Best Known for Coverage of Emmett Till Slaying

‘The Man From Jet,’ in Booker’s Own Words

In the White Press, ‘Friends Thought I Was Dying’

. . . An Enthusiastic Supporter of Journal-isms

Best Known for Coverage of Emmett Till Slaying

Simeon Booker, who for 50 years was Washington bureau chief for Jet and Ebony magazines and at age 99 the dean of black journalists, died Sunday at an assisted-living community in Solomons, Md. He had recently been hospitalized for pneumonia, said his wife, Carol McCabe Booker, Emily Langer reported for the Washington Post.

“Few reporters risked more to chronicle the civil rights movement than Booker,” Langer wrote. “He was the first full-time black reporter for The Washington Post, serving on the newspaper’s staff for two years before joining the Johnson Publishing Co. to write for Jet, a weekly, and Ebony, a monthly modeled on Life magazine, in 1954.

“From home bases in Chicago and later in Washington, Booker ventured into the South and sent back dispatches that reached black readers across the United States. . . .”

Booker was in Chicago, hometown of 14-year-old Emmett Till, when he heard that the young man had disappeared while visiting relatives in Money, Miss.

“Booker instinctively went to the home of the young man’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, and earned her trust as she moved through her terror and then grief. He was with her at the funeral home where, over the objections of everyone present, she insisted that the casket bearing her son’s mutilated corpse be opened. . . .”

For many African Americans, news did not happen if it did not appear in Jet, but Booker’s reporting and the shocking photographs took the Till story beyond Jet’s readership base.

“ ‘Her face wet with tears, she leaned over the body, just removed from a rubber bag in a Chicago funeral home, and cried out, “Darling, you have not died in vain. Your life has been sacrificed for something.” ‘

“A Jet photographer, David Jackson, photographed Till’s body, which thousands of mourners observed at his funeral. No mainstream news outlets published the images of Till’s body, according to an account decades later in the New York Times. But their appearance in Jet and several other African-American publications helped make the Till murder ‘the first great media event of the civil rights movement,’ historian David Halberstam wrote in his book ‘The Fifties.’

“Like Till, Booker grew up in the North and said he had never entered the Deep South before traveling to Mississippi to cover the trial of Till’s accused killers, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam.

“An all-white jury acquitted the defendants after deliberations lasting roughly an hour. Later, Bryant and Milam confessed to the killing in a paid interview with Look magazine.

“Mr. Booker was in constant peril as a black journalist reporting in the South. But the Till case presented particular dangers.

“ ‘The first day we got there we went over to Till’s grand-uncle’s house and men in a car with guns forced us to stop,’ Mr. Booker told the Times. After the verdict, he recalled, ‘the first thing we had to think about was getting to Memphis and getting out of there, because we were marked men. And they put us all on one plane, the reporters and witnesses and everybody.’

“Booker later became bureau chief in Washington and established the Johnson company’s office in the capital. After a lengthy search for accommodations in the then-segregated city, Booker and his colleagues found two rooms in the Standard Oil building on Constitution Avenue.

“As one of the few black reporters in Washington, he wrote a column for Jet called Ticker Tape U.S.A. and led editorial coverage of the executive and legislative branches at a time when black reporters were largely excluded from news events as from everyday life. He covered 10 presidents and traveled to Southeast Asia to report on the Vietnam War.

“And he returned to the South, documenting the civil rights struggle. For his safety, he sometimes posed as a minister, carrying a Bible under his arm. Other times, he discarded his usual suit and bow tie . . . for overalls to look the part of a sharecropper. . . .”

Booker was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Black Journalists in 2013, was the first African American to win the National Press Club’s Fourth Estate Award in 1982, and received the George Polk journalism career award in 2015. Admirers also campaigned for Booker to be awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.

‘The Man From Jet,’ in Booker’s Own Words

In his 2013 memoir, “Shocking the Conscience: A Reporter’s Account of the Civil Rights Movement,” written with his wife, Carol McCabe Booker, Simeon Booker wrote in the introduction:

“For the better half of a century, I was known more often as just ‘the man from Jet than by my given name, as I reported on black America’s march to freedom from two of the most divergent viewpoints: the protesters on the ground, converging upon the courthouses, state houses, and legislatures to peacefully demand their constitutional rights, struggling to win the battle before others might take up the fight in suicidal desperation; and the men in the White House; the succession of U.S. presidents confronted with an unstoppable movement, and for one reason or another irrationally wishing it would go away.

“I was one of a small but dedicated cadre of black reporters and photographers whose stories and photographs in the black press finally drew the attention of mainstream media — and the world — to incidents of state-supported terrorism, as cameras caught public officials turning their backs on white mob violence, police siccing vicious dogs on peaceful protesters, powerful fire houses slamming down women and children, and police horses galloping over prone bodies. The stories and pictures brought a hue and cry from around the world, an embarrassed White House was finally shamed into action.

“As Washington bureau chief for Jet and its glossy sister, the monthly Ebony magazine, for more than fifty years, I reported on all the players, including ten U.S. presidents, until I retired in 2007. . .”

In the White Press, ‘Friends Thought I Was Dying’

In the fall/winter 1993/94 issue of Washington History, a publication of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., former Washington Post editor Ben W. Gilbert wrote about Simeon Booker’s brief time as the Post’s first African American reporter:

“In 1952 Simeon Booker, the ‘pioneer’ black reporter, was unprepared for his reception in the newsroom. Coldness and hostility replaced the support usually volunteered newcomers. Outside the newsroom, Booker encountered questioning of his credentials, cab drivers who would not pick him up, the overtly racist Chief of Police Robert Barrett, who once physically threatened him, and a lack of welcoming eating places.

“Endeavoring to break through Booker’s isolation, the city editor assigned a sympathetic ‘buddy’ to help him navigate the newsroom. Murrey Marder described the effort: ‘I was asked … to give [Booker] as much guidance and back-stopping as possible.’ Marder wrote, ‘I knew he was going to have a very rough time, as an extremely shy, gentle fellow, propelled into the doubly hostile Washington police reporting atmosphere. A black Post reporter required an awfully thick hide to survive; it was not surprising that Simeon did not, but he did well for himself elsewhere.’

“Ruefully recalling his experience at the Post, which ended in June 1953 with his departure for Johnson Publications, Booker commented, ‘God knows, I tried to succeed at the Post. I struggled so hard that friends thought I was dying, I looked so fatigued. After a year and a half, I had to give up. Trying to cover news in a city where even animal cemeteries were segregated overwhelmed me.”

. . . An Enthusiastic Supporter of Journal-isms

As Journal-isms undertook its “Stay Woke” fund-raising drive this year and last, Simeon Booker graciously contributed this testimonial last March:

“I devoted more than 60 years of my life to news reporting, from a weekly Black newspaper to the Washington Post and then on to more than a half-century with the best little magazine ever — JET.

“Now, at 98, I have few words left to say, but I can’t let this opportunity pass without expressing the greatest respect and appreciation – and the highest recommendation — for an enterprise that today carries on the mission in the finest tradition — Richard Prince’s Journal-isms. Read it, appreciate its unique contribution in challenging times, and make sure we don’t lose it.”

Black Women Break Their Silence

Dec. 8, 2017

Bullying, Structural Racism With Rose, Hockenberry

Detroit Anchor Placed on Leave After Accusation

Kimberly Godwin Named VP of News at CBS

TV One: ‘NewsOne Now’ to Return in New Format

Paper Calls Guilty Verdict for Ex-Cop a Milestone

Standing Rock Shows Need to Scrutinize Newsfeeds

CUNY Hopes to Fill Gap Left by New America Media

Mexican Seeking Asylum in U.S. Fears for Life

Asian Americans Say They Feel Discrimination

Less Attention for Drug Poisonings of Nonwhites

Short Takes

Bullying, Structural Racism With Rose, Hockenberry

As Time magazine named “The Silence Breakers: The Voices That Launched a Movement” as its “Person of the Year,” black women spoke out in a way they had not previously, adding their stories about the workplace.

One, Rebecca Carroll, wrote in Esquire, “in this watershed moment of examination and reckoning as one powerful white man after another is disgraced following allegations of sexual misconduct ranging from harassment to assault, we’re still not talking about the ramifications for black women — or the broader connection to structural racism in America. . . .”

Carroll wrote about her experience on the production team of Charlie Rose’s television interview show, but black women who said they had been bullied by host John Hockenberry on New York Public Radio’s “The Takeaway” also spoke out.

“I speak up now for the women and women of color and people of color who are doing incredible work in public radio,” Adaora Udoji wrote Wednesday for the Guardian. “They deserve to be treated fairly. They deserve for meritocracy to be more than a buzzword. . . .”

Farai Chideya, who followed Udoji in the job, went on “The Takeaway” to say her experience was devastating both emotionally and financially. “This is not just a WNYC issue. This is a systemic issue and we all have a role in fixing it,” (audio) Chideya told host Todd Zwillich on Thursday.

Writing in New York magazine on Dec. 1, Suki Kim disclosed the problems that Hockenberry, who is white, had with black women co-hosts on a show designed to spotlight diversity.

The “first, Nigerian-American broadcaster Adaora Udoji, was gone after eight months. (She declined to comment; she reportedly signed a nondisclosure agreement with the station.) The vacant seat was filled, for about four months, by African-American journalist Farai Chideya. Initially Hockenberry was friendly, she said, but when it seemed like she might become a regular, he ‘got nastier.’

“One day, after a story meeting in which Hockenberry became argumentative, she said, he called her into his office. ‘You shouldn’t stay here just as a “diversity hire,” ‘ he told her, according to Chideya. ‘And you should go lose weight.’

“Chideya said she recounted the incident to CEO Laura Walker, who called it ‘horrifying’ but didn’t propose any action. A few weeks afterward, Chideya decided to leave ‘The Takeaway.’ She is now a program officer for journalism at the Ford Foundation, but she said the experience ‘derailed’ her for a time: ‘All these decisions have consequences. Public radio doesn’t become more diverse if you keep protecting people who abuse women of color, or just women.’

“Her successor, African-American Celeste Headlee, said she came into the job hearing about the conflict between Udoji and Hockenberry, and she had hoped that she’d be able to handle him better. But as Headlee laid out in emails to her superiors in April 2012, Hockenberry was professionally ‘sabotaging’ her; he interrupted her on air, ‘trampled’ her lead-ins, and didn’t ‘allow guests to finish answering questions [she] posed.’

“If she tried to discuss it with him, he’d blow up, she told the station, insulting her publicly. As a solution, her boss arranged sessions for Headlee with a ‘radio personality’ coach, who Headlee said focused mainly on teaching her how to deal with a ‘difficult personality’ — how to keep from getting ‘rattled.’

“(As far as Headlee knows, Hockenberry was not asked to get any coaching — which isn’t surprising, she added, because one of the station’s execs told her that the only reason Hockenberry was ‘misbehaving’ was that she wasn’t doing her job well.) Four months after she filed a formal grievance, the station decided not to renew her contract. ‘How did John keep his job for so long?’ she mused. ‘Men like John are protected for decades.’ ”

Hockenberry left his nearly decade-long job hosting “The Takeaway” in August, Kim wrote. “He did not announce any future plans. From the outside, his departure seemed odd: Hockenberry was only 61 years old and, according to a press release released by WNYC, ‘The Takeaway’ was ‘at a high point in its evolution, with 2.7 million weekly listeners and carriage on more than 270 stations.’ From the inside — from the point of view of women I’d eventually interview who had worked with him — there was less surprise: What had he finally done to cross the line? . . .”

• Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post: Time’s Person of the Year breaks silence on sexual harassment and changes our culture
• Tyler Falk, Current.org: WNYC CEO Laura Walker: ‘I take responsibility’
• Suzette Hackney, Indianapolis Star: Sorry, Trump, Time magazine got it right
• John Koblin and Michael M. Grynbaum, New York Times: The New ‘60 Minutes’ Book Has a Troubled History
• Alessandra Monnerat, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas: Brazilian journalists report daily sexual harassment and gender discrimination in newsrooms
• Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: What next for #MeToo, America?
• Michael R. Sisak and Yvonne Lee, Associated Press: Accusers take on toxic culture in TV newsrooms
• Pam Vogel, Media Matters for America: How news outlets have treated reports of sexual harassment in their own newsrooms

Detroit Anchor Placed on Leave After Accusation

In Detroit, “WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) put news anchor Malcom Maddox on administrative leave Wednesday after the station was accused, at a news conference Wednesday morning of brushing aside allegations of sexual harassment made against Maddox,” Allie Gross reported Wednesday for the Detroit Free Press, updated Thursday.

“At a live-streamed news conference, the Rev. W.J. Rideout III, pastor of Our God’s People Church in Detroit, claimed that station management — including Vice President and General Manager Mike Murri — were informed of sexual harassment allegations by a current employee and failed to address the issue, instead promoting Maddox and moving the woman to a new assignment. . . .”

Gross also reported, “Near the end of the news conference, Rideout expanded his accusations to include a more broad list of media members. He brought up the names of WXYZ anchor Stephen Clark, who announced on Monday that he’ll be retiring in February, and Free Press Editorial Page Editor Stephen Henderson, but did not make any specific accusations. . . .”

• Yashar Ali, HuffPost: Former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. Fired For Misconduct By Morgan Stanley
• Rekha Basu, Des Moines Register: Franken goes, but Moore stays with GOP support. Will that be a turning point for women
• Editorial, Dallas Morning News: As Trump support for Roy Moore echoes loudly, Texas GOP leaders have lost their voice
• Editorial, News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.: Conyers exits as movement against harassment gains momentum
• Renée Graham, Boston Globe: Will white women send accused child molester to the US Senate?
• Adam Johnson, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting: Headlines Ignore the Abuse Reports That Make Moore Endorsement Newsworthy
• Askia Muhammad, Washington Informer: John Conyers, Fallen Hero
• Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Ending the era of boorish male privilege
• Rochelle Riley, Detroit Free Press: Rep. Lawrence resisted frenzy to denounce Conyers — and still wants due process

Kimberly Godwin Named VP of News at CBS

Kimberly Godwin, a journalist with more than a decade at CBS News, has been named vice president of news, the network announced Wednesday.

“In her new position, Godwin will be responsible for the editorial direction, launch and coordination of all CBS News newsgathering resources domestically and around the globe,” the announcement said.

“She will also continue her role as executive director for Development and Diversity, where she has enhanced CBS News’ profile at conferences around the country and cultivated a strong pipeline of potential employees. She has also developed a lecture series that features top CBS News journalists sharing their reporting experiences with colleagues.

“ ‘Kim is a proven editorial leader from her years at the CBS EVENING NEWS and throughout the organization, where she has led the charge in our inclusion and development efforts,’ CBS News President David Rhodes said.

“Godwin has been serving as senior broadcast producer of the CBS EVENING NEWS since 2014. . . . An accomplished newsroom leader and executive, Godwin has helped shape the network’s flagship evening broadcast and the network’s coverage of major national and international events. . . .”

“In addition to being a veteran of network and local news, Godwin has spent time as a journalism educator. She was the interim director for journalism at the School of Journalism and Graphic Communication at Florida A&M University (2004-2005) and an adjunct faculty member (2003-2004) teaching newswriting, reporting and ethics. She is currently the Chair of the Board of Visitors of the journalism school at FAMU. . . .”

TV One: ‘NewsOne Now’ to Return in New Format

Syndicated radio jock Tom Joyner called for a boycott of TV One Thursday after its decision to pull “NewsOne Now” with Roland Martin, effective Dec. 21, but on Friday, TV One called its action a “suspension” and said “TV One is working to restructure NewsOne Now in 2018 under a new format that will better serve its audience and advertisers.”

Joyner declared on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show,” “I’m calling for a boycott! I’m not trying to dress it up” (audio). “It always comes down to money. All of television is suffering now, but to heal the many issues by sacrificing your community is not the answer.”

Joyner’s show is part of Urban One, which is also the parent company of TV One. He said he might be suspended, as ESPN did with Jemele Hill when she called for a boycott of the NFL, but so be it. Joyner and his sidekicks also gave out the telephone number of TV One so listeners could register their protests.

Martin is a senior analyst for the Joyner show, where his segment is heard on more than 100 stations reaching 8 million people daily, according to TV One.

Martin tweeted Wednesday night, “Fam, the sad news is true. The staff of @tvonetv #NewsnewOneNow was informed this afternoon that after four years of doing groundbreaking and award-winning work, the show will cease production at the end of the year.

Friday’s TV One statement said, “The network invested in the production of NewsOne Now for the past four years. In an effort to save the program, adjustments were made to the format this quarter. Despite the network’s commitment and investment, NewsOne Now did not gain traction with advertisers and viewers. . . .”

CEO Alfred Liggins also said in the release, “As a Black-owned multi-media company, Urban One (parent company of TV One) engages Black America daily, not just on television, but radio and also online via NewsOne.com and on 77 digital platforms. We know there is a void in mainstream media and we plan to continue to be an outlet for Black news. Roland Martin will be a part of that plan.”

The National Association of Black Journalists urged TV One to reconsider. “In a year where journalists have faced daily assaults and attempts to discredit their work with the onslaught of claims of ‘fake news,’ NABJ is concerned by TV One’s decision to halt its signature news program, one of the most credible news sources, especially for black and disenfranchised communities,” it said in a statement.

Martin tweeted Thursday, “Tough morning. Had to tell our NBC News Channel crew that @tvonetv #NewsOneNow is ending. Lot of my white staffers were moved to tears. Why am I saying that? They expressed how much they learned about Black America working with us for 4 years. This show changed lives, folks.”

• Alfred Edmond Jr., Black Enterprise: How Roland Martin Made Black Media Matter

Paper Calls Guilty Verdict for Ex-Cop a Milestone

“Justice was not swift, but it has been served,” the Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., editorialized on Thursday, updated Friday.

“On Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Norton sentenced former North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager to 20 years in prison for the shooting death of Walter Scott, bringing to an end a painful chapter in the city’s history.

“Mr. Norton’s decision came on the third day of testimony in a sentencing hearing after Mr. Slager pled guilty in May to federal civil rights charges. Mr. Slager shot Mr. Scott in the back five times in April 2015 as Mr. Scott was running away from police following a routine traffic stop.

“Judge Norton had a wide range of sentencing options: Mr. Slager could have received a life sentence or he could have been set free.

“It is frustrating that the case could not have been resolved in a state trial, which ended with a hung jury in December. Consequently, Mr. Slager, who is white, was sentenced under a federal civil rights violation of using excessive force to deprive Mr. Scott, a black man, of his rights under the law.

“The underlying charge was second-degree murder, according to Judge Norton. The federal prison system does not have parole, meaning that Mr. Slager will have to serve his entire term, barring a successful appeal.

“Mr. Slager’s guilty plea and his sentence mark milestones in the ongoing effort to bring greater accountability to police departments and address racial disparities in policing both here in the Lowcountry and nationwide. . . .”

• Radley Balko, Washington Post: Walter Scott’s killer is going to prison. But his case is an anomaly.
• Editorial, Daily News, New York: Justice in South Carolina: Accountability for Walter Scott’s life
• Editorial, Dallas Morning News: Police indictments 16 months after Tony Timpa’s death show the dangers when officials stonewall
• Editorial, Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch: Dismaying racial disparities in sentencing persist
• Brian Hicks, Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.: The Slager case has left many casualties in its wake
• Mary Mitchell, Chicago Sun-Times: Jason Van Dyke’s lawyer makes mockery of torture cases
• James Ragland, Dallas Morning News: South Carolina cop who shot black man in the back got what he deserved

Standing Rock Shows Need to Scrutinize Newsfeeds

“I get approached frequently to discuss my time spent reporting from Standing Rock, the Indigenous-led movement to try to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Jenni Monet, who was arrested during the protests, wrote Thursday for opendemocracy.net.

“But what’s funny about these invitations is that they almost always incorporate some notion that I was there as an activist — and without even asking me if that was, indeed, the case. . . .”

“But here’s the thing: Indian Country can be a complicated wander at times, and to routinely simplify the narrative perhaps perpetuates situations like we saw at Standing Rock, where major media presence was uneven at best. It was a stark absence, the lack of journalists on the ground during some of the most critical moments of the movement.

“It took a harrowing night of police weaponising water on protesters before major newsrooms ultimately sent crews to the standoff. If it hadn’t been for water protectors themselves live-streaming the episode on Facebook, many would have been led to believe what had been written by the regional Associated Press reporter, who called the sub-freezing night of police-led violence ‘skirmishes’. But even though citizen journalism corrected where mainstream under-performed, we need to recognise the relationship between the two — and start to scrutinise all newsfeeds that come across our screens.

“Since that sub-freezing night of 20 November 2016, we’ve seen an unraveling of documentation that proves that the North Dakota police used military-style tactics, guided by a former CIA operative behind the for-hire security firm, TigerSwan. From revelations by the DeSmogBlog, The Intercept and other bottom-up revelations, it’s clear that North Dakota police targeted demonstrators, treating them not unlike ‘jihadists’; they were profiled as ‘terrorists’, and some were even formally charged with such allegations.

“Again, it’s easy to see how a Native American journalist could be seen as an activist with so much stacked up against people demanding clean water. . . .”

CUNY Hopes to Fill Gap Left by New America Media

“A New York university is exploring how it could help fill the role of a national organization for ethnic and community media that closed last month,” April Simpson reported Thursday for Current.org.

“The California-based nonprofit Pacific News Service and its subsidiary New America Media closed Nov. 30 after a 45-year run. When the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism learned of the impending closure, the school started reaching out to its network of journalism schools and funders.

“A collaboration that grew to include more than 3,000 ethnic and community media organizations in the U.S., PNS and NAM had spearheaded initiatives including youth media programs, a wire service, an ethnic media directory and multilingual polling services. Its staff included editors, reporters and a statewide coordinator and program director for youth media. . . .”

Simpson also wrote, “CUNY is now looking to fill the gap left by NAM’s closure by expanding on the work of a center in its journalism school. Launched in 2012, the Center for Community and Ethnic Media focuses on the New York Tri-State area. CUNY started the CCEM by assuming assets from the financially struggling New York Community Media Alliance, a spinoff of the Independent Press Association, which had close ties to NAM, said Sarah Bartlett, dean of CUNY’s journalism graduate school. . . .

“CUNY wants to partner with journalism schools in five cities to replicate the CCEM model nationwide. Bartlett said she is considering partners in California, Texas, Miami, Chicago and the Midwest, and that she anticipates the effort will be sustainable because its partners will be housed within larger institutions. . . .”

Mexican Seeking Asylum in U.S. Fears for Life

“A Mexican journalist who sought asylum in the United States in 2008 was arrested by U.S. immigration agents this week and told he would be deported, though an appeals board temporarily halted his removal Friday — sparing his life for now, he said,” Nick Miroff reported Friday for the Washington Post.

Emilio Gutierrez, 54, who in October received a press freedom award from the National Press Club in Washington, said he and his 24-year-old son, Oscar, were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Thursday while trying to enter an appeal to their asylum claim.

“ ‘We can’t go back to Mexico. They’ll kill us,’ Gutierrez said, using his attorney’s cellphone to speak from an ICE detention center in Sierra Blanca, Texas.

“Gutierrez said he and his son fled northern Mexico’s Chihuahua state in 2008 after he published stories exposing the abuses committed by soldiers who robbed and extorted residents in his hometown, Ascención, a notorious drug trafficking hub.

“After soldiers ransacked his home, Gutierrez said he learned his name appeared on a military ‘kill list,’ so he fled across the border into Texas with his then-teenage son.

“In July, after living nine years in the United States, Gutierrez’s asylum request was denied, and an appeal was rejected in early November. His attorney, Eduardo Beckett, said Gutierrez and his son were handcuffed and jailed Thursday when they presented themselves at an ICE processing center to enter an emergency appeal.

“ ‘I’ll go anywhere in the world,’ Gutierrez said. ‘Any place is safer for me than Mexico.’

“In a statement Friday, ICE officials said Gutierrez remains in custody pending a decision on his appeal. ‘Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case,’ the statement said. . . .”

• Kathy Kiely, National Press Club: National Press Club Press Freedom Award Winner Narrowly Avoids Deportation; Mexican journalist Emilio Gutierrez now in detention in El Paso
• UPDATE: Journalism Advocates Deplore Attempt To Deport Press Freedom Award Winner (Nov. 18)

Asian Americans Say They Feel Discrimination

“A poll of a representative sample of 500 Asian Americans found a significant number in the community say they have personally experienced discrimination,” AsAmNews reported on Wednesday.

“The survey conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is part of a larger survey of African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, whites, men, women and LGBTQ adults.

“ ‘Our poll shows that Asian American families have the highest average income among the groups we’ve surveyed, and yet the poll still finds that Asian Americans experience persistent discrimination in housing, jobs and at college,’ said Robert Blendon to NPR. ‘Over the course of our series, we are seeing again and again that income is not a shield from discrimination.” Blendon co-directed the survey and is a professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard Chan School. . . .”

• NPR, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Discrimination in America: Experiences and Views of Asian Americans [PDF]

Less Attention for Drug Poisonings of Nonwhites

“The American opioid crisis is only part of an overall drug abuse emergency,” Susan Scutti reported Monday for CNN. “Cocaine-related overdose deaths among non-Hispanic blacks are on par with overdose deaths caused by heroin and prescription opioids among whites, according to a study published Monday in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

” ‘Numerous US national surveillance studies and media reports have highlighted an alarming rise in drug poisoning deaths in recent years,’ said Meredith Shiels, a co-author of the study and an investigator at the National Cancer Institute. However, most of the studies focus on opioid-related deaths, including prescription painkillers, heroin and fentanyl. They also tend to emphasize the fact that death rates are ‘rising most rapidly among white Americans,’ she said.

“The researchers, from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Cancer Institute, found that cocaine overdoses also killed Hispanics and whites over the time period studied. . . .”

Short Takes

• “It’s official. In the 40 days after Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico, at least 985 additional people died, when compared to the same period in 2016, new data first obtained by the Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI) shows . . .,” Omaya Sosa Pascual reported Thursday for the Center for Investigative Journalism, English version by Julio Ricardo Varela of Latino USA. ” . . . This new data confirms the findings of a September 28 CPI investigation, revealing that at that time there were dozens and possibly hundreds of deaths linked to the hurricane . . . Today, more than two months after the catastrophe, the official death count stands at 62, due to the poor methodology being used to analyze and account for cases, according to reporting by the CPI. . . .”
• “Black journalists like myself who cover social justice beats experience . . . toxic stress like second-hand smoke,” Chauncey Alcorn wrote Friday for vice.com. “It hits me every time I write another story on extrajudicial murder, or police misconduct, or a Trayvon Martin Halloween costume. . . .”
• “A surprise presenter proved to be a showstopper at the 2017 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Awards . . .” Lisa Respers France reported Wednesday for CNN. “Superstar Beyoncé turned up to give the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award to former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. . . .”
• “Major companies including McDonald’s, Lyft, and Kaiser Permanente have pulled advertising from one of the last remaining bastions for white nationalists and neo-Nazis, internet radio, following inquiries from BuzzFeed News,” Blake Montgomery reported Thursday for BuzzFeed. “The companies said they were unaware of the ad placements, which appear to have found their way to racist internet radio programs via algorithms without direct human oversight. . . . “
• “MSNBC host Joy Reid issued an apology on Sunday for a series of blog posts nearly a decade ago, mostly critical of former Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, that have been criticized as homophobic and ‘anti-gay,’ ” Brooke Sopelsa reported Sunday for NBC News.
• “Earlier this month, a CNN investigation revealed that migrant slave auctions are occurring in Libya . . .,” Sarah Friedmann reported two weeks ago for bustle.com, reprinted Nov. 29 by the Michigan Chronicle. “Here’s how you, too, can help stop the slave trade in Libya (and around the world) by engaging in advocacy campaigns and helping fund development and anti-slavery initiatives. . . .”
• The Arab American Institute said Tuesday that a new poll “shows American favorable attitudes of Arabs, Muslims, Arab Americans and American Muslims have risen to their highest levels in the past decade with majorities now having favorable attitudes toward both Arab Americans and American Muslims and a plurality positively inclined towards Arabs and Muslims. There are increases in positive ratings among every demographic and partisan group — including those who self-describe as Trump supporters. Nevertheless, there remains a deep partisan split. . . .”
• “Conservative local TV news giant Sinclair Broadcast Group has produced two ‘must-run’ segments misrepresenting the work of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and casting doubt on its ‘hate group’ designations,” Brennan Suen reported Friday for Media Matters for America.
• “Sharon Reed is the hero we never knew we needed,” Caitlyn Hitt reported Thursday for the Daily News in New York. “The CBS 46 [Atlanta’s WGCL-TV] news anchor’s name made national headlines earlier this week after she clapped back at a viewer for sending a profanity-laden email. In the virtual correspondence the writer, identified as Kathy Rae, hurled racist epithets at Reed for discussing race on air during a broadcast about the Atlanta mayoral election. . . .”
• “The Boston Herald has been sold to GateHouse Media,” Michelle Williams reported Friday for masslive.com. “Publisher Patrick J. Purcell announced the sale to staff in the Herald offices during a Friday afternoon meeting, the same day it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. . . .”
• Rebekah Allen of the Advocate in Baton Rouge, La., was one of the seven local reporters and their newsrooms chosen for the inaugural ProPublica Local Reporting Network, ProPublica announced Friday. “The yearlong initiative, which kicks off in January, was created to support investigative journalism at local and regional news organizations, particularly in cities with populations below 1 million. ProPublica will reimburse the newsrooms for salary for the selected reporters and provide extensive support and guidance. . . .”
• “Former White House strategist Steve Bannon delivered remarks on Tuesday before an audience of African American entrepreneurs, where he discussed President Donald Trump’s economic agenda and blamed illegal immigration for the economic stagnation of other minority groups,” Selena Hill reported Friday for Black Enterprise. The event was organized by Black Americans for a Better Future, a conservative SuperPAC founded by Raynard Jackson, a Republican strategist who writes a column for the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
• “Conservative political commentator Armstrong Williams told the Federal Communications Commissions in an ex parte filing that Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Tribune Media Co. would allow minority-owned businesses to gain licensed stations and market share,” Tiffany Hu reported Thursday for law360.com.
• CBS News correspondent’s Bill Whitaker’s high-rise living room in Harlem was the subject of a “My Space” Q-and-A feature by Steven Kurutz Friday in the New York Times. “When Mr. Whitaker landed at ’60 Minutes’ in 2014, he and his wife, Terry, left Los Angeles after two decades and moved to a modern apartment overlooking Central Park. . . .”
• Applications are being accepted for the Reuters-NABJ Fellowship, “which provides substantial tuition assistance, editorial training, mentorship and internship opportunities to an incoming graduate student in the Business & Economic Reporting (BER) program at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.” NYU’s deadline for applications is Jan. 4 for fall 2018 admission.
• “DJ and producer Questlove, talk show host Dr. Phil and journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault find astonishing tales of bondage in their family histories” in Henry Louis Gates’ “Finding Your Roots” series, scheduled to air on public television Tuesday.
• “For three years, journalists Alejandra Sánchez Inzunza and José Luis Pardo Veiras, and Pablo Ferri . . . traveled more than 34,000 miles through 18 Latin American countries in a third-hand Volkswagen Pointer,” Paola Nalvarte reported Wednesday for the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. “Their objective: to tell the story of the region’s cocaine route. . . . Now, Sánchez and Pardo are touring cities and towns in seven of the region’s most violent countries in search of answers to a new question: Why are more people killed in Latin America than in any other part of the world? . . .”
• “Two freelancers from the US have been refused entry to Honduras, where they were planning to cover the tumultuous aftermath of the country’s disputed recent presidential election,” Jon Allsop reported Wednesday for Columbia Journalism Review. “The reporters, Jihan Hafiz and Reed Lindsay, say they were turned away from the Central American country for dubious reasons, and that when they called the US Embassy for assistance they were told by a staffer, ‘It’s not my problem. You’re an adult, figure it out. ‘. . .”

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

Follow Richard Prince on Twitter @princeeditor

About Richard Prince

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

• Courtland Milloy, Washington Post: An advocate for diversity in the media is still pressing for representation (Nov. 28, 2017)
• Morgan Global Journalism Review: Journal-isms Journeys On (Aug. 31, 2017)
• Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2016
• Book Notes: 16 Writers Dish About ‘Chelle,’ the First Lady
• Book Notes: From Coretta to Barack, and in Search of the Godfather
• Journal-isms’ Richard Prince Wants Your Ideas (FishbowlDC, Feb. 26, 2016)
• “JOURNAL-ISMS” IS LATEST TO BEAR BRUNT OF INDUSTRY’S ECONOMIC WOES (Feb. 19, 2016)
• Richard Prince with Charlayne Hunter-Gault,“PBS NewsHour,” “What stagnant diversity means for America’s newsrooms” (Dec. 15, 2015)
• Book Notes: Journalists Follow Their Passions
• Book Notes: Journalists Who Rocked Their World
• Book Notes: Hands Up! Read This!
• Book Notes: New Cosby Bio Looks Like a Best-Seller
• Journo-diversity advocate turns attention to Ezra Klein project (Erik Wemple, Washington Post, March 5, 2014)
• Book Notes: “Love, Peace and Soul!” And More
• Book Notes: Book Notes: Soothing the Senses, Shocking the Conscience
• Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2015
• Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2014
• Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2013
• Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2012
• Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2011
• Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2010
• Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2009
• Diversity’s Greatest Hits, 2008
• Book Notes: Books to Ring In the New Year
• Book Notes: In-Your-Face Holiday Reads
• Fishbowl Interview With the Fresh Prince of D.C. (Oct. 26, 2012)
• NABJ to Honor Columnist Richard Prince With Ida B. Wells Award (Oct. 11, 2012)
• So What Do You Do, Richard Prince, Columnist for the Maynard Institute? (Richard Horgan, FishbowlLA, Aug. 22, 2012)
• Book Notes: Who Am I? What’s Race Got to Do With It?: Journalists Explore Identity
• Book Notes: Catching Up With Books for the Fall
• Richard Prince Helps Journalists Set High Bar (Jackie Jones,BlackAmericaWeb.com, 2011)
• Book Notes: 10 Ways to Turn Pages This Summer
• Book Notes: 7 for Serious Spring Reading
• Book Notes: 7 Candidates for the Journalist’s Library
• Book Notes: 9 That Add Heft to the Bookshelf
• Five Minutes With Richard Prince (Newspaper Association of America, 2005)
• ‘Journal-isms’ That Engage and Inform Diverse Audiences (Q&A with Mallary Jean Tenore, Poynter Institute, 2008)