Reporting on diversity issues in the news business
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DOJ Sought Info on Followers of Lemon, Fort

by richard067

Judge Says Request Violated Journos’ Rights
Justice Dept. Clears Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger
. . . CBS Hires Black Britisher for Global Affairs
Detainees Found to Suffer Alarming Lack of Care
‘Meet the Press’ With Trump Walkout Draws Ratings
‘Nearly Impossible’ to Fail a Student in Philadelphia
AAJA Candidate Loses Job as Campaign Begins

Passages:
Ben Holden, ‘What Success Looks Like’
Marlene L. Johnson, Spurred Affirmative Action at AP
Clarence Jones, Major Civil Rights Figure, Media Owner
Stacey King, Chicago Bulls Broadcaster
Dang Van Phuoc, Intrepid Vietnam War Photojournalist
Jeff Burns Jr., Ebony Man
Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, Cuban Independent Journalist

Short Takes: New York tabloid headlines on the Knicks; Black infants who were unknowing test subjects; Caroline Wanga and Essence; NPR’s Vickie Walton-James; Karen Attiah; news organizations’ “Chicago Immigration Hub”; grant to Philadelphia local news outlets; Brumsic Brandon Jr.; Larry Fitzgerald Sr. and Jr.;

Black male former Trumpers frustrations with media; diminishing support for LGBTQ+ issues; Gilbert Cruz; Roy S. Johnson and Kelley E. Carter; Sylvia Salazar; Elise Durham; Dateline Español; “The Deadly Trade in Female Kenyan Workers”; China’s expulsion of New York Times reporter; Lebanese journalist dies after Israeli Defense Force delay; release of Senegalese journalist jailed since 2018.

Homepage photo: Independent journalist and Blck Press Founder Georgia Fort interviews the Rev. Anthony Galloway, pastor at Wayman AME Church Minneapolis, outside the federal courthouse in St. Paul.
(Credit: Clint Combs/Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder)

Credit: Freedom of the Press Foundation

Judge Says Request Violated Journos’ Rights

“The Trump Justice Department twice tried and failed to obtain search warrants for the YouTube accounts of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort and for phone records tied to people involved in a Cities Church protest, according to unsealed court filings,” Clint Combs reported Wednesday for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

“Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Timothy Gerber submitted five search warrant applications to the court last February, asking Google to turn over the names, addresses and phone numbers of anyone who subscribed to or viewed the YouTube channels of Lemon, Fort and William ‘Da Woke Farmer’ Kelly. Gerber also asked Apple to hand over account names, addresses, email addresses and other contact information for phone numbers allegedly registered to civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong and protester Ian Davis Austin.

“U.S. Magistrate Judge John F. Docherty rejected all five applications, citing a lack of evidence and faulting government prosecutors for failing to disclose the Privacy Protection Act, a 1980 law that shields journalists from having their work product and newsroom materials seized. . . .”

Justice Dept. Clears Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger

“The Justice Department will not challenge Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing a major hurdle for the $111 billion deal, the agency said Friday,” Lauren Hirsch, David McCabe and Benjamin Mullin reported Friday for The New York Times. Such a merger has raised fears that the turmoil at Paramount-owned CBS and its move toward more Trump-friendly coverage could soon be visited upon CNN.

“David Ellison’s acquisition of CBS was enabled by a $16 million bribe to Donald Trump, laundered as a settlement of his frivolous lawsuit, and a commitment to alter news content to Trump’s liking,” the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which rallied scores of journalists and former journalists in opposition, has said.

“Now, Ellison wants to repeat the same playbook at CNN and HBO. We need Congress to step up and investigate these bribes and quid pro quo arrangements.”

The Times continued, “The merger would consolidate the ownership of two major movie studios; two major streaming services, Paramount+ and HBO Max; and two television news networks, CNN and CBS News, under the leadership of the tech scion David Ellison.

“The scale of that combination has raised concerns that it could reduce the number of buyers for TV and movie scripts and potential employers for actors and crew members, driving down wages and the prices paid for creative material. The Justice Department blocked a publishing deal in 2022 over similar claims.

“In an unusual statement announcing its decision, the Department of Justice said its investigation of the deal had included hours of depositions, interviews and meetings that ‘all led to the same conclusion: The film and television industry is highly dynamic, and the proposed transaction is not likely to harm competition or American consumers.’

“That statement could help Paramount fight any future challenges. Some state attorneys general have pledged to take a hard look at the deal, and could bring their own case. Also, an antitrust regulator in Britain said this week that it would launch its own investigation of the deal.”

. . . CBS Hires Black Britisher for Global Affairs

CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss has tapped Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips (pictured), prominent Black British broadcaster, as senior global affairs correspondent for CBS News, Weiss and CBS News president Tom Cibrowski announced Friday. Phillips’ reporting is to appear on all CBS News programs and platforms.

The hiring takes place six months after the network dropped co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois as co-anchors of the “CBS Evening News.” DuBois was the rare Black anchor at a network evening news program, and is to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Black Journalists this summer.

“Trevor Phillips cuts through the noise. His decades-long career is a masterclass in seeing beyond groupthink and pursuing the truth,” said Weiss. “Trevor’s deep knowledge of geopolitics and history will be an incredible asset at CBS News, where he’ll quickly become an indispensable voice for audiences across all platforms.”

Denise Petski wrote for Deadline, “Widely known in the UK, Phillips is a three-time winner at the Royal Television Society Journalism Awards. Most recently, he hosted Sky News’ flagship program ‘Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.”

Jeremy Barr and Michael Savage reported Thursday for the Guardian, “After beginning his career in media, Phillips entered the political fray. He rose to prominence as a public figure as head of the Commission for Racial Equality in 2003, appointed to the role by Tony Blair. He chaired its successor, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, from 2007 to 2012. He was knighted in 2022 for his work on equality and human rights.”

“Phillips has, over his career, become known as a free-speech advocate, but has also generated controversy for remarks he has made about British Muslims and has been accused of Islamophobia,” Brian Steinberg added for Variety. In 2020, Phillips was suspended pending investigation over remarks that included expressing concerns about Pakistani Muslim men sexually abusing children in northern British towns.

Speaking to the BBC, Phillips stood by his previous assertions that Muslims were “different”, adding: “Well, actually, that’s true. The point is Muslims are different and in many ways I think that is admirable.”

Still, Phillips was among 24 public figures who wrote to the Guardian declaring their refusal to vote for the Labour Party because of its association with anti-Semitism.

“Phillips is the chairman of the global freedom of expression campaign Index on Censorship and a senior fellow at the right-leaning thinktank Policy Exchange,” the Guardian continued.

“He is also a regular columnist for Rupert Murdoch’s Times newspaper, where he has written about Donald Trump and his personal connection with the US.

“ ‘I accept that I am biased in all this,’ he wrote recently. ‘I am the son of immigrants, twice over, first to London and then to New York. I come from a tribe that has prospered mightily from its life in America. This is a society that rewards ambition and hard work.’ ”

Phillips is the co-author of “Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-racial Britain,” written with his brother, crime writer Mike Phillips.

A man in the Atlanta area was injured while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and developed an E. coli infection. “I couldn’t understand why they treated me so harshly,” says the father of six U.S. citizens, who is now a legal permanent resident but did not want to be named to avoid potential retaliation against his family. (Credit: Brynn Anderson/Associated Press)

Detainees Found to Suffer Alarming Lack of Care

“An Albanian man’s pain grew so unbearable, he said, he pulled out his own tooth as he languished for months in a New Mexico immigration detention center. A Honduran mother of two said she was hospitalized for a heart problem after she was denied blood pressure medications while held in Florida,” Rae Ellen Bichell, Claire Galofaro, Maia Rosenfeld, Renuka Rayasam, Aaron Kessler, Byron Tau of the Associated Press, and KFF Health News reported June 2. “A Venezuelan man said his leg grew purple and swollen from flesh-eating bacteria when staffers at a Vermont facility did not bring him to a scheduled doctor’s appointment.”

“Hundreds of detainees across at least 33 states allege in federal lawsuits that immigration detention facilities are failing to provide adequate medical care, an investigation by KFF Health News and The Associated Press found. Detainees say they didn’t get medications on time — or at all — for conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, epilepsy, Parkinson’s and HIV. Requests for help went unanswered for weeks. Blood sugars rose. Infections festered. Cancers remained untreated. Detainees collapsed and had seizures.

“U.S. jails and immigration detention centers have long struggled to meet the medical needs of the people in their charge. But the system is sagging under an influx of detentions since President Donald Trump returned to office: More than 75,000 immigrants were being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as of mid-January, up from around 40,000 a year earlier.

“KFF Health News and AP analyzed thousands of court cases filed since Trump’s second inauguration that use a legal route known as habeas corpus to argue people are being held illegally by ICE. The records offer a rare window into how those detained say — often under penalty of perjury — ICE is handling their medical needs. Reporters also interviewed more than 50 detainees, family members and lawyers. . . .”


Political cartoonist Scott Rogo was among those who found President Trump’s walkout to be rich material. (Credit: Scott Rogo)

‘Meet the Press’ With Trump Walkout Draws Ratings

The June 7 edition of “Meet the Press,” in which President Trump walked out of his interview with Kristen Welker, drew the show’s biggest audience since late January, NBC announced.

It also marked the first No. 1 finish for “Meet the Press” among the Sunday morning public affairs shows, along with its widest advantage (545,000 viewers) over ABC’s “This Week” in more than a year.

Trump’s walkout and other interview clips have generated 23 million views on NBC News digital platforms, including almost 18 million on TikTok.

Trump shut down the interview after Welker pushed back on his unproven assertions that elections in California on Tuesday were rigged.

During the lengthy interview in Wisconsin, “Trump echoed claims he made in recent days — without providing evidence — that officials in California were ‘cheating,’ because after four days, they ‘aren’t even close’ to finishing the ballot counting,” as Alene Tchekmedyian reported for the Los Angeles Times.

The interview became a hot topic on social media. “Every American, particularly every voter, should watch this segment of Meet the Press,” Otis Sanford, former managing editor of the Memphis Commercial Appeal and journalism educator, wrote, “It is a blueprint for how journalists should hold those in power accountable. Particularly the loudmouth ones. And we have a few of those around here.”

Fox News media reporter Howard Kurtz received pushback when he wrote, “Kristen Welker found herself debating Trump by constantly interrupting. Overall interview was good until he cut it short, saying she and Meet the Press were crooked. Fine line between pressing a president and constantly contradicting everything he says.”

“All of the teachers who spoke with The Inquirer said they fear for the long-term implications for students who are passed along without the skills they need to advance — especially in a city where so many students cope with the effects of poverty and trauma and a majority of students do not meet grade-level standards on state testing,” the newspaper reported. (Credit: Alejandro A. Alvarez/Philadelphia Inquirer)

‘Nearly Impossible’ to Fail a Student in Philadelphia

“Some Philly teachers say they’re pressured to pass students who rarely come to class or do work: Teachers said it’s an open secret that it’s nearly impossible to fail a student in Philly public schools, and administrators encourage teachers to pass students ahead to the next grade level,” read the headline Wednesday over story in the Philadelphia Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham.

It’s “an open secret that in many schools, it is nearly impossible to fail a student, according to interviews with two dozen teachers from schools across the city who say the district is making them give passing grades,” Graham wrote.

“Many teachers said they passed students who did little or no work, did not understand concepts being taught, or did not show up to class much. Most of the teachers interviewed requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.”

The student body of the School District of Philadelphia is primarily Black and Hispanic. According to the official School District of Philadelphia profile data, the racial and ethnic composition of the student population is Black / African-American: 49%; Hispanic / Latino: 25%; White: 14%; Asian: 8%; Multiracial / Other: 5%

AAJA Candidate Loses Job as Campaign Begins

Frank Bi, who with Jin Ding is running for president of the Asian American Journalists Association, has been laid off from the Minnesota Star Tribune, just as the AAJA campaign is beginning.
Bi (pictured) is senior vice president of AAJA and headed Tools & Transformation at the Star Tribune, “where he led digital transformation and built products for its audiences and newsroom,” according to his campaign bio.

“My role, and my team, were eliminated as part of a broader restructuring of about 15% of the company,” Bi wrote Tuesday on LinkedIn. “It’s a hard day for a lot of talented people, and the headwinds facing this industry are real. I’m grateful to the team I had the privilege of leading, and to everyone who made the last four years worth it.

“I learned the news last night on a call with a dear friend, who told me to sleep on whether we should continue my campaign to become President of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). That was the right advice, and I took it seriously.

“Today, I’m in and as committed as ever.”

Ding (pictured) is an at-large representative on the national board and the Asia Chapter advisory board representative. She is “is a media entrepreneur and nonprofit leader with 17 years of experience in journalism, audience engagement, fundraising, and organizational strategy. She has held leadership roles at Initium Media, The Center for Public Integrity, The Associated Press, the International Women’s Media Foundation, and the Pulitzer Center,” according to her campaign statement.

Neither candidate statement offers much in the way of specifics. “I want to fight for our members, and I trust that AAJA has leaders across the organization who can bring our collective talent together to meet the challenges ahead,” wrote Ding. “We are stronger when we work across differences, share leadership, and act with urgency and purpose. I am ready to do that work with you — to help AAJA adapt, grow, and deliver for our members in this moment and beyond.”

Bi wrote, “Too many of our members are leaving the industry entirely. But there’s a whole ecosystem of roles in product, technology, education, content creation and policy that need people who think like journalists. People who carry our values, our judgment and our standards. AAJA has an opportunity and a responsibility to help our members find those paths and welcome everyone who shares what we stand for.”

On May 28, Journal-isms asked each candidate a question of direct interest to Journal-isms readers: Whether the organization will continue its recent policy of requiring media reporters to pay as much as $725 registration fees to cover the convention for more than one day. The policy led Journal-isms to skip the convention last year, and the event received scant coverage.

Bi has not responded; neither have the organization’s president, Nicole Dungca, or executive director, Naomi Tacuyan Underwood.

Di replied on May 28, “First, I genuinely believe transparency is important for our community and for the journalism industry as a whole. Access to information is a key part of that transparency. And as someone running in a contested election, I deeply believe in the democratic process and the role media accountability plays — including within our own organization.

“While I’m not fully familiar with past AAJA practices or broader past industry norms around this issue, if this represents a policy change made in recent years, I would support reviewing it and having the board formally vote on future press access policies for AAJA.”

Asked Friday whether she had come to a determination, Di said, “Unfortunately, my position remains that this would require a policy review and a board vote before any decision can be made.”

In 2024, Ai Uchida, deputy director and director of operations, messaged, “I wanted to explain again that AAJA has a one-day media policy for approved press at our convention. That is how we have been doing it since post-COVID. We do it this way because we want the convention to be as accessible as possible to as many members as possible; as you may know, AAJA conventions have sold out the past two years. This is why we limit press passes to one day.”

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is maintaining a similar policy, and likewise received scant coverage last year.

The National Association of Black Journalists, the Indigenous Journalists Association and others maintain the traditional practice of granting access to their conventions to media reporters.

Passages

Ben Holden, ‘What Success Looks Like’

“Ben Holden (pictured), who led the Ledger-Enquirer’s newsroom for six years as executive editor from 2004-10, has died,” Mark Rice reported Thursday, updated Friday, for the Columbus, Ga., news organization. “Holden died Wednesday of a heart attack, Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan confirmed to the L-E. He was pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital in Columbus.

“He was 63. . . .

“Holden’s career also included stints as: a corporate law attorney with Cooper, White & Cooper, San Francisco, 1989-1991, and with Weissburg and Aronson Inc., Los Angeles, 1991-1992; a Wall Street Journal reporter in Los Angeles, 1993-1997; assistant to the president of the McClatchy Co., Sacramento, California, 1997-1999; assistant managing editor, senior editor of news and administration with the Reno Gazette-Journal, Reno, Nevada, 1999-2002.

“He left the L-E in 2010 to become director of the Reynolds National Center for the Courts and Media at the University of Nevada-Reno, but he kept his home in Columbus, also when he was an assistant and associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2014-22) and most recently [as] professor at Northwestern University since 2022. . . .”

His friend Mark Russell, editor of the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, wrote on social media that Holden’s “list of accomplishments in journalism, the legal field, and academia put him in a different category of success. . . . Throughout his professional life, Ben mentored dozens, perhaps more than a hundred others. He even started a non-profit in Columbus, Ga., to help boost minority youth who needed a push and some modeling of what success looks like.”

Marlene L. Johnson, Spurred Affirmative Action at AP

“Former Associated Press reporter Marlene Louise Johnson, whose lawsuit against the wire service for race and gender discrimination led to affirmative action plans to spur hiring of female, Black and Hispanic journalists, has died at 89,” Corey Williams reported Thursday for the AP.

“Johnson died May 9 in a Los Angeles-area care facility after being released from a hospital. She had been suffering from dementia, according to her daughter, Morenike Joela Evans. . . .

“Johnson, who was Black, sued the global news organization for race and gender discrimination the year after she joined. She had been hired as part of a minority hiring program meant to bring in diverse talent to the AP — but after several months on the job, Johnson claimed she had received no training. She also believed she was being held to a performance standard different from her white, male counterparts.

“ ‘What the suit was about originally was racism,’ Johnson said in a 2013 interview with History Makers, a nonprofit research and educational institution that keeps an online oral history of both well-known and unsung Black Americans. . . .

“The Newspaper Guild’s sex and race discrimination class-action lawsuit against the AP was settled about decade later in 1983 for more than $1 million. Johnson was not listed as one of the plaintiffs. Under the agreement, which involved the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the AP was required to establish affirmative action plans for female journalists, as well as Black and Hispanic journalists.

“ ‘The suit turned from all Black and one white (plaintiff), to all white and one Black (plaintiff),’ Johnson recalled in the interview with History Makers. ‘And the one Black — the one that went to the civil suit — they took my name off and put another woman’s name on it. A Black woman who I had never heard of before.’

“The seven women listed as plaintiffs shared $83,120, according to a 2019 NewsGuild International article. Part of the settlement agreement included provisions for training and bonuses for AP’s minority and female journalists. . . .”

Clarence Jones, Major Civil Rights Figure, Media Owner

Clarence B. Jones (pictured), a confidant, lawyer and speechwriter for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s who was also the principal owner and publisher of the New York Amsterdam News, a co-owner of the radio station WLIB-AM in Harlem, a university professor and the author of books on civil rights, died May 25 in Cupertino, Calif.

“He was 95,” Robert D. McFadden reported that day for The New York Times.

“His death, at an assisted-living facility, was confirmed by his son, Clarence Jr.”

“A brilliant organizer and a member of Dr. King’s inner circle, Mr. Jones planned protest campaigns; raised funds for Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference; and coordinated legal strategies to challenge discriminatory laws, defend arrested demonstrators and fight lawsuits against their leaders.

“He was one of the lawyers who represented four Black ministers in a seminal case of libel law, New York Times v. Sullivan, in which the United States Supreme Court held that a public official could not win damages for criticism of his official performance without proving that published statements were made with deliberate malice. It was a landmark victory for the constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press, and cleared the way for reporting on widespread disorder and civil rights infringements in the South without fear of libel actions. . . .

“In 1971, he and Percy E. Sutton, the Manhattan borough president, led Black groups that bought The New York Amsterdam News, the nation’s largest Black community-based newspaper, and WLIB, which served largely Black audiences.”

“Jones served as publisher for the Amsterdam News from 1971-1974, which he co-owned with Percy Sutton and H. Carl McCall,” the Amsterdam News reported.

(Credit: Chicago Sports Network/YouTube)

Stacey King, Chicago Bulls Broadcaster

“As condolences pour in for Stacey King, officials say it could take weeks to confirm the Chicago Bulls broadcaster and former player’s cause of death,” Julia Poe and Tess Kenny reported Monday for the Chicago Tribune.

“King was pronounced dead just after 8:30 a.m. Sunday in the 500 block of Bonnie Brae in west suburban River Forest, where he lived, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. He was 59. . . .

“A three-time NBA champion selected by the Bulls with the No. 6 pick in the 1989 draft, King was a crucial part of the first three-peat during the team’s illustrious run during the 1990s. Former teammates reacted with shock and sympathy to the news of King’s death. Scottie Pippen described King as ‘a great teammate and a true ambassador for the game’ in a post on social media.

“ ‘I’m deeply saddened to learn of Stacey’s passing,’ Michael Jordan said in a statement to the Tribune. ‘We shared some special years together as teammates and he was part of a group that helped define an era of Chicago Bulls basketball. My thoughts are with Stacey’s family, friends and everyone whose lives he touched.’ ”

“Despite his presence on those championship rosters, King’s second career as a local broadcaster ultimately defined his relationship with the Bulls community.

“King’s voice and boisterous energy were an essential element of the television experience for Bulls fans over the last two decades. A witty, joyful presence on the microphone, he was known for his ability to coin nicknames and catchphrases.

“King became the Bulls’ primary color commentator in 2008, teaming with play-by-play specialist Neil Funk. His dynamic style of reacting to games served as a backdrop for the Derrick Rose years, punctuating every highlight dunk and buzzer-beating shot with his cries of ‘Take me higher!’ and ‘Let me step back and kiss myself!’ . . .”

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Dang Van Phuoc, Intrepid Vietnam War Photojournalist

“Dang Van Phuoc, a Vietnamese-born photographer for The Associated Press whose dauntless work on the front lines of the Vietnam War powerfully depicted scenes of bravery and terror, and who lost his right eye in a grenade explosion, died on May 23 in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 90,” Richard Sandomir reported May 30, updated June 2, for The New York Times.

“The A.P. announced his death, which was confirmed by his nephew Van Nguyen.

“From 1965 until the war ended in 1975, Mr. Dang roved South Vietnam — in Da Nang, Saigon, Hue and Khe Sanh — and traveled to North Vietnam for a daylight raid near the port of Haiphong aboard the heavy cruiser Newport News.

One of Phuoc’s best-known images was of a U.S. soldier stooping slightly to help an old woman resettle in a refugee camp when other villagers refused to help her. (Credit: Dang Van Phuoc/Associated Press)

“One of his most moving photographs was of an American soldier stooping slightly to help a fragile old woman resettle in a refugee camp when other villagers refused to help her. In the Ho Bo Woods, north of Saigon, he came upon a barren landscape where soldiers had taken refuge in an enormous crater created by a bomb dropped from a B-52. . . .

“Mr. Dang was wounded several times. According to the A.P.’s obituary of him, he took shrapnel to a leg and his chest from a grenade explosion, had a concussion from being hit in the head by a rocket and lost his right eye when a grenade exploded while on patrol with an Army Ranger battalion near Da Nang in 1969. . . .

“Mr. Dang, his wife and two children fled Vietnam for a refugee camp in Guam around the time that Saigon fell in late April 1975, then flew with other Vietnamese refugees to the Marine base at Camp Pendleton in Southern California.

“He moved to Hong Kong with The A.P. for a year or two before settling in the United States. He later became a portrait photographer. . . . ”

From Linda Johnson Rice, former CEO, Johnson Publishing Co.:  From left: “Lerone Bennett, Jr., Lydia Davis Eady, Jeff Burns, Jr., Black Enterprise magazine founder and publisher Earl Graves Sr.  . . . my mother, Eunice W. Johnson, my daughter, Alexa Rice, Howard University President Patrick Swygert, me and [in the center,] my dad, John H. Johnson.”

Jeff Burns Jr., Ebony Man

“For three decades, Jeff Burns, Jr. was one of the driving forces behind EBONY having served as its Associate Publisher and Senior Vice President at Johnson Publishing Company under the leadership of founder John H. Johnson,” Margena Christian reported May 29 for Ebony.

“Burns, who battled Alzheimer’s disease for many years, died in New York. He was 75. . . .

“By 1984 Burns became Vice President of JPC and Eastern Advertising Director for EBONY. Later he was appointed as Senior Vice President at JPC in 1993 with the overall responsibility of directing the New York office for JET, EBONY and EBONY Man magazines. He was promoted in 2001 to EBONY’s Associate Publisher. (Since 2021, EBONY has been owned by 1145 Holdings and led by CEO Eden Bridgeman.)

“In the roles, Burns was responsible for selling and marketing the EBONY brand along with being director of special projects. He created special integrated marketing events for sponsors associated with EBONY such as Outstanding Women In Marketing & Communications; the African American Men’s Day; Mothers’ & Daughters Empowerment Program, the Taste of EBONY in New York and the film festival ‘Hollywood in Harlem.’ . . .

Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, Cuban Independent Journalist

“Independent journalist and Cuban opposition leader Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez died today in exile, after having dedicated his life to the struggle for the rescue of freedom in Cuba,” Diario Las Américas reported from Miami on May 30.

“Journalist Camila Acosta published the news through her account on the social network Facebook and recalled that the social communicator had to suffer eight years in prison and physical repression by the regime, when he refused exile.

“Maseda Gutiérrez, considered one of the heroes of the cause for freedom and democracy on the island, leaves an extensive legacy of activism and resistance against the totalitarian regime in Havana.

“The communicator was one of the political prisoners who were part of the historic Group of 75 during the wave of repression known as the Black Spring of Cuba, which occurred in 2003. Because of his outspoken opposition and his reporting outside of state censorship, government court authorities sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment.”

While in a maximum security prison in 2008, the Committee to Protect Journalists chose him for its International Press Freedom Award.

Short Takes

  • In the New York tabloids, it’s unanimous!

Relatives of Ross Otto Hambrick and Victor Marcellus King, infants were given a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., in the 1960s, with lawyer Ben Crump and members of his legal team. (Credit: Ben Crump Law)

“Caroline Wanga (pictured), the CEO of Essence Ventures from June 2020 until she resigned in March 2025, filed a defamation claim this week against Essence Ventures (‘EV’) (which manages ESSENCE Communications, Inc., AFROPUNK, BeautyCon, and Essence Studios) and its parent company, Sundial Media & Technology Group, in New York State Court,” Wanga’s representatives announced Friday. “The alleged defamation stemmed from EV and Sundial leadership failing to publicly announce that Ms. Wanga had no role in the planning or execution of the disastrous annual Essence Festival of Culture which commenced on July 4, 2025, in New Orleans. Ms. Wanga is represented by Lead Counsel Larry Schaefer at Schaefer Halleen, LLC, a Minneapolis-based Firm recognized nationally for its expertise in this field.”

“Among those departing through buyouts at NPR are National Political Correspondent Don Gonyea, Managing Editor Vickie Walton-James (pictured), and Investigations Correspondent Joe Shapiro, who joined the network in 2001,” Cameron Coats reported May 29 for Radio Ink. “After announcing its intention to make newsroom buyouts in the wake of a projected $15 million drop in member station fees, NPR is cutting roughly 36 content division positions, as the network works to mitigate Congress’s elimination of federal public media subsidies.”

  • Under a grant from Press Forward Chicago, Chicago Public Media has partnered with local newsrooms “to bring you one comprehensive Chicago Immigration Hub,” the Chicago Sun-Times announced June 3. “The hub pulls together essential immigration coverage from 15 newsrooms, including WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times and La Voz Chicago. . . Participating newsrooms include: Block Club Chicago, Borderless Magazine, Chicago Reader, Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community (Chinatown Spotlight), Cicero Independiente, Injustice Watch, La Raza, ProPublica, Public Media Institute (Lumpen Radio), Reparations Media, South Side Weekly and The TRiiBE.”

 

From left: Cartoonist Barbara Brandon-Croft, Brumsic Brandon Jr.’s daughter; journalist Ivan C. Brandon, Brumsic Brandon Jr.’s brother; Justin T. Davis, director of photography; and Sandra Jowers-Barber, PhD., historian and professor at the University of the District of Columbia.

  • “Brumsic Brandon, Jr.: A Legacy in Art and Community,” a documentary short about the creator of the “Luther” comic strip, widely recognized as the first nationally syndicated comic strip featuring a Black protagonist, debuted May 16 in his Washington hometown. The film was produced by Dr. Carletta S. Hurt, Ph.D,  under the Dap Project with HumanitiesDC, and utilizes family interviews and archives to reveal how Brandon used his art to reflect and shape the civil rights movements of his era. The creators intend to prepare a version for national distribution.
  • “Black men who voted for former President Joe Biden in 2020 and then for President Donald Trump in 2024 have soured on the president, expressing concern about the president’s leadership, the economy, and skyrocketing gas prices. But they’re also frustrated with another group — the news media,” Philip Lewis reported May 25, updated May 27, for HuffPost. “A focus group conducted on Wednesday by the Democratic firm Navigator Research, which HuffPost was allowed to view, revealed that these men have chosen to divest from what they believe are mainstream media outlets and largely get their news from nontraditional outlets and independent creators on platforms like YouTube.”
  • “We couldn’t be more excited that Gilbert Cruz (pictured) will take on the new role of Canon editor,” New York Times editors announced June 5. Cruz is now Books editor. “Gilbert will build a team dedicated to expanding our embrace of those moments when we invite experts and readers alike to help us declare the definitive works in a given discipline. While The Times will continue to publish an array of news-driven lists throughout our report, Gilbert’s new department will be charged with iterating on and updating our most ambitious canon work, collaborating with subject matter experts and colleagues across the newsroom. . . .”

“Yesterday, Sunday, June 7, was National Cancer Survivors Day. I’m a day late, but my friend’s journey of surviving one of the rarest of cancers and living fabulously beyond the disease is worth the wait,” Roy S. Johnson wrote for al.com. He was referring to Kelley E. Carter (pictured, by Roy S. Johnson). “In the 1980s, she was among the second wave of pioneering female sports journalists who sought to do their jobs — same as us men — in the face of some who wanted them to remain outside.”

  • Sylvia Salazar (pictured) has been creating bilingual explainers about American politics for Latinos for nearly a decade for her brand, Tono Latino,” Hanaa’ Tameez reported June 2 for NiemanLab. “Her videos, in English and Spanish, explain public policy, corruption, and the impact on Latinos in the U.S. Recent videos include explainers on Trump’s $350 billion slush fund and why Trump sent Jared Kushner to negotiate an Iran peace deal. She has more than 116,000 followers on Instagram, 30,000 on TikTok, and 9,000 on YouTube.” Salazar, 46, “also sends out a Substack newsletter, Latino Lens, with a paid version for $6 per month. She’s currently one of 20 cohort members of the Latinos, Media, and Democracy program at the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas. . . . “
  • Dateline is launching the 24/7 streaming channel Dateline en Español on Peacock,” Veronica Villafañe reported May 19 for her Media Moves site. “Hosted by José Díaz-Balart, anchor of Noticias Telemundo and Weekend NBC Nightly News, the channel launches with a library of more than 100 hours of Dateline en Español episodes. It will expand to other platforms as a FAST channel in the coming weeks.”

New York Times journalists Abdi Latif Dahir and Justin Scheck won the 2026 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award’s International Print Award “for their powerful exposé, ‘The Deadly Trade in Female Kenyan Workers,’ ” The Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center announced May 20. “Dahir and Scheck’s investigation uncovered an abusive and exploitative system wherein hundreds of Kenyan women are lured to Saudi Arabia as domestic workers, only to be attacked, assaulted, and – in some cases – killed. The team conducted countless interviews, analyzed hundreds of documents, and painstakingly followed the money trail to identify those responsible: a network of companies controlled by some of the most powerful figures in Saudi Arabia and East Africa. ‘The Deadly Trade in Female Kenyan Workers’ also received the John Seigenthaler Courage in Journalism Award.”

 

 

 

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