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Legendary Chicago Anchor Warner Saunders Dies at 83

by richard13362

Career Spanned King, Harold Washington, Obama

Warner Saunders recalls interviewing Nelson Mandela in South Africa and in Chicago after Mandela’s release from prison in 1990.  Jesse Jackson, who appears in the video, said of the anchor, “Wherever he landed his presence was always felt.” (video) (Credit: WMAQ-TV)

Career Spanned King, Harold Washington, Obama

“Warner Saunders, beloved NBC 5 anchor, well-known Chicago journalist and former teacher, has passed away at age 83,” Chicago’s WMAQ-TV reported Wednesday.

“Saunders collapsed Tuesday night in Chicago, his wife said. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“The award-winning journalist spent four decades in Chicago television and 29 years at NBC 5 before retiring in May 2009.

“Saunders was considered by his peers to be the most versatile performer in the history of Chicago television. He was the winner of 20 Emmys for news, sports, documentaries, children’s programs, conversation talk shows and community town meetings. . . .

“Saunders came to NBC 5 from WBBM-TV, where he was director of community affairs, host of the four-time Emmy award winning  ‘Common Ground’ talk show and host of the three-time Emmy Award winning children’s show known to many kids as ‘The Good Gang Express.’ . . .”

On Twitter, the Rev. Jesse Jackson wrote, “We miss him already. His presence was always there. A community treasure. Keen intellect. Best coverage of the 1983 Harold Washington campaign & Nelson Mandela’s South African release from jail. Wherever he landed his presence was always felt. #WarnerSaunders.” Washington became Chicago’s first black mayor.

When Saunders retired in 2009, pioneering Chicago publisher Hermene Hartman wrote for Huffington Post, “Warner Saunders is a Renaissance Man. His news coverage life has been full, exciting and varied. He’s taught public school; he drove a bus; he was the executive director of the Boys Club on the West Side, and he played professional basketball. All of that was before he launched a second career. In the past 40 years, he has earned 20 Emmy Awards as a journalist.

“To put Warner Saunders in perspective is to know that he has served as the voice for the voiceless, a champion of the people. His career has spanned the riots that resulted from Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination to having a hunch about a young politician named Barack Obama. He was one of the first to interview Obama and something told him to save the interview. (I wonder what it would be like to watch it now.)

“He has had a front-row seat to record history along the way. He came into TV, at ABC, with the late journalist Vernon Jarrett, without a journalism background. He came as a social worker that knew the power of media and what it lacked. Believe it or not, there was a time where there were no black news personalities on television.

“When the West Side riots occurred after King’s death, it was a terrible time for the city. The powers-that-be were trying to calm the storm. This was Saunders’ entry into the world of television. It was an ‘ah-ha’ moment for television and proved to be an ‘ah-ha’ moment for television viewers. They realized what they were missing: a black presence and voice on television. Many black journalists were born or given an opportunity, as a result. . . .”

WMAQ also reported, “Saunders was a proud member of the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame and the Chicago Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Silver Circle. He was the past President of the National Association of Black Journalists, Chicago Chapter.”

In 1997, Saunders ran unsuccessfully against Vanessa Williams for president of NABJ.

(more to come)

Stark Racial Differences on Kavanaugh

Oct. 6, 2018

Poll Finds Blacks, Hispanics Strongly Opposed

Trump Is Called on Racial Hypocrisy

Connie Chung Breaks Five-Decade Silence on Abuse

L.A. Deputies Stop Thousands of Innocent Latinos

Columnist Credits Activists for Cop’s Conviction

Newsday Hires Hudson, Lawrence as Editors

McCarter Named Editor in Evansville, Ind.

How Much Americans Trust 38 News Organizations

Short Takes

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Participants at March for Black Women 2018 hold up signs reading, “Protect Women. Protect VAWA” and “Believe Black Women.” (Credit: Natelegé Whaley/Mic)
Participants at the March for Black Women 2018 in New York last Sunday hold up signs reading, “Protect Women. Protect VAWA” and “Believe Black Women.” (Credit: Natelegé Whaley/Mic)

Poll Finds Blacks, Hispanics Strongly Opposed

Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s confirmation for a Supreme Court seat, expected in the Senate this weekend, will come despite opposition from African American and Hispanic voters, according to a Quinnipiac University National Poll released Monday.

Among the poll’s findings:

“White voters say 51-40 percent confirm Kavanaugh. Opposed are black voters 81-11 percent and Hispanic voters 65-30 percent.”

  • “Which do you tend to believe most: the accusation of sexual assault made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford or the denial made by Judge Brett Kavanaugh?”

Blacks believed Blasey Ford, 83 percent to 8 percent for “believe Kavanaugh.”

Hispanics believed Blasey Ford, 66 percent to 27 percent for Kavanaugh.

Whites believed Kavanaugh, 50 percent to 40 percent for Blasey Ford.

  • “In general, would you say that — Brett Kavanaugh is honest, or not?”

Blacks said no, 77 percent to 7 percent.

Hispanics said no, 58 percent to 34 percent.

Whites said yes, 55 percent to 34 percent.

  • “In general, would you say that — Christine Blasey Ford is honest, or not?

Blacks said yes, 80 percent to 11 percent.

Hispanics said yes, 69 percent to 20 percent.

Whites said yes, 54 percent to 28 percent.

  • “Do you think that Judge Kavanaugh is the target of a politically motivated smear campaign, or don’t you think so?”

Blacks said no, 78 percent to 15 percent.

Hispanics said no, 59 percent to 34 percent.

Whites said yes, 58 percent to 37 percent.

The racial disparity was overlooked in media reports from CNN, the New York Times, the Associated Press, the Hill, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, some focusing instead on differences by gender.

Noting that omission for the Root, Anne Branigin wrote Thursday, “As we see with the Quinnipiac poll, an inability to look at racial dynamics, whether it be through benign ignorance or outright reluctance, affects the stories we tell. It also affects the credibility and accuracy of the stories we tell, which is to say, you simply can’t get quality coverage of American politics without it.

“White people are divided over Kavanaugh; black people aren’t. And not to acknowledge that fact or probe the reasons why is a journalistic disservice. . . .”

Quinnipiac’s random-digit dialing telephone survey was conducted from Sept. 27 to 30. Responses were reported for 1,111 self-identified registered voters with a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.7 percentage points, the survey authors said.

From left: Antron McCray, Raymond Santana Jr., Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam and Kharey Wise in 2012 outside a theater before the New York premiere of “The Central Park Five.” (Credit Sundance Select)
From left: Antron McCray, Raymond Santana Jr., Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam and Kharey Wise in 2012 outside a theater before the New York premiere of  Sarah and Ken Burns’ “The Central Park Five.” (Credit: Sundance Select)

Trump Is Called on Racial Hypocrisy

The White House press corps might not have many journalists of color, but two who were present Wednesday called out Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on President Trump’s hypocrisy in claiming, “It is a very scary time for young men in America, where you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of. … ”

“ ‘President Trump talked a lot yesterday about this issue of being concerned about men being being thought of [as] guilty before proven innocent and this idea of due process, but in the past with the Central Park Five, he put out an ad calling for the death penalty before they had been found convicted. And after they were exonerated he still basically said that they may be guilty,’ NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe said during a press briefing,” Addy Baird reported Wednesday for ThinkProgress. ” ‘[…] Is there a disconnect between when the president is interested in due process for some and not others?’

Ayesha Rascoe
Ayesha Rascoe

“Sanders responded by dancing around Rascoe’s question. . . .”

Baird also wrote, “Sanders then quickly tried to move on to a new question before another reporter, American Urban Radio Networks’ April Ryan, followed up, pressing her on the issue. ‘[The president] said the Central Park Five was guilty. Does he feel that now?’ she asked. ‘… Has he decided to change his mind on the Central Park Five? Because they have been exonerated.’

“Sanders said she would have to ‘look back,’ before changing subjects again. . . .”

Baird continued, “The White House’s refusal to directly address Trump’s stance on the Central Park Five is particularly troubling. In the spring of 1989, Trump, then a real estate magnate, took out full page advertisements in all four of New York City’s major newspapers calling for the death penalty for five Black and Latino young men accused of raping a jogger in Central Park.

“ ‘Muggers and murderers should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes,’ the ad read. ‘Mayor [Ed] Koch has stated that hate and rancor should be removed from our hearts. I do not think so. I want to hate these muggers and murderers. They should be forced to suffer… How can our great society tolerate the continued brutalization of its citizens by crazed misfits? Criminals must be told that their CIVIL LIBERTIES END WHEN AN ATTACK ON OUR SAFETY BEGINS!’ . . .

“Years later, the five boys originally accused of the rape were exonerated with DNA evidence, and the city settled with the defendants. Trump didn’t care. . . .”

As reported in this column in 2013, ” ‘Filmmakers Sarah and Ken Burns, not to mention the Central Park Five, think it’s time for someone to apologize,’ David Hinckley wrote  . . . in the Daily News in New York as the film made its PBS debut.

“The ‘someone’ might be news media members who abandoned their skepticism and went for what they believed the best storyline, helping to ruin lives as they convicted the suspects with their headlines, commentary and television scripts. . . .”

In 2016, Yusef Salaam wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Post, headlined, “I’m one of the Central Park Five. Donald Trump won’t leave me alone.”

It said, “Starting whenI was 15, my life was not my own. . . . I had no control over what happened to me. Being in the spotlight makes me wary and self-conscious again. I am overwhelmed with fear that an overzealous Trump supporter might take matters into his or her hands. . . .”

Filming on a four-part series on the Central Park Five, created, written and directed by Ava DuVernay, began in August in New York. It is to be released on Netflix in 2019.


(Credit: Washington Post)

Connie Chung Breaks Five-Decade Silence on Abuse

“Dear Christine Blasey Ford,” veteran broadcast journalist Connie Chung began an op-ed piece Wednesday in the Washington Post.

“I, too, was sexually assaulted — not 36 years ago but about 50 years ago. I have kept my dirty little secret to myself. Silence for five decades. The molester was our trusted family doctor. What made this monster even more reprehensible was that he was the very doctor who delivered me on Aug. 20, 1946. I’m 72 now.

“It was the 1960s. I was in college. The sexual revolution was in full swing. The exact date and year are fuzzy. But details of the event are vivid — forever seared in my memory.

“Am I sure who did it? Oh yes, 100 percent.

“I was a cool college coed but not that cool. I was still a virgin in the ’60s. I did advance to the so-called heavy petting stage, short of intercourse. I assumed that would come next.

“I went to my family doctor to ask for birth-control pills, an IUD or a diaphragm. . . .”

Chung concluded, “I wish I could forget this truthful event, but I cannot because it is the truth. I am writing to you because I know that exact dates, exact years are insignificant. We remember exactly what happened to us and who did it to us. We remember the truth forever.

“Bravo, Christine, for telling the truth.”

(Credit: Los Angeles Times)
(Credit: Los Angeles Times)

L.A. Deputies Stop Thousands of Innocent Latinos

“The team of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies cruises the 5 Freeway, stopping motorists on the Grapevine in search of cars carrying drugs,” Joel Rubin and Ben Poston reported Thursday for the Los Angeles Times.

“They’ve worked the mountain pass in Southern California since 2012 and boast a large haul: more than a ton of methamphetamine, 2 tons of marijuana, 600 pounds of cocaine, millions of dollars in suspected drug money and more than 1,000 arrests.

“But behind those impressive numbers are some troubling ones.

“More than two-thirds of the drivers pulled over by the Domestic Highway Enforcement Team were Latino. . . .

“The Times analyzed data from every traffic stop recorded by the team from 2012 through the end of last year — more than 9,000 stops in all — and reviewed records from hundreds of court cases.

Among its findings:

  • “Latino drivers accounted for 69% of the deputies’ stops. Officers from the California Highway Patrol, mainly policing traffic violations on the same section of freeway, pulled over nearly 378,000 motorists during the same period; 40% of them were Latino.
  • “Two-thirds of Latinos who were pulled over by the Sheriff’s Department team had their vehicles searched, while cars belonging to all other drivers were searched less than half the time.
  • “Three-quarters of the team’s searches came after deputies asked motorists for consent rather than having evidence of criminal behavior. Several legal scholars said such a high rate of requests for consent is concerning because people typically feel pressured to allow a search or are unaware they can refuse.
  • “Though Latinos were much more likely to be searched, deputies found drugs or other illegal items in their vehicles at a rate that was not significantly higher than that of black or white drivers. . . .”

Columnist Credits Activists for Cop’s Conviction

“In the end, it wasn’t the city’s most powerful politicians or the celebrated movers and shakers in the black community that won justice for Laquan McDonald,” Mary Mitchell wrote Friday for the Chicago Sun-Times.

“It was the persistence of a small band of young activists that ultimately led to Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke being ushered out of a courtroom on Friday with his hands behind his back.

“ ‘It was only because of God almighty that we got justice,’ proclaimed William Calloway, a police reform activist who was in the courtroom throughout the three-week trial. . . .”

Mitchell also wrote, “Four years ago, it didn’t seem possible that their activism over the police-involved shooting — one of many across the country involving a white police officer and a young black male — would result in the police officer being convicted of a crime.

“But their voices were heard — not only in Chicago, but across the nation.

“Because of them, Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder, and 16 counts of aggravated battery — one count for every bullet that struck the 17-year-old teen.

“For a half-century, no on-duty police officer had been convicted of killing a civilian.

“Mark Carter, founder of the Voice Of The Ex-Offender or ‘VOTE,’ said the next move is political.

“ ‘Now is time to come after the entire City Council who were part of the cover-up. Nothing could have happened without them,’ he said.

“In what could be described as a David vs. Goliath matchup, the young activists have scored a victory against established political and community leadership without throwing a single stone.

“ ‘We did a lot of praying. We did a lot of work. We were peaceful when we didn’t want to be peaceful. It was so many police shootings that happened after Laquan McDonald, and we remained peaceful,” Calloway told a crush of media during a news conference after the verdict.

“The grass-root activists hammered then-Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, accusing her of failing to bring charges against Van Dyke even though there was a video that showed the officer shooting McDonald 16 times.

“Alvarez ended up losing her re-election bid to Kim Foxx, a political newcomer.

“On Friday, the activists put police officers who were accused of wrongdoing in the McDonald shooting, and ranking black aldermen on notice. . . .”

Newsday Hires Hudson, Lawrence as Editors

Don Hudson, executive editor of the Decatur (Ala.) Daily, and Calvin Lawrence, online news editor at ABC News, have been named assistant managing editors at Newsday, the Long Island, N.Y., newspaper, Deborah Henley, editor and vice president of the Newsday Media Group, confirmed to Journal-isms on Thursday.

Calvin Lawrence
Calvin Lawrence

For Lawrence, who will be AME for administration and staff development, it will be a return to familiar turf. “Newsday still feels like home to me,” he said by email. “The paper stretched and pushed me in ways that kept me there for 18 years. I know what I’m getting and they know what they’re getting.”

Henley and her team wrote to the staff, “Calvin joined Newsday as an assistant news editor in 1989. He then moved onto the Long Island desk as an assistant editor and during his career here worked as deputy city editor responsible for the Sunday NYC [edition], Sunday Queens Life and the daily neighborhood pages.

“He also was an editorial writer and was national editor before being named an assistant managing editor overseeing Washington and state bureaus, three foreign bureaus and health-science coverage. . . .”

They also wrote, “Calvin began his career as a business reporter at the Miami Herald. He subsequently worked as a business reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before joining Booth Newspapers in Michigan as a state capital bureau correspondent.” He also was an assistant metro editor at the Ann Arbor News in Michigan  and  a business reporter at USA Today.

Lawrence wrote Journal-isms, “Now I get to help make a room full of people better journalists, I hope, without the minute-to-minute tug and pull of the news to contend with. I worked the digital side at ABC so I never really became much of a broadcast journalist, which was never my intention anyway.

“I had pretty much exhausted the limited possibilities there after 10 years, though I’m grateful for the opportunity that now gives me new and ‘old’ media experience and, therefore, a good sense of the kinds of skills and traits we need to look for in the up-and-comers. And I think I can easily identify with veterans like me who’re eager to stay in the game.

” I’ve never felt better about starting a new adventure. And I’ve started a lot of them since that first gig in Miami 36 years ago.  I’m just sorry my man Les is not around to see it. I think he’d be pleased,” he said, referring to the late Les Payne. 

Don Hudson
Don Hudson

Hudson is joining Newsday as AME on the Long Island desk after almost eight years at the family-owned Decatur Daily. A native of Louisiana, he is in his 37th year in the newspaper/digital business. “We had a great eight years with Don,” Daily Publisher Clint Shelton said in that newspaper. “He’s a professional. He’s going to do very well with Newsday. He’s first class.”

For years, Hudson kept a tally of African American editors around the country for the National Association of Black Journalists. He was given the NABJ President’s Award in 2004, when he was managing editor of the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. He joined the Decatur paper in 2010 after being caught in a wave of layoffs at the Gannett Co.

“Don started his career in 1981 as a sports reporter at the News-Star World at Monroe, La.,” according to a brief Gannett bio when he was named in 2003.

“After a two-year stint as assistant sports information director at Northeast Louisiana University, he joined The Daily Leader at Ruston, La., in 1985 as a sports reporter. Later that year, he joined The Clarion-Ledger as a sports reporter, and in 1988 he was named sports editor of The News-Star at Monroe.

“He joined the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as sports news editor in 1989 and a year later was named sports editor of the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock. In 1991, he was named Orange County Editor of The Orlando Sentinel. He rejoined Gannett in 1997 as managing editor at The Jackson Sun. He was named managing editor at Lansing [at the State Journal in Michigan] in 1999.”

Newsday, once part of Tribune Co., has experienced a series of ownership changes. Patrick Dolan, a member of the billionaire Dolan family, has become the sole owner, Claude Solnik reported Aug. 1 for Long Island Business News.

Michael McCarter introduces himself to the Courier & Press reporting staff Thursday morning (Credit: Denny Simmons/Courier & Press)
Michael McCarter introduces himself to the Courier & Press reporting staff  in Evansville, Ind., Thursday. (Credit: Denny Simmons/Courier & Press)

McCarter Named Editor in Evansville, Ind.

“An eye for dynamic visual storytelling and a passion for local news have been the cornerstones of Michael McCarter’s 20-plus year career in journalism, carrying him to some of the country’s most prestigious newspapers,” Michael Doyle reported Thursday for the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press.

“On Thursday, McCarter was named the Courier & Press’s new executive editor. He succeeds former editor George Spohr, who died in July from cancer at age 37.

“McCarter is a top-notch coach for journalists — someone who will push hard for compelling journalism, said Richard Green, Midwest Regional Editor for the USA TODAY Network.

“ ‘I had the good fortune to work with Michael in Cincinnati a few years ago, and I was impressed by his passion, skills and determination to deliver compelling journalism,’ Green said. ‘He knows that a great city like Evansville deserves a great media site. He will be a terrific addition to this community.’ . . . ‘

The paper reported its newsroom to be 95.8 percent white in the American Society of News Editors’ most recent diversity survey [PDF].

Doyle also wrote, “McCarter officially began his career as a photographer at The Shreveport (Louisiana) Times while pursuing his master’s in psychology at Louisiana State University-Shreveport.

“In 1998, he moved on to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution where he served as photo editor. At the AJC, he oversaw photo coverage of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a 22-part series on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and a special section commemorating the life and death of Coretta Scott King, according to his bio at the Southern Miss School of Mass Communications and Journalism website.

“McCarter joined the Cincinnati Enquirer in 2007 as director of photography and currently serves as the Enquirer’s senior news director. . . .”

McCarter was last in Journal-isms in 2016, after he made the sensitive decision not to use a booking photo of a victim:

“In Cincinnati last year, national news outlets juxtaposed an image of white murder suspect Ray Tensing, a University of Cincinnati police officer, with his black shooting victim, Samuel DuBose. Tensing was in front of a flag, while DuBose was shown smiling in a police mugshot. . . .

“Michael McCarter, the interim editor then and a black journalist, told Journal-isms at the time, ‘A conversation did take place in our newsroom . . . I, along with a few of our editors, made the decision to NOT use a booking mug. It was irrelevant to this story and DuBose was the victim. You have to understand the power of images in situations like this.’ . . .”

(Credit: Nieman Lab)
(Credit: Nieman Lab)

How Much Americans Trust 38 News Organizations

“Simmons Research, the leading source of essential consumer intelligence, today released its News Media Trust Index, a trustworthiness ranking of 38 of the largest and well-known news sources,” the research company announced Monday.

“Among its many findings, the News Media Trust Index found that the average percentage of respondents who rated news sources as trustworthy or very trustworthy was just 40%, a clear sign the news media is in crisis.

“Topping the list across all news sources, and the only newspaper in the top five, was the Wall Street Journal with 57.7% of Americans trusting them. Also performing well were the major television network news organizations, with ABC (55.9%), CBS (55.4%), and NBC (54.1%) ranking as the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th most trusted sources. Forbes was the most trusted magazine and rounded out the top five, trusted by 54.2% of Americans. . . .”

The company also said, “The least trusted news sources were all Internet-first and hyper-partisan in nature (both liberal and conservative) representing brands that have been consistently rated as misleading and inaccurate by fact-checkers. The six organizations trusted least were split evenly between far-left and far-right news sources, and on average were trusted by only about one in four Americans. . . .”

Short Takes

Romona Robinson
Romona Robinson

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1 comment

richard October 10, 2018 at 8:10 pm

From John R. McClelland:

Thanks, Richard.
Saunders was already at an anchor desk when or soon after I got back to Chicagoland in 1989. I do not recall being aware of him in my 1969-78 time here, but I can hear his voice booming out of my first really good TV. I did see the original minority on-camera journalists in TV here, circa 1970.

One was an airline pilot moonlighting as TV weatherman and I’m ashamed to admit I forget his name but not his face and voice. The other was Les Brownlee, a sweet, tough, gentle like a steel silk glove, WW2 artillery officer (a rarity), then eventually street reporter for the Daily News and then I believe the first on TV.

It was a joy to work with him, he as president and I as journal editor, in the Chicago SPJ pro chapter in the 1990s. We in the leadership group when he died at 93 named a scholarship for him. These guys were gooood! Had to be, of course, especially in those times, and still so for minorities and the female majority, eh?

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