Media

Racial “Blind Spots” Acknowledged at N.Y. Times The culture editor of the New York Times said Monday of the criticism over the Times story that called television series creator Shonda Rhimes an “angry black woman”: Public Editor Responds on “Angry Black Woman” Story “This is a signal to me that we have to constantly remind ourselves…

Questionable Framing of Story on “Scandal” Creator It was just three weeks ago that the New York Times was vilified over a story calling the slain 18-year-old Michael Brown “no angel,” a mistake partly attributed to insensitive editing. On Friday, critics paid and unpaid leaped on a Times story in which the error was not just…

“Their Communities Not Paid Much Attention in the News” “The predicted digital divide, in which people of color would be left behind in the use of technology, is not playing out as many of those forecasting the digital future anticipated, at least not when it comes to news, according to a new survey released today,”…

St. Louis Paper Compiles “Most Comprehensive” Account The St. Louis Post-Dispatch told readers Sunday that it had “put together the most comprehensive public account chronicling the police response” in the hours after the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., last month. “To determine why the body remained on the street for…

Wendi C. Thomas Leaves Commercial Appeal Wendi C. Thomas, who was reassigned in June from the columnist’s job she held for 10 years, resigned from the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday, effective immediately. She was the newspaper’s only columnist of color and only female columnist. Thomas’ departure continues a depressing trend. Since 2008,…

In Prime Time, Obama Declares Campaign Against Sunni Militants Outrage at the beheading of two American journalists buttressed public support for the kind of U.S. action against terrorism outlined Wednesday night by President Obama, according to commentators analyzing the president’s speech. “The public has decided that people who cut off the heads of journalists are…

Does TMZ Deserve Kudos After Rice Suspension? Debate Over Who Was Gutless and Who Unethical “Running back Ray Rice was cut by the Baltimore Ravens Monday and suspended indefinitely by the NFL after TMZ Sports released a video of him hitting his then-fiancee (now wife) Janay Palmer in February,” as Jonathan Kuperberg reported for Broadcasting &…

Richard Prince’s Book Notes™: Journalists’ Fall Offerings (Part 1) Mark Whitaker, a former network news executive who spent the bulk of his career at Newsweek magazine, has produced a reader-friendly biography of entertainer Bill Cosby, an icon who has been part of American life for 50 years. The book seems destined for the fall best-seller…

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.…