Culture

How Media Skew Our Views of Race, Crime Distortions Bolster Harsher Penalties, Study Finds “Skewed racial perceptions of crime — particularly, white Americans’ strong associations of crime with racial minorities — have bolstered harsh and biased criminal justice policies [PDF],” the nonprofit Sentencing Project reported Wednesday, outlining the role played by the news media in skewing…

How Did “No Angel” Line About Ferguson Victim Get Through? Writer Says Having More Black Editors Might Help In many ways, the reaction last week to a New York Times writer’s profile of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old whose death at the hands of a Ferguson, Mo., policeman prompted national outrage, was a black journalist’s nightmare.…

Complaint Cites Story Choices, Pale Time Inc. Leadership A discrimination lawsuit filed by black journalist Tatsha Robertson against her former employer, People magazine, is notable because it cites People’s editorial choices and the makeup of the leadership of the parent company, Time Inc., as evidence of discrimination, Robertson’s lawyer told Journal-isms on Friday. “Maybe they…

“Why Police Will Continue to Arrest Journalists” In Ferguson, Press Corps Has Become Its Own Story “At the end of another dangerous night in Ferguson, Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson offered an emotional plea to the media on Monday: Please stop putting officers in danger and glamorizing violent agitators in your quest for…

Revamp to Feature Breaking News Video, Tie to Social Media NBC is selling the Grio, its African American-oriented website, to its original owners and will create its own “vertical” on NBCNews.com targeting African Americans, according to David A. Wilson, the Grio’s co-creator and founder, and MSNBC spokeswoman Diana Rocco. Neither would disclose the purchase price.…

Police Slaying, Aftermath Are Topic A — Outside Convention As the nation followed the aftermath of the police shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in suburban Ferguson, Mo. — including the detention of two journalists and the tear-gassing of at least one camera crew, many journalism organizations rushed to condemn what they considered the unfair…

Washington Post’s Lowery Tweets He “Can’t Shake Anger” “The Huffington Post’s Ryan J. Reilly and the Washington Post’s Wesley Lowery were arrested Wednesday while covering the protests in Ferguson, Missouri surrounding the death of unarmed African American teenager Michael Brown, who was shot by a police officer last week,” the Huffington Post reported Wednesday. “The…

St. Louis Teen’s Killing Raises Newsroom Diversity Issue Editor Says Inclusion Could Increase Community Contacts The fatal police shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old black man in a St. Louis suburb, followed by looting and burning by angry protesters, led to a national social media campaign protesting the media images of black men, a quickly published…

Charles Ericksen Says Media Firms Don’t Deserve Honors The celebratory tone of the closing gala of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention was punctured briefly Saturday night when 84-year-old co-founder Charles Ericksen called it “kind of a farce” for the association to honor Fox News and other media companies when the number of employed…

Griffin Pledges That Show Hosts Will Meet With Hispanics A contrite Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC, apologized again Friday for a May Cinco de Mayo skit on his network that Hispanics found offensive, and he agreed with a wide-ranging list of complaints from Latino journalists. Those concerns included the need for more Latinos behind the…