The French magazine that published a photo of a darkened 16-year-old white girl under the title "African Queen" apologized Wednesday "to anyone who may have been offended."

But the magazine's management offered a different explanation of what the photo represented than did the photographer, and the controversy again shone a light on the lack of racial progress in the fashion industry.

Anna Klassen wrote Wednesday in the Daily Beast, ". . . Unfortunately, increased racial diversity within the fashion industry is still an issue. According to reports, at New York Fashion Week this season, an astonishing 82 percent of models were white. Of the remaining 18 percent, only 6 percent were black. And while some design houses are trying to remedy this problem -- see Miu Miu's spring campaign video that features an entirely black cast -- they are few and far between. . . ."

Just a week ago, Margaret Sullivan, public editor at the New York Times, quoting a reader's letter about the Times' redesigned T Magazine, wrote, ". . . There is a complete absence of any people of color in articles or fashion shoots. I assume the ads cannot be controlled, but I saw only one African-American and one Asian-American among the thousands of models in the ads. The T doesn¹t look like my neighborhood or America."

Writing about the Numéro photo spread, Julee Wilson explained Wednesday in HuffPost BlackVoices, ". . . Ondria Hardin, a 16-year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyed model is seen with darkened skin, striking a pose for the glossy.

"The Huffington Post reached out to the magazine for comment and received the following statement Wednesday morning via email:

" 'Some people have declared that they have been offended by the publication in Numéro magazine n°141 of March 2013, of an editorial realized by the photographer Sebastian Kim called 'African Queen', featuring the American model Ondria Hardin posing as an 'African queen', her skin painted in black.

" 'The artistic statement of the photographer Sebastian Kim, author of this editorial, is in line with his previous photographic creations, which insist on the melting pot and the mix of cultures, the exact opposite of any skin color based discrimination. Numéro has always supported the artistic freedom of the talented photographers who work with the magazine to illustrate its pages, and has not took part in the creation process of this editorial.

" 'For its part, Numéro Magazine, which has the utmost respect for this photographer's creative work, firmly excludes that the latest may have had, at any moment, the intention to hurt readers' sensitivity, whatever their origin. . . ."

However, Kim denied the model represented a black woman and called the "African Queen" title unfortunate.

"At 11:03am The Huffington Post received the following statement from photographer Sebastian Kim via email," Wilson continued.

" 'I would like to apologize for any misunderstanding around my recent photos for Numero France. It was never my intention (nor Numero's) to portray a black woman in this story. Our idea and concept for this fashion shoot was based on 60's characters of Talitha Getty, Verushka and Marisa Berenson with middle eastern and Moroccan fashion inspiration. We at no point attempted to portray an African women by painting her skin black. We wanted a tanned and golden skin to be showcased as part of the beauty aesthetic of this shoot.

" 'It saddens me that people would interpret this as a mockery of race. I believe that the very unfortunate title 'African Queen' (which I was not aware of prior to publication) did a lot to further people's misconceptions about these images. It was certainly never my intention to mock or offend anyone and I wholeheartedly apologize to anyone who was offended."

Klassen wrote in the Daily Beast, ". . . this isn¹t the magazine's first racial offense. In 2010, it used Caucasian model Constance Jablonski to portray an African mother in an editorial spread, complete with Afro and dark face paint, posing with a black baby in a field of wheat.

"Numéro joins the ranks of other magazines that have featured racially insensitive spreads in the past. In 2006, fair-skinned Kate Moss posed for The Independent wearing nothing but black paint covering her face and body. In 2010, Claudia Schiffer posed for Karl Lagerfeld in yellow and blackface, wearing an afro-like wig, sequined top and brown face and body paint. And in 2012, make-up brand Illamasqua featured a model in dark face paint and makeup."

Claire, Fashion Bomb Daily: White Model Ondria Hardin Poses in Numéro's African Queen Editorial: What is Fashion's Obsession with Blackface?

Editorial, Daily News, New York: Assemblyman Dov Hikind is a Knucklehead for appearing in blackface at a holiday party

Jet Editor Sorry for Facebook Comment on Fantasia

Jet magazine editor-in-chief Mitzi Miller has apologized for a Facebook comment expressing her exasperation over having to compose a statement defending the magazine's use of a 10-year-old photo of cover subject Fantasia Barrino, who became famous in 2004 as a winner on television's "American Idol."

"I apologize for the lack of sensitivity shown in my FaceBook post. It was a thoughtless comment made during a moment of frustration. It was unprofessional and not representative of the JET mission, which is to uplift. I regret letting my emotions get the best of me. I am truly apologetic," Miller said in a statement, Veronica Wells reported Tuesday for Madame Noire.

As reported in this space on Friday, Miller told her Facebook friends, "The fact that I wasted an hour of my workday writing a press release to address an issue created by a person who cannot even read it is just... #whyiwannaBahousewife."

Historian Says Parks Would Have Wanted Tubman Honored

On Wednesday, President Obama spoke at the unveiling of a full-length bronze statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks, the first African American woman so honored in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall.

"Mrs. Parks would have been more embarrassed than flattered," historian Douglas Brinkley wrote Wednesday for the Washington Post's theRootDC. "She was an extremely self-deprecating woman. What would have truly perturbed her was that Obama has yet to issue an executive order to create the Harriet Tubman National Monument. The paperwork is ready. It just needs the president's signature.

"Mrs. Parks enjoyed noting that she was born in February 1913 and Tubman died just a month later in March. She felt that the freedom struggle baton had been passed on to her from her all-seasons hero.

"The National Monument deal which Obama should sign -- like the one he did in October 2012 for Latino human rights activist Cesar Chavez in Keene, Calif. -- would have units in both New York (Auburn) and Maryland (adjacent to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge). All the leading elected politicians in those states -- Cuomo, Schumer, Gillibrand, Cardin, Mikulski and O'Malley -- are for the federal preservation of the Tubman sites. . . "

Wayne Bennett, the Field Negro: The "mistake" that delayed justice for Dorsie and company.

Thomas L Blair, Chronicleworld's Weblog, Britain: Journalists Revive Black Britain's Spirit

Trudy Bourgeois, the Root: Why It's Time to End Black History Month

Zack Burgess, Real Times News Service: 10 no-nos for white people during Black History Month (Feb. 4)

James Causey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rosa Parks statue was a long time coming

Ta-Nehisi Coates blog, the Atlantic: A Flawed America in Context

Mary C. Curtis, Washington Post: In her 100th year, is it time to take Rosa Parks off that pedestal?

Lee A. Daniels, syndicated: Whitney M. Young Jr.: Powerbroker of the Civil Rights Movement

Merlene Davis, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader: UK exhibit features women of the Underground Railroad

Lewis W. Diuguid, Kansas City Star: The never-ending effort to free KC of prejudice

Lewis W. Diuguid, Kansas City Star: A facet of black history that needs to change (Feb. 17)

Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig blog: Keeping black history real

Michael Fletcher, Washington Post: Study ties black-white wealth gap to stubborn disparities in real estate

Fannie Flono, Charlotte (N.C.) Observer: A year to remember those who changed us

Sam Fulwood III, ThinkProgress: Racial Flap Could Have Unintended Consequences

Harold Jackson, Philadelphia Inquirer: The memories of a black child in Birmingham

Bill McGraw, Deadline Detroit: Once Upon A Time, The Liberal Free Press Really Disliked Black People

Tim Murphy, Mother Jones: Why Does the Capitol Still Whitewash White Supremacists?

Branden J. Peters, the Shadow League: Black History Month: The Basketball Difference-Maker, Don Barksdale

James Braxton Peterson, the Grio: Dear white friends and family: Whether it's ni**a or the n-word, you just can¹t say it

Wendi C. Thomas, Commercial Appeal, Memphis: 150 years later, the Emancipation Proclamation is lauded but still largely misunderstood (Feb. 16)

Michael Paul Williams, Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch: Danville bank¹s history is safe and secure at U.Va.

Editorials Back Renewal of Voting Rights Act

"A key provision in one of the U.S.'s best known civil rights laws, the Voting Rights Act, received a highly skeptical and sometimes downright hostile response from the conservative justices at the Supreme Court on Wednesday," Josh Gerstein wrote Wednesday for Politico.

But renewing the measure has the support of some of the nation's leading editorial pages.

After Justice Antonin Scalia said during a Supreme Court argument Wednesday, "This is not the kind of a question you can leave to Congress," the Washington Post editorialized with this rejoinder:

". . . 'It was clear to 98 senators, including every senator from a covered state, who decided that there was a continuing need for this piece of legislation,' Justice Elena Kagan said, in what might seem a self-evident point.

"But not to Justice Scalia. 'Or decided that perhaps they'd better not vote against, that there's . . . none of their interests in voting against it,' he said. Later he elaborated on why he feels free to dismiss this particular congressional action: 'I don¹t think there is anything to be gained by any senator to vote against continuation of this act. . . . They are going to lose votes if they do not reenact the Voting Rights Act. Even the name of it is wonderful: the Voting Rights Act. Who is going to vote against that in the future?'

"This is a stunning line of argumentation. Congress is empowered to write legislation enforcing the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. But if Justice Scalia doubts the purity of lawmakers' motives, then apparently this power is limited. We wonder how the justice is able to discern what lay within the hearts of these 98 senators. We also wonder how many challenged acts of Congress would survive if the court saw fit to strike down any that were enacted by lawmakers considering, in part, their reelection prospects. . . . "

Lois Beckett and Suevon Lee, ProPublica: Five Ways Courts Say Texas Discriminated Against Black and Latino Voters

Wayne Bennett, the Field Negro: "Those who ignore history are bound to repeat it."

Editorial, the Advertiser, Montgomery, Ala.: Don't abandon key provision of Voting Rights Act (Feb. 16)

Editorial, Baltimore Sun: Voting Rights Act isn't obsolete

Editorial, Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss.: Preclearance actions still needed in voting process

Editorial, Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.: Keep Section 5

Editorial, Herald-Progress, Ashland, Va.: Is the Voting Rights Act an archaic statute? (Jan. 31)

Editorial, Los Angeles Times: Judging the Voting Rights Act

Editorial, Seattle Times: Washington needs Voting Rights Act (Feb. 7)

Editorial, Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.: Voting Rights Act remains bulwark against abuse (Nov. 19)

Editorial, Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times: Keep sharp watch on voting rights

Editorial, USA Today: Uphold Voting Rights Act: Our view

Editorial, Washington Post: The Voting Rights Act's work isn't finished

Suevon Lee, ProPublica: Why the Supreme Court May Rule Against the Voting Rights Act

Ian Millhiser, ThinkProgress: The Double Standard Behind The Roberts Court's Hostility To Voting Rights

David Oedel and Rob Teilhet with Tom Sabulis, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Voting Rights Act debate

Brian Powell, Media Matters for America: Virginia News Coverage Ignores Reality As GOP Pushes For Tighter Voter ID (Jan. 30)

Jeffrey Rosen, Sherrilyn Ifill and Michael Carvin with Diane Rehm, "The Diane Rehm Show," WAMU-FM Washington and NPR: Voting Rights Act Before The Supreme Court

Adam Serwer, Mother Jones: Chief Justice Roberts' Long War Against the Voting Rights Act

Josh Shaffer, News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.: Voting Rights Act made a difference from the beginning in N.C.'s Franklin County

CNN Still in Rough Ratings Waters

"Looks like wall-to-wall crippled cruise ship coverage wasn't enough to get CNN off rough ratings seas. One full month since Jeff Zucker officially took over the cable news network, CNN saw a 5% dip in total day viewers and a 1% slip in primetime viewership in February as compared to January," Dominic Patten wrote Tuesday for Deadline Hollywood.

Meanwhile, Zucker is expected to host a networking reception in New York March 8 as part of the Region 2 conference of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. "He will be speaking to NAHJ members and guests," NAHJ President Hugo Balta told Journal-isms, in an appearance scheduled before NAHJ and the National Association of Black Journalists complained that Zucker's first hires included no journalists of color.

Zucker met Monday with NABJ leaders. On Tuesday, NABJ President Gregory H. Lee Jr. issued a statement saying NABJ had a standing quarterly meeting with CNN that predates the current leadership team. ". . .This particular meeting was an opportunity for NABJ to speak with Mr. Zucker and to learn more about his vision for the network. We had a productive discussion on how CNN can partner with NABJ to achieve our common objective of promoting a diverse newsroom, in particular within the management ranks, where our industry overall is lacking in diversity . . .," Lee said.

. . . Martin "Unperturbed" by Uncertainty of CNN Role

". . . It has been reported that CNN veteran contributors, Roland Martin and Donna Brazile could be next on [CNN President Jeff] Zucker's chopping block," Tanya Young Williams wrote Wednesday for the HuffingtonPost.

"While on the red carpet at the 44th NAACP Image Awards, Martin spoke candidly about his current role at CNN and his future relationship with the network. Martin appeared unperturbed by the uncertainty of his pending employment with CNN. In fact, he said, 'I'm excited about other opportunities.' Martin, who was scheduled to meet with Zucker in days following the interview, continued, 'It's up to them if they want me to stay around.' "

Martin messaged this statement to Journal-isms on Wednesday:

"I've worked hard to build my company, Nu Vision Media, from one platform to several. We have CNN, TV One, Tom Joyner Morning Show, the websites, books, and speaking. We are working on two new books and looking at other ventures, including documentaries. I'm also looking to expand my portfolio at TV One. I recently appeared on ESPN's First Take, and would love to do more sports stuff. My passions run well beyond politics; anyone who has seen Washington Watch on TV One could see that. I would love to do more sports stuff.

"I don't know what the future holds at CNN. It's not my call. My deal is up April 8 and I'll know by then whether my six-year stay there will come to an end or I will continue to provide the kind of cutting-edge commentary on a variety of issues that has been well-received by many. I can't control when I'm booked and on what shows. I just try to deliver something different and exciting each time I'm on, and do my best to make my work stand out.

"In the past few weeks since all of this speculation began, I have numerous people reach out to me expressing their strong feelings about my work. Many of them are in entertainment, sports, politics, business, and everyday people. Their feedback has been nothing short of amazing, whether it's Sidney Poitier, Hank Aaron, Harry Belafonte, Charles Barkley, Stevie Wonder to the brothers and sisters shouting at me as I walk down the streets of DC, NY, Houston, Detroit and other cities. I appreciate all of the love and support. It's always amazing to me how you can be on for a short period of time but affect people in so many different ways.

"I wake up with the same motto that has always driven me: If you do good, I'll talk about you. If you do bad, I'll talk about you. At the end of the day, I'll talk about you!"

Detroit's Fleming Reportedly Suspended for 10 Days

"Detroit News reporter Leonard Fleming has returned to work after making headlines last month when the ex-wife of state Treasurer Andy Dillon received a personal protection order against him," Bill McGraw wrote Feb. 21 for Deadline Detroit.

". . . A person with knowledge of the matter said Fleming received a 10-day suspension, a warning from management and a new assignment. He had covered city hall for several years.

". . . Fleming has not explained his version of events publicly, but has told people there is another side to the story."

Fleming did not respond to an inquiry from Journal-isms on Wednesday.

Leonard N. Fleming, Detroit News: GOP's Santorum visits Metro area

ESPN Leads the Way in Sports Journalism Diversity

"The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport has released its 2012 study of minorities and women covering sports at America's news outlets this week, and unfortunately, its findings haven't changed much since it released its first study in 2006," Travis Waldron wrote Tuesday for the Center for American Progress.

". . . The most interesting part of the study, though, is that without the world's largest sports outlet, the numbers would be far worse. ESPN is the target of constant (often deserved) complaints in the world of sports journalism, but when it comes to diversity, the Worldwide Leader is leading the way, as the Institute's president Richard Lapchick wrote at Sports Business Daily:

" 'In the new report card, of the 12 people of color who are sports editors at "Circulation A" media outlets (the largest newspapers and dot-coms, with a circulation of 175,000 or more), four work for ESPN, which employed two of the six African-American sports editors and two of the four Latino sports editors. If ESPN's people of color were removed, the percentage of sports editors in the 'A' organizations who are people of color would drop from 15 percent to 11 percent.

"Of the 11 women who are sports editors at this circulation level, six work for ESPN. If the ESPN sports editors who are women were removed, then the percentage of female sports editors at this level would drop from 14 percent to 8 percent.

"Those numbers translate down the ladder too. . . . "

VH1 to Follow Reporters on "Urban Entertainment" Beat

"The Gossip Game," a new VH1 series premiering April 1 at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time, "draws viewers into the lives of seven media personalities covering the fast-paced, competitive urban entertainment beat in New York City," the network announced Thursday.

"Every day, these ambitious women navigate the ever-shifting landscape of the media industry, where they strive to preserve their place in the 'pecking order' while chasing the latest exclusive scoop. . . . "

Cast members are "Angela Yee, co-host of the top rated 'Breakfast Club' show on Power 105.1; K. Foxx, co-host of 'The Cipha Sounds & Rosenberg Show with K. Foxx' on Hot 97 FM; Kim Osorio, Editor-In-Chief of The Source magazine; Sharon Carpenter, reporter on Russell Simmons' Global Grind website; Jas Fly, freelance writer, whose pop culture column appears on Vibe.com twice a week; Ms. Drama, host of the MsDramaTV blog and on-air personality at Major Playaz, an on-demand radio show, as well as Everywhere Radio on Sirius 40: Hip Hop Nation; and NYC Gossip Girl (Vivian Billings), whose HipHopGossipSite.com blog provides a taste of what the streets are saying along with exclusive dish on hip hop celebrities. . . . "

Why Are These People in That House?

The Feb. 25-March 3 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek features apparent people of color surrounded by cash in a house that illustrates "The Great American Housing Rebound." The story, "A Phoenix Housing Boom Forms, in Hint of U.S. Recovery," by Susan Berfield, however, makes no mention of people of color in the majority-white city. Neither Bloomberg Businessweek Creative Director Richard Turley, Josh Tyrangiel, editor of Bloomberg Businessweek and an executive editor of Bloomberg News; nor Carl Fischer, who heads Bloomberg's global marketing, responded to inquiries this week.

Short Takes

"Major media companies, facing criticism about the level of violence in their content, are initiating a campaign intended to make parents more aware about ways to limit exposure to violent entertainment," Brian Stelter reported Wednesday for the New York Times.

"The Federal Communications Commission won't vote on changes to U.S. media ownership rules until an outside group studies effects on minority broadcasters, the agency's chairman said today," Todd Shields reported Tuesday for Bloomberg. "The study will take 'several weeks,' followed by public comment and a commission vote, Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement." The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council asked for the delay.

"Maya Jackson Randall was a Washington consumer-finance reporter remembered for her persistence and versatility," Gary Fields wrote Tuesday for the Wall Street Journal. "Ms. Jackson Randall, who wrote for The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, died Tuesday in Atlanta. She was 33 years old and had a rare form of leukemia." Fields told Journal-isms, "I was something of her mentor -- along with Mary Lu Carnevale. We plotted to get her back into this office after she came through in 2001 as an intern. She was one of the most beautiful souls I have ever encountered. Every once in awhile God lets one of those souls out to let the rest of us see what would have been possible. Maya was one of those souls."

A 400-strong crowd turned out Saturday at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to toast the "tenaciously talented and universally beloved" Belva Davis, "who recently wrapped an award-winning 50-year career in the dog-eat-dog world that is the Fourth Estate," Catherine Bigelow reported Tuesday for the San Francisco Chronicle. "Among her admirers: Sen. Dianne Feinstein; Davis' husband, former KTVU cameraman William Moore, and her children, Steven Davis and Darolyn Davis; Attorney General Kamala Harris; actor Danny Glover; Denise and Bernard Tyson; Dr. Ernie Bates; Anette Harris and Marc Loupe; Wilkes Bashford; Tommy Moon and his wife, Giants announcer Renel Brooks-Moon; the Very Rev. Jane Shaw and her partner, Sarah Ogilvie; 5th Dimension vocalist Lamonte McLemore; and U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee. . . ."

Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota "attacked Fox News host Sean Hannity on-air tonight in what is surely one of the most explosive and contentious interviews between an anchor and a politician in recent history," Dylan Byers reported Tuesday for Politico. "Rep. Ellison began the interview by calling Hannity 'the worst excuse for a journalist I've ever seen.' He went on to accuse Hannity of violating 'every journalistic ethic I have ever heard of' and called him "a shill for the Republican Party.' . . . "

"Univision Los Angeles stations Univision 34 and UniMás 46 will launch their first financial wellness event under Univision Communication¹s newest empowerment pillar Plan Prosperidad (Prosperity Plan), an initiative designed to create awareness about financial literacy and entrepreneurship among the U.S. Hispanic community," the network announced Wednesday. The event takes place March 16 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

"NBC-owned Telemundo affiliate KSTS San Francisco. . . has been named the official Spanish television partner of the San Francisco Giants," TVNewsCheck reported Wednesday. "As part of the new partnership, KSTS will produce a half-hour local sports show dedicated to the Giants franchise. The show will be hosted by long time Giants Spanish announcers Erwin Higueros and Telemundo's sports anchor Juan Francisco Ramirez. . . . "

"Increasing minority participation in the energy sector, specifically among blacks and Hispanic Americans, was at the forefront of an institute devoted to teaching journalists how to report on the industry ," Renita D. Young reported Tuesday from Houston for the Grio. "In addition to learning how to navigate the sector, reporters, entrepreneurs, students and others who attended a one-day institute hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists shared ideas on how to increase minority participation. . . . "

"On Monday St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay declined to attend The Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists association's Mayoral Town Hall Meeting on Feb. 27," Rebecca S. Rivas wrote Tuesday for the St. Louis American. ". . . Association members said they were shocked and disappointed because the event was primarily to give their program's students a chance to cover a mayoral forum. . . ."

Stories Beneath the Shell, "the newest web publication covering news at the University of Maryland," has debuted. The staff members are journalism majors at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.

"After nearly 20 years here at KTTV, I'll be leaving next month to pursue that next step in my career. At this point, I've yet to identify that specific path," Al Naipo, Orange County bureau chief for KTTV, the Los Angeles Fox station, wrote to colleagues, Kevin Roderick reported Tuesday for LAObserved.

Dinah Eng, who wrote "How I Started" for Fortune, won in the Small Business category of the Society of American Business Writers and Editors' 18th annual Best in Business Awards.

"Last week, Stephen B. Shepard, the founding dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, emailed departing Columbia Journalism School Dean Nicholas Lemann to tell him that he was planning to announce his resignation -- just as his uptown counterpoint had emailed him last October," Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke reported Tuesday for the New York Observer. The journalism program began in 2005, offering a one-year master's degree program. Shepard was former editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek.

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Journal-isms is published on the site of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education (mije.org). Reprinted on The Root by permission.