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Michael Days, News DEI Leader, Dies Suddenly

by richard02091

Spontaneous Applause When He Was Named Editor

 

Homepage photo: Michael Days at Oct. 8 meeting of NABJ-Philadelphia (Credit: NABJ Philadelphia)

The National Association of Black Journalists prepared ths video when Michael Days was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2017. (Credit: YouTube)

Spontaneous Applause When He Was Named Editor

Michael Days, a leader in the newspaper business but especially in his Philadelphia hometown, died Saturday after falling ill suddenly in his Trenton, N.J., home, Melanie Burney, vice president of the NABJ-Philadelphia chapter of which Days was president, confirmed Sunday. He was 72.

Days was taken to the Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton early Saturday, said his wife, journalist Angela P. Dodson. Doctors treated him there until he died about 7 p.m.

Days was a retired news executive at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News; former president of the News Leaders Association, which disbanded last year, and longtime diversity advocate.

He and Dodson were partners in her Editors on Call business, which works with freelancers to develop their content. They also worked briefly as co-managing editors of Marcom Weekly, a multiplatform media business, where Days covered an Essence Music Festival. Separately, Days authored the 2017 book, “Obama’s Legacy: What He Accompished as President.”

On. Aug. 21, the couple wrote on Facebook, “We are completing a clear-eyed examination of U.S. history as we approach the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We much appreciate Broadleaf Books for embracing this book. The title is ‘We’ve Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America.’ ” The book is almost complete, Dodson said.

They became parents of four and grandparents of another four and celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary in April.

NABJ-Philadelphia said of Days in a statement Sunday, “He was our inaugural president, agreeing to lead us during the past two years as we carved out our own space as the only affiliate chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists in the Philadelphia region. In our first year, Mike accepted the NABJ President’s Award on behalf of the organization.

“He loved and believed in NABJ-Philadelphia as much as he did NABJ, where he was a Life member and an inductee in 2017 into its Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions.

“Mike brought to NABJ-Philadelphia the same determination that he had shown as vice president for diversity and inclusion at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, from which he retired in 2020. Ten years before, he was editor of the Daily News when it won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism.”

When Days won the Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity Leadership in 2014 from the Associated Press Managing Editors and the American Society of News Editors, his colleagues had written that diversity “is deeply embedded in our DNA, and Michael ensures that it remains critical and relevant.

“Under Michael, the Daily News has become what may be one of the most diverse newsrooms in the industry, and both our day-to-day coverage and our daily discussions bear this out.”

Philadelphia Daily News reporters Barbara Laker, left, Wendy Ruderman and Daily News Editor Michael Days react as they hear the news that the two reporters won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. (Credit: Sarah J. Glover/Philadelphia Inquirer)

At Days’ 2020 retirement, Yvette Ousley, an Inquirer editor, wrote, “Mike has been in the business for 42 years — 30 of them at the Daily News and four at the Inquirer.

“A kind, generous, soft-spoken gentleman, he helped create a fun and crazy environment at the Daily News where our dysfunctional family thrived, work never felt like work, and people like me couldn’t wait to get there each day.

“During his career, he’s built relationships and trust, supported journalists, networked, earned respect in the community and the industry, garnered all sorts of awards along the way and ensured that Black and Brown journalists got their due too. . . .”

Columnist Will Bunch wrote in 2011, “Daily News staffers burst into spontaneous applause when publisher Bob Hall announced that Days — who in the interim had been managing editor of the Inquirer — would be returning to the tabloid.“

Herbert Lowe, then NABJ president, told Journal-isms at the time, “My phone has been ringing off the hook. Folks are really excited. It’s a proud day for every NABJ member. We all want the opportunity to advance to the highest levels in our newsroom, and to be able to do it in your hometown is just fantastic.”

Days graduated from College of the Holy Cross and the University of Missouri, and then worked on several papers, including the Wall Street Journal, the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y., and the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., before coming to the Daily News as a reporter in 2016.

When Days was asked at 2023 Journal-isms Roundtable whether there were issues particular to Philadelphia that he wanted the new NABJ-Philadelphia to address, he mentioned a Pew Research Center study that found “that Black folks, I mean, Black Republicans, Black Democrats, Black old folks, Black young people, say that the media does not portray us adequately, accurately,” in Days’ words.

It’s an issue “I’ve been obsessed with personally and I’m going to push it and push it ahead if I can get the membership to agree with me,” Days continued.

“One of the things I want us to [do] was sort of a holistic look at, and not a one-term, not a one-meeting thing or two-meeting thing, but begin to work with our various communities. And allow people to see that journalists are like everybody else. And what does that mean?

“We’re going to have to be involved in volunteering for things in the community. We’re going to have to start putting together town hall meetings, not one town hall meeting, but repeatedly doing town hall meetings with the community so they can see we are just like everybody else, so that when we’re out there on a story or working on a story or I need to talk somebody, we know who to talk to. We know that we’re just not people sitting in a office most of the day, or I guess many of us sit home.

“And then have a mic in their face or a phone in their face or notebook in their face when the story is needed. So that for me . . . really developing a much better connection with our community is essential.”

The chapter did indeed follow up.

As a Black journalist, Days brought to newsroom leadership the perspectives of others whose life experiences might not be part of the discussion in the daily news meetings.

Days wrote on Facebook in April 2024, “Love this photograph. It was taken almost a year ago at the conclusion of a regional gathering of the Knights of St. John and Ladies’ Auxiliary. Folks were arriving from across New York and Central/North New Jersey for a weekend of activities. Both Angela Dodson and I had key roles in making the weekend gathering a success.”

Days told of one such episode at a June 2024 Journal-isms Roundtable on Dodson’s anthology, “We Refuse to Be Silent: Women’s Voices for Justice for Black Men.”

The conversation took Days “back to when we were living in Princeton. I don’t know, 40, 40 years ago maybe.

“And we had one car and a little Volkswagen Rabbit. And I was working — we moved to Princeton [N.J.] largely because I was working in Philly.”

Dodson “was working in New York at the Times and people said, ‘Oh, you should probably live in Princeton.’
Well, living in Princeton was a bit of a nightmare for a Black man trying to pick up his wife at 1:30-2 o’clock in the morning at the Princeton Junction, Princeton, train station.

“And some of y’all on this call appear to be old enough to remember when we did not have cell phones.

“And so, there I am living . . . in a town where everybody had sort of high-end cars and we did not. . . .

“So one evening, this cop pulls me over.

“And it wasn’t the first time I was pulled over, because I was traveling in all kinds of hours.

“He says, ‘you stole this car’. That’s an officer. And you know, I always tried to use wit, a bit of humor to try to keep myself alive.

“I said, ‘Officer, this is Princeton, N.J. Who steals a Rabbit in Princeton? And he looked at me, I said, ‘Well, my wife is at the train station.

” ‘And she’s there alone. You see what time it is. You can do with me what you want, but let me, would you please follow me to the train station? So she can take the car and then you can do what you want with me.’

“So he does follow me to the train station. That’s gotta be five, seven miles.”

“Which is out of his jurisdiction,” Dodson interjected.

“Yeah, that’s a good point. Out of his jurisdiction,” Days replied. “Thank you. Angela gets in the car and he just takes off.

“And that wasn’t the first time that happened, but that was about the time where we decided we need to move someplace else.”

Burney said she becomes president of the NABJ chapter for the next two months.

10/21 update: Services are scheduled for noon Saturday Oct. 25, at: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 343 Broad St.,, Trenton, N.J, 08608. Viewing from 10 to noon.

Social media posts: Richard Aregood, Sheila Dean Brooks, Damichael Cole, Josh Cornfield, Djibril Diallo,

Sarah Glover, Rhett Hackett, Annette John-Hall, Yanick Rice Lamb, Kevin Merida, Shaheed M. Morris,

Elizabeth Wellington, Vanessa Williams

Questions Over Vibe, Rolling Stone Partnership

 

 

Oct. 18, 2025

Some Worry About ‘Erasure’ of Black Identity
Inadequate Support for Journos Covering Tragedies

 

Short Takes: Reporting  slows stops of Black drivers; Bay Area end of access to police radios; no Blacks identified in Washington Post Intelligence”; Hollis Towns and Deep South investigative network; Manny Garcia; “Mapping Black California,”; NABJ urges members to send videos; NBC coworkers’ farewell to Omnika Thompson;

Quintard Taylor of BlackPast.org; California’s ethnic studies requirement; NewsOne partnership with Howard U. j-students; Candace Owens; Albert Rodriguez of MediaCo; Fresno anchor Monty Torres; Sara Sidner; CJR’s Betsy Morais; Minnesota’s Harry Colbert Jr. book on Britain’s Black journalists; drone killing of Sudanese journalist; South African’s call for jailing journalists

Homepage images: Penske Media Group.

“VIBE and Rolling Stone are actively looking to fill positions, including a new head of the VIBE brand, a video/podcast host and an events producer,” Billboard reported.

Some Worry About ‘Erasure’ of Black Identity

Vibe, the magazine that helped document the rise of the hip-hop era in the ‘90s, and Rolling Stone, which did the same for rock in the ‘60s, are joining forces, the parent company of both announced Thursday.

Not everyone is happy about that.

“VIBE ‘will bolster Rolling Stone‘s hip-hop coverage and allow the brand to go deeper in the genre,” Heran Mamo reported Thursday for Billboard, the music industry magazine which, like Rolling Stone and Vibe, is  owned by the globally based Penske Media Group.

“VIBE will also print special collector’s editions of the magazine and launch a new interview series that spotlights in-depth conversations with the most important figures, ranging from musicians to superstar athletes and fashion icons.”

Julian Holguin, CEO of Rolling Stone, said in the story, “We are thrilled to announce that VIBE is joining forces with Rolling Stone. This historic team-up will enable Rolling Stone to level up the publication’s hip-hop and R&B coverage, allowing RS to dive deeper into the culture.

“As part of this move, Rolling Stone will invest in VIBE across video, podcasts, long-form journalism, social media and experiential opportunities – all areas where Rolling Stone is a market leader. VIBE will continue to power cultural conversations and reestablish itself as a driving force for commentary and reporting. Our goal is to continue the mission VIBE was founded on while leveraging Rolling Stone to amplify its presence across all platforms.”

Some observers, such as longtime magazine industry analyst Samir Husni (pictured), known as Mr. Magazine, approved of the move. “I think it is [a] good thing, unifying the audiences of music magazines,” he messaged Journal-isms. “By merging with RS , music [will] have one large unified audience who enjoys all kinds of music.”

Rolling Stone’s circulation for the six months ending June 30 stood at 426,114, according to the Association of Audited Media. Vibe’s was not recorded, as it is not a member of the association, but it is no doubt smaller.

To other observers, the partnership represents erasure. “Is this media gentrification? Do Black voices really need this audience that Rolling Stone is offering?” asked Loren LoRosa, Friday on the influential “The Breakfast Club” podcast.  She was co-hosting as senior news producer.

“Why can’t we gatekeep what’s ours, and it still be just as big, and as effective and as golden?” she asked.

Likewise, the website Feminegra wrote, “By the time headlines circulated, staffers at VIBE had already begun posting their layoff announcements. Most were Black. Some had spent years documenting the culture the merger claims to elevate. Mya Abraham, formerly R&B Reporter at VIBE, wrote, ‘It’s been the joy and honor of my life to document R&B in this capacity.’ Her message joined a growing number of personal statements that spread rapidly across social media.

“The industry didn’t just watch the merger unfold. It witnessed the quiet erasure of voices that built the foundation.”

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Billboard added that Datwon Thomas (pictured), a former longtime Vibe editor-in-chief, is being brought in as strategic adviser “to help with the transition.“

Thomas wrote on social media, “Looking forward to helping usher VIBE through the transition period of merging with Rolling Stone. While so many look at this as an odd pairing, I’m looking at it as a way to fuel VIBE’s legacy status and assist in bringing it to its rightful position as a leader in urban culture content.”

Vibe was founded in 1992 by the legendary impresario Quincy Jones and Time Warner, with a focus on hip-hop and R&B music and the culture surrounding it. It became one of the most influential publications of its kind, as the New York Times would report when the title was sold in 2013.

“Presenting a glossy and urbane view of urban culture, Vibe Magazine became a preeminent site for journalists and scholars chronicling contemporary black popular culture,” author, professor and cultural critic Mark Anthony Neal wrote in 2009, when the magazine folded, later to return as an online-only product.

It no longer holds the pre-eminent position it had in the ‘90s.

On Oct. 1, the website feedspot.com ranked the “15 Best Hip Hop Music Magazines you should follow in 2025.”  The list was topped by the newer publications Clash, Hype off Life and Global Money World, with Vibe lagging at No 13.

Christina Carrega, national criminal justice reporter at Capital B, left, says it took years before an editor inquired about her mental health after covering traumatic stories. Jeannette Reyes of Awf the Record, a former television reporter, third from left, told of the emotion that viewers saw after she covered two babies being shot. She was counseled to see a therapist. They joined fellow panelists Robert Klemko of the Washington Post, at right, and Catalina Pérez de Armiñán of  Noticias Telemundo 44/NBC 4 in Washington, second from left, in discussing “The Cost of the Story: Covering Systemic Violence and the Traumatic Toll on Journalists and Communities” Wednesday at American University. (Credit: Richard Prince)

Inadequate Support for Journos Covering Tragedies

Journalists, particularly those of color, have long discussed the emotional cost of covering tragedy, especially involving people who look like them.

The journalists-of -color organizations have created such programs as “NABJ C.A.R.E.S.” at the National Association of Black Journalists and one on mental wellness at the Asian American Journalists Association.

For years, the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma offered journalists advice, first at the University of Washington, then, until last summer, at Columbia Journalism School. It is now the independent Global Center for Journalism and Trauma.

Still, none of that is sufficient, according to “The Cost of the Story: Journalists, Trauma, and the Communities Left Holding the Story,” a new, 52-page report discussed Wednesday at American University in Washington.

“Findings show that journalists, especially Black and Brown journalists, are frequently exposed to traumatic events with little to no institutional support,” the report says. “At the same time, communities are often retraumatized by extractive or inaccurate coverage. While journalists report high levels of stress and anxiety, most have never accessed professional mental health care. Communities, in turn, are left to manage the ripple effects of how their stories are told and circulated.

“The report urges a shift toward trauma-informed journalism that centers care, consent, and accountability. It outlines concrete recommendations for newsrooms, journalism schools, and funders, calling for a future where both journalists and communities are protected, resourced, and treated with dignity.”

The study is said to be the first comprehensive examination of how the reporting of traumatic events affects journalists of color. It was developed by the organization Black Alder Labs with support from the Racial Equity in Journalism Fund at Borealis Philanthropy, and in collaboration with American University’s School of Communication and West Virginia University’s College of Creative Arts and Media.

Short Takes


An Ann Arbor, Mich., police officer stops a driver downtown on July 13. The traffic stop was for disregarding a traffic control device. The driver was given a warning, police said. (Credit: Ryan Stanton/Ann Arbor News)

  • Veteran editor Manny Garcia (pictured) will lead the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media at Florida International University, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced Tuesday. Garcia is to be the inaugural Knight Foundation executive director “This new leadership role is designed to shape the school’s long-term vision, academic strategy, and external partnerships – bringing bold, innovative direction to journalism education at FIU,” the announcement said. Garcia most recently was editor in chief of the Houston Landing, executive editor of the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman and senior editor at ProPublica.
  • Candice Mays (at left, with Project Manager Alex Reed), a 2025-26 member of the latest John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship class at Stanford University, is part of the trio behind “Mapping Black California,” Tandy Lau  reported Oct.10 for Editor & Publisher. “The data visualization project recently turned a decade old. It has “explored how cities spend their money on policing, where money goes in racial equity funding and what historically led to certain California beaches to become segregated. Their projects can be found online at MappingBlackCA.com.”

“Although we’ve had to postpone our in-person gala,” Rod Carter, chair of the National Association of Black Journalists’ 50th Anniversary Committee, wrote members Monday, “we’re keeping the celebration alive with a virtual Founders’ Day event on December 12.” That’s “so that everyone can take part in honoring this historic milestone — no matter where you are. We’re inviting members to submit a short 50-second video sharing what NABJ means to you and offering your congratulations to the organization on this incredible 50-year journey.  . . .Your video will be featured during our virtual celebration and/or shared across NABJ’s social media platforms as part of our 50th Anniversary tribute.” NABJ members should look for official email from the association to find out how to submit.

    • “I recently had the honor of serving as interim Executive Producer of Top Story with Tom Llamas,” NBC’s Omnika Thompson wrote on LinkedIn. “It was amazing to lean into my Executive Producer roots with such a wonderful team. . . .  And yes — being the creative, stealthy producers they are — the team managed to surprise me on my last day on the show with a sweet on-air moment!” (click LinkedIn posting to view)
  • “I am proud to announce the launch of the Bison ONE Newsroom, NewsOne’s exclusive partnership with student journalists under the tutelage of renowned, award-winning journalist, author, and professor Dr. Stacey Patton (pictured) at Howard University’s Cathy Hughes School of Communications, named for the Founder & Chairperson of Urban One, NewsOne’s parent company and the largest Black-owned media company in the United States,” Kirsten West Savali wrote Monday for NewsOne. “Expanding on our iONE Digital NewsOne x Bison 2024 Election coverage, the Bison ONE Newsroom is a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind partnership between a national media corporation and an HBCU journalism program — a partnership that honors the power of HBCUs as incubators of cultural and political transformation. . . . “
  • “Australia’s highest court on Wednesday rejected U.S. conservative commentator rejected U.S. conservative commentator Candace Owens’ bid to overturn an Australian government decision barring her from visiting the country,” Rod McGuirk reported Wednesday for the Associated Press. “Three High Court judges unanimously rejected Owens’ challenge to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s decision in 2024 to refuse her a visa on character grounds. . . . “

In Fresno, Calif., longtime FOX26 news anchor Monty Torres (pictured) has announced he is battling lung cancer, the station, officially KMPH, reported Tuesday. The lifelong nonsmoker “says he has been off-air for the past several weeks, seeing doctors and taking more tests to help determine the best. He expects to start his treatment plan in the next few weeks.Torres joined FOX26 News as the weeknight anchor for the ten o’clock news in 2006. . . . “

 

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  • Harry Colbert Jr. (pictured), a former managing editor at MinnPost and editor-in-chief at North News, a grassroots publication in North Minneapolis, has been named vice president of the St Paul, Minn.-based Center for Broadcast Journalism. “Answering the urgent call to elevate, develop, and preserve independent Black media and its makers is among the top priorities for the organization,” the center’s Oct. 6 announcement said.
  • ”After two months marked by six releases, the brief respite for journalists in Burkina Faso appears to have ended,” Reporters Without Borders said Monday. “According to RSF information, three men identifying themselves as members of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) arrived at Le Pays headquarters, located in the 1,200 Logements district of Ouagadougou, around 9 a.m. They asked to see Michel Wendpouiré Nana, who was in an editorial meeting, and took him to an unknown destination. The ANR then repeated this scene at L’Observateur Paalga’s office. According to a statement issued by the newspaper, Ousséni Ilboudo ‘complied with the order and was immediately taken away in a van’ by ANR agents as he was about to lead a newsroom meeting. . . .”

 

 

 

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