Articles Feature

‘Unbearable Whiteness’ of Trump’s Picks

by richard02330

Caucasians Were 80 of 87 Judicial Nominees

Johnson Rice Steps Down at Ebony’s New Company

L.A. Times Pledges Black, Latino News Leaders

Syndicate Spikes Navarrette Column on Shootings

. . . Print Media Urge Caution on Social Media

Detained in U.S., Mexican Reporter Wins a Hearing

FCC Votes to Relax Rules on Children’s Television

We’ve Talked Diversity and Inclusion, Now ‘Equity’

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Caucasians Were 80 of 87 Judicial Nominees

Race has barely been mentioned in the commentary about President Trump’s nomination Monday of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, except in discussing policies that particularly affect people of color.

Hardly anything has been said about the reverence Kavanaugh and his supporters gave to, in the judge’s words, “the Constitution as written, informed by history and tradition and precedent.” Never mind that “as written,” the Constitution gave only white male property owners the full rights of citizens.

In the Philadelphia Inquirer, national columnist Will Bunch confronted the development’s racial subtext head on Tuesday, under the headline, “The unbearable whiteness of being Trump’s judicial picks.”

“When Trump is casting his ‘All-American’ prime-time epic, that role has already [been] written for a white character, preferably a man,” Bunch wrote.

“Say what you will about Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s attractive family, his girls’ basketball coaching skills or his admirable talk about seeking diversity when he hires his law clerks. But at the end of the day he is still contributing to — if I can pun off a 1980s art-house movie title — the unbearable whiteness of being a judge in Trump’s America.

“Even the NFL — a sport that is literally battering to death the brains of its participants — can claim some moral superiority over the Trump White House. After all, pro football — embarrassed by its paucity of black coaches — imposed in 2002 the ‘Rooney rule’ that requires teams to interview African-American candidates for a coaching vacancy, which has had the desired effect of increasing diversity.

“But there is no ‘Rooney rule’ for the Supreme Court, nor has there been evidence of any non-white candidates marring Trump’s idyllic search for everybody’s All-American.

“Instead, Trump’s SCOTUS search mirrored . . . his broader scheme to reshape the American judiciary in a whiter shade of pale. In this case, 100 percent of the four candidates that the president reportedly interviewed were white, and 75 percent were male.

“That dovetails almost exactly with Team Trump’s wider (and whiter) makeover of the judicial branch. In February, USA Today reported that a whopping 92 percent — 80 out of 87 — of Trump’s initial judge nominations are white, a rate that hadn’t been seen since the 1980s.

“Of the remaining seven, five are Asian-Americans, with only one African-American (they comprise 12 percent of America’s population) and only one Hispanic (17 percent of the population). Only about a quarter are female, a steep drop from Barack Obama’s two terms but in line with the pre-Obama presidents. And none of Trump’s nominees have been openly gay.

“Does that matter? Isn’t the only thing that counts, as conservative MLK ‘fanboys’ like to remind us, the content of their character? Yes and no. In a more perfect union, our top judges won’t only have exquisite character but also be able to make decisions based on experience and wisdom that exudes from the actual rainbow of modern American life, not from the 1950s ‘Father Knows Best’ black-and-white sit-com remake. . . .”

Johnson Rice Steps Down at Ebony’s New Company

Linda Johnson Rice (Credit: Tesla)
Linda Johnson Rice (Credit: Tesla)

Linda Johnson Rice, daughter of the founders of Ebony and Jet magazines, returned last year to become CEO of Ebony Media Operations after selling the magazines in 2016 to a black-owned private equity firm based in Austin, Texas.

“It’s back to the old, where a Johnson heads up Ebony again,” Michael Gibson, co-founder and chairman of Ebony-owner CVG Group, formerly known as Clear View Group, told the Chicago Tribune in March 2017.

Now Johnson Rice has left the CEO role. “I have always held the title of Chairman Emeritus at Ebony Media Operations (EMO),” Rice told Journal-isms Wednesday by email. “For the past year I was CEO of both EMO and Johnson Publishing Company (JPC). I transitioned out of the CEO role at EMO to focus on JPC.

“As Chairman Emeritus at EMO, I am still very active and committed to Ebony and Jet. They are in my DNA☺”

Gibson messaged, “I have taken in the CEO duties in addition to my Chairman role.”

Ebony received a constant stream of negative publicity almost since Gibson’s firm purchased the magazine. Writers filed suit over not being paid and personnel frequently changed.

On Feb. 27, the National Writers Union reached agreement with Ebony to pay 45 freelancers who were collectively owed $80,000. The agreement stipulated that payment would be divided among the four quarters of 2018.

Larry Goldbetter, president of the union, said by email Thursday that “the June 30 payment went out and that [means] that roughly a dozen writers have been paid more than $30,000. The next payment is due on Sept. 30 for roughly $30,000 and about 15 writers.”

Asked how he would characterize the status of Ebony, Jet and the company, Gibson replied, “Ebony is going well. We are seeing sustained growth in our digital platform and our print remains strong.” He did not elaborate.

Johnson Publishing Co. now consists of Fashion Fair cosmetics, the company’s photo archives and Fashion Fair Cosmetics International.

Norman Pearlstine introduces himself to the Los Angeles Times newsroom in June. (Credit: Mel Melcom/Los Angeles Times)
Norman Pearlstine introduces himself to the Los Angeles Times newsroom in June. (Credit: Mel Melcom/Los Angeles Times)

L.A. Times Pledges Black, Latino News Leaders

New Los Angeles Times Executive Editor Norman Pearlstine on Monday unveiled his leadership team, and while it includes Kimi Yoshino, an Asian American, as deputy managing editor overseeing sports, business, arts, entertainment and lifestyle coverage, there are no African Americans or Latinos.

Pearlstine, 75, a veteran editor who has spent 50 years in journalism, was named executive editor last month when ownership transferred to Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a biotech billionaire who bought the paper for $500 million.

Told that a reader noted that the Times is located in a county where nearly 50 percent of the population is Hispanic and that in neighboring San Bernardino County more than 50 percent of the population is Hispanic, Pearlstine agreed that “we can and must do better” on diversity.

Kimi Yoshino
Scott Kraft, left, Kimi Yoshino, Kris Viesselman

“You are right to ask about the lack of Latinos and African Americans in the newsroom leadership ranks,” Pearlstine messaged Journal-isms. “We can and must do better in seeking to create a more diverse workplace at the Los Angeles Times. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong completed his purchase of the Los Angeles Times less than four weeks ago. I hope you will continue to monitor our progress in the weeks, months and years to come.

“Increasing diversity and including more voices is a priority for us. As the executive editor, I’m looking to promote more good candidates from within the newsroom and recruit new staff who more closely reflect the communities we serve. I believe that one of the most interesting aspects of Los Angeles, and more broadly California, is its diversity. . . .”

Named Monday in addition to Yoshino were Scott Kraft, who has been with the Times for more than three decades, as managing editor, and Kris Viesselman, who joined the Times Monday in the newly created position of chief transformation editor and creative director.

“The appointment of Kris Viesselman and the promotions of Scott Kraft and Kimi Yoshino addressed many pressing concerns. Other concerns will be addressed as soon as practical,” Pearstine said in his message.

Veteran journalist Sylvester Monroe, who is African American, left his position as assistant foreign editor at the Washington Post in December to take a senior newsroom position at the Times, only to face turmoil as the ownership and newsroom management changed. He was hired by former editor-in-chief Lewis D’Vorkin. Monroe was laid off in April after the newspaper shut down the content division, where he worked.

The Times story on the leadership team noted that Yoshino returned to the newsroom this year after a show of support from the newsroom. Then business editor, she “made a triumphant return to the newsroom to applause . . . after several days away, telling colleagues she had been whisked away and suspended as part of the newspaper’s investigation into the leak of taped remarks made by the paper’s editor-in-chief in November,” David Folkenflik reported Feb. 2 for NPR.

Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md., asked members of the House of Representatives Wednesday to rise and honor with a moment of silence the victims of the Capital Gazette newspaper shooting in Annapolis, Md. Brown also spoke about the importance of a free press. (Credit: C-SPAN)
Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md., asked members of the House of Representatives Wednesday to rise and honor with a moment of silence the victims of the Capital Gazette newspaper shooting in Annapolis, Md. Brown also spoke about the importance of a free press. (Credit: C-SPAN)

Syndicate Spikes Navarrette Column on Shootings

Ruben Navarrette Jr., pugnacious columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group, introduced a column on the newsroom killings in Annapolis, Md.,  to his Facebook friends this way on July 5:

“This column was banned in Boston, and in New York, and in Washington, and in San Antonio, and in Sacramento, and in Fresno….and in all the markets served by my syndicate.

'I knew exactly what I was saying '
‘I knew exactly what I was saying ‘

“So I ran it in Angelus News,” a website of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “Apparently, these days, the Catholics have stiffer spines than most newspaper folks.”

The Facebook friends approved. In the column, Navarrette asked, “Aren’t journalists curious about why someone would hate them — and what they represent — enough to want to kill them?”

Attempting to answer the question, Navarrette also wrote, “It is a noble calling to — as the creed states — comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Not so much when we’re playing favorites, punching at the powerless and voiceless while treating the wealthy and well-connected with [kid] gloves.”

The Washington Post Writers Group would not respond to questions about the column. “Sorry, this isn’t something we’d typically discuss,” spokeswoman Shani George messaged.

But Navarrette offered his explanation for its being spiked.

“1. This column took longer than usual to write, about 5 hours, as it was very carefully written,” he messaged. “I knew exactly what I was saying — and what I wasn’t saying. But, unfortunately, that, together with the fact that I write from the West Coast time zone, meant that the editing process took place in the 11th hour — about 5:00 pm [EDT]. Worse, it was the Tuesday before the 4th of July holiday. The editors had questions, I sent answers. But the clock was ticking. And, in the end, we didn’t have time to iron out the wrinkles and get the column to the point where the syndicate was comfortable with it. That’s why they spiked the column, and put out the advisory.

“That’s the syndicate’s prerogative, and I’ve always been good with that. I’m no civil servant; I serve at the pleasure of my bosses. Maybe this whole thing would have gone differently if the editing process had taken place early that morning. It’s just that the logistics were bad.

“Now there is a separate question as to whether a NEWSPAPER syndicate that services NEWSPAPER clients would ever get to a point where it was comfortable with a column questioning why someone would shoot up a NEWSPAPER. I don’t think so. I think that topic hits too close to home. But we’ll never know.

“2. I’ve been syndicated since 2001. I’ve written 1700 columns for the Washington Post Writers Group, and I’ve only hit a snag like this maybe 5 or 6 times in all those years. I’m an easy edit. And I have good editors who usually leave a light footprint. I do think however that it’s an editor’s job to get stuff into the paper, not find ways to keep it out. Of course, they need time to do that.

“3. I truly regret that my Facebook posting — which was written in tongue-in-cheek, look-at-me, step-right-up, give-me-your-attention style was so imprecise. It made it seem — for those who don’t understand how a newspaper syndicate works — that all my clients had, one by one, seen the column and ‘banned’ it. That’s just not true. They never saw the column, and so they couldn’t very well kill it. I would have preferred — had there been enough time — that we get the column up to code, send it out, and let the clients decide whether or not to run it. Those editors are grownups. They probably don’t offend easily. Some would have dumped it, but others might well have run it.

“The reaction to the column from those who read it and commented was 80-20 in favor; newspaper, TV, and radio journalists were split. Some liked it, some didn’t. That’s the mark of a good column.”

. . . Print Media Urge Caution on Social Media

In an attempt to explain why some in the public might hate journalists, Ruben Navarrette Jr. wrote in his spiked column, “Reporters used to be told to keep their opinions to themselves; now they’re told to get on Twitter and share their opinions with the world.”

However, a survey of print and some electronic outlets shows that expressing personal opinions on social media is discouraged by many, especially if it concerns a subject the journalist is covering.

The policies were provided by print outlets, NPR and ESPN. Broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox did not respond to inquiries. A CNN spokeswoman said, “[W]e don’t disclose that information.”

Associated Press

“AP employees must refrain from declaring their views on contentious public issues in any public forum and must not take part in organized action in support of causes or movements. . . .” [PDF]

Chicago Tribune

“The company expects you to exercise good judgment, including avoiding any posts about subjects that you cover for your newsroom (go to “download the file”); attempting to build a commercial enterprise that competes with subjects your newsroom covers; and avoiding controversial subjects. . . .”

ESPN

” Writers, reporters, producers and editors directly involved in ‘hard’ news reporting, investigative or enterprise assignments and related coverage should refrain in any public-facing forum [PDF] from taking positions on political or social issues, candidates or office holders. . . .”

New York Times

“In social media posts, our journalists must not express partisan opinions, promote political views, endorse candidates, make offensive comments or do anything else that undercuts The Times’s journalistic reputation. . . .”

NPR

“Don’t be careless. Keep your opinions to yourself. Imagine what you say or write landing in an AP story or in The Washington Post, and imagine the damage that could cause you or NPR. . . .”

San Diego Union-Tribune

“In social media, as in any interaction, we need to take care to present ourselves in a way that is professional, courteous, respectful and honest. The integrity of the company is built on the conduct of every employee. Our personal opinions, allegiances, likes and dislikes, friends and preferences are usually not appropriate within the professional setting, and should be kept separate from our professional communications. There is reason to be circumspect even with our personal social media accounts because of the way information spreads, despite the use of privacy settings. . . .”

Washington Post

“Post journalists must refrain from writing, tweeting or posting anything – including photographs or video – that could objectively be perceived as reflecting political, racial, sexist, religious or other bias or favoritism. . . .”

Emilio Gutierrez with Michele Salcedo of the Associated Press at the National Press Club in October. (Credit: Noel St. John/National Press Club)
Emilio Gutierrez with Michele Salcedo of the Associated Press at the National Press Club in October. (Credit: Noel St. John/National Press Club)

Detained in U.S., Mexican Reporter Wins a Hearing

“A Mexican reporter and his son who have been detained since last year won a small victory Tuesday when a federal judge set a hearing to determine whether the government has been holding the two in violation of the First Amendment,” Julian Aguilar reported Thursday for the Texas Tribune.

“Emilio Gutiérrez Soto and his son Oscar have been in an immigration detention center here since they were nearly deported back to Mexico in December. They fled the border state of Chihuahua in 2008 when Emilio Gutiérrez’s reporting on cartel crime and government corruption led to death threats; the two had been living legally in the United States since then, awaiting a final decision from an immigration judge on their asylum claim.

“Their claim was denied in 2017, but the Board of Immigration Appeals said in May it will reconsider the case based on new evidence. The Gutiérrezes have been detained since being arrested in December during what Gutiérrez’s lawyer said should have been a routine check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama set an Aug. 1 hearing to determine if there was merit to the Gutiérrezes’ claim that they have been held without cause. The order came after the International Human Rights Clinic at Rutgers University filed a writ of habeus corpus seeking their immediate release. Federal officials asked the judge to dismiss the writ, but the judge instead highlighted several areas of concern in his 26-page order, including whether Emilio Gutiérrez was targeted for speaking out against the federal government. . . .”

The National Press CLub, which last October awarded Gutiérrez its John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award for his reporting in Mexico, added, “Gutiérrez has been offered a prestigious Knight Wallace fellowship at the University of Michigan, but he can only accept it if he is free from detention by the time the program begins this fall. . . .”

FCC Votes to Relax Rules on Children’s Television

“A politically divided FCC has voted 3-1 to launch a revamp of its children’s television rules,” John Eggerton reported Thursday for Broadcasting & Cable.

“Those are the 1996 rules that implement the Children’s Television Act, which obligated TV stations to air educational and informational children’s TV programming.

“The FCC is proposing to eliminate the requirements that mandatory children’s educational and informational programming be at least a half-hour long and regularly scheduled, that it must air on a TV [station’s] primary channel, and that TV stations must file quarterly children’s TV reports — the item suggests annually is sufficient, and seeks input on other ways to streamline reporting requirements.

“It also proposes to allow broadcasters to satisfy their kids programming obligations via sponsorship efforts or other ‘non-broadcast’ efforts. . . .”

Ted Johnson added for Variety, “Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel voted against it.

“ ‘This is not the effort our children deserve,’ she said. ‘It takes the values in the Children’s Television Act and instead of modernizing them for the digital age, seeks to discard them with a cruel disregard for the children left behind.’ She said that the proposals have to take into account that while viewing habits have changed to new platforms, some 24 million Americans do not have broadband access at home.

“On Wednesday, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) held a press conference to warn against the proposed changes. Markey said that he was not opposed to the idea of modernizing the rules, but that the FCC needed to first conduct a more substantial inquiry into the potential impact of changes in the rules. Groups like the Parents Television Council and Common Sense Media also would like more study. . . .”

We’ve Talked Diversity and Inclusion, Now ‘Equity’

Keesha Jean Baptiste
Keesha Jean-Baptiste

“The ad industry has been talking about diversity and inclusion for years,” Keesha Jean-Baptiste, senior vice president, talent engagement and inclusion at the American Association of Advertising Agencies, known as the 4A’s, wrote Tuesday for Adweek.

“But after decades of critical thought, we’re still not there yet. So, what are we missing? What haven’t we tried? What can bridge the gap between the world we see now and the world we want to see?

“Equity.

“Not to be confused with equality, equity is not only about treating everyone the same. And while the spotlight in advertising has evolved from diversity to inclusion, it’s also important to recognize that equity is not diversity, nor is it inclusion.

“Equity is the impact of both; it’s equal access and fairness. And equity is the thing we haven’t pushed or measured.

“Equity is focused, intentional correction of imbalances. . . .”

 

Short Takes

Children flying kites on All Souls Day in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala. For its Latin American Foto Festival, running July 12 to 22, the Bronx Documentary Center in New York is again sharing photography with the community it calls home, Evelyn Nieves wrote Monday for the "Lens" blog of the New York Times. (CreditAndres Sosof/Fotokids Guatemala)
Children flying kites on All Souls Day in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala. For its Latin American Foto Festival, running July 12 to 22, the Bronx Documentary Center in New York is again sharing photography with the community it calls home, Evelyn Nieves wrote Monday for the “Lens” blog of the New York Times. (Credit: Andres Sosof/Fotokids Guatemala)

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