Articles Feature

Lightfoot Limits One-on-One Interviews to People of Color

by richard04199

Says She’s Spotlighting Whiteness of Press Corps
Conservatives Bar Tenure for Hannah-Jones
Univision to Start 24-Hour Live News Service
Kid Reporter Who Interviewed Obama Dies at 23

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Homepage photo by Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote, “The Chicago media leadership must evolve with the times.” (Credit: City of Chicago)

Says She’s Spotlighting Whiteness of Press Corps

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is granting one-on-one interviews only to journalists of color, writing Wednesday, “In looking at the absence of diversity across the City Hall press corps and other newsrooms, sadly it does not appear that many of the media institutions of Chicago have caught on and truly have not embraced this moment.“

Lightfoot added, “I have been struck since my first day on the campaign trail back in 2018 by the overwhelming whiteness and maleness of Chicago media outlets, editorial boards, the political press corps, and yes, the City Hall press corps specifically.”

The mayor also wrote, “There is almost no one in the editorial board rooms or the City Hall press corps who has themselves lived the experience of a woman of color in the City of Chicago. The Crain’s Chicago Business editorial board is entirely white. There are zero women of color on the Chicago Tribune editorial board. Almost all the major television networks in Chicago covering City Hall are led by white News directors.”

The award-winning Black website The Triibe tweeted, “Black Chicago, what questions y’all got?’

But Gregory Pratt, president of the Chicago Tribune Guild, tweeted, “I am a Latino reporter @chicagotribune whose interview request was granted for today. However, I asked the mayor’s office to lift its condition on others and when they said no, we respectfully canceled. Politicians don’t get to choose who covers them.”

Craig Dellimore, a Black reporter who covers politics for WBBM Radio, replied, “I’m afraid I take a different view. I am not disputing the point that ‘Politicians don’t get to choose who covers them’ & I support Greg. But, I think the Mayor’s gesture is doing exactly what it was designed to do. It’s sparking a needed discussion on Diversity among the Media.”

Fox News was among the first to report the development.

Joseph A. Wulfsohn reported late Tuesday night, “NBC 5 Chicago political reporter Mary Ann Ahern took to Twitter on Tuesday to mark the ‘midway point’ of Lightfoot’s first term in office and apparently acknowledged her failed effort to land an interview.

” ‘As ⁦@chicagosmayor reaches her two year midway point as mayor, her spokeswoman says Lightfoot is granting 1 on 1 interviews — only to Black or Brown journalists,’ Ahern tweeted.

“And apparently, Ahern wasn’t the only one.

” ‘I was told the same thing,’ WTTW Chicago Tonight anchor and correspondent Paris Schutz reacted to Ahern’s tweet.

” ‘I can confirm,’ Chicago politics reporter Heather Cherone similarly tweeted. . . .

“Lightfoot was slammed on social media, facing allegations of racism for choosing to speak with journalists solely on the color of their skin. . . .”

Conservatives Bar Tenure for Hannah-Jones

“In her career in journalism, Nikole Hannah-Jones has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur Fellowship ‘Genius Grant.’ But despite support from the UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor and faculty, she won’t be getting a tenured teaching position at her alma mater. At least not yet,” Joe Killian and Kyle Ingram reported Wednesday for N.C. Policy Watch.

“As Policy Watch reported last week, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media pursued Hannah-Jones for its Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism, a tenured professorship. But following political pressure from conservatives who object to her work on ‘The 1619 Project’ for The New York Times Magazine, the school changed its plan to offer her tenure — which amounts to a career-long appointment. Instead, she will start July 1 for a fixed five-year term as Professor of the Practice, with the option of being reviewed for tenure at the end of that time period.

“ ‘It’s disappointing, it’s not what we wanted and I am afraid it will have a chilling effect,’ said Susan King, dean of UNC Hussman.

“ ‘The 1619 Project’ is a long-form journalism undertaking that, as the Pulitzer Center put it, ‘challenges us to reframe U.S. history by marking the year when the first enslaved Africans arrived on Virginia soil as our nation’s foundational date.’ Hannah-Jones, who is Black, conceived of the project and was among multiple staff writers, photographers and editors who put it together.’ . . .”

When the announcement of Hannah-Jones appointment was made April 26, Hannah-Jones tweeted that she would simultaneously remain at The New York Times.

Univision made its announcement about the news streaming service as it also announced the telenovelas ‘La Desalmada’, ‘Vencer El Past’ and ‘Amor Prohibido’ (Credit: Univision)

Univision to Start 24-Hour Live News Service

“Univision will launch a new direct-to-consumer 24-hour live news service, reaching Hispanics via its new Prende TV free, premium streaming service,“ Erik Pedersen reported Tuesday for Deadline.

“The new channel will offer live news and breaking stories in digital-friendly formats and snackable storytelling content across platforms.”

Pederson also wrote, “Univision expanded its portfolio this year with the launch of PrendeTV, the only streaming service created exclusively for the U.S. Hispanic audience featuring free, premium Spanish-language programming. The service has 1 million active users who spend an average of two hours a week, and it’s on pace for 5 million users by year’s end, the network said.”

Reuters added, “Univision Communications, the largest Spanish-language media company in the US, says advertisers have overlooked Hispanic American audiences for far too long . . .

“To help advertisers target ads to Hispanic audiences, Univision will build an ‘audience data graph’ that uses viewer data from its digital properties and other sources to help brands more effectively target ads to Hispanic viewers, Donna Speciale, president of ad sales and marketing at Univision, said in an interview. . . .”

Damon Weaver returns from the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009 and tells his class what he has learned (video). (Credit: Lannis Waters and Christina Denardo, Palm Beach Post)

Kid Reporter Who Interviewed Obama Dies at 23

“As an intrepid student reporter whose dreams carried him all the way to an interview in the White House with President Barack Obama, Damon Weaver found himself in the national spotlight at a young age,” Julius Whigham II reported Friday, updated Tuesday, for the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post. “It was the Pahokee native’s dream to tell the stories of others as a professional journalist.

“Weaver, who in 2009 became the youngest person to conduct an interview with a sitting president, died May 1 at age 23, his sister, Candace Hardy, confirmed Thursday. She said his death was due to natural causes.

“Weaver was just 11 years old and a student at Canal Point Elementary School when he met with President Obama for about 10 minutes in the White House Diplomatic Room on Aug. 13, 2009, asking 12 questions that focused primarily on education and schools.

“Among their topics: bullying, school lunches, conflict resolution and how to succeed. Weaver finished by inviting Obama to visit his school and asked him to be his ‘homeboy,’ noting that Vice President Joe Biden already had taken him up on the offer.

” ‘Absolutely,’ Obama said with a smile, shaking Weaver’s hand. . . .”

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