Media

An African American former television anchor and reporter is emerging as one of the most vocal defenders of George Zimmerman, the white Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer who killed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin and sparked a national uproar. “Speaking on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America,’ Joe Oliver said George Zimmerman is not a racist and has virtually…

Read more of The Root’s Trayvon Martin coverage here. “We Have Decided to Allow This Particular Expression of Human Sympathy” Update: ESPN Sunday reversed its decision not to allow employees who tweet to post photos of themselves wearing hoodies in solidarity with Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old Florida youth killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer.  “It’s…

The parent company of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and philly.com is laying off 19 unionized workers, the company announced on Thursday. The National Association of Black Journalists promptly protested the departures of Sarah J. Glover, president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, and sportswriter John Mitchell. “I am not entirely sure of the…

Project Says Website Will Give Journalists Rest of the Story The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, known as GLAAD, launched a project on Wednesday designed “to educate the media about the extreme rhetoric of over three dozen activists who are often given a platform to speak in opposition to LGBT people and the issues…

Monthlong Absence From Network About to End CNN has lifted its monthlong suspension of contributing political analyst Roland Martin, a CNN spokeswoman confirmed Monday night. Betsy Rothstein, editor of the media news website FishbowlDC, had posted late Monday afternoon that “CNN staff was alerted today on the 10 am conference call that Roland Martin’s suspension…

Tipsheet Says WNBC Colleagues Upset by N.Y. Post Piece A TV insider tipsheet Friday posted a rebuttal to a New York Post story that began, “There were 5 million reasons to oust Sue Simmons — and they were all in her paycheck.” The Post “exclusive” by Don Kaplan, published Thursday, asserted, “WNBC/Channel 4 refused to…

Other Journalism Groups Report Modest Surpluses, Red Ink Two years after the journalism associations hit a financial rough patch caused by the recession and cutbacks in the news industry, the National Association of Black Journalists and Unity: Journalists of Color, Inc. emerged from 2011 solidly in the black, leaders of those groups said on Wednesday.…

Ad Boycott Called “Uncomfortable but Not Crippling” “The nationally syndicated Rush Limbaugh radio show has been pulled from Hilo radio station KPUA-AM 670 in the aftermath of his offensive remarks about a woman who spoke in favor of health plan coverage for contraception,” Erika Engle wrote Monday in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, using material from the…

Vickie Burns, who came to NBC’s Los Angeles station as vice president/news after holding vice president positions at NBC stations in New York and Los Angeles, is stepping down at KNBC and leaving NBC, she said Friday. “Vickie is pursuing other opportunities — in and out of the company; her last day at the station,…

After 5 Years, Pundit Says It’s Longest She’s Held a Job Julianne Malveaux, the politically progressive economist and commentator, has resigned as president of Bennett College for Women “to pursue other challenges” [PDF], the college announced on Tuesday. Malveaux , 58, has been president of the small historically black school in Greensboro, N.C., since 2007.…