Obama Faults 'He Said, She Said' Journalism
He says that nonpartisan media place equal blame on Democrats and Republicans, and it's just not accurate.
"The New Republic has just lifted the embargo on its [wide-ranging] interview with President Obama, in which he talked at length about the role the media can play in breaking Washington's partisan gridlock," Dylan Byers wrote Sunday for Politico.
" 'One of the biggest factors is going to be how the media shapes debates,' he tells editor Frank Foer and owner and publisher Chris Hughes. 'If a Republican member of Congress is not punished on Fox News or by Rush Limbaugh for working with a Democrat on a bill of common interest, then you'll see more of them doing it.'
"We've often noted here on the blog that right-wing media, especially Fox and Limbaugh, have an outsized influence on Republicans -- and are arguably more powerful than most members of [Congress.] But Obama notes that left-wing media plays a role in shaping political debate, as well.
" 'The same dynamic happens on the Democratic side,' he said. 'I think the difference is just that the more left-leaning media outlets recognize that compromise is not a dirty word. And I think at least leaders like myself -- and I include Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi in this -- are willing to buck the more absolutist-wing elements in our party to try to get stuff done.'
"The president also faulted nonpartisan media outlets for their adherence to 'he said, she said' journalism, which places equal blame on Democrats and Republicans when, according to the president, Republicans should bear more blame.
" '[T]hat's one of the biggest problems we've got in how folks report about Washington right now, because I think journalists rightly value the appearance of impartiality and objectivity,' Obama told Foer and Hughes. 'And so the default position for reporting is to say, "A plague on both their houses." On almost every issue, it's, "Well, Democrats and Republicans [can't] agree" -- as opposed to looking at why is it that they can't agree. Who exactly is preventing us from agreeing?'
"Obama also suggested that the media's obsession with confrontation presented a roadblock. . . ."
On Monday's "Fox & Friends," co-host Brian Kilmeade responded to the president's statement, the Huffington Post reported. "He kicks off the next four years by saying that?" Kilmeade asked in an interview with Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson, Jr. "They ran a package consisting of multiple comments Obama has made about the network."
Lauren Ashburn and Howard Kurtz, Daily Download: How the White House Orchestrated Hillary's '60' Triumph (video)
Charles M. Blow, New York Times: Rig the Vote
Stanley Crouch, Daily News, New York: Two women, one larger story
George E. Curry, National Newspaper Publishers Association: Obama Races Away from the Issue of Race
Mary C. Curtis, Washington Post: The GOP on its minority problem: Don't call it 'outreach,' but 'engagement'
Mary C. Curtis, Women's Media Center: Myrlie Evers-Williams -- Making Her Own History
Jarvis DeBerry, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune: Tavis Smiley says MLK column was inaccurate, that he didn't rebuff Michelle Obama
Eric Deggans, Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times: Analyzing President Obama, the centrist-turned-reluctant liberal
David Edwards, Raw Story: Bay Buchanan quits TV punditry, takes online real estate class after Romney's 'brutal' loss
Stephen Henderson, Detroit Free Press: GOP's electoral vote plan -- a desperate move for minority rule
Jeremy Holden, Media Matters for America: Fox & Friends Complains That CBS's Kroft Didn't Pursue Fox's Campaign To Mock Clinton Concussion
Dan Kennedy, "Media Nation" blog: TNR's new owner crosses a line with Obama interview
Colbert I. King, Washington Post: The Republican pity party
Latina Lista: Attempts to sow distrust between Latinos and Obama won't work this time around
Roland S. Martin, Creators Syndicate: GOP: Stop Being Afraid to Talk to Minorities
Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: Clinton grilled, punches back
Joy-Ann Reid, the Grio: Red, Black & Blue: Is America really a 'center-right' nation?
Managing Editor Says New Boss Deserves Own Team
Mark Whitaker, the former Newsweek editor who as executive vice president and managing editor of CNN Worldwide became the highest-ranking African American at CNN, has resigned, he told colleagues Tuesday, to give new CNN chief Jeff Zucker "his own team and management structure and the freedom to communicate one clear vision to the staff."
Whitaker, 55, came to CNN from NBC News, where as vice president he was also the highest-ranking person of color, in January 2011.
CNN came under fire from the National Association of Black Journalists for the lack of diversity among its prime-time anchors, and then-President Jim Walton assigned that challenge to Whitaker. He hired Amy Entelis to "to help build a diverse slate of anchors," as Eric Deggans wrote in his new book, "Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation," but no prime-time anchor of color materialized.
In his farewell note, however, Whitaker said he took the job on the condition "that we make CNN a leader in diversity in its broadest sense -- in the backgrounds of our on- and off-air talent, but also in the range of their experience and points of view.
"As Executive Vice President in charge of program and talent development, I was thrilled to attract Amy Entelis, Vinnie Malhotra and Ramon Escobar to CNN and to work with them to recruit journalists like Jake Tapper, John Berman and Miguel Marquez, contributors like Margaret Hoover, Van Jones, Ross Douthat, Charles Blow, Ron Brownstein and Ryan Lizza, and specialists like ESPN sports reporter Rachel Nichols."
However, Tommy Christopher reported this month for Mediaite, MSNBC ". . . enjoyed significant (around 20%) ratings increases across the board" in 2012, "but made astonishing gains with their already-large African American audience, growing that audience by 60.5% for the Mon-Sun 8pm-11pm period.
"In that same time period, CNN grew its black audience by 23.7% (from 131,000 in 2011 to 162,000 in 2012, 23.9% of their total audience), while Fox News' declined by 23.7% (38,000 in 2011 to 29,000 in 2012, 1.4% of their total audience), but MSNBC had more black viewers than both of those nets combined (from 177,000 in 2011 to 284,000 in 2012, 31.4% of their total audience)."
In a statement, Zucker said:
"I want to thank Mark for his service at CNN. We are grateful for his contributions and wish him the best in the future," Alex Weprin reported for TVNewser.
Whitaker's note read:
"Dear CNN Colleagues:
"Two and a half years ago, when Jeff Bewkes, Phil Kent and Jim Walton first approached me about joining CNN in the newly created role of Managing Editor across all our TV and digital platforms, I told them that I would welcome the challenge under three conditions.
"The first was that the CNN recommit itself to Ted Turner's global vision of being the premier destination for news both domestic and international. I am proud that since I took the job, we have made good on that goal. From Election Day 2012 to our recent coverage of Superstorm Sandy and the Newtown school massacre, we have remained the network that Americans turn to when news matters most. On the international front, we have done groundbreaking reporting on everything from the Arab Spring and the uprising in Syria to the Japanese tsunami and the financial crisis in Europe. In 2011 that coverage brought us the best ratings we had had in years, and in 2012 it won us a record number of awards, including two Emmys, three Peabodys and four Eppys for our digital coverage.
"The second condition was that we do more to drive editorial integration between CNN.com and our TV networks. I am gratified by the progress we have made in this area, from our weekly In Depth offerings to the inspiring CNN Heroes collaboration to the growth of CNN Money, iReport, Belief Blog, In America and other digital franchises. As our formidable traffic numbers attest, CNN's future as a go-to destination for news online and across today's new mobile and social media platforms looks very bright.
"The third condition was that we make CNN a leader in diversity in its broadest sense -- in the backgrounds of our on- and off-air talent, but also in the range of their experience and points of view. As Executive Vice President in charge of program and talent development, I was thrilled to attract Amy Entelis, Vinnie Malhotra and Ramon Escobar to CNN and to work with them to recruit journalists like Jake Tapper, John Berman and Miguel Marquez, contributors like Margaret Hoover, Van Jones, Ross Douthat, Charles Blow, Ron Brownstein and Ryan Lizza, and specialists like ESPN sports reporter Rachel Nichols.
"On the programming front, my team has created the exciting new CNN Films franchise for distinguished documentaries and brought Anthony Bourdain and Morgan Spurlock to CNN to launch signature shows that will expand our scope of storytelling.
"Now, with Jeff Zucker's arrival, we have a new leader with his own forceful ideas about where to take CNN's reporting, programming and brand. For him to succeed, I believe he deserves his own team and management structure and the freedom to communicate one clear vision to the staff. I have shared that conclusion with him and he has agreed to let me step down as Managing Editor and move on from CNN.
"As someone who worked with Jeff at NBC, I know what a bold innovator he is, and I wish him and you all the best as you embark on CNN's next great adventure.
"Good luck and thanks for everything,
"Mark"
Chicago Mother Loses All Four Kids to Gun Violence
If the national media need someone to personify the effects of urban gun violence, they might consider Shirley Chambers of Chicago, who lost her fourth son and remaining child to gun violence over the weekend.
"After Shirley Chambers lost her third child to gun violence in 2000, she said she felt sadder for her surviving son, Ronnie, than she did for herself," Peter Nickeas and Rosemary Regina Sobol reported Sunday for the Chicago Tribune.
" 'I only have one child left,' Chambers told the Tribune at the time, 'and I'm afraid that (the killing) won't stop until he's gone too.'
"Chambers' worst fears apparently were realized early Saturday, when police said a man named Ronnie Chambers, 33, was fatally struck when a gunman or gunmen opened fire on a van Chambers was riding in just after it arrived in the 1100 block of South Mozart Street."
On CBS News Monday, Dean Reynolds told Chambers' story as he reported on President Obama's efforts to curb gun violence.
" 'It's not Chicago. It's these people. It's these people with these guns. They shouldn't have guns, you know?' Chambers said.
"Her son was a former gang member who stole cars, sold drugs and spent time in prison.
" 'He had changed a lot. He was trying to help other people. So whatever he did in the past, that's in the past. He changed,' Chambers said of her son.
"Just last month he appeared on the Ricki Lake show as an example of transformation. . . ."
Caroline Brewer, Brady Campaign/Center to Prevent Gun Violence: Time to Adopt Laws That Prevent Gun Violence, Like When We Adopted Laws to Prevent Racial Injustice
Jarvis DeBerry, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune: NRA dream of more 'good guys' with guns could lead to nightmare for some
Lewis W. Diuguid, Kansas City Star: To reduce gun ownership, tax weapons like property
Phillip Morris, Plain Dealer, Cleveland: A sensational gun story about a little girl from Montana killing home invaders still makes the rounds
Ruben Rosario, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.: Searching for ways to protect schools
Ruben Rosario, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.: Heat wave in January more likely than easy gun answers
Bob Ray Sanders, Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas: Arlington students speak out about guns on campus
Ethnic Media Jointly Urge Immigration Reform
More than 50 ethnic media across the country have published a joint editorial produced in association with New America Media, a national association of ethnic media, that began, "The White House and Congress must move quickly to enact just and humane comprehensive immigration reform."
They saw movement. "A bipartisan group of senators outlined a far-reaching proposal Monday to overhaul the nation's immigration laws, saying that the time has come to fix 'our broken immigration system,' " Rosalind S. Helderman and William Branigin reported for the Washington Post.
Also, "The Obama administration has developed its own proposals for immigration reform that are more liberal than a separate bipartisan effort in the Senate, including a quicker path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, people with knowledge of the proposals said," Helderman and David Nakamura reported separately for the Post.
". . . President Obama is expected to provide some details of the White House plans during a Tuesday appearance in Las Vegas, where he will call for broad changes to the nation's immigration laws."
In their joint editorial, the ethnic media said they had "a high stake in the future of immigration policy in this country. That's why we are joining together to take an editorial stand to urge Congress and the White House: Make 2013 the year of immigration reform," New America Media reported on Monday.
Margaret Hartmann, New York: Fight Over Same-Sex Couples Could Complicate Immigration Reform
Does "Rodent Community" Mean M.L. King Admirers?
"Just that it comes across as homophobic, racist and reactionary, I told one caller last week, is not reason enough to fish-wrap the alleged comic strip 'Mallard Fillmore,' " Barry Saunders wrote Monday for the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C.
"Bruce Tinsley, creator of the 19-year-old strip featuring a right-wing duck that's carried in The News & Observer, sets out to attack anyone to the left of Genghis Khan. His unmistakable mission is to shock and offend.
"You know whom he mainly offends, though? Anyone with a funny bone.
"As reader Eileen Burns told me last week, 'it's gotten worse and worse' in recent years. 'It seems like it's gotten meaner.'
"Yeah, that happened about the time President Barack Obama was elected. The vitriol has increased since Obama's re-election, and it boiled over last week in the strip the day after the nation re-inaugurated him and celebrated Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. In that strip, Tinsley compared people who celebrate King's life and legacy to rodents.
"That prompted Burns, a native New Yorker who now lives in New Hill, to call me and ask how we could carry such a 'hateful' strip. 'Very simply,' she said, 'it's hate couched in humor.'
"Hateful it is, too. Bile runs through every word of Tinsley's strip like -- yep -- bile through a goose. . . . "
According to King Features Syndicate, "Mallard Fillmore" runs in nearly 400 newspapers.
No Date for Return of T.J. Holmes' "Don't Sleep"
T.J. Holmes' "Don't Sleep," initially touted as a late-night "Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert-type show" for an African American audience, hasn't filmed an episode since Dec. 19 and a date for its return is "not yet determined," BET spokeswoman Jeanine Liburd told Journal-isms on Sunday.
BET announced in November that it was scaling back the vehicle created for the former CNN anchor from half an hour Monday through Thursday to an hour once a week.
"The viewers have spoken and due to the overwhelming demand, DON'T SLEEP! will now be expanded to a one hour weekly format allowing for a more comprehensive discussion of the issues and events affecting the African-American community," a BET announcement began.
During the hiatus, meanwhile, Holmes worked as a fill-in anchor on MSNBC on the last weekend of the year and again last weekend, and became a father. BET turned its promotional energies to "Real Husbands of Hollywood," a new mock-reality series with Kevin Hart, J.B. Smoove, Boris Kodjoe, Nick Cannon and Robin Thicke.
Holmes tweeted on Jan. 23: "Im so proud of #BETDontSleep. I want nothing more than 4 the show 2 continue. I am still n partnership w/BET & hopeful 4 the show's return."
Dr. Boyce Watkins, a Syracuse University finance professor who blogs at thyblackman.com, wished Holmes well last week and added, ". . . TJ Holmes hosting a show on BET is like Barack Obama marrying Kim Kardashian. This might have been an ill-conceived relationship from the beginning."
Film on Oscar Grant Shooting Wins at Sundance
" 'Fruitvale,' a drama based on the real-life story of a young man shot to death at an Oakland BART station, took home the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday night. The movie also won the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film," Julie Makinen, Steven Zeitchik and Mark Olsen wrote Monday for the Los Angeles Times from Park City, Utah.
"The Grand Jury Prize for U.S. documentary went to "Blood Brother," Steve Hoover's look at his best friend, who moves to India to help children with HIV. The film also won the Audience Award for U.S. documentary.
" 'Fruitvale' is the first feature-length film from USC School of Cinematic Arts graduate Ryan Coogler, 26. Actor Forest Whitaker served as a producer on the movie, which stars Michael B. Jordan," the star of "Friday Night Lights" and "The Wire." The film is based on the true story of Oscar Grant, who was 22 when he was shot and killed in a public transit station.
". . . Two special jury awards were given for U.S. documentaries. One went to Jacob Kornbluth for 'Inequality for All,' a look at the wealth gap in America featuring former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. The other went to 'American Promise,' directed by Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson, which follows two African American boys over 12 years as they attend very different schools."
The Associated Press quoted Coogler as he accepted the final prize of the night: "This project was about humanity, about human beings and how we treat each other; how we treat the people that we love the most, and how we treat the people that we don't know."
"Fox Searchlight founder and Sundance juror Tom Rothman said 'Fruitvale' was recognized for 'its skillful realization, its devastating emotional impact and its moral and social urgency -- and for anyone out there who thinks for one second that movies don't matter and can't make a difference in the world.
" 'This will not be the last time you guys walk to a podium,' he added. . . . "
Amy Goodman with Ryan Coogler, "Democracy Now!" Pacifica Radio: Fruitvale, Depiction of Oscar Grant's Last Day of Life, Takes Top Prizes at Sundance Film Festival
Pam Grady and Demian Bulwa, San Francisco Chronicle: Movie recounts Oscar Grant's final day
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Howard University has become incubator for cinematographers
Katey Rich, cinemablend.com: Find Out Why Fruitvale Was Sundance's Biggest Film And A Future Awards Contender
Mainstream Columnist Bemoans Black Abortions
"Roe v. Wade -- the U.S. Supreme Court decision that decriminalized abortion and sparked America's unending second Civil War -- hit the big 4-0 this week," Darryl E. Owens of the Orlando Sentinel wrote Friday, adding that ". . . there's a silent epidemic nestled within this shameful milestone.
"Every year, some 7,000 blacks are murdered on the streets (often done in by other blacks). Occasionally, one hears a whispered SOS," Owens continued.
"Every day, meanwhile, nearly 1,000 unborn black babies are terminated in an abortionist's shop. About that, hardly a peep."
Owens thus became one of the few columnists of color at mainstream media outlets to bemoan black abortions.
"Black women are about 12 percent of the population, yet account for more than 30 percent of abortions in the U.S. Put another way, an African-American woman is four times more likely than a white woman to choose abortion," Owens wrote.
". . . Abortion foes must do a better job of getting the word out that allies such as Orlando's BETA Center exist to buoy women who choose to parent or allow would-be parents an adopted blessing.
"Also, more must be done to blunt the all-too-true reality that black children who land in foster care often languish waiting for adoption. One-third of foster kids awaiting adoption are black, yet black kids make up only about 14 percent of the nation's youth. . . ."
He called for evangelical groups to "stand up for transracial adoption" and for black groups to push "sexual responsibility on the front end, and, failing that, parenthood and adoption the back end."
Iran Arrests More Than a Dozen Journalists
"Iranian authorities have arrested more than a dozen journalists in the past two days over their links to 'anti-revolutionary' media, Iranian media reported, in what appeared to be a coordinated crackdown on the press," Yeganeh Torbati reported Monday for Reuters.
"With a presidential election five months away, Iran's clerical leadership appears to be tightening its grip on the media to avoid a repeat of the widespread protests that erupted after the disputed election in 2009.
". . . Last week, Iran's judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei warned of the threat the Islamic Republic faced from some of its own journalists.
" 'Based on information I have from reliable sources, unfortunately a number of journalists, as well as writing for the nation's newspapers, work hand-in-hand with Westerners and anti-revolutionaries,' he said at the time. . . ."
John Yearwood, world editor of the Miami Herald, succeeds Ryan Blethen, director of new product strategies at the Seattle Times, as North American Committee chairman of the International Press Institute, the Vienna-based press freedom organization announced Friday. ". . . I believe strongly that NAC must engage fully in the fight to preserve press freedoms here at home, expand it in totalitarian regimes abroad and nurture the next generation of press freedom fighters," Yearwood said in the release.
"He styles himself 'The People's Attorney' and claims 3 million listeners tune in to hear his brand of black empowerment on his nationally-syndicated radio show," Kim Janssen reported Monday for the Chicago Sun-Times. "But the feds say Soul 106.3 personality Warren Ballentine is also a fraudster behind a $10 million mortgage scam. . . . " RollingOut.com report.
"Kevin Tsujihara has been named CEO of Warner Bros, beginning in March," Jon Lafayette reported Monday for Broadcasting & Cable. "Tsujihara, who had been president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, will succeed Barry Meyer, who will remain chairman through the end of the year."
"Dallas-based WFAA8 has added Carla Wade from Oklahoma City's KOCO-TV to its anchor/reporter staff," Ed Bark reported Friday for his Uncle Barky's Bytes blog. "Wade, who spent three years at KOCO, will be joining newcomer Jason Wheeler as co-anchor of WFAA8's Sunday night newscasts, news director Carolyn Mungo confirmed via email Friday."
"Gregory Walker, co-founder and managing director of the Brothers' Network, wants to assure you that he and his friends are not cornball brothers," Jenice Armstrong wrote Monday in the Philadelphia Daily News. "Cornball brother" was used by former ESPN commentator Rob Parker in describing Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins. ESPN failed to renew Parker's contract. "Still, that's how some folks might try to label them," Armstrong continued. "After all he, along with a crew of 276 local African-American men who are part of the network, routinely read books, visit the theater and have lofty conversations about world events."
"Gina Chon, who stepped down from The Wall Street Journal after details of her relationship with Brett McGurk -- who at the time was working with the National Security Council in Iraq -- were leaked, is joining Quartz," Chris O'Shea reported Monday for FishbowlNY, citing Talking Biz News. "Chon had been with the Journal since 2005, and was its main reporter in Iraq from 2007 to 2009."
Should Elliott Abrams, a foreign policy official in the Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush administrations, have been allowed to call former Sen. Chuck Hagel "anti-Semitic" on NPR's "All Things Considered"? Ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos answered Sunday, ". . . I personally would have cut or re-recorded the offending parts of the Abrams interview, for reasons of simple fairness and civility. For reported pieces, meanwhile, it seems to me that a sensible rule would be to avoid inflammatory names such as 'homophobic' and 'anti-Semitic' and say instead what a person has actually said or done. . . . "
On the night of the shootings in Newtown, Conn., Aline Marie attended a prayer vigil packed with local residents and the media, Coburn Dukehart wrote Monday for NPR. Without asking permission, a photographer took her photo when she knelt to pray. Kenny Irby, senior faculty at the Poynter Institute, said "there are two benefits when photographers introduce themselves and interact with their subjects. One is that they can obtain accurate caption information -- which ultimately adds more meaning, value and credibility to the photo for the reader. The other is that it can make the experience of being photographed more rewarding for the subject -- even in a moment of extreme grief. . . ."
"Dial Global and the NBC Sports Group say retired NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb will join the NBC Sports Radio lineup as a contributor starting Super Bowl week," RadioInk reported on Monday. "McNabb will serve as an NFL lead analyst for NBC Sports Radio shows throughout the week and will also call in weekly to affiliated stations."
Ebony Reed, assistant New England bureau chief for the Associated Press, writing for "To The Next Deadline," described as "A blog for print-media expats trying to figure out where their words will go next," says she was "was really touched two years ago after reading 'NewsLady,' Carole Simpson's story. I have it in print and on my iPad and I go back to it frequently. I have used it as required text in an online class on the history of the black press. I've not met Ms. Simpson in person yet, although we are both in the Boston area. I absolutely adore Ms. Simpson and remember watching her anchor the news on ABC when I was in high school. Her personal journey inspires me on days when I need to get pushed back on my path. And on the days I feel like I'm solidly on my path, her story just makes me proud. It really resonates on so many levels with me."
"Univision's Mexico City correspondent, Edgar Muñoz has left Univision," Veronica Villafañe reported Monday for her Media Moves site. "He quit the network to move to Los Angeles for a new job. According to inside sources, he will be joining Telemundo's KVEA-52 as weekday news co-anchor. . . ."
"Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the seizure of the Arabic-language newspaper Al-Sudani by Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), the latest act of media censorship in Sudan," the press-freedom group said on Thursday. "Fourteen thousand copies of the pro-government daily were seized two days ago, without any reason being given. The newspaper, once independent and critical of the government, was bought by a member of the ruling National Congress Party and ever since has reflected the political views of its owner."
In Somalia, journalist Abdulasis Abdinuur Ibrahim has been sent to jail without charges after remaining in police custody since Jan. 10, the National Union of Somali Journalists announced Saturday, according to Sabahi, a Washington-based news service about the Horn of Africa that is sponsored by the United States Africa Command. "Ibrahim is accused of interviewing Lul Ali Hassan, who police say made false claims of rape by Somali security forces. The details of the interview have not been published."
Follow Richard Prince on Twitter.
Facebook users: "Like" "Richard Prince's Journal-isms" on Facebook.
Journal-isms is published on the site of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education (mije.org). Reprinted on The Root by permission.
Death Threat, Sext Scandal for Detroit Reporter
A Detroit reporter allegedly slept with a state treasurer's ex-wife, threatened her life and sent porno photo -- not news?
Reporter's Travails Don't Make Detroit News
The disclosure Wednesday that Leonard Fleming, Detroit News city hall reporter, was removed from his beat after allegations that he was having an affair with the ex-wife of state Treasurer Andy Dillon and threatened to kill her sent rival news organizations to court records for the order of personal protection granted the woman on Jan. 10.
The News, however, decided not to cover the story, and Fleming told Elisha Anderson of the competing Detroit Free Press by telephone, "I cannot comment on any of it." Fleming has been on vacation.
Asked about the absence of coverage, Managing Editor Donald W. Nauss told Journal-isms by email, "Nothing new."
Jeff Wattrick of Deadline Detroit wrote this on Wednesday:
"Carol Dillon, the ex-wife of Michigan Treasurer Andy Dillon, received a personal protection order Jan. 10 against Detroit News reporter Leonard Fleming after Carol Dillon filed papers saying Fleming had threatened to kill her with a baseball bat.
"According to documents in Wayne County Circuit Court, Carol Dillon also said Fleming harassed her numerous times and once texted her a photo of his penis. She said the message was: 'I would be missing this if I discontinued being his friend.'
"Despite that allegation, the nature of their relationship is not spelled out in the papers. When asked whether Fleming is a boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, spouse, ex-spouse, friend or neighbor, Dillon checked 'friend.'
"Fleming has been a Detroit city hall reporter for the News for several years. Andy Dillon was constantly involved in city hall coverage in 2012 as he served as Gov. Rick Snyder's point person in crafting the consent decree with Detroit concerning the city's precarious finances. Fleming wrote numerous stories last year in which Dillon was a main player.
"According to Carol Dillon's PPO filing, she also claims Fleming repeatedly harassed her with phone calls and text messages.
"Wayne County Circuit Judge Lynne Pierce entered a personal protection order on January 10 without a hearing. The order forbids Fleming from contacting Carol Dillon in person, by phone or mail, or entering onto her property. . . . "
A court clerk told Journal-isms that such orders typically are in effect for a year but can also be imposed for a lifetime.
Referring to Fleming, Nauss said that in light of new information, "the News is exploring whether other actions would be appropriate," Anderson reported in the Free Press. Nauss has confirmed Fleming's reassignment but said he could not discuss personnel issues.
Leonard Fleming with Steve Hood, WADL-TV: "Detroit Wants 2 Know" (video, 2011)
FAMU Chooses Former Opinions Editor for Top Job
"FAMU's student newspaper, the Famuan, has a new editor," Michael Koretzky wrote Friday for his Society of Professional Journalists blog.
"Her name is Angie Meus. She replaces Karl Etters, the editor who had recently won the job but was forced to reapply for it because of a libel charge against the paper from 2011. Back then, Etters was a reporter but not an editor.
"He and other observers have wondered if FAMU's apply-for-your-own-job scheme, plus the weirdness he's faced this month (see previous posts), was simply because he worked at the paper back then.
"Perhaps administrators sought a clean sweep — a new editor for a new era.
"But apparently, that's not the case. Meus, now a senior, was actually in management at the time: She was the opinions editor.
" 'I have been writing for The Famuan since my freshman year,' she emailed me last night. 'I was the opinions editor my junior year.'
"I wanted to pose the same question to the Famuan's new adviser, Kanya Stewart. Her predecessor was fired without comment, and she was hired without FAMU posting the job or consulting students (as the j-school dean had previously promised).
"And since there's still been no official announcement, no one besides Stewart and her boss — and we don't actually know who she reports to — has seen her job description, her salary, or even her schedule. . . ."
Sara Gregory of the Student Press Law Center reported Thursday, "The newly hired editor of The Famuan at Florida A&M University said Thursday afternoon that she hopes to improve the relationship between students and the newspaper during her term, which will kick off officially next week when the paper begins printing after a two-week suspension by the school’s journalism dean. . . ."
Stewart told Journal-isms Friday afternoon that she was leaving for the day and might return the telephone call from home.
Obama, Clinton in Mutual Admiration on "60 Minutes"
"President Barack Obama says Hillary Rodham Clinton will go down as one of the finest secretaries of state the nation has ever seen," CBS News announced on Friday. "He tells this to Steve Kroft with Clinton sitting beside him in the Blue Room of the White House, in their first joint interview conducted today (25) for broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, Jan. 27 at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT.
"The interview is the only U.S. interview the president has ever given with anyone other than his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama."
Clinton said of her partnership with the president, "A few years ago it would have been seen as improbable because we had that very long, hard primary campaign. But, you know, I've gone around the world on behalf of the president and our country, and one of the things that I say to people, because I think it helps them understand, I say look, in politics and in democracy, sometimes you win elections and sometimes you lose elections. And I worked very hard but I lost. And then President Obama asked me to be secretary of state and I said yes. And why did he ask me and why did I say yes? Because we both love our country."
Associated Press: Fox News cutting ties with Sarah Palin
Charles M. Blow, New York Times: Obama Reboot
George E. Curry, National Newspaper Publishers Association: Hands off Malia and Sasha Obama
Mary C. Curtis, Washington Post: Does Obama's presidency improve the lives of everyday African Americans?
Lee A. Daniels, National Newspaper Publishers Association: King's Greatest Legacy: Seeing Polarization as Progress
Askia Muhammad, Washington Informer: Barack Unchained: President Obama Starts a Second Term
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press: Deficit Reduction Rises on Public's Agenda for Obama's Second Term
Mary Sanchez, Kansas City Star: Women ready for combat … are men ready for change?
Slideshow: 1,100 attend the Root Inaugural Ball
Goldie Taylor, the Grio: For female troops it's no longer 'a man's world'
Mark Trahant blog: Austerity: Murray says she's eager to contrast the Senate budget with those from the House
Jennifer Vanasco, Columbia Journalism Review: Inaugural diversity
Lynne K. Varner, Seattle Times: Scenes from the Obama inauguration: paying homage, looking forward
U. of Montana Seeks to Produce More Native Journalists
". . . If the vision holds true and today's American Indian journalism students join tomorrow's workforce and hit the streets of Montana's cities and towns, credit will go in part to Jason Begay," Martin Kidston wrote Sunday for the Missoulian in Missoula, Mont.
Begay, a Navajo, is one of four new tenure-track professors hired recently by the university, Kidston wrote separately. ". . . The new hires weren't brought on to teach Native American Studies, but rather chemistry, journalism, environmental studies and pharmacy."
Montana isn't the only school paying more attention to Native Americans and journalism. Kevin Kemper, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona School of Journalism, wrote on Facebook Friday that faculty members were considering a program for a Ph.D. in journalism, with some favoring a specialization in "indigenous journalism."
Mark Trahant, board chairman of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, replied, ". . . what would even be better would be a center for the study of Native journalism, including undergraduate and graduate programs. There is really no academic program in the US (a couple in Canada, however) that focus in any way on indigenous journalism. It seems to me with the changing media landscape this would be more useful now than ever."
In his piece about the journalism program at Montana, Kidston continued, " 'What I try to bring to UM is the perspective of tribal journalism,' said Begay, an assistant professor of journalism at UM. 'Indian country does exist. We’re not a bunch of tragic figures.'
"Begay was recruited to UM to study journalism by Dennis McAuliffe, the first Native American journalist-in-residence at UM. Begay graduated in 2002 before earning opportunities to intern with The New York Times and the Oregonian — two giants in the newspaper industry.
"Armed with his new skills, he took his pen and notepad back to Gallup, N.M., to write for the Navajo Times. He returned to UM six years later to teach.
" 'It changed my life,' Begay said. 'I thought it would be cool to come back and do what he (McAuliffe) did for me. They agreed that I might be able to do a good job here.' "
". . . But finding qualified Native American reporters in Montana remains a difficult task. Just one Native American student was in the School of Journalism's professional program when Begay began two years ago.
"Now, he says with a hint of pride, there are four American Indians in the School of Journalism's professional program and three more in the pre-professional program. It's the beginning of what Begay hopes is a continuing trend. . . ."
Books to Ring in the New Year: Meta G. Carstarphen and John P. Sanchez, "American Indians and the Mass Media"
Verizon Sells Wireless Spectrum to Black-Owned Firm
Verizon Wireless Friday announced the sale of wireless spectrum licenses in the Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., cellular market areas to a black-owned firm as part of a larger transaction in which AT&T bought Verizon spectrum for $1.9 billion, the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council said on Friday.
". . . Carriers like Verizon and AT&T are snapping up spectrum left and right in order to deal with the increased bandwidth demands of smartphone- and tablet-hungry consumers," Chloe Albanesius reported for PC Magazine. "Both carriers are also building out their 4G LTE networks, which boosts speeds but includes even more bandwidth strains, resulting in the need for more spectrum."
MMTC said, "Over the past nine months, MMTC, the National Urban League (NUL) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) worked with Verizon Wireless to help it conduct a wide and intensive outreach to minority- and women-owned telecommunications companies and entrepreneurs. Working closely with the nationally recognized minority investment banking firm Loop Capital LLC, NUL, NCLR and MMTC raised awareness of the sale process, and advised some 45 firms on procedures and strategies for bidding on the spectrum.
"Pew [Research Center] data discloses that sixty-four percent of African Americans, 63% of Hispanic Americans, and 57% of white Americans access the Internet through wireless devices. Wireless is the first technology for which people of color are the lead adopters."
The sale of 700 M Hz B block licenses, defined by MMTC president David Honig as "A bloc of very high quality spectrum that uses frequencies well suited for commercial wireless," went to Grain Management, LLC of Sarasota, Fla., in a transaction valued at $189 million.
In 2011, Black Enterprise named Grain Management one of the "20 Most Successful Black Companies to Watch in 2011." David J. Grain is founder and managing partner.
Joseph Torres, New America Media: FCC Chairman's Legacy: Ignoring Diversity
Audrey Edwards Writing "Tell-All" With Essence Founder Ed Lewis
Audrey Edwards, a former editor and executive editor of Essence magazine who has been associated with the magazine for 20 years, is collaborating with Edward T. Lewis, former chairman and CEO of Essence Communications and publisher of Essence magazine, on Lewis' memoir, Edwards told Journal-isms this week.
"I can now report that Simon & Schuster is the publisher," Edwards said by email, "Camille Cosby will be doing the foreword, and it's shaping up to be a tell-all that will talk about Ed's life and the creation of Essence, as well as what it's like to run a black-owned business. . . . As a line in the introduction says, 'The story of Essence is the story of American business, black style.'
"The book's title is 'The Last Man Standing at Essence Magazine.' I'm having big fun with it . . . . Ed is a dream to work with." Lewis is 72.
Essence was founded in 1970 and is the largest American magazine targeting black women. In 2005, Time Inc., which owned 49 percent of Essence Communications, signed a non-binding agreement to acquire the rest of the company. With a circulation of 1,080,633 for the six months ending in June 2012, Essence is second only to Ebony among magazines about African Americans. Ebony's circulation was 1,255,542.
Covering Mali Called a Losing Cat-and-Mouse Game
"The French army is often called la Grande Muette, or 'the Great Silent,' " Jean-Paul Marthoz reported Friday for the Committee to Protect Journalists. "The war in Mali confirms the French military's well-deserved reputation of being secretive about front-line actions. 'Locking the information is more in the culture of the French army than of the U.S. army,' says Maurice Botbol, director of La Lettre du Continent. In the first two weeks of military operations against Islamist militant groups in Mali, the French army has released only a blurry video of an air attack at an undisclosed location.
"International journalists who have flown to Mali are kept far from the front lines. No journalist has been embedded with the Special Forces that have carried out the first assaults. Most reporters who receive the authorization to accompany the troops are limited to coverage of marginal stories, such as military preparations on the Bamako airport or the 'progress of the troops to the North,' very far from the battlefields.
"The roads to the North are blocked by a succession of checkpoints manned by the Malian army. 'They are very nervous,' says Gérard Grizbec, a reporter with the public service TV channel France 2. 'They have received stern orders from the French forces: "Don't let yourself being overtaken by journalists." They usually ask us where we're going, check our passport, and request an accreditation of the Malian Communications Ministry.'
"And then they often turn the media away.
" 'All the reporters that travel to the North come back frustrated and furious to Bamako,' complains Jean-Paul Mari, special envoy for the newsweekly Le Nouvel Observateur. 'This is a war without images and without facts.' On January 22, the French channel i>Télé devoted a whole report to the difficulty of reporting. 'We try to outwit the Malian army,' says its editor-in- chief, Lucas Menget. 'It is like a cat-and-mouse game.' And up to now, it is a losing game for the press. . . .' "
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: Republicans are asking the wrong questions
Scott Sayare, New York Times: 2 Outlets Find Prized Sources in Algeria Siege: The Fighters
Thomas Lee, vice president for print of the Asian American Journalists Association and business reporter at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, "regrets he will not be able to complete his term and is resigning for personal reasons," AAJA announced on Friday. "AAJA is holding a special election to fill the remainder of his term, which ends Dec. 31, 2013." Meanwhile, Sue Green, broadcast director of the Cronkite News Service at Arizona State University, resigned from the board of Unity: Journalists for Diversity, where she represented the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, citing health reasons.
" 'Good Morning America' co-anchor Robin Roberts took a major step towards her return to daytime television Thursday morning, taking what the network called 'a behind-the-scenes test run' — that turned out to be a smashing success," Don Kaplan and Ethan Sacks reported Thursday for the Daily News in New York. "The 52-year-old daytime fixture hasn't been on live television since August, when she went on medical leave to undergo a bone marrow transplant last fall stemming from a rare blood disorder."
After five years of writing the "Diversity Diva" column in the Kansas City Star, Michelle T. Johnson Tuesday listed "the five biggest changes I've noticed overall about diversity, particularly as it affects the workplace." The first is that "People have become increasingly more polarized in their opinions. . . . people don't seem to have lighter, more moderate ways to express an opinion or characterize someone else's opinion position. They express them in colorful, challenging language. . . . "
Friends of Kathy Pellegrino, the reporter, editor, lawyer, mentor and diversity advocate at the South Florida SunSentinel who died at 57 on Oct. 30, are creating a scholarship in her honor at the University of Florida. Checks may be sent to P.O. Box 6474, Delray Beach, FL 33482 and made payable to the University of Florida Foundation. In the memo line write "College of Journalism and Communication," said Sheila Solomon, a former fellow recruiter who is among those friends. "Donations were at more than $3,300 as of Wednesday and, I believe, the goal is a minimum of $30,000," Solomon told Journal-isms by email.
When it comes to diversity, ". . . Newspapers sports departments are worse than NFL coaching staffs," Joe Grimm wrote Monday for jobspage.com. "Only three of the 32 NFL cities have black [head] coaches and only three of those cities have newspapers with black sports editors."
"eBay has officially banned the 'Django Unchained' slave toys from being sold on the Internet shopping," Brittney M. Walker reported Friday for EURWeb.com. "After the Weinstein Company announced the release of the figurines, immediately outspoken activists and black consumers expressed outrage, charging the creators of trivializing enslavement. Thus the company halted production, but still put the toys out on the market. . . . " Meanwhile, a pro-gun group has launched a campaign aimed at African Americans, "What Would Django Do?" according to Paul Bond in the Hollywood Reporter. More on action figures from BET.
"If you ever plan on wearing a Klan robe around Orange County, (either attempting to intimidate minorities or as part of an ill-conceived Halloween costume), the first thing you need to know is that the public response to the sight of your ludicrous cone-head will be immediate," Brandon Ferguson wrote last week for the OC Weekly. "As model/guinea pig for Gustavo Arellano's latest cover story on the Ku Klux Klan's shameful history in the land of citrus . . . during our two-day shoot, the stares cast at my robed persona spanned disbelief and revulsion."
"Sandra Appiah is on a mission. The 23-year-old wants to rebrand Africa and alter skewed perceptions of the continent," Kunbi Tinuoye reported Thursday for the Grio. "The New York-based Ghana native says when she moved to the States as a teenager she was shocked by the racist name-calling, not only from whites, but teasing and bullying from black and Latino kids in the Bronx. . . . After two years of strategic planning, Appiah and her business partner, Isaac Boateng, 28, launched Face2Face Africa (F2FA) in March 2011, an online magazine with the mission of 'restoring Africa's image within the global community.' ”
Cox Media Group has funded the development of a "conservative Huffington Post" to be named Rare, Thomas Wheatley reported Thursday for Creative Loafing.
"NBC-owned KNBC Los Angeles (DMA 2) announced today that Hetty Chang will join the station as a multimedia reporter covering the Los Angeles South Bay," TVNewsCheck reported on Thursday. ". . . Chang was the first digital media fellow recipient through a pilot program between KNBC and the Asian American Journalists Association in 2011. Under the fellowship, she worked with the station's digital media team. . . ."
"On the second anniversary of Egypt's January 25 revolution, Hosni Mubarak's footprints are still present in many areas of the public sphere — and media are no exception," Sherif Mansour wrote Thursday for the Committee to Protect Journalists. "President Mohamed Morsi needs to cease using Mubarak-era tactics of silencing his critics with criminal charges such as defamation. . . ."
"Where does accurate reporting on a presidential candidate end and 'indirect' promotion of the candidate begin? That's the question facing Ecuadorean media outlets as they try to navigate an ambiguous legal landscape ahead of the country's Feb. 17th presidential vote," Scott Griffen wrote Thursday for the International Press Institute. "The confusion began last February, when current leader as well as election front-runner Rafael Correa exercised his line-item veto power to modify a bill reforming the country's electoral law (known as the 'Democracy Code') by introducing new restrictions on media campaign coverage. . . . "
Follow Richard Prince on Twitter.
Facebook users: "Like" "Richard Prince's Journal-isms" on Facebook.
Journal-isms is published on the site of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education (mije.org). Reprinted on The Root by permission.
FAMU Student Newspaper's Editor Ousted
The student says he was booted for pledging not to go easy on the administration.
Adviser Reportedly Cites Prospect of "Negative" Stories
"The editor of the student newspaper at Florida A&M University learned via email today that he's being replaced," Michael Koretzky reported Wednesday for the Southern Drawl, a blog of the Society of Professional Journalists. "This is the totality of that email ...
"Thank you for submitting your application for the editor-in-chief of The FAMUan for the Spring 2013 semester. It was a pleasure to interview with you on Jan. 22, 2013. I regret to inform you that after careful consideration I have selected another applicant. Best wishes in your future endeavors.
"It was written by Kanya Stewart, the new Famuan adviser who still hasn't been formally announced as the replacement for the fired Andrew Skerritt. [Skerritt remains on the faculty.]
Karl Etters, "being a quality journalist, searched out Stewart for illumination. 'She explained that I was not the best fit for the job because I didn't fit into the vision of The Famuan,' he told me. And what's that vision?
"She said my answer about holding the administration accountable and publishing 'negative' stories as she called it -- which I did not say in the interview -- was not in the vision of the paper.
"I tried to reach Stewart to see if Etters is describing her vision correctly, but she hasn't returned calls to two separate phone numbers in her name. . . ."
The Student Press Law Center reported, "Etters said he does not know who the new editor is, but believes at least one other person applied for the position. Stewart could not be reached for comment. Journalism school Dean Ann Kimbrough declined to comment on the selection of the new editor or adviser.
"Stewart confirmed in a tweet she posted Tuesday that the paper will resume publishing on Jan. 30, almost two weeks after Kimbrough suspended the paper's publishing and removed the paper's adviser. Editors were told then that they would have to take part in training sessions and reapply for their positions.
"Etters said he was disappointed but not surprised to learn he was not rehired. He served as the paper's top editor last semester and in December, reapplied and was hired to serve for this semester as well.
" 'To me it seems like this was all a ruse to put somebody else as editor,' Etters said. 'That's how it feels. A horse is a horse no matter which way you look at it.' "
"He said he asked Stewart for feedback as to why he was not rehired Wednesday afternoon.
" 'The short answer is I didn't fit into the vision of the paper,' Etters said, noting that Stewart objected to one of the answers he gave in his interview.
" 'I said something along the lines of 'we publish the truth whether it's positive or negative, good or bad,' he said. 'She said that she didn't like my answer about negative stories. … I would never say that's a goal, writing negative stories. But holding people accountable doesn't constitute negative stories.' "
Kimbrough and Stewart could not be reached for comment.
Valerie White, the director of the Division of Journalism who fought student censorship as leader of the Black College Communication Association, told Journal-isms by email Thursday:
"Concerning the issues at hand, there isn't much I can say right now due to the lawsuit, FERPA [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act] and privacy concerning personnel matters." A libel lawsuit was filed in December by a former Marching 100 drum major.
"I wrote a note to faculty on Jan. 16 urging them to refer all requests for comments to the Office of Communications or the University General Counsel. The new adviser was announced in that communication to faculty and to students at the training on Friday. I understand that Kanya Simon Stewart spoke and entertained questions. I was away on family medical leave.
"The decision to delay the first issue of The Famuan was made in an effort to preserve The Famuan, but a few students made it about them instead of seeing the big picture.
"Some of the information that has been reported is not true. And the truth will come out, but not right now due to pending litigation."
After the administration "delayed" publication until Jan. 30, the Famuan students published online, calling their product Ink and Fangs. They also attended the training the administration mandated. Etters confirmed by telephone the quotes he gave to SPJ and the Student Press Law Center and said he planned to continue Ink and Fangs.
"Maybe once a week, post a few things there," he said, "provide another outlet for journalism students." Etters said he had made a conscious effort not to write about the Famuan situation on the site. "It didn't seem like the right thing," he said. He thought he would be "taking the high road."
Detroit City Hall Reporter Taken Off Beat After Affair
"The Detroit News has removed its veteran city hall reporter from his beat following allegations that he was having an affair with the ex-wife of state Treasurer Andy Dillon and then threatened to kill her with a baseball bat, sources at the newspaper and Lansing confirmed today," Steve Neavling reported Wednesday for the blog Motor City Muckrake.
Detroit News Executive Editor Donald Nauss confirmed for Journal-isms by telephone that Leonard Fleming, who once competed with Neavling as a city hall reporter, "was reassigned last week. We haven't figured out a spot for him," Nauss said. "We're temporarily putting him in the general assignment pool." Nauss said that he could not discuss personnel issues and that Fleming was on vacation.
Neavling, who was fired in April from the Detroit Free Press, continued, "The allegations are serious, for one, because reporter Leonard Fleming was closely covering Dillon's office as it negotiated a controversial state takeover of Detroit City Hall. Fleming continued to report on Dillon's takeover plan until at least last month, when editors learned of the affair.
"In the meantime, Fleming's relationship with Carol Dillon apparently went sour, and he began harassing her and even sent her a picture of his penis, according to a personal protection order granted to her two weeks ago. . . ."
NBC News, CNN Most-Watched During Inauguration
"The Nielsen ratings are in, and NBC News and CNN were the big winners on Inauguration Day," Dylan Byers reported Tuesday for Politico.
"NBC News was the most-watched broadcast or cable television network, drawing an average of 5.081 million viewers during its 10am - 4:30pm broadcast, according to Nielsen ratings provided by NBC. CBS News averaged 3.671 million; ABC News averaged 3.922 million*.
"On cable, CNN scored an average 1.923 million total viewers throughout the day, 3.573 million total viewers in primetime, and 3.136 million viewers during President Obama's address, according to Nielsen numbers provided by CNN. Fox News averaged 1.104 million during the day, 1.666 million in primetime, and 1.316 million during the address. MSNBC averaged 1.095 million viewers during the day, 1.365 million during primetime, and 2.273 million during the speech."
The asterisk refers readers to this paragraph: "*ABC News is now claiming 4.57 million viewers, based on Nielsen's decision to adjust the average to include the Oath of Office and President Obama's speech. We'll have new totals as soon as the official numbers for Nielsen are released across all networks."
Emily Alpert, Los Angeles Times: Inauguration 2013: What foreign media say about Obama's second term
Jenice Armstrong, Philadelphia Daily News: Michelle, rhymes with belle
Perry Bacon Jr., the Grio: In Obama's 2nd inauguration speech, a strong defense of modern liberalism
Wayne Bennett, the Field Negro: The most depressing day of the year?
Curtis Brainard, Columbia Journalism Review: Climate policy, act two
Anthea Butler, MSNBC: 'Post-racial'? No: with a black president, all issues are racialized
Bill Carter, New York Times: More Than 20 Million Viewers Watched Coverage of Inauguration
Stanley Crouch, Daily News, New York: The long road from King to Obama
Jarvis DeBerry, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune: Cornel West and Tavis Smiley upset Barack Obama isn't Martin Luther King
Lewis W. Diuguid, Kansas City Star: The next rung upward on the civil rights ladder
Rubina Madan Fillion and Liz Heron, Wall Street Journal: How The Inauguration Played Out on Social Media
Sam Fulwood III, Center for American Progress: Another Inaugural Call for Bipartisanship and Involvement
Peter Hart, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting: Journalists Say Obama Still Too Mean to Republicans
Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe: Obama's call for citizen action
Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe: A progressive start to Obama's second term
Annette John-Hall, Philadelphia Inquirer: President Obama needs everyone's help to make history
Colbert I. King, Washington Post: We still aren't good enough
Steve Kornacki, Salon: The first black vice president
Julianne Malveaux, syndicated: Connecting the Past with the President
Roland S. Martin, Creators Syndicate: GOP: Stop Being Afraid to Talk to Minorities
Courtland Milloy, Washington Post: For Obama, the time has come to talk about race
Mary Mitchell, Chicago Sun-Times: The second time around is still pretty good -- and just as emotional
Askia Muhammad, Washington Informer: Martin Unchained: MLK Jr. if the South Had Won the War
Ruben Navarrette Jr., Washington Post News Media Services: Wrong signal from the White House
Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Some still in disbelief over Obama's wins
Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: Obama: The sequel
Jason Parham, Complex: iPresident: How Social Media Shaped the Narrative of Barack Obama
Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald: End War of Drugs to honor King
Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald: A brighter dawn
Sara Rafsky, Committee to Protect Journalists: New term to settle Obama legacy on leaks, whistleblowers
Janell Ross, HuffPost LatinoVoices: Latino, White Population Trading Places, But Politics Still Behind New Demographic Reality
Bob Ray Sanders, Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas: There's more to know about Sarah T. Hughes than swearing in LBJ
Dawn Turner Trice, Chicago Tribune: King would still be fighting poverty
Julio Ricardo Varela, NBCLatino: Spanish featured at inauguration, and English-only crowd stays quiet
DeWayne Wickham, USA Today: Obama needs more blacks in Cabinet
Jen Christensen to Lead Lesbian, Gay Journalists
Jen Christensen, a writer and producer with cnn.com, has been chosen by the board of directors of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association as its new president, succeeding the late Michael Triplett, the association announced on Tuesday. Christensen is to serve the remainder of the term, through the 2014 convention.
". . . Since 2009, Christensen has served as NLGJA's vice president for broadcast. She previously served on NLGJA's board of directors for three terms, as president of the Georgia and Carolinas chapters and as the founding president of the Kentucky chapter," the announcement said. Christensen is also a board member of the Unity: Journalists for Diversity coalition.
Meanwhile, Triplett's family announced a memorial service to be held Saturday, Feb. 2, at noon at St. Paul's Lutheran Church at 4900 Connecticut Ave. NW in Washington. Visitation is scheduled for 11 a.m. prior to the service in the church's baptistry. A reception follows.
The family has requested that memorials be made to St. Paul's Lutheran Church; NLGJA, 2120 L Street NW, Suite 850, Washington, D.C. 20037; or Hospice Family Care; 3304 Westmill Dr. SW, Huntsville, AL 35805.
18-Month Project Finds, Photographs the Exonerated
Billy Smith II of the Houston Chronicle produced a photo essay this week for the Chronicle about people who were wrongfully convicted.
". . . The stories of each of the 20 men and women in these pages, are, like DNA, uniquely their own," reads an accompanying text by Tony Freemantle. "But the one thing they have in common is that their lives and the lives of their families, the jurors who convicted them, the judges who presided over their conviction, and the witnesses or victims who got it wrong, were irrevocably altered."
Smith, a member of the 2008 class of the Maynard Institute's Media Academy, told Journal-isms by email that the project took a year and a half.
"The Exoneree Project was my story idea from the start," Smith wrote. "Tony, one of the best wordsmiths at our paper, came to me wanting to be a part of it. This was always first and foremost a photo-driven project. I tracked down all of these guys myself. We are talking late-night drives to addresses that may or may not be them and cold-calling numbers hoping it's the guy you're looking for. I did the audio interviews and each portrait is in a setting or posed is a way that tells each exoneree's story. The web presentation was produced by fellow co-worker and Photo Coach Smiley N. Pool. Smiley did a stunning job with the presentation.
"Tony Freemantle knew from the beginning the importance of this being a photo-driven project. He treated his written essay as the foreword to the images. The photos needed a entry point for the viewer and he supplied that. He also did a lot of fact checking and data work.
"As you know no good project is done alone. we had an excellent team here at the Chronicle working to make this an excellent project."
In the middle of the project, Smith's son was born three months premature and spent 50 days in neonatal intensive care.
"I am proud to say we celebrated is first birthday the same weekend the project was published."
Scholar Challenges 2nd Amendment Tie to Slavery
Legal scholar Paul Finkelman is challenging "The Second Amendment was Ratified to Preserve Slavery," an assertion by author and talk-show host Thom Hartmann on the Truthout website that was highlighted last week in this space.
Hartmann's piece began, "The real reason the Second Amendment was ratified, and why it says 'State' instead of 'Country' (the Framers knew the difference -- see the 10th Amendment), was to preserve the slave patrol militias in the southern states, which was necessary to get Virginia's vote. Founders Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison were totally clear on that . . . and we all should be too."
Writing on the Root on Monday, Finkelman disagreed.
"The idea of Madison, Henry and Mason teaming up in 1787 or in 1789 (when Madison wrote the Second Amendment) would make an entertaining Saturday Night Live skit," Finkelman wrote. "Madison and Henry could not stand each other. They were political opponents throughout this period. After 1787 Mason joined Henry in opposing the Constitution (which Madison worked so hard to create), and both Henry and Mason opposed the Bill of Rights. Indeed Virginia was the last state to ratify the Bill of Rights (in 1791) because of Henry's opposition to the Bill of Rights. Henry wanted to scuttle the whole Constitution and not make it better. So he opposed all the amendments.
"Thus, Hartmann's 'conspiracy' falls flat because a conspiracy would require that the people allegedly involved talked to each other.
"This is not to say that slave patrols were not important to the South and slavery. They surely were. But the Second Amendment was directed solely at the federal government, which was prohibited from disarming state militias, and thus allowed the states to arm their militias if the federal government did not do so. Even if the amendment did not exist and the national government had abolished the state militias, the states would have been free to create their own slave patrols, just as they can create police departments and other law-enforcement agencies. . . ."
George E. Curry, National Newspaper Publishers Association: NRA Maintains Stranglehold on Congress
George E. Curry: Slavery and the Second Amendment (2005)
Annette John-Hall, Philadelphia Inquirer: Ramsey: Gun-control debate is not going away
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press: Mixed Reactions to Obama's Gun Proposals
Ruben Rosario, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.: Video games and violence: There's research, and there's your gut (Jan. 4)
Mary Sanchez, Kansas City Star: King’s message of nonviolence resonates
Mary Sanchez, Kansas City Star: NRA's choice: Be part of solution or continue to make problem worse
Ana Veciana-Suarez, Miami Herald: NRA's new game app: Callous, tone-deaf
Edward Wyckoff Williams, the Root: Fear of a Black Gun Owner
Los Angeles Times Had Cameo Role in "Dreamgirls"
The Los Angeles Times had a role in the movie version of the "Dreamgirls" blockbuster released in 2006. Who knew?
"There's a scene where Jennifer Hudson's character is yelling at Jamie Foxx's character that was shot in the atrium," Times spokeswoman Hillary Manning told Journal-isms Wednesday by email. "There's a scene in Jamie Foxx's character's record company office that was shot in the Chandler Pavilion. There's a scene where police (I think?) come to seize records that was shot in what we call the round table room."
Christine Haughney reported Sunday in the New York Times that over the last several years, the Los Angeles paper "has rented its offices for use in the films 'Argo,' 'Moneyball,' 'Frost/Nixon,' 'Dreamgirls' and 'The Soloist.' " Haughney quoted Manning saying the rentals were part of a strategy "to maximize the value of our real estate assets and diversify our revenue streams to best support The Times's core journalistic mission."
The L.A. Times is not the only newspaper with the idea. "While most newspapers lack cash, employees and a clear strategy for finding greater profits in the digital age, they do not lack for office space," Haughney wrote.
Online Only, Readers See What the Fuss Was About
Online readers of the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., were warned Sunday, "The artwork, which can be seen lower in this column, may be offensive to some readers." A portion of the drawing depicted a white man holding the head of a naked black woman to his groin, her back to the viewer.
"The painting that caused such a ruckus at the Newark Public Library is uncovered again, viewable by all, and the controversy around it gone," Barry Carter's story said. ". . .The huge drawing was done by Kara Walker, a renowned African-American artist whose themes deal with race, gender, sexuality and violence. This piece shows the horrors of reconstruction, 20th-century Jim Crowism and hooded figures of the Ku Klux Klan."
The artwork actually ran twice online, editor Kevin Whitmer told Journal-isms by email. The first time was in a December column by Carter headlined, "Censorship or common decency? Newark Library covers up controversial artwork."
The second time came Sunday in "Controversial painting in Newark Library is bared once again."
"The photo in [question] has run only online and we used it both times," Whitmer said, citing the editor's note about its potential to offend. "Our feeling is that it's hard to write about controversial art without showing the artwork somewhere. I suppose that's another great frontier the internet has opened for us. If people want it, they can have it.
"Gone are the old days when a 4-column photo on a cover page was one of the only options."
Dolores Prida, Advice Columnist, Trailblazer Was 69
" . . . Dolores Prida, legendary playwright, columnist and Latina trailblazer, died this morning at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City," Lee Hernandez wrote Sunday for Latina magazine. She was 69.
"The author of Latina's 'Dolores Dice' column, and one of the founding members of the magazine, Dolores was a part of our Latina family and our hearts are heavy this morning as we report the news of her passing.
" 'In many ways, Dolores was the heart and soul of the magazine,' said Damarys Ocaña Perez, Latina's executive editor. 'She loved helping Latinas understand their self-worth and potential whether it was through her column's combination of witty and wise advice or by helping those of us putting together each magazine issue stay true to our mission of celebrating Latina life and accomplishments. She was an irreplaceable mentor and friend,' she said, adding that Prida received hundreds of letters a month and readers mentioned time and again 'how Dolores Dice was the first feature they turned to each month.'
"Last night, hours before she passed away, Prida attended a party for a group called LIPS -- a journalism and advocacy group for Latinas that had been meeting for 20 years. . . . "
Damarys Ocaña, Latina: Latina's Executive Editor on Remembering Dolores Prida, Columnist & Latina Family Member
Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN: Dolores Prida, Latina 'Dear Abby,' dies
Clinkscales' "Shadow League" Sports Site Launches
Keith Clinkscales, the entrepreneur and former magazine publisher and ESPN executive, announced Wednesday he had launched the Shadow League, a digital sports platform he promised in June.
". . . ESPN announced a relationship with The Shadow League that consists of funding as well as the potential to develop various content opportunities. The Shadow League remains an independent company with its own editorial voice," an announcement said.
The site is "led by editor in chief Vincent Thomas ('The Black Quarterback Is Dead'), and supported by the site's deputy editor Khalid Salaam and social media editor James Carr ('Marijuana Propaganda and Mathieu'). Its roster of writers is a potent mix of veteran sports journalists and up-and-comers including: J.R. Gamble ('The NCAA Is Failing Its Black Student Athletes,'), Keith Murphy ('The Chronic: When Dr. Dre Put Conscious Rap In The Coffin'), Maurice Bobb, Michael Tillery, Sandy Dover, Kelley Carter, Michael Arceneaux, DJ Dunson and Glenn Minnis ('Is Derrick Rose The Most Valuable Person In Sports?'), and Zach Dillard. The site has featured articles from pop culture experts Nelson George ('Op-Ed: Native Son Nelson George's Take On Brooklyn and Barclays'), Kevin Powell ('An Open Letter To Rick Ross And The Gangster Disciples') and Harry Allen."
Asked whether he is hiring, Clinkscales said by email, "i have done some hiring. and Vince Thomas [vince (at) theshadowleague.co]m is always taking pitches and working with people."
"The Boston Globe's longstanding Newspaper In Education (NIE) program is launching a digital pilot program that is putting iPads -- as well as digital subscriptions to BostonGlobe.com -- into public school classrooms in Boston and Stoneham," the newspaper announced Tuesday. "This pilot program is using $65,000 of vacation donation funds from Globe subscribers to pay for 75 iPads and projectors -- 50 in the Boston Public Schools and 25 in Stoneham High School." All participating schools for which student demographics are listed are majority students of color: English High (Jamaica Plain), Boston Community Leadership Academy (Hyde Park), Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers (Fenway), Charlestown High (Charlestown), Boston Adult Technical Academy (Dorchester), Mildred Avenue K-8 School (Mattapan), Excel High School (South Boston), Community Academy (Jamaica Plain). Demographic data are not listed for Mary Lyon School (Brighton) and Mario Umana Academy (East Boston).
"Al Jazeera, which is set to replace Current TV with the launch of Al Jazeera America, has posted 105 new jobs in the United States -- 98 in New York City, where AJ America will be based, and seven in Washington," Dylan Byers reported Tuesday for Politico. List of jobs.
Longtime journalist and historian Ted Talbert, 70, died Tuesday, his family confirmed, Darren A. Nichols and Oralandar Brand-Williams reported Tuesday for the Detroit News. Talbert had congestive heart failure, said his sister, Edna Bell. "Talbert was inducted into Michigan's Journalism Hall of Fame in 2000. He is credited with producing some of the best documentaries in the country," Nichols and Brand-Williams wrote.
"James Earl Jones is back to intoning 'This is CNN' for the cable news channel after a long absence," Brent Lang reported Tuesday for the Wrap. "The Oscar-nominee and voice of Darth Vader was a mainstay of the network for years, but his voice hasn't been used between commercial interruptions for awhile. It will once again be a staple of CNN thanks to Jeff Zucker."
"The nonprofit Vision Maker Media is partnering American Indian and Alaska Native college students with Public Television stations for summer internships, a great opportunity for Native Americans to get a toehold in a media landscape traditionally bereft of Native perspective," Alec Luhn reported Monday for the Nation. "The nonprofit, which receives funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, will select undergraduate and graduate students to complete a 10-week paid internship at a Public Television station in the US."
In Mexico City, "Televisa president Emilio Azcarraga said his network is aiming to provide English-language content for a new channel that brings together its U.S. partner Univision and ABC News," John Hecht reported Tuesday for the Hollywood Reporter.
The Buffalo News Wednesday put out a call for candidates for its 2013 diversity advisory board "to provide feedback on the paper's coverage of minorities. The board will meet quarterly or more with News editors and reporters to discuss news coverage and offer ideas. Membership will be for one year." Columnist Rod Watson told Journal-isms by email, "They critique our coverage, provide story ideas, and sometimes serve as a sounding board on stories we're considering. For instance, last summer a reporter did an in-depth piece on the N-word and really wanted to spell it out to have maximum impact. Editors were divided, but after bouncing it off the advisory board -- whose members were universally opposed to spelling out the word -- we went with 'N' and dashes, as they suggested."
Rochelle Riley, columnist for the Detroit Free Press, wrote this tribute Thursday to photographer Hugh Grannum, who died Jan. 11 at 72: ". . . To me -- a single woman, living in a state without family, without a husband, without her brother -- he became father, brother, mentor, uncle and friend. He was the one who talked to my daughter about boys and to me about men. He was the one who shot a portfolio for my daughter when she wanted to be a model. He also was the one who taught me perseverance in a changing industry, about being your own best protector and your own worst critic. He taught me -- and so many others -- about excellence. . . ."
In Rapid City, S.D., "Bill Clayton, the Rapid City council member charged with making racist comments, publicly apologized Tuesday night to a black television reporter for questioning her citizenship and suggesting she be deported to Kenya during a telephone interview," Aaron Orlowski reported Wednesday for the Rapid City Journal. "He also said in his apology at the city council meeting that he was unaware of Taisha Walker's race when he made the statements during the interview about an August 2012 vote on property taxes."
"Kenyan authorities must hold to account soldiers with the General Service Unit, Kenya's paramilitary force, in connection with their reported assault of two journalists on Sunday," the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. "Dennis Okeyo, a photographer for the Daily Nation, and John Otanga, a cameraman for Nation TV, said they were attacked by GSU soldiers while they were attempting to cover politically motivated clashes in Kibera, a neighborhood in Nairobi, according to news reports and local journalists. . . ."
"A former Thai magazine editor was jailed for 10 years on Wednesday for insulting the royal family under the country's draconian lese-majeste law, a sentence that drew condemnation from international rights groups and the European Union," Amy Sawitta Lefevre reported for Reuters. "Somyot Prueksakasemsuk was found guilty of publishing articles defaming King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 2010 when he was editor of a magazine devoted to self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. . . ."
Follow Richard Prince on Twitter.
Facebook users: "Like" "Richard Prince's Journal-isms" on Facebook.
Journal-isms is published on the site of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education (mije.org). Reprinted on The Root by permission.
Diverse Views of a Diverse Inauguration
Pundits shared varying opinions on the importance of Obama's inaugural message.
Pundits Display Personal, Ideological Filters
The coincidence of the nation's first black president being inaugurated for the second time on the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday Monday did not go unnoticed by pundits. Neither did President Obama's delivery of what some called the most inclusive inaugural speech ever.
How they interpreted that speech depended on the lens through which they viewed it.
CNN pundit David Gergen called it "one of the most important Barack Obama has given as president," calling it a "declaration of conscience."
On MSNBC, Chuck Todd said the president was attempting to mainstream "the liberal-progressive" agenda the way Ronald Reagan did the conservative one.
Chris Wallace of Fox News Channel did not hear mainstreaming. Wallace said Obama's plan "appears to be, 'Let's jam it down their throats.' "
Given Fox's political orientation, the criticism was not so surprising. In fact, satirist Andy Borowitz wrote a piece for the New Yorker over the weekend saying that Fox News Channel planned to shut down for what it called "routine maintenance" Monday morning at 11:30 ET, broadcasting "a continuous photomontage of white people" during the 12-hour shutdown. Some on social media and at least one website, Loop21, reported the joke as straight news.
African American-oriented cable networks BET and TV One covered the inaugural speech live and emphasized the event's significance for African Americans.
Many of them no doubt felt the way Eugene Robinson did at the Washington Post. "Reaction to the address took remarkably little notice of the fact that Obama is an African American," Robinson wrote. "That seems to be old news.
"Not for me, though. Not for a black man who grew up in the segregated South, who attended a rally (my mother tells me) at which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke, who lived through the defeat of Jim Crow and the triumph of the civil rights movement."
Michael Steele, the African American former Republican National Committee chairman, agreed in his comments on MSNBC. "As an African American who grew up in Petworth," a District of Columbia neighborhood, "this is a very powerful moment," Steele said. "We're not just in the room but at the table."
Steele was critical of "some of those Republicans who had to leave town and wouldn't be a part of it today," saying Obama's speech carried with it a "great tone, and I think the president should be applauded for that."
Obama used his address "to cast modern-day priorities -- fighting climate change, welcoming immigrants, and ensuring gay rights -- as the extension of a long struggle to live up to the Founders' ideals," David A. Fahrenthold and Debbi Wilgoren reported for the Washington Post under the online headline, "Obama calls for greater equality for all."
Matt Smith and Tom Cohen of CNN noted, "The loudest cheer of Obama's address came when he said the nation's journey remained incomplete 'until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts,' and 'until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law.' "
Obama became the first president to ever mention homosexuality and gay rights in such a speech, Andrew Kirell reported for mediaite.
The president referred to key locations in the struggle for women's, African American and gay rights. He said, "We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths -- that all of us are created equal -- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth."
"It feels like a very fresh, modern" approach to an inauguration, Rachel Maddow said on MSNBC. In mentioning constituencies whose gains came through protest, she said, Obama's message was that "the country gets better because people fight to make it better," and he telegraphed "how he sees that change happens in the future."
With the choice of Beyoncé to render the Star Spangled Banner, and the presence of singers Kelly Clarkson and James Taylor, Maddow said the event seemed "a combination of pop culture and patriotism."
USA Today columnist DeWayne Wickham, a panelist during BET's coverage, called the address "very much a victory lap" with "specific messages to those who backed him."
Ed Gordon, who anchored BET's coverage, embraced Beyoncé with a familiarity appropriate for BET's audience. "Looking at that little girl from Houston, Texas, speaks to what America is all about," Gordon said, calling her "arguably the top entertainer of the country."
On Fox News, Obama's implied criticism of Republican ideologues did not sit well.
"The people who are Obama supporters believe the Republicans have been obstructionist," commentator Brit Hume said. But the Republicans say, "We'd love to do business with this guy, but he never offers us anything." Hume said that it is normal for passages in second inaugural addresses to note areas of commonality with the other party. But "this is completely bereft of an outreach to the opposition."
Surprisingly, Hume's colleague Chris Wallace challenged Hume. Wallace pointed out Republican filibusters during Obama's first term and recalled the pledge early on by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate minority leader, to make Obama a one-term president. "I don't think you can lay it all on the side of the White House," Wallace said.
Still, Fox correspondent Jim Angle cited Obama's statement that, "We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate" to say, "I think there are a lot of Republicans who would say you could say that about the president himself."
The inaugural symbolism extended to the selections of Richard Blanco, who is gay and Latino, to deliver the inaugural poem, and Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights figure Medgar Evers and a civil rights leader in her own right, to deliver the invocation. The Bibles chosen were those used by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, administered the oath to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
No Asian Americans or Native Americans seemed to have a part in the ceremony.
Roland Martin, who anchored TV One's coverage, called attention to an African American presence that went back to 1972, saying that the Rev. Jesse Jackson's presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 "made this possible." He also mentioned the 1972 campaign of Rep. Shirley Chisholm, D-N.Y., for the Democratic nomination.
Jackson's campaigns led to the elimination of winner-take-all and "bonus" primaries from Democratic Party elections after the 1988 race.
Martin invited Arnaldo Torres, who was broadcasting in a nearby Telemundo booth, to join him to discuss closer cooperation between African Americans and Latinos. Torres said that when he was national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) from 1980 to 1984, he joined with the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta to propose funding for such a coalition.
"Not one liberal foundation wanted to fund us," Torres said. "A lot of people are very afraid to see people of color coming together in a serious way."
Pacifica Radio's "Democracy Now!" took the African American connection much farther back.
Clarence Lusane, author of "The Black History of the White House," pointed out that both the Capitol and White House were built with slave labor, that 25 percent of all U.S. presidents were slaveholders and that black people were held in bondage in the White House itself.
Joyner, Smiley Clash Again Over Obama
The differences between syndicated radio host Tom Joyner and media figure Tavis Smiley, once a regular commentator on the Joyner show, show no signs of mending. Joyner wrote on his blog Monday, "What do many Republicans, the spokesmen, for NRA and Tavis Smiley have in common? Once they start down a road, no matter how dangerous or ridiculously wrong it is, they won't turn back."
Joyner added, "I believe that Tavis is the one fascinated with Dr. [Martin Luther] King's legacy, but more importantly Tavis is fascinated with his own legacy, and that's not good. He wants more than anything to be remembered the way Dr. King was, and to some how make that kind of mark on the world. . . . "
Smiley said on CBS' "Sunday Morning," "I've heard people exclaim that President Obama is the fulfillment of Dr. King's dream. Well, not exactly. . . . The interrelated triple threat of poverty, militarism and racism that King talked about still looms large in a yet-deeply-divided America."
Joyner wrote, ". . . Dr. King knew good things would be said about him in death and he was humbled at the idea of it. Tavis is afraid of what will be said about him and it's driving him crazy. He points out on the day of President Obama's swearing in that the President is not the fulfillment of Dr. King's dream, but maybe a good down payment. I wonder what that makes Tavis, and sadly, does he. . . ."
Meanwhile, Cornel West, Smiley's partner on the "Smiley and West" radio show, "says he is outraged that Mr. Obama would use Dr. King's personal Bible at the inauguration without endorsing Dr. King's 'black freedom struggle,' " Susan Saulny reported Sunday in the New York Times.
" 'Martin went to jail talking about carpet bombing in Vietnam and trying to organize poor people, fighting for civil liberties,' Mr. West said. The president, he said, 'has a compromising kind of temperament.' "
Chris Ariens, TV Newser: Al Roker Gets Parade-Side Interview with Pres. Obama and Handshake from VP Biden
Sandy Banks, Los Angeles Times: Obama's second inauguration a mark of progress in its own right
Ta-Nehisi Coates blog, the Atlantic: Obama's Second Inaugural
Editorial, Al Día, Philadelphia: As Salazar and Solís Leave, Obama's Cabinet Left Without Latinos
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer: King Day again time to reflect
Hazel Trice Edney, TriceEdneyWire.com: On MLK Day, Blacks Concerned About Obama's Agenda
James Fallows blog, the Atlantic: Obama's Startling Second Inaugural
Robin Givhan, Washington Post: First lady Michelle Obama serves as fashion icon (Jan. 22)
LZ Granderson, CNN: How Obama made opportunity real in America
Emil Guillermo blog: The President's Inaugural Address lays out a poetic hint of an agenda, with a touch of reality
Emil Guillermo blog, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund: Dream Day: The Martin Luther King Day and Inauguration Day Coincidence
Kristen Hoerl, Communication Currents: Forgetting Racial Injustice in Press Coverage of President Obama's Inauguration
Clyde Hughes, Journal & Courier, Lafayette, Ind.: Beyond a dream and on to today
Tom Joyner, Black America Web: Who Cares About the Color of Obama's Cabinet? (Jan. 17)
Jodi Kantor, New York Times: Chang e Comes: After 4 Years, Friends See Shifts in the Obamas
Merrill Knox, TVSpy: WTTG's Wisdom Martin Interviews President Obama Look Alike on National Mall
Sandra Lilley, NBCLatino: Latinos have an agenda for the President's first 100 days
Julie Moos, Poynter Institute: Inauguration front pages combine Obama's second term, Martin Luther King Jr. legacy
Kevin Powell, cnn.com: Martin Luther King's dream is alive
Mark Preston, CNN: First on CNN: Attracting minority voters a key GOP goal as Obama begins second term (Jan. 17)
Geraldo Rivera, Fox News Latino: I Have Another Dream
Susan Saulny, New York Times: Among Blacks, Pride Is Mixed With Expectations for Obama
Robert Siegel with Roger Wilkins, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., Shelby Steele and Sherrilyn Ifill, "All Things Considered," NPR: How Large Does President Obama Stand In Black History?
Vanessa Williams, Washington Post: After the first black president, who will be second?
Asian American Voters Relied on Ethnic Media
"Around half of Asian Americans relied on ethnic media for news during the last election in which the growing community voted overwhelmingly for President Barack Obama, a study said Thursday," Shaun Tandon reported for Agence France-Presse.
"Massive support by minorities played a vital role in Obama's re-election on November 6. Asian Americans made up 3.4 percent of the electorate and could play a greater future role as they form the fastest expanding racial group.
"The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, releasing detailed findings from its exit polls, found that 48 percent of Asian Americans considered ethnic media, led by television, to be their prime news source.
"Asian Americans of Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese heritage are most likely to consider vernacular-language ethnic media their main news source. The figure dwindles for Indian and Filipino Americans for whom fluent English is the norm."
The AALDEF's nonpartisan multilingual exit poll reached 9,096 Asian American voters in 14 states, the largest survey of its kind in the nation, the group said.
Seventy-seven percent voted for Obama.
Thirty-seven percent were limited English proficient, defined as speaking English "less than very well."
Voters were asked if they encountered any voting problems. The organization said 249 responded that they were required to prove their U.S. citizenship, 307 said their names were missing or there were errors in the list of voters at poll sites, 215 had to vote by provisional ballot, 165 said poll workers did not know what to do, 136 voters said poll workers were rude or hostile, 183 voters said no interpreters or translations were available when they needed their help and 105 were directed to the wrong poll site or voting machine/table within a site.
Google Drops "Make Me Asian" Smartphone App
" 'Make Me Asian,' a smartphone app that drew the ire of Asian-American activists for what they say are stereotypical depictions, is no longer available on the Google Play Store," Gene Demby reported Thursday for NPR.
"The 'Make Me Asian' app let users alter photos to turn faces into stereotypical Asian caricatures -- think Fu Manchu-style mustaches and rice paddy hats. Its creator, 'KimberyDeiss,' developed similar apps, like Make Me Indian, Make Me Russian, Make Me Frankenstein and Make Me Fat. Those apps are no longer available, either, and KimberyDeiss's Google Play profile has been deleted.
". . . In a recent conversation with NPR's Allison Keyes, columnist Jeff Yang of The Wall Street Journal said he wasn't surprised that the app didn't raise the sort of objections that apps about other ethnic groups might have.
" 'There is less inherent social and political power associated with these groups,' he said, so the consequences often aren't as serious 'if you parody, satire or mock or offend these communities.' "
Cristina Azocar Named Interim J-Chair at S.F. State
Cristina Azocar, director of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University for more than 10 years, has resigned to become the interim chair of the Department of Journalism, the school announced on its website.
Azocar, a member of the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, is a past president of the Native American Journalists Association and serves on the board of the Women's Media Center.
"Associate Professor Rachele Kanigel will become the acting director of CIIJ while a new direction is planned for the 23-year-old organization," a separate announcement said.
Founded at San Francisco State University in 1990 by Betty Medsger, the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism says it "believes that accurate and responsible journalism reflects the changing demographics of the society it serves. We develop programs and conduct research aimed at recruiting, retaining and revitalizing journalists and journalism educators. We seek to make journalism more inclusive from the classroom to the newsroom."
Azocar is to serve while Chair Venise Wagner is on leave during the spring semester.
Hans Massaquoi of Ebony Dies, Grew Up Among Nazis
"Hans Massaquoi, a former managing editor of Ebony magazine who wrote a distinctive memoir about his unusual childhood growing up black in Nazi Germany, has died. He was 87," Freida Frisaro reported Monday for the Associated Press.
"His son said Massaquoi died Saturday, on his 87th birthday, in Jacksonville[, Fla.] He had been hospitalized over the Christmas holidays.
" 'He had quite a journey in life,' said Hans J. Massaquoi, Jr. of Detroit. 'Many have read his books and know what he endured. But most don't know that he was a good, kind, loving, fun-loving, fair, honest, generous, hard-working and open-minded man. He respected others and commanded respect himself. He was dignified and trustworthy. We will miss him forever and try to live by his example.'
"In an interview in 2000, the elder Massaquoi told The Associated Press that he credited the late Alex Haley, author of 'Roots,' with convincing him to share his experience of being 'both an insider in Nazi Germany and, paradoxically, an endangered outsider.' His autobiography, 'Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany,' was published in the U.S. in 1999 and a German translation was also published.
"Massaquoi's mother was a German nurse and his father was the son of a Liberian diplomat. He grew up in working class neighborhoods of the port city of Hamburg.
". . . . He worked first for Jet Magazine before moving to Chicago-based Ebony, where he rose to managing editor before retiring in the late 1990s."
Jessica Lum, Multimedia Journalist, Dies at 25
Jessica Lum, a journalist who combined multimedia skills with enthusiasm for telling stories to report news and share her personal struggle with cancer on Facebook, died Jan. 13 of cancer, her family said. She was 25, Robert D. Dávila reported Thursday in the Sacramento Bee.
"Ms. Lum, who graduated from McClatchy High School, was a senior at UCLA when she was diagnosed in 2008 with metastatic pheochromocytoma, a rare cancer. Having documented much of her college life in comments and photos on Facebook, she instinctively turned to social media to announce that she had cancer and to seek support.
"She posted updates about her health for more than 1,000 Facebook friends. She voiced private feelings in a public forum with 'an online style of honesty mixed with humor and sarcasm,' according to a Bee story in 2009.
". . . For her master's thesis, Ms. Lum spent weeks in the Colorado Desert in Southern California interviewing, photographing and writing about residents of Slab City, a squatters haven in Imperial County. Her multimedia project, 'Slab City Stories,' won the 2012 Online News Association award for best feature by a student. (The project is online at slabcitystories.com.)"
Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state and national security adviser in the Bush administration and a professor at Stanford University, has joined CBS News as a contributor, the network announced on Sunday. Bill Carter noted in the New York Times, "Other figures from the Bush administration have been hired as television commentators, including Karl Rove, the former deputy chief of staff, and the former United Nations ambassador, John Bolton, both at Fox News."
While continuing as host of "NewsNation" weekday afternoons on MSNBC, Tamron Hall has signed to host "Deadline: Crime with Tamron Hall," a 13-part series for Investigative Discovery, Robert Feder reported Saturday for Time Out Chicago. "The 2004 murder of Hall's sister Renate, who was a victim of domestic violence, makes Hall uniquely qualified to host the series, according to a statement by the network."
Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute, challenged Alan Mutter's analysis of last week that roughly three-quarters of newspaper readers are now over age 45. Rosenstiel wrote for the Poynter Institute, "He based his analysis on data from the Pew Research Center that I was involved in producing from summer 2010 and summer 2012. (I left the Pew Research Center in December to take the helm of the American Press Institute). The problem is, the analysis doesn't reflect reality."
Al Sharpton told NPR's Corey Dade that the idea for his "PoliticsNation" on MSNBC "came from Paula Madison, then the executive vice president and chief diversity officer for NBCUniversal. She envisioned Sharpton hosting a weekly program similar to the CNN show hosted by civil rights leader Jesse Jackson in the 1990s. Sharpton says he pitched the idea to MSNBC President Phil Griffin, who rejected it before eventually deciding to hire him as a daily host." Dade's "The Rev. Al Sharpton, In Six True-False Statements" appeared on the NPR site on Saturday.
On Saturday, the Bronx Documentary Center in New York opened "Seis del Sur: Dispatches from Home by Six Nuyorican Photographers," an exhibition of photographs, video and ephemera by Joe Conzo Jr., Ricky Flores, Ángel Franco, David Gonzalez, Edwin Pagán and Francisco Molina Reyes II, all photographers of Puerto Rican descent. Gonzalez and Franco work at the New York Times; Flores at the suburban Journal News. "The exhibition depicts the South Bronx in the 1970s, 80s and 90s as captured by those who lived through the famous devastation. This groundbreaking exhibition, a combination of street photography, portraiture, crime scene photos, and snapshots from the birth of hip hop, has been 'thirty years in the making,' " an announcement says. The exhibition runs until March 8. Review by Charlie Vázquez of Latino Rebels.
In Hawaii, "News anchor Teri Okita will leave Hawaii News Now at the end of the February Nielsen ratings period and former anchor Grace Lee, who left the stations in November of 2010, will be returning, the Star-Advertiser has learned," the Honolulu newspaper reported Friday.
In New York, "WABC reporter Marci Gonzalez is joining ABC News as a New York-based correspondent for NewsOne," Merrill Knox reported Friday for TVSpy. "Gonzalez joined the New York City ABC O&O as a reporter in 2011. She has also worked at WPTV in West Palm Beach and News 12 The Bronx."
Follow Richard Prince on Twitter.
Facebook users: "Like" "Richard Prince's Journal-isms" on Facebook.
Journal-isms is published on the site of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education (mije.org). Reprinted on The Root by permission.
'Django' Action Figures Dropped Amid Protests
The film's collectors' items proved too controversial for its audience.
Advocacy Groups, Writers Called Dolls Inappropriate
"The controversial 'Django Unchained' action figures have officially been DISCONTINUED ... after several African American groups called for a boycott of the dolls ... TMZ has learned," the TMZ website reported Friday.
Later in the day, the Weinstein Co., the film's producer, said in a statement, "We have tremendous respect for the audience and it was never our intent to offend anyone," Christy Lemire reported for the Associated Press. Toy maker NECA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
". . . The studio said Friday that such collectibles have been created for all of director Quentin Tarantino's films, including "'Inglourious Basterds,' and that they were meant for people 17 and older, the audience for the film," Lemire wrote.
The earlier TMZ dispatch said, "Sources connected to the toy production tell us ... shortly after advocacy groups like Al Sharpton's National Action Network and Project Islamic Hope spoke out against the figurines ... the Weinstein Company (which produced the film) reached out to the toy company and told them to put the kibosh on the toy line ASAP.
"We're told the toy company agreed, insisting they never intended to offend anyone ... and halted production immediately.
"Sources tell us ... the toymakers only released somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 dolls before shutting down production."
As reported in this space on Jan. 7, among journalists, the most common reaction to the news of the action figures was a version of "oh, no, they didn't!"
"Civil rights groups argued that the toys trivialized the horrors of slavery," the AP story said.
Nicole Sperling noted in the Los Angeles Times, " 'Django Unchained' has earned close to $130 million in the U.S. since it opened on Christmas Day. Despite the controversial subject matter, the film has become Tarantino's highest-grossing movie of his career."
EURWeb.com: Luke Calls Spike Lee 'Uncle Tom, House Negro' for 'Django' Bashing
Dexter Gabriel, Colorlines: Hollywood's Slavery Films Tell Us More About the Present Than the Past
Henry Louis Gates Jr., The Root: Did Dogs Really Eat Slaves, Like in 'Django'?
Adam Howard, the Grio: Why Samuel L. Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio were snubbed by the Oscars
Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: PBS trumps Hollywood examining slavery
Barry Saunders, News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.: The language in 'Django' is harsh, just like the era it portrays
Jermaine Spradley, HuffPost BlackVoices: Django Unchained Controversy: A Look at the Conundrum Tarantino's Latest Created in Progressive Black America
Eisa Nefertari Ulen, EisaUlen.com: Broomhilda in Chains
Kirsten West-Savali, the Grio: 'Django Unchained': The fallacy of famous detractors' uninformed criticism
DeWayne Wickham, USA Today: 'Django' really about blaxploitation
Jazmyne Z. Young and Asani Shakur, Richmond (Calif.) Pulse: 'Django Unchained': The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Armstrong Might Have Lied in Winfrey Interview
"Lance Armstrong may have lied to Oprah Winfrey during his so-called confession Thursday night about his doping during the Tour de France bicycle race, investigators told ABC News today," Neal Karlinsky and Anthony Castellano reported Friday for ABC News.
Preliminary figures from the Nielsen ratings company reported that 3.2 million people watched Winfrey interview Armstrong on a special edition of "Oprah's Next Chapter" on OWN, Alex Weprin reported Friday for TVNewser. The show drew an additional 1.2 million viewers in its re-air at 10:30 p.m.
Karlkinsky and Castellano reported, "Armstrong, 41, admitted for the first time that his decade-long dominance of cycling and seven wins in the Tour de France were owed, in part, to performance-enhancing drugs and oxygen-boosting blood transfusions. He told Winfrey that he was taking the opportunity to confess to everything he had done wrong, including angrily denying reports for years claiming that he had doped.
"Investigators familiar with Armstrong's case, however, said today that Armstrong didn't completely come clean. They say he blatantly lied about when he stopped doping, saying the last time he used the drugs and transfusions was the 2005 race.
" 'That's the only thing in this whole report that upset me,' Armstrong said during the interview. 'The accusation and alleged proof that they said I doped [in 2009] is not true. The last time I crossed the line, that line was 2005.'
" 'You did not do a blood transfusion in 2009?' Winfrey asked.
" 'No, 2009 and 2010 absolutely not,' Armstrong said.
"Investigators familiar with the case disagree. They said today that Armstrong's blood values at the 2009 race showed clear blood manipulation consistent with two transfusions. . . ."
Prince Calls for New Ideas for Funding "Journal-isms"
This columnist called Thursday for members of the National Association of Black Journalists and their friends to come up with a new business model for financing "Journal-isms."
The occasion was the NABJ's Hall of Fame gala in Washington, where Richard Prince was presented with the Ida B. Wells Award, given to "an individual who has made outstanding efforts to make newsrooms and news coverage more accurately reflect the diversity of the communities they serve."
"As Coretta King's husband said, 'I have a dream.' Mine is to be the first to break even doing this kind of work for a nonprofit and to pass it on," Prince said. " 'Journal-isms' should be a financially solvent institution with others waiting in the wings to carry on its work.
"And so I challenge us today to come together and figure out a way to create that." The text of the acceptance speech is at the end of this column. The video of the introduction to the speech is here.
Unofficially, the gala attracted 342 attendees, said NABJ Secretary Lisa Cox, adding that NABJ is reconciling final figures. Tickets were $150, with early-bird tickets at $100.
Inducted into the Hall of Fame at the gala, held at the Newseum in Washington, were:
Betty Winston Bayé, longtime columnist, Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky. (Video)
Simeon Booker, first black reporter at the Washington Post and longtime Washington bureau Chief, Jet magazine. (Video)
The late Alice Dunnigan, first black woman credentialed to cover the White House, State Department and Congress. (Video)
Sue Simmons, longtime anchorwoman at WNBC-TV, New York. (Video)
The late Wendell Smith, legendary sportswriter who helped desegregate baseball. (Video)
Cynthia Tucker, visiting professor at the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, commentator and former Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (Video)
Booker's memoir, "Shocking the Conscience," is being published by the University Press of Mississippi in April. A digital app in the program book provided downloadable copies. Booker is 94.
Actor Andre Holland told attendees he is playing Smith in the Warner Brothers movie "42," about Jackie Robinson, which will open in April. LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, who is about to become president of the Baseball Writers Association, accepted the award for Smith. Neal told Journal-isms he is the only African American major league baseball beat writer at a mainstream newspaper.
Dunnigan's 80-year-old son, Robert Dunnigan, and granddaughter Suzette Dunnigan Whythe accepted her award. Morrow recalled his mother's midnight runs to the post office in order to send Associated Negro Press dispatches.
Proceeds of the gala are to benefit NABJ scholarship and fellowship programs. The event was hosted by Byron Pitts, contributor to CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" and chief national correspondent for the "CBS Evening News," and Isha Sesay of CNN International and HLN.
Wayne Dawkins contributed to this report.
RadioInk: NABJ Inducts Six Journalists. Radio Snubbed.
"First True Internet Inauguration" Due Monday
"The last inauguration was notable because of the nature of what was happening," Bill Cromwell wrote Friday for medialifemagazine.com.
"Barack Obama was sworn in as the first African-American president, and that resulted in historic ratings as well, with 37.8 million total viewers tuning in, according to Nielsen, the most since 41.8 million people watched Ronald Reagan's swearing in in 1980."
"Monday's inauguration, when Obama is sworn in for a second term, will have another historical aspect to it. It will be the first true internet inauguration.
"The event will be streamed across dozens of sites online, and has the potential to become one of the most-streamed events ever.
"And the networks have all added special new media elements to enhance their coverage. . . ."
Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report: Don't You Dare Conflate MLK and Obama
Wil Haygood, Washington Post: Inauguration will cement ties between Obama, Martin Luther King Jr.
Dave Jamieson and Arthur Delaney, HuffPost BlackVoices: Obama's Job One: Middle-Class Employment Problems Loom Over Second Term
Ned Martel, May-Ying Lam, Grace Koerber and Kat Downs, Washington Post: The Age of Obama
Mary Mitchell, Chicago Sun-Times: Attending inauguration is an honor, costly
Darryl E. Owens, Orlando Sentinel: Obama should be channeling Bill Cosby
Lonnae O'Neal Parker, Washington Post: Four years later, feminists split by Michelle Obama's 'work' as first lady
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press: Obama in Strong Position at Start of Second Term
Bob Ray Sanders, Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas: Obama, MLK forever connected by divine providence
Walter Shapiro, Columbia Journalism Review: Can the media avoid inaugural over-hype?
"Please Stop Saying These Things to Asians"
In a YouTube video circulating on various websites, comedian Eliot Chang ticks off the "Things Asians Hate," described by the Angry Asian Man site as "a brief rundown of all the ridiculous things people say to Asians."
"My fellow Asians, you know you've heard it all before, all day every day," the site's author says. (Video)
SPJ, Other Campus Editors Back FAMU Journalists
Student journalists at Florida A&M University are picking up support from editors at other campus publications as they publish independently online while their student newspaper, the Famuan, is "delayed" by the administration until Jan. 30.
". . . The beauty of the news is that it keeps happening, every day, and you can't just 'suspend' it until you feel comfortable again," Kristina Bui wrote Monday in the Arizona Daily Wildcat at the University of Arizona.
The Daily O'Collegian at Oklahoma State University editorialized on Thursday that the decision by Dean Ann Wead Kimbrough of FAMU's School of Journalism & Graphic Communication (SJGC) "to regulate the publication of the newspaper is not teaching the right lesson. Instead of getting real-world experience about how to respond to such a situation, the staff will start its semester in constant fear of retribution by FAMU's journalism school administrators."
The support is also coming from professionals. The students' independent site, Ink and Fangs, published this message Monday from Sonny Albarado, president of the Society of Professional Journalists:
"Congrats to Famuan staff for keeping the light of press freedom glowing. Best wishes."
Student editor Karl Etters told the Tallahassee Democrat that the support "makes me feel we aren't in this alone and that we are doing something that matters."
Kimbrough ordered a delay in publication while she implemented training for Famuan staff members.
In December, senior Keon Hollis filed a lawsuit against the newspaper, the university and its board of trustees over a Dec. 2, 2011, Famuan article that incorrectly said Hollis was one of four drum majors suspended in connection with the November 2011 hazing death of drum major Robert Champion.
The publication delay is also indirectly related to accreditation issues. "Investigations revealed many band members were not enrolled in the music course as required. Since then all student organizations on campus have come under more strict requirements," Jennifer Portman reported Jan. 9 in the Tallahassee Democrat.
In an interview with Dan Reimold of College Media Matters, which is sponsored by the Associated Collegiate Press, Etters said alumni have been the student journalists' greatest support.
"I think people do notice the newsstands are empty," Etters said. "I've seen some stuff on social media from people outside the journalism school who have noticed and support us. . . . I have had some support [privately] from journalism professors but they're probably in a position where they want to keep their jobs.
"Alumni have probably been our greatest support. . . . The fact is not a whole lot of [journalism students] have come forward to say 'I want to help you guys. I want to write for you guys' within the school. I hoped [Ink and Fangs] would have made more of a difference in our school. I think people are supportive but to be supportive in this aspect you have to contribute, if you consider yourself a journalist.”
Asked for comment on Friday, Kimbrough said Dr. Valerie White, an assistant professor who chairs the Black College Communication Association, would respond.
But in a message Monday, Kimbrough also cited alumni support. "I am thrilled about the strong support of the student journalists from Famuan alums and Famu alums," she said then. "The alums are interested in helping students via mentoring relationships and many alums are placing ads in the Jan. 30 paper. The Famuan is in financial distress ... one of the critical matters being addressed by the SJGC and university administration to ensure student success in their journalism education endeavors."
Kimbrough noted Saturday that the school named Kanya Simon Stewart, a 2004 graduate and journalism/magazine production major, as adviser to the Famuan for the spring 2013 semester. Since 2006, Stewart has been the owner/operator, publicist and content writer for Proclaim Creative & Marketing Group. She succeeds Andrew J. Skerritt, a veteran journalist who teaches journalism at FAMU, who was removed as adviser.
Editorial, Oklahoma Daily, University of Oklahoma: Student newspapers play vital role in protecting students
Michael Koretzky, Society of Professional Journalists: Punished for a crime they didn't commit
Peter McKay, The FAMU Hazing Blog: Famuan stories welcome here (Jan. 10)
NLGJA's President Described the Pain of Throat Cancer
Michael R. Triplett, the president of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association who died at age 48 on Thursday, wrote on his last birthday about the tongue cancer that eventually took his life.
"This year, my 48th birthday will also mark the first anniversary of my tongue cancer diagnosis," Triplett wrote on April 20. "Oh, and did I mention the anniversary of my boyfriend confirming he was taking a job out of the country for a year? Good times.
"In the past year, I've had: three surgeries, 42 days of traditional radiation treatment, five rounds of chemotherapy, and five days of advanced radiation treatment. My medical bills have surpassed the $600,000 mark — thank God for my employer's great insurance plan." Triplett was assistant managing editor at Bloomberg-BNA.
"I've lost over 50 pounds and all my facial hair, had almost half of my tongue removed, undergone two high-tech robotic procedures, used up over 70 percent of my accumulated sick leave, and had my 76-year old mother living with me for about 12 weeks to assist in my care.
"From this birthday forward, my gifts better be pretty damn spectacular.
"My cancer is part of a growing 'epidemic' of oral cancer unrelated to smoking and drinking. Instead, there is an increase — primarily in middle-aged, white men — of tongue and other mouth cancers connected to the human papillomavirus (HPV). . . . "
Triplett, who said he lived just outside Washington, died in Alabama while visiting his family, according to queerty.com.
NLGJA said in its Thursday announcement of his death that its board would meet in the coming days to elect an interim president. The board had a previously scheduled meeting set for Saturday, David Steinberg, immediate past president, told Journal-isms.
Journalists Want to Be Closer to the Action in Mali
"Reporters Without Borders calls on the Malian and French authorities to allow journalists to freely cover the military operations under way in Mali since 11 January," the press freedom organization said on Thursday. "Both foreign and local journalists have been kept more than 100 km from the fighting ever since the start of the military intervention.
" 'In war time, it is up to journalists and their news organizations, not the military, to determine the risk they are prepared to take in order to gather information,' Reporters Without Borders said. . . ."
David Amanor, "The Fifth Floor," BBC World Service: Reporting Mali (second story) [audio]
"A suburban New York newspaper that outraged gun owners by posting the names and addresses of residents with handgun permits removed the information from its website Friday," Jim Fitzgerald reported for the Associated Press. "The Journal News took down the data just three days after the state enacted a gun control law that included privacy provisions for permit holders."
Eugene Kane, former metro columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is joining OnMilwaukee.com, Milwaukee's daily magazine, the digital publication announced on Friday. Kane plans to continue writing for the Journal Sentinel's Sunday edition. The columnist told Journal-isms by email he would be writing "As often as possible . . . a column, regular blog updates, features."
"Lolis Eric Elie — filmmaker, author, former Times-Picayune columnist and staff writer, story editor and official HBO blogger for 'Treme' during its first three seasons — has landed a spot on the writing staff of the AMC transcontinental-railroad drama 'Hell on Wheels,' for which he'll also serve as executive story editor," Dave Walker reported Friday for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.
Jeff Ballou, a producer in Washington at Al Jazeera English, began a term Friday on the board of governors of the National Press Club.
The indictment Friday of former New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin on charges that he lined his pockets with bribe money, payoffs and gratuities ". . . punctuates the reversal of political and personal fortune for Nagin, who had what New Orleans Magazine editor Errol Laborde called 'rock star status' soon after his election in 2002," Michael Kunzelman wrote for the Associated Press. "Nagin, a former cable television executive, took office with an image as a largely apolitical businessman ready to root out corruption. 'The media bought into that 100 percent. They used the term "crackdown on corruption",' Laborde said Friday."
"The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture has acquired 50 16" x 20" black & white photographs from the book Soul Sanctuary: Images of the African American Worship Experience by award winning photographer Jason Miccolo Johnson," Johnson announced.
BuzzFeed, which calls itself "the leading social news organization, intensely focused on delivering high-quality original reporting, insight, and viral content across a rapidly expanding array of subject areas" and is based in New York, has hired Shani Hilton, morning editor at nbcwashington.com and formerly of Washington City Paper, as senior editor to write and edit culture coverage, and Saeed Jones to be LGBT editor, Ben Smith, editor-in-chief, told Journal-isms. Both are black journalists.
"Chicago finance executive Mellody Hobson, recently engaged to Star Wars creator George Lucas, has been named a CBS News finance and economy analyst," Chris Ariens reported Thursday for TVNewser.
"New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is going into the magazine business" [second item], Keith J. Kelly reported Friday for the New York Post. "The forward's apparently taken a 10-percent stake in HauteTime.com, an off-shoot of the luxury publisher Haute Living, which is already putting out local editions of its luxury magazines in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco."
"At 8 o'clock Tuesday morning roughly 50 Burundian journalists silently marched around the courthouses in the capital, Bujumbura, and the offices of the justice minister, protesting the imprisonment of their colleague, Hassan Ruvakuki," Tom Rhodes reported Wednesday for the Committee to Protect Journalists. ". . . A week earlier, on Tuesday, January 8, an appeals court in Burundi had sentenced Ruvakuki, a reporter for Bonesha FM and the French government-backed Radio France Internationale, to three years imprisonment for 'working with a criminal group.' "
When South African journalists arrived at Groenpunt Maximum Security Correctional Centre, site of a violent demonstration by prisoners a week earlier, "they observed a commotion with warders donning bullet-proof vests and taking up shields," the South African National Editors' Forum said Friday. "They took pictures when they saw a group of warders," or wardens, "assaulting a prisoner dressed in an orange garb. They said they saw him being brutally beaten as he was pushed from warder to warder. After the prisoner was taken away, according to a reporter, 'they came for us', subjecting the journalists to an 'hour-long traumatic experience'."
"A Televisa sportscaster and his American pilot died when their small plane crashed in Cozumel, an Island in Mexico's Caribbean region, while performing stunts, emergency management officials said," according to the EFE news service. Jorge "Chori" Lopez Vives, who worked for Televisa Deportes, and pilot Fred Cabanas " ... were working on a show about extreme sports that was to be broadcast in the next few days, officials said."
Ida B. Wells Worked in "an Era Like This One"
As a journalist and newspaper publisher in Memphis, Tenn., and New York, Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931), namesake of the award for diversity activism in the news media sponsored by the National Association of Black Journalists and the Medill School at Northwestern University, led an anti-lynching crusade in the 1890s and went on to found and become integral in groups striving for African American justice.
Following is the text of Richard Prince's remarks accepting the Wells Award on Thursday:
By Richard Prince
Thank you. NABJ and "Journal-isms" were made for each other. Not only did "Journal-isms" begin in the NABJ Journal 20 years ago, but NABJ has reinforced much of the philosophy that guides it. I'm thinking particularly of our breakthrough 1984 convention in Atlanta, when our organization was only nine years old.
Jesse Jackson, fresh off his run for the presidency, told us, ". . . there's another power not on the table: the fight for appraisal power."
Andy Young added: ". . . We are constantly being threatened by the fact that other people are defining our situation for us."
"Journal-isms" attempts to articulate the ideas and aspirations of journalists of color, and to empower them with information.
I thank Dori Maynard, president of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, for the idea that resulted in an online version of "Journal-isms" 10 years ago. Now it's available alongside all the other news about the media that is produced daily by white journalists. It's also published on the Root.
But there is a crucial difference. The others are largely backed by the financial power of institutions that recognize the media's importance. We have found ourselves subject to the same forces that have affected the cause of diversity itself: Indifference, lack of attention, marginalization and economic demands that divert focus elsewhere.
After 10 years, we are still dependent on benefactors for whom diversity may or may not be the flavor of the month.
So just as within NABJ we talk about the need to build our own institutions and "doing for self," so must we with "Journal-isms."
As Coretta King's husband said, "I have a dream." Mine is to be the first to break even doing this kind of work for a nonprofit and to pass it on. "Journal-isms" should be a financially solvent institution with others waiting in the wings to carry on its work.
And so I challenge us today to come together and figure out a way to create that. I must thank Clark Bell of the McCormick Foundation for his support. And I must give a special shout-out to Calvin Sims, a former New York Times journalist now with the Ford Foundation, for taking extra steps in his current role to be sure that "Journal-isms" has financial underpinnings. He's not the only one, but as a black journalist himself, and an NABJ member, he recognizes the importance of this kind of work and is in a position to support it.
I am so honored to be associated tonight with Ida B. Wells.
I asked Wells biographer Paula Giddings about Wells' relevance to black journalists today.
In part, Giddings said, "She lived and worked in an era like this one: an era that called for reform, that was wrought with division and economic uncertainty. Interestingly, the black elite had unprecedented educational, political and economic opportunities . . . and so there was pressure to abandon protest and to believe that education and hard work alone would inevitably result in racial progress."
But " . . . Wells understood that unprecedented achievement and targeted racial violence and exploitation could happen simultaneously and developed strategies accordingly."
NABJ, and friends of NABJ, let's work on our strategies. And let's include "Journal-isms" in the mix.
Thank you very much.
Follow Richard Prince on Twitter.
Facebook users: "Like" "Richard Prince's Journal-isms" on Facebook.
Journal-isms is published on the site of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education (mije.org). Reprinted on The Root by permission.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
