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Some Papers Resist Requests for Pay Info

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Biggest Gaps Between White Men, Women of Color

Black Employees Complain of Bias at Facebook

‘Tsunami of Disinformation’ Hits Facebook Users

Black Homophobia Not the Issue, Columnists Say

New Yorker Debuts Online Documentary Fest

‘A Needless Hurt Inflicted by a President’

‘Giving Birth While Black’ Has Own Issues

Editorial Ties Tubman Film to $20 Bill

Smith’s ESPN Contract Said to Approach $8M a Year

Desiree Rogers Leads Group Buying Fashion Fair

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The Post has never conducted and released to the public a comprehensive pay study of its own.

“The facts tell us that The Post has a problem with pay disparity. The Post has never conducted and released to the public a comprehensive pay study of its own. So this year, Post Guild decided to do one itself,” the Washington Post Guild wrote. (Credit: Melina Mara/Washington Post)

Biggest Gaps Between White Men, Women of Color

A report by the Washington Post Guild that shows a wide pay gap between white men and women of color at the Post is part of national initiative that has seen “Most employers . . . fighting back by either refusing to work with us or putting in wage increases on their own — or both,” Bernie Lunzer, president of the NewsGuild – CWA, told Journal-isms.

“Young employees of color across the newsroom don’t have complete parity with their young white colleagues,” [PDF] the report said Wednesday. “Among those under 40, newsroom employees of color make about 7 percent less than white journalists, with median salaries of $84,780 and $90,780, respectively. The disparity widens for journalists 40 and over: Newsroom employees of color have a median salary of $110,845, while their white colleagues have a median salary of $128,484 — a gap of nearly 16 percent.”

The report also said, “In the newsroom, 71 percent of salaried Guild-eligible employees are white and 24 percent of employees are nonwhite. Below are the median salaries by race and ethnicity across the newsroom:

“White: $106, 212
“Black: $97,276
“Asian: $95,205
“Hispanic or Latino: $82,890
“Two or more races: $79,860”

The Guild concluded, “The Post underpays men and women of color relative to white men. It pays white women about the median for their age.”

The report included personal testimonies. One female employee, “a 35-year-old award-winning journalist who started as an intern in the mid-2000s, recently found out that all of the men on her team are paid more than her — even though she’s been at The Post longer than all of them and has been working in journalism longer than most of them.

“One of the men on her team is paid more than $30,000 more than her. . . .”

The study found that in the newsroom:

The company disputed the findings. “The Post is committed to paying employees fairly for the work they perform, and we believe that we do so, taking into account relevant factors like position, years of experience, and performance,” spokesperson Kristine M. Coratti said in a statement.

“It is regrettable that the Guild published a report on pay that does not appear to accurately account for these and other relevant factors, which have nothing to do with race or gender. In fact, the Guild concedes that its study’s ‘topline numbers such as median salary by gender or race and ethnicity cannot capture the entire story of pay at The Post.’ We believe the report is seriously flawed. It is disappointing that the Guild chose to issue it — The Post told the Guild before its release that we had many questions about their methodology.”

(Credit: Washington Post Guild)

The Guild has made a priority of eliminating pay gaps at least since 2016, when a similar survey at the Wall Street Journal found that female reporters earned  an average of 91 cents for every dollar their male counterparts made.

The same year, the Washington-Baltimore News Guild found that white male reporters at The Post out-earn all other reporters by an average of 20 percent, and that at the New York Times, Lukas I. Alpert reported then for the Wall Street Journal, “union-represented minority employees at the Times earn 10% less than the average wage at the paper, while women are paid 7% less.”

Lunzer messaged Journal-isms Friday, “We need to do a new summary. As you know we’ve had considerable activity, especially at larger papers. We have told locals that we are requiring them to make wage info requests every time they’re headed in to bargaining and do an analysis. Part of what has helped us a lot is CWA’s willingness to do a lot of the work in-house,” referring to the Communications Workers of America.

“Most employers are fighting back by either refusing to work with us or putting in wage increases on their own — or both. I fully expect at least one new lawsuit to come from our efforts.

“Most importantly we are advocating strongly across the country for pay equity and [that] seems to be paying off. We helped with a really great presentation at NABJ and we’re working on one now for NAHJ,” referring to the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. “Both of those groups are still sometimes skittish about not wanting to ‘anger management.’ ”

The Guild made these recommendations:

Micro-targeted data intended for advertising on social media are being used to to change power structures globally, says Philippine journalist Maria Ressa. (video) (Credit: Joy Sharon Yi/Washington Post)

Black Employees Complain of Bias at Facebook

“An anonymous memo alleging Facebook still has a problem with racial bias is circulating inside the company one year after a former employee complained of racism and discrimination there,” Jessica Guynn reported Friday, updated Saturday, for USA Today,

“The Medium post from 12 current and former employees, first reported by Business Insider, details a number of incidents, suggesting morale has sunk even lower since Mark Luckie published his Facebook post about discrimination on the company’s Silicon Valley campus and on the social media giant’s platform.

“Both missives expose the racial fault lines in the mostly white tech industry and how the stubbornly persistent lack of representation and agency of African-Americans inside Facebook directly affects how black people on Facebook and its other platforms are treated.

“ ‘We may be smiling. We may post on Instagram with industry influencers and celebrities. We may use the IG “Share Black Stories” filter and be featured on marketing pieces. We may embrace each other and share how happy we are to have the opportunity to work with a company that impacts nearly three billion people,’ the anonymous memo says. ‘On the inside, we are sad. Angry. Oppressed. Depressed. And treated every day through the micro and macro aggressions as if we do not belong here.’ . . . ”

‘Tsunami of Disinformation’ Hits Facebook Users

“A year out from the 2020 presidential election, a flood of fake news is already consuming Facebook, with U.S. voters hit with a ‘tsunami of disinformation’ in the last three months,” David Gilbert reported Wednesday for Vice. “But unlike in 2016, this fake news is not coming from Russia, but from within the U.S.

“Researchers at Avaaz, a non-profit human rights activism network, say they have so far found no evidence of coordinated disinformation campaigns from foreign actors — but even without these campaigns, Facebook users in the U.S. are being overwhelmed by misleading content.

“ ‘Politically relevant disinformation was found to have reached over 158 million estimated views, enough to reach every reported registered voter in the U.S. at least once,’ the report published on Wednesday morning said.

“That disinformation could influence the outcome of the 2020 election is hardly surprising, but ‘what is surprising is that the surge of disinformation affecting 2020 is happening much earlier than the 2016 election,’ Luca Nicotra, a senior campaigner with Avaaz, told VICE News.”

On Monday, Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, and leaders from about 10 civil rights groups dined with Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and warned him that politicians might try to suppress the vote by spreading misinformation during upcoming elections and the 2020 Census. They challenged Facebook’s decision to exempt politicians’ ads from fact-checking.

Vice’s Gilbert also wrote of the Avaaz study, “Almost all of the fake news observed by the researchers was negative in nature, with 62 percent attacking Democrats and 29 percent against Republicans. The remaining 9 percent of the disinformation stories in the sample were ‘positive,’ and all of them were pro-Republicans/Conservatives. . . .”

Black Homophobia Not the Issue, Columnists Say

Pete Buttigieg with black supporters in Chicago. (Credit: Facebook)

Some mainstream black columnists, including two who self-identify as gay, are pushing back on the notion that African Americans will not vote for South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg because of his sexual orientation.

“Internal focus groups conducted by Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign this summer reveal a possible reason why he is struggling with African-American voters: some see his sexuality as a problem,” David Catanese reported Oct. 22 for McClatchy.

“The 21-page report, conducted by the Benenson Strategy Group with black Democratic South Carolina voters in mid-July and obtained exclusively by McClatchy, found that ‘being gay was a barrier for these voters, particularly for the men who seemed deeply uncomfortable even discussing it. … [T]heir preference is for his sexuality to not be front and center.’ . . .”

“Yes, Buttigieg’s sexuality and his marriage to his husband, Chasten, may be a problem for some voters, regardless of their race,” Renée Graham wrote Tuesday in the Boston Globe. “Yet the greater barrier for the young mayor in garnering African-American support is likely his weak record on civil rights, racial inclusion, and police accountability. . . .”

Graham also wrote, “Because America never learns when it comes to racism, this is reminiscent of the ignorance peddled by Dan Savage, a gay columnist, in 2008. When California’s Proposition 8 outlawing gay marriage passed that year, Savage falsely claimed black people, who flocked to polls to elect the first black president, were to blame.

“ ‘I’m done pretending that the handful of racist gay white men out there . . . are a bigger problem for African-Americans, gay and straight, than the huge numbers of homophobic African-Americans are for gay Americans, whatever their color,’ Savage wrote in a column titled ‘Black Homophobia.’ (That piece seemed to have been scrubbed, but since the Internet never forgets, its most inflammatory quotes live on in cyber perpetuity.)

“As a member of the LGBTQ community, let me just say there are way more than a ‘handful of racist gay white men out there,’ and that I’ve faced far more racism from them than I’ve faced homophobia in the black community. . . .”

Others weighing in include Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post and Charles M. Blow of the New York Times.

“As a black man and gay man, it’s time that I respond to a talking point making the rounds that African Americans are homophobic and, therefore, won’t vote for Pete Buttigieg,”  Capehart wrote Friday under the headline, “The ugly lie about black voters and Pete Buttigieg.”

Blow wrote, “Reducing Pete Buttigieg’s struggle to attract black support solely to black homophobia is not only erroneous, it is a disgusting, racist trope, secretly nursed and insidiously whispered by white liberals with contempt for the very black people they court and need. . . .”

New Yorker Debuts Online Documentary Fest

“Lazarus,” directed by David Darg and produced by Bryn Mooser, follows Lazarus Chigwandali on his rise from Malawian street musician to global recording artist and human-rights activist, who is bringing attention to people with albinism. It is part of “The New Yorker Documentary,” “a video series showcasing true, human stories, both long and short, told in innovative ways,” according to the magazine.

“The series features a wide array of films, produced by filmmakers who are drawn to topics that define a particular time or place — from a funeral director confronting H.I.V./AIDS in his community, to a human-rights activist battling the stigma of albinism, to a young girl fleeing violence in Guatemala. . . .”

The series debuted on newyorker.com last month.

‘A Needless Hurt Inflicted by a President’

“Native Americans and others gathered recently at what has become a joyous annual ritual for the native community — the Twin Cities E.A.T.S.S. event that celebrates indigenous cuisine and raises awareness for the American Indian College Fund,” the Star Tribune in Minneapolis editorialized on Friday. “As this year’s patrons settled in with smoked bison and dishes flavored with cedar and juniper, listening to stories of achievement by young Indian students heading to careers in law, medicine and other fields, there was only one downbeat note.

“In announcing the program, the moderator said that historically, November has been recognized as National Native American Heritage Month, a source of pride in that community. This year, she said, President Donald Trump had also pronounced November to be the first National American History and Founders Month. In that proclamation, no mention was made of the previous 15,000 years of history by this land’s first inhabitants.

“A momentary pall fell over the room. No angry outbursts, just a lot of grimaces acknowledging yet another wound.

“This was a needless hurt inflicted by a president who so often seems to find a way to do just that. He had already renewed the Native American proclamation, as has every president before him since 1990. How cruel then, to force Native Americans to share even that small gesture with those responsible for taking their land and for all the atrocities that followed. . . .’

(Credit: Serena Williams/Twitter)

“Though she had an enviably easy pregnancy, what followed was the greatest medical ordeal of a life that has been punctuated by them,” Rob Haskell wrote the next year in Vogue about Serena Williams’ 2017 delivery. “Olympia was born by emergency C-section after her heart rate dove dangerously low during contractions. The surgery went off without a hitch; Alexis cut the cord, and the wailing newborn fell silent the moment she was laid on her mother’s chest. ‘That was an amazing feeling,’ Serena remembers. ‘And then everything went bad.’ . . .”

‘Giving Birth While Black’ Has Own Issues

“Black people are three and a half times more likely to die in childbirth than white people,” begins the description for “Learning to Listen to Patients,” a 17-minute segment of the University of Virginia public radio show “With Good Reason.” “Even highly educated, wealthy African Americans are at a greater risk of complications than whites. To combat the disparity, Dr. Rochanda Mitchell promotes hiring more African American nurse educators and providing anti-bias training for medical professionals.”

Other segments on the show devoted to “Giving Birth While Black”: “Bellamy Shoffner was well aware of the frightening statistics when she gave birth to her sons. Shoffner is Founder and Editor of Hold The Line Magazine, about social justice motherhood.”

And: “Although doulas have become more popular, they’re still expensive and often unavailable for high risk populations. Christin Farmer created Birthing Beautiful Communities, a non-profit that trains and provides doulas at no cost to African Americans in Cleveland, Ohio.”

Editorial Ties Tubman Film to $20 Bill

According to the New York Times, this is an early prototype of the Harriet Tubman version of the $20 bill.

“It’s easy to look back on American history and cast aspersions. But it’s harder to recognize the complexity and uneven nature of history,” the Dallas Morning News editorialized on Nov. 3.

“There are American heroes who dedicated — and risked — their lives forcing this nation to live up to its best ideals of human liberty.

“Harriet Tubman was one such woman.

“It’s one thing to talk about the basic principles that we all should follow: That all human beings deserve to be free to live their lives as they see fit. That we all should be afforded the rich opportunities this country has to offer.

“It’s quite another to have the courage to fight for them for ourselves and for others.

“There is no better example than Tubman. We’re particularly pleased that a new generation will get to learn about her bravery and perseverance with the movie Harriet that opened on Friday. . . .”

The editorial also said, “It’s not lost on us that this movie opens just months after the Trump administration announced that a planned redesign of the $20 bill that would replace the image of President Andrew Jackson with Tubman’s has been postponed until 2026. It was originally slated for next year, but the Treasury Department said it is delayed because of a focus on counterfeiting measures.

“We see it as a frustrating missed opportunity to honor a giant in our history. We urge Congress to restore a sense of urgency with this effort.

“Maybe lawmakers should take an hour-long field trip from D.C. to the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park on the Eastern Shore of Maryland to remind themselves of her importance. It opened in 2017 and includes a 125-mile memorial drive through key locations along the Underground Railroad. . . .”

Meanwhile, noting that Tubman is played in the movie by Cynthia Erivo, a black British woman, Farah Stockman wrote Friday in the New York Times that “A spirited debate is playing out in black communities across America over the degree to which identity ought to be defined by African heritage — or whether ancestral links to slavery are what should count most of all. . . .”

Smith’s ESPN Contract Said to Approach $8M a Year

“Stephen A. Smith’s new five-year contract will make him ESPN’s highest-paid sportscaster with an annual salary that will approach $8 million per year, according to sources,” Andrew Marchand reported Thursday for the New York Post.

“This will move Smith past Mike Greenberg’s $6.5 million, which was ESPN’s previous known highest salary. Greenberg is the host of ‘Get Up!’

“When The Post first reported negotiations between Smith and ESPN in April, some in the industry felt Smith might be able to negotiate a $10 million annual salary.

“Smith got nearly $8 million, but he received some money upfront, making it more worth his while to re-up with a year left on his current deal.

“Smith will continue to be front and center on ESPN’s air with his daily morning show ‘First Take,’ as well as on ‘SportsCenter’ and the network’s NBA coverage. Though the finer points of the contract are not fully completed, Smith has already started hosting Wednesday’s ‘SportsCenter’ leading into ESPN’s NBA schedule that night. . . .”

Desiree Rogers Leads Group Buying Fashion Fair

Desiree Rogers (Credit: ABC News)

“Fashion Fair, once the largest black-owned cosmetics company in the world and a brand developed by Johnson Publishing Co., has been sold to investors that include Chicago business leader Desiree Rogers,” David Roeder reported Thursday for the Chicago Sun-Times.

“Rogers and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack, who were Johnson Publishing executives, will be majority owners of Fashion Fair. Hedge fund operator Alec Litowicz will hold a minority stake as a personal investment and not through this company, Evanston-based Magnetar Capital, the buyers said.

“The sale was approved Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court as part of the Chapter 7 liquidation of Johnson Publishing assets.

“The same investors own the Black Opal line of skin-care and beauty products. Fashion Fair sold for $1.85 million, said a spokesman for Hilco Streambank, the firm that advised the bankruptcy trustee handling the sale.

“ ‘Fashion Fair is just too valuable for our community to lose,’ Rogers said. ‘We plan to modernize the brand and products, but will remain true to the company’s roots, which was to create prestige products focused on women of color.’

“The late Eunice W. Johnson created Fashion Fair in 1973, when few cosmetics companies developed products for people with darker skin tones. It grew from offering limited products, called a capsule collection, to a full line that was available in high-end department stores. . . .”

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 Carlos Lozada
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