-facing events that helped The Times reach new audiences. . . .”

In addition, Craig Nakano (pictured) “has been promoted to assistant managing editor for Entertainment and Arts, reporting to Deputy Managing Editor Julia Turner. In his new role, Nakano joins The Times masthead and will work closely with Turner to develop strategic plans for the further evolution of the newsroom’s culture coverage. He will be responsible for running its daily culture report and driving execution of new initiatives.

“Nakano, who has been with the Los Angeles Times since 2000, ran arts coverage for five years. . . .”

Bennett, Nawaz Expected to Co-Host ‘NewsHour’

If plans follow through as anticipated, Judy Woodruff will be succeeded as anchor of the “PBS NewsHour” by Amna Nawaz (pictured) and Geoff Bennett,” according to “two people familiar with the matter,“ Brian Steinberg reported Thursday for Variety.

“Official word, according to one of the people familiar with the matter, might not come until the fall.”

Steinberg also wrote, “Nawaz, a former ABC News correspondent, has been the primary substitute anchor of ‘NewsHour’ since 2018 and its chief correspondent since 2021.” She is Pakistani American.

“Bennett (pictured) joined the show as its chief Washington correspondent last year, and recently launched a retooled version of its weekend edition, which is now produced by WETA, the PBS Washington affiliate, rather than WNET, the New York station under whose auspices it launched. The move put both shows under the same production umbrella and makes them easier to manage.”

Bennett, 41, a onetime editor of the Maroon Tiger at Morehouse College, said at the Journal-isms Roundtable in February, “My era of journalists, we’re all sort of coming into our own at the same time. (video, with Bennett at 5:00)

“Yamiche [Alcindor] at NBC. Abby Phillip at CNN. Ayesha Rascoe was just named a host of ‘Weekend Editon Sunday’ at NPR, which is a show I used to be editor of back when Liane Hansen and Rachel Martin were hosts of that show.

“Kenneth Moton and Rachel Scott over at ABC. Weijia Jiang at CBS. So I’m glad to be in that number, and,” he added, addressing the veteran journalists of color present, “we collectively have you folks to thank for knocking down doors to make our path a little easier. So I appreciate that.”

Marking her second anniversary on the job last year, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot decided that for one day she would grant one-on-one interviews only to people of color. (Credit: WBBM, Chicago)

Lightfoot Criticized by Journalists of Color

“In May of last year, Mayor Lori Lightfoot took a bold and controversial step to mark her first two years in office: She granted one-on-one interviews exclusively to reporters of color,” Mariah Woelfel recalled April 21 for WBEZ in Chicago. “Lightfoot said her one-day policy was meant to draw attention to a lack of diversity in the city’s press corps, but critics called it a publicity stunt that deflected efforts to evaluate her performance in office.

“Nearly a year later, the press corps still does not fully reflect Chicago’s diversity. But some say the mayor hasn’t done her part to follow up on the issue. Numerous reporters of color say they continue to have limited-to-zero access to Lightfoot. An invitation to talk about the problem with at least one newsroom leader went unanswered. And, critics say the mayor has ignored an opportunity to push policies to financially support local newsrooms of color.

“A WBEZ analysis of Lightfoot’s schedule also shows that — excluding the one-day action — of 35 interviews with local outlets in the past year, only six were with organizations that represent people of color. She conducted 31 interviews with national or nonlocal outlets during the same timeframe, from May 2021 to mid-March. Five additional scheduled interview time slots did not specify an outlet.

“ ‘The follow-up after has not been good at all, and that’s what’s left a sour taste in my mouth,’ said Brandon Pope (pictured), president of the Chicago chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. ‘And honestly, it kind of sours the entire thing, because it does feel like a stunt. And it does feel like we were used for political props’. . . .”

Democrats Plan Media Campaign Targeting Latinos

“Democrats are making a seven-figure investment to reach Latino voters ahead of the midterm elections, which they are touting as a ‘historic’ early expenditure,” Suzanne Gamboa reported Tuesday for NBC News.

“The Democratic National Committee is launching a paid media campaign of radio and print advertisements in English and Spanish in Latino-rich states. The ads are part of a Latino initiative the committee dubbed Adelante, which translates to ‘forward.’

“The party announced the spending first to NBC News.

“The ads are to run in Texas, Florida, Nevada, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Parties rarely divulge exact spending for competitive reasons.

“ ‘The DNC has never done this, this early on and this robust of a figure for investment in Latino messaging and Latino outreach during a midterm election,’ Maria Cardona, a consultant to the committee, said.

“She said the spending was ‘presidential level’ for spending on Latinos.

“Democrats got a national shock in the 2020 presidential election from Latinos who voted at higher percentages for Republicans than in other years. . . .”

Maya Brown, of Freeport, N.Y., a senior journalism and political science double major at Stony Brook University on Long Island, N.Y., was awarded the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ first scholarship for Afro-Latino students pursuing careers in English and Spanish-language journalism. (Credit: Stony Brook University)

6 Million Adults Identify as Afro Latino

“About 6 million adults in the United States identify as Afro Latino, a distinction with deep roots in colonial Latin America, according to a new report by Pew Research Center,” Cheyanne Mumphrey and Anita Snow reported May 3 for the Associated Press. “That’s about 2% of the adult U.S. population and 12% of the country’s adult Latino population.

“The center released its latest report on Afro Latino identity Monday, revealing the multiple dimensions of Latino identity.

“Afro Latinos’ life experiences are shaped by factors including race and skin tone in ways that differ from other Hispanics. Most but not all identify as Hispanic or Latino, the survey found. . . . “

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists last year established a task force on Afro Latinos, co-chaired by Yvonne Latty of New York University (headed to Temple), a past board member, and Keldy Ortiz, a reporter at Newsday who is NAHJ’s national financial officer. Both have Dominican backgrounds.

At an NAHJ board meeting May 7, President Nora Lopez said the organization had about 4,100 members, and “probably 100” identify as Afro Latino.

MediaTakeOut’s Fred Mwangaguhunga, left, and ABC’s Eric Jones are changing the face of media, Forbes said.

Forbes Contrasts Two Black Media Men

” ‘Race and culture is the intersection where news happens,’ said Eric Jones, senior producer for race and culture at Good Morning America, the U.S.’ highest-rated morning news program,” Richard Fowler wrote April 21 for Forbes under the headline, “Different Roles, Same Goal: Two Black Men’s Quest To Change The Media Landscape.”

“Since the heinous murder of George Floyd and the racial reckoning that followed, more and more Americans have been craving accurate, equitable news coverage. Eric Jones and MediaTakeOut’s Fred Mwangaguhunga have become critical voices in the mission to make the coverage for and of Black America more accurate, fair, and balanced.

“For decades, the mainstream media’s perception of Black America, and Black men in particular, has been based on misinformation, overzealous reporting, and misconceptions that have resulted in bias, societal misunderstandings, and far too many fatal interactions. Within that context, Mwangaguhunga and Jones use their influence, skill, and understanding to catalyze change in an American media landscape that continues to search for a proper equilibrium in newsroom diversity and accurate news coverage. . . .”

African Journalist Disrupts White House Briefing

“White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s final briefing with reporters went off the rails Friday after one reporter repeatedly shouted a question about fair access in the room,” Callie Patteson and Steven Nelson reported Friday for the New York Post.

“As Psaki began to take questions — after fighting back tears as she thanked members of the administration and the press corps — Simon Ateba (pictured), the chief White House correspondent for Today News Africa, was heard yelling from the back of the press briefing room.

“ ‘Why don’t you take questions from across the room?” Ateba asked as Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller attempted to get things started with a query about the ongoing baby formula shortage.

“Why don’t you take questions from across the room? Because that’s not what you’ve done for the past 15 months,’ Ateba shouted again.

“Psaki was not initially fazed by Ateba’s lack of decorum. However, the reporter shouted over his colleagues again minutes later.

“ ‘Jen, can I ask you a question from the back?’ he was heard saying. ‘Jen, can I ask you a question from the back?’

“As Ateba continued to speak over reporters in the front row who attempted to question Psaki, NPR’s Tamara Keith turned around and urged him to desist.

“ ‘Simon, please, stop,’ she said.

“Ateba did not oblige and continued to shout over other reporters in the room, until Psaki finally turned to him to say, ‘Simon, if you can respect your colleagues and other media and reporters in here, that would be greatly appreciated.’

Patteson and Nelson also wrote, “Since covering the Biden administration, Ateba has frequently sparred with Psaki — going as far to accuse her of lying about coronavirus-related travel restrictions in December. . . .

“The same month, Ateba accused the restrictions of being ‘racist’ as they targeted southern African countries. The African journalist also has a history of interrupting briefing guests, including Biden’s chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci. . . .”

‘Being Black in Canada,’ and ‘In the Prairies’

“Being Black in Canada is a website featuring the stories and experiences of Black Canadians, highlighting narratives that matter to Black communities including relevant news pieces, individual successes, and historical content,” messages Kerry Kelly, a spokesperson for Canadian Broadcasting Corp., in response to an inquiry.

“Now live at CBC News | Being Black in Canada, the site showcases profiles, opinion pieces, video, audio, and a wide breadth of content across all areas of CBC including news, documentaries, arts and other programming.

“This site is curated from our News Dep’t and pulls from stories shared across all of our platforms and regions. Here is some more info on the site.

“Recently we also launched Being Black in the Prairies, which is based on the same premise and led by CBC Saskatoon journalist Omayra Issa, and CBC radio host Ify Chiwetelu. This project explores the history and present lives of Black people on the Prairies.

Here is some more information on that project.

Short Takes

On the morning of Monday, May 2, from 4:30 to 7 a.m., Jasmin Caldwell [right] joined “Texas Today, a weekday morning news show on KCEN, an NBC affiliate serving Temple, Waco, Killeen, and the surrounding areas. Alongside co-anchor Taheshah Moise [center] and new meteorologist Ashley Carter [left], the three women will form the station’s — and perhaps the nation’s — first-ever all-Black, all-female news anchor team,” Chris O’Connell reported April 29, updated April 30, for MY SA.com, a website of the San Antonio Express-News. The team was about to debut. (Credit: Twitter)
  • A survey by the Authors Guild, Freelancers Union, Graphic Artist Guild, American Society of Media Photographers, National Press Photographers Association, American Photographic Artists, and National Writers Union found that 62 percent of freelance workers based in New York had lost wages at least once in their career over an employer’s refusal to pay them, the National Writers Union reported Wednesday. “It also found that 51 percent of those who had lost income to nonpayment reported losing more than $1,000, and 22 percent reported losing more than $5,000. . . .” The groups are supporting a bill that would make New York the first state “to provide legal protections to freelance workers who live and work in New York state, as well as out-of-state freelancers who work for New York-based companies. . . . Freelancers currently account for approximately 35 percent of the U.S. labor force.”
  • “In segments discussing the Supreme Court draft opinion revealing the court has decided to repeal Roe v. Wade, Fox News hosted an overwhelming number of men and white people, largely excluding voices most heavily affected by the decision to strike down abortion rights in the United States,” Harrison Ray and Rob Savillo reported May 7 for Media Matters for America. They also wrote, “CNN and MSNBC featured white people in 70% and 62% of such guest appearances, respectively. Across the three cable news networks, 21% of guest appearances were by women of color — 24% of appearances on CNN, 30% on MSNBC, and just 7% on Fox News. . . .”
In this still from the documentary “Dear Corky,” Corky Lee stands on Worth Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown in 2019. (Credit: Still provided by Kenneth Eng).
  • “The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Tia Mitchell was honored for her political reporting by the Washington Press Club Foundation on Wednesday evening,” Todd C. Duncan reported Friday for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Mitchell, who is the newspaper’s Washington correspondent, was presented with the prestigious 2022 David Lynch Award for Regional Reporters during the foundation’s 76th Annual Congressional Dinner in Washington, D.C. . . .”
  • Ben Holden (pictured), a former editor-in-chief of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, Ga., who spent his daily news reporting career at The Wall Street Journal, is joining the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications this fall as a professor, the school announced Wednesday. Holden will teach both undergraduate and graduate students in media law and other journalism courses. “Holden has been teaching media law and news reporting in the Department of Journalism at the University of Illinois College of Media and is a visiting faculty member at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nev.,” the announcement continued
From left: Baltimore Beat deputy editor J. Brian Charles; director of operations Brandon Soderberg; editor-in-chief Lisa Snowden-McCray; arts and culture editor Teri Henderson. (Credit: Schaun Champion)
  • The day after The Boston Globe was named a Pulitzer finalist in editorial writing, the paper has announced that it’s hired a new editorial page editor — James Dao, a senior editor at The New York Times. The announcement, reported in the Globe this afternoon, was made by chief executive Linda Henry,” Dan Kennedy reported Tuesday for his Media Nation site. “Dao replaces Bina Venkataraman, who stepped down several months ago and is now a Globe editor at large. Venkataraman was involved in the launch of The Emancipator, the racial-justice website the Globe publishes jointly with Boston University. . . .”
  • “Mikala McGhee (pictured) won Miss Missouri USA Sunday night,” Monica Ryan reported May 2 for KTVI-TV in St. Louis. “She represented St. Louis in the statewide pageant. She now advances to the Miss USA pageant where she will represent the entire state of Missouri. . . . The St. Louis native started at KTVI/KPLR as an intern in 2019 and was hired as a reporter in February 2020. In March 2022 she decided to put all of her efforts into preparing for the Miss Missouri USA 2022 Pageant. She says that she plans on continuing a career in media and broadcasting in the future. . . .”
  • “Symone Sanders’ (pictured) popularity is about as bad as the approval rating of her former boss,” Ariel Zilber reported Tuesday for the New York Post. “The ex-Biden administration official who was most recently a top spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris tanked in her debut this past weekend on MSNBC, according to newly released Nielsen ratings. Sanders drew just 361,000 total viewers for her 4 p.m. show, titled ‘Symone,’ on Saturday. She also managed to attract just 29,000 viewers in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 demographic. . . .”
  • “The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced to staff May 4 a dramatic reorganization of its communications department, including the closure of the Washington and New York offices of Catholic News Service,” the service reported. “In meetings with newsroom staff, James Rogers, the chief communications officer of the conference, said that the Washington office would be closed at year’s end. . . .”
  • Cancer “is very much with us,” broadcaster Ray Suarez (pictured) writes in introducing his new podcast, “The Things I Thought About When My Body Was Trying To Kill Me” “… all around us… part of the lives we live together, and a big part of the billions Americans spend each year on health care. Every sufferer, every survivor, has a story that’s broadly shared, and at the same time as individual as your thumbprint. Let me tell you mine. I’m Ray Suarez. At a time in my life when I thought I already had plenty of challenges, cancer threw a new and heavy weight on the pile. Let me tell you my story. . . .”
The free, advertiser-supported, Spanish-language, live-streaming weather news network debuts on the 40th anniversary of The Weather Channel.
  • “Allen Media Group-owned The Weather Channel launched its new free television network The Weather Channel en Español, the first 24/7 Spanish-language free-streaming weather news network in the United States,” TV Newser reported May 2. “The Weather Channel en Español features a variety of Spanish-language weather content, including locally specific forecasting, storytelling that will help viewers understand the variation behind weather events, climate science, and its human impact. . . .”
  • The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has hired five photojournalists, the AJC announced April 8. Asked about the diversity among the group, Todd C. Duncan, senior editor for hiring and staff development, told Journal-isms, “We had one black woman [Natrice Miller], one Asian man [Arvin Temkar], one Latino brother [Miguel Angel Martinez] and two white men [Steve Schaefer and Jason Getz].”

“USA TODAY announced Francesca Chambers (pictured), an eight-year veteran covering the White House, will be joining as a White House correspondent starting May 9,” Gannett announced May 3. “Chambers joins USA TODAY from McClatchy, where she was the senior White House correspondent. . . .”

  • “After eight months of living in hiding and moving between three safe houses in different cities in her native Afghanistan, 32-year-old journalist Fawzia Sayedzada said she fled her Taliban-ruled country in April,” Somayeh Malekian reported Friday for ABC News. Sayedzada “told ABC News that she had been arrested in Kabul and threatened by the Taliban for covering the news, especially women’s protests, after the Taliban takeover last August. She joined dozens of other Afghan journalists in neighboring Pakistan, where she said they are now stranded. Many of them have managed to leave Afghanistan with the help of human rights aid groups, but are now waiting for their fate to be decided by U.N. member nations, including the United States, Canada and Germany, that have announced special schemes to let them in. . . .”

 

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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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