Articles Feature

Tabloids Exploit Smollett-Lemon Ties

by richard04060

Tabloids Exploit Smollett-Lemon Ties:
CNN Anchor Had Said Case Was ‘Personal’
The Root Loses Nearly a Third of Staff
Alcindor Leaving ‘PBS NewsHour’ for NBC News
Greg Tate, Cultural Critic and Essayist, Dies at 64
At NABJ, Bob Dole Was a Canny Candidate
NABJ Member Replaces Racially Deaf News Director

Many Latinos Bothered by ‘Latinx’ Term
A Tribute to Ex-Enslaved Ohioan Turned Publisher
Toothless Drug Charges Take Toll on Black Men
Bloomberg Reporter Marks Year in Chinese Detention
Police Abuse of Journalists ‘Deeply Entrenched’
Zimbabwe Wants End to Reporter Kickbacks

Short Takes: Ronnie Agnew; Don Hudson; abducted Haitian journalist freed; Monica Drake; Dana Milbank and Jason Johnson; Netflix support of Black communities; Rohingya refugees sue Facebook parent; “prisons are the new Jim Crow”; Teresa Rodriguez; launch of Noticias Univision 24/7 streaming news channel; Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray; Candace Buckner; Virgil Abloh; Reps. Lauren Boebert and Ilhan Omar; Ahmaud Arbery case and Mark Hayes of Atlanta Daily World; inclusiveness efforts at Chicago media; Sheena Howard and Wonder Woman; Dionne Young; Melanie Figueiredo;

Julia B. Chan; earning trust with communities of color; Calvin Lawrence; The Conversation U.S. diversity efforts; press freedom among Native nations; Hollywood Foreign Press Association; ViacomCBS diversity report; Byron Allen vs. McDonald’s; diversity in the U.S.-based financial industry; Omicron and southern Africa; Meghan, Prince Harry and the Mail on Sunday; Colombia’s tightening grip on media.

Homepage photo: Former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett walks into the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on Tuesday, flanked by family members, supporters, attorneys and bodyguards (Credit: Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times)

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Closing arguments were to begin Wednesday and after that, the case is to go to the jury. (Credit: WLS-TV, Chicago)

CNN Anchor Had Said Case Was ‘Personal’

Tabloids are exploiting court testimony from Jussie Smollett Monday that they maintain raises ethical questions about Smollett’s relationship with CNN anchor Don Lemon.

The former “Empire” actor, on trial on charges that he faked a hate crime in 2019 to get attention and then lied to police about it, said under oath that during the investigation he received a text from Lemon, supposedly relaying information that the Chicago Police Department didn’t believe his account of what happened, Fox News’ Matt Finn reported.

Finn cited a 2019 report from Joseph Wulfsohn of Fox News: “During his opening monologue, Lemon told his viewers that the story was ‘personal’ since he and Smollett had been acquaintances and were in constant communication since the alleged incident and that Smollett told Lemon what he said had happened to him, which he admitted raised lots of questions,” Finn wrote.

The anchor stressed that “while Smollett is ‘innocent until proven guilty’ . . . He even lied to a lot of people… including me. And that’s not cool,’ Lemon said to his viewers. ‘He squandered the good will of very high-profile people who one day may be running this country like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker and people like President Trump.’ ” Finn continued.

Now-Vice President Harris and Sen. Booker, D-N.J., were among those who initially believed Smollett’s story that white men had attacked him and uttered racist and homophobic slurs. Smollett and Lemon are both Black gay men. Booker called it “an attempted modern-day lynching.”

Gabrielle Fonrouge and Mark Lungariello wrote for the tabloid New York Post, “During his testimony, Smollett said that he received a text from Lemon saying the CNN host had gotten a text from Chicago police saying they didn’t believe the actor’s story, which is why Smollett was uneasy about turning over his phone records to investigators.”

The Daily Mail went further:

“Jussie Smollett told his hoax attack trial on Monday that CNN host Don Lemon warned him Chicago police did not believe he was the victim of a racist homophobic attack, in what is being seen as another example of the network’s hosts using their clout and sources to help their friends.” The latter was a reference to the firing of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo after Cuomo advised his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was under investigation on sexual harassment charges.

A CNN spokesperson said the network would have no comment. But Fox Nation host Nancy Grace “poured cold water on the idea that CNN anchor Don Lemon’s texts to Jussie Smollett constitute a scandal for the network and its 10 p.m. host,” Alex Griffing reported for Mediaite.

“ ‘Regarding the text from Don Lemon, not exactly breaking news,’ said Grace, who is the host of Crime Stories on Fox Nation.

“ ‘I don’t think Lemon divulged anything that the rest of us didn’t already know: That cops do not believe Smollett was a hate crime victim. It’s absurd,’ she explained.”

The Root Loses Nearly a Third of Staff

“The Root — a digital website that boasts that it provides news with a Black perspective for Black people — has lost nearly a third of its writers, journalists, popular and noted columnists, and content producers, an analysis of the masthead shows,” Aja Hannah wrote Wednesday for the Pivot Fund, formerly AllDigitocracy, founded by Tracie Powell (pictured).

“In April, the site’s former celebrated editor-in-chief, Danielle Belton, left to take a position at The Huffington Post. Last month, the site’s prolific heavy-hitters Michael Harriot and Stephen Crockett said their goodbyes after tenures of five and more than 10 years respectively. And now sources say the Very Smart Brothas column co-founded by Damon Young and Panama Jackson, will also be taking its content elsewhere. . . .”

Yamiche Alcindor is to continue hosting “Washington Week” on PBS but is leaving the “PBS NewsHour.”

Alcindor Leaving ‘PBS NewsHour’ for NBC News

“Yamiche Alcindor, whose journalistic profile has expanded during a recent tenure with PBS, is joining NBC News’ Washington team,” Brian Steinberg reported Tuesday for Variety.

“Alcindor, who is expected to start with NBC in March, will cover the Biden administration as well as the impact of federal policies on communities across the country and issues at the intersection of race, culture and politics, according to a memo from Ken Strickland, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief.

“She is expected to continue to work as the moderator of PBS’ ‘Washington Week,’ but will give up her duties at the public broadcaster’s flagship news program, ‘PBS NewsHour,’ where she has been the program’s White House correspondent.

“Alcindor is no stranger to NBC News viewers. She has been making appearances on MSNBC since 2013, and was named a political contributor to NBC News and MSNBC in 2016. . . .”

The arrangement is similar to that announced last month for Geoff Bennett. Bennett will join “PBS NewsHour” as chief Washington correspondent on Jan. 3, and will anchor the “PBS NewsHour Weekend” beginning in April. He will remain as a contributor for NBC News and MSNBC.

Greg Tate, Cultural Critic and Essayist, Dies at 64

“Greg Tate (pictured), an incisive and influential critic and essayist who focused on matters related to music, art, and other realms of culture, has died at the age of 64,” Andy Battaglia reported Tuesday for ARTNews. “Reports of his passing began circulating online early Tuesday, and his publisher Duke University Press confirmed the news. A cause of death was not immediately available.

“Tate made his name early on as a studious and stylish writer about music and art for publications including the Village Voice, Vibe, and Spin — as well as ARTnews, for which he wrote a number of essays and reviews dating back to 2017. He was one of the most observant and important early chroniclers of hip-hop in the 1980s, in terms of music as well as all the elements of street art and fashion that continue to surround it.

“In musical circles, he was influential for the ways he engaged hip-hop and other sounds, connecting them to an expansive lineage of avant-garde Black music and art by visionaries including Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, and countless others. In Midnight Lightning: Jimi Hendrix and the Black Experience, a book about Hendrix from 2003, he wrote, ‘Black culture must produce demigods and mythological creatures: half-human, half-archangel winged things bent on saving the race, uplifting the culture, bearers of Black Redemption.’

“Other books by Tate include Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America (1992), Everything But the Burden: What White People Are Taking From Black Culture (an anthology he edited in 2003), and Flyboy 2: The Greg Tate Reader (2016). He was also a founding member of the Black Rock Coalition and the ‘conducted-improv big band’ Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber. His work also extended into the field of curating when, last year, with Liz Munsell, he organized the exhibition “Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation” for the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. . . .”

Tate was a son of activists Florence and Charles Tate. Florence Tate, who was press secretary for Jesse Jackson’s first presidential campaign in 1984 and a journalist at the Dayton Daily News from 1963 to 1966, died in 2014. Charles Tate, who died in 2018, organized and administrated the National Cable Communications Resource Center in an attempt to prepare national Black communities to be able to successfully bid for ownership of cable franchises when cable TV came to America’s cities.

Columnist E.R. Shipp wrote about Robert Dole’s speech at the 1996 National Association of Black Journalists convention, a piece displayed in the Daily News of New York alongside a news story highlighting Al Gore’s appearance. C-SPAN recorded Dole’s presentation. (Credit: Newspapers.com)

At NABJ, Bob Dole Was a Canny Candidate

Arthur Fennell (pictured, below) remembers when Bob Dole, the former senator and Republican Party stalwart who died Sunday at 98, addressed the National Association of Black Journalists.

It was 1996 in Nashville, Tenn., and Fennell was NABJ president. Dole was the GOP candidate for president. Bill Clinton, the incumbent and a Democrat, sent Vice President Al Gore. Dole viewed that as an opening. “He saw it as a power play. He had nothing to lose by seeking the African American audience,” Fennell said.

At the event, “he knew where everybody was at all times, especially the cameras,” Fennell told Journal-isms by telephone. A photo of Fennell and Dole made the front page, above the fold, of The New York Times. It showed Fennell whispering to Dole after the candidate summoned him. And “I was standing in a location where I couldn’t be cropped,” Fennell said.

Timothy Burn wrote at the time for United Press International, “Bob Dole came before America’s black journalists Friday and apologized for what he called ‘missed opportunities’ to reach out to black voters including his decision not to speak earlier this year to the NAACP.

“Dole sparked anger in the black community in July when he declined an invitation to address the annual convention of the NAACP. He defended himself Friday, saying he missed the event only because he did not know about it at the time. ‘We’ve missed opportunities,’ Dole said in his first address to a predominantly black audience since his campaign began. ‘I missed one by not knowing about the NAACP meeting, and I’m sorry about that.’

“Campaign aides called it a scheduling conflict. Dole instead staged a rally in Richmond, Va., calling for an instant check on handgun sales, and then attended the major league baseball All-Star Game. In a lengthy address to members of the National Association of Black Journalists, Dole asked the black community to give him and the GOP another chance. He told them that the Democratic Party for too long has taken their votes for granted. . . .”

The New York Times excerpted Dole’s remarks.

In more recent years, Republican presidential candidates, such as Donald Trump, Mitt Romney and John McCain, have written off appearing before NABJ, viewing the group not as journalists, but as Black voters, Fennell surmised.

Theodore Cross and Robert Bruce Slater wrote about the 1996 elections for the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. The headline was “The Real Victor Was Black Voter Apathy.”

“Many blacks were disillusioned with President Clinton’s support of the Republican welfare reform legislation and tough anticrime laws that many believed were targeted against blacks.

“For many black voters it was difficult to see how their lives as African Americans would be any different whether the winner was Clinton or Dole, or for that matter, Senator Jesse Helms or his challenger Harvey Gantt. . . .”

Gantt, the African American former mayor of Charlotte, N.C., lost to Helms, symbol of segregation and white supremacy.

Amy Sullivan wrote, “I am looking to fill some positions at KATV as soon as I start.”

NABJ Member Replaces Racially Deaf News Director

Amy Sullivan, a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, has been chosen news director of KATV-TV in Little Rock, Ark. That’s where the white, longtime news director was fired in September after NABJ complained about an anchor appearing on the air in an Afro wig to “celebrate” 70 degree weather.

Brianna Kwasnik reported the appointment Tuesday for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, though the news appeared on the NABJ website on Nov. 17.

Sullivan announced the news herself a week ago on LinkedIn: “My transition from the Rio Grande Valley back to Arkansas has begun. I’m excited to start at KATV in a couple weeks and work for the #1 station in Little Rock. I’ll miss Texas but am taking with me experience that I never thought I would see. I am looking to fill some positions at KATV as soon as I start so check out our openings!”

Kwasnik added, “Sullivan joined the station from KVEO/KGBT in Harlington, Texas, where she served as the director since March 2019, according to a Twitter post from the Central Arkansas Association of Black Journalists. Previously, Sullivan was news director at Sinclair stations KVII/NVII in Amarillo, Texas, from April 2017 to March 2019, the post states.”

Max Brantley wrote for the Arkansas Times on Oct. 7: “As a play on the arrival of cooler weather with temperatures in the 70s,” anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt “both donned curly wigs to signal a ‘return to the 70s.’ The look upset viewers who saw it as mocking Afro hairstyles of the period, though the style wasn’t exclusively worn by African Americans.

“Complaints were made, led by Dr. Anika Whitfield, and the owner of KATV, Sinclair Broadcasting, reacted quickly. May and Brandt were suspended. The news director, Nick Genty, was fired. Sinclair executives had meetings with African Americans to apologize and promise to be more sensitive. During these events, complaints arose about other racial issues at KATV. . . .”

Dec. 7, Día de las Velitas, is also known as the Little Candles Day. “This day marks the first start of the Christmas season in Colombia. On this night, people place candles and paper lanterns outside their houses of honoring the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception,” said the group Latinx in Animation. (Credit: Andrea Yañez Hutter)

Many Latinos Bothered by ‘Latinx’ Term

“A new poll of Hispanic voters finds the term ‘Latinx’ does not resonate among them and 40 percent say use of the word bothers or offends them,” Carmen Sesin reported Monday, updated Tuesday, for NBC News.

“The poll was conducted in mid-November by Bendixen & Amandi International, a Democratic firm focusing on Latino outreach. It found that 30 percent of Hispanic voters — 24 percent of Democrats and 43 percent of Republicans — are less likely to support a politician or political organization using the word.

“ ‘The numbers strongly suggest that the use of this term may actually be counterproductive, as opposed to productive, because only 2 percent of Hispanic voters nationally embrace the term,’ said Fernand Amandi, the firm’s principal, who’s worked on a number of national and presidential campaigns.

“The term Latinx was created as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino or Latina. It has gained some traction during the past several years among politicians, academics and corporations and is more common among younger and progressive Latinos, but it’s not used widely in the community, according to Pew Research.

“Around 57 percent of the voters surveyed in the new poll said they are not bothered by the word. When broken down by party affiliation, 60 percent of those who identify as Democrats said Latinx does not bother them, while 43 percent of Republicans say they are not bothered. . . .”

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and its parent company, Viacom CBS UK, have all agreed to avoid using the term BAME, which stands for Black, Asian and minority ethnic, Alex Green reported Tuesday for the Scotsman.

BAME “has been widely used as a catch-all in discussions relating to race and inclusion, but has faced criticism over its lack of nuance. . . .”

A crowd outside St. Raphael Catholic Church in Springfield, Ohio, takes pictures of a historic marker that was unveiled for Daniel Rudd Sunday. (Credit: Bill Lackey/Dayton Daily News)

A Tribute to Ex-Enslaved Ohioan Turned Publisher

“A name from Springfield’s past will live on and gain new appreciation through an Ohio Historical Marker dedicated on Sunday,” Brett Turner wrote Monday for the Dayton Daily News.

“Daniel Rudd, a former slave who moved to Springfield after the Civil War and [was] raised in Catholicism as a member of St. Raphael Church, was honored with the marker outside St. Raphael’s. . . .”

Turner also wrote, “Rudd was a Roman Catholic Church advocate and established his own newspaper, and enabled Black journalists and newspapers to get started.

“He liked the racial equality the church offered, and in 1885 would establish The Ohio State Tribute — later The American Catholic Tribune — upon moving to Cincinnati. The Tribune was the only Catholic newspaper owned by a Black man at the time, and [Rudd] helped chair the Afro-American Press Association.

“Rudd led Black Catholics to advocate for racial issues, and would help a national movement that would work with prominent politicians including President Grover Cleveland and continued to fight segregation and inequality until his death in 1933, and the legacy he helped build continues today as the National Black Catholic Congress. . . .”

Raymond Galloway, a line cook at a Chicago soul food restaurant, wasn’t able to work regularly for about six months because of legal troubles stemming from two arrests for possession of small amounts of heroin this year — both of which were quickly thrown out. (Credit: Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times)

Toothless Drug Charges Take Toll on Black Men

“Raymond Galloway, a 48-year-old line cook at a Chicago soul food restaurant, got arrested on the West Side twice this year carrying small amounts of heroin,” Frank Main, Casey Toner and Jared Rutecki reported Friday for the Chicago Sun-Times and BetterGov.org.

“Both times, the courts quickly tossed out his charges. Cook County’s judicial system, under an unwritten policy that even Cook County’s top prosecutor calls a failure, routinely dismisses minor drug possession cases — but usually not until after those arrested spend a few weeks in jail, often with life-changing consequences.

“Galloway is among tens of thousands of Chicagoans — mostly Black men — who have been jailed in the past two decades on drug charges everyone knew from the beginning were never going to stick, an investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Better Government Association has found.

“The police knew. The prosecutors knew. The judges knew.

“Yet no one has put a stop to it. . . .”

The Sun-Times team also wrote, “The BGA and the Sun-Times analyzed 280,000 drug possession cases using nearly two decades of court data compiled by The Circuit, a collaborative of news organizations including the BGA and Injustice Watch. The examination disregarded arrests involving marijuana, which has been decriminalized in Illinois.

“About half of the drug possession cases in Chicago between 2000 and 2018 — about 140,000 — were dropped at their earliest stages.

“And that dismissal rate has soared in the most recent years. . . .”

Bloomberg Reporter Marks Year in Detention

“Haze Fan (pictured), a member of Bloomberg News’s bureau in Beijing, has been detained since late last year, with no information forthcoming on her case,” Madeleine Lim reported Monday for Bloomberg.

“Fan was last seen on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020, being escorted from her apartment building by plainclothes security officials, Chinese officials said at the time that Fan was detained by the Beijing National Security Bureau on suspicion of national security law violations.

“ ‘Twelve months of detention is a long time for anybody to endure, even someone as smart and strong as Haze. We are all very worried about her well-being and we will continue to do everything we can to help her and her family,’ John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, said in a statement. ‘Haze is much missed in our newsroom — both as a colleague and as a friend,’ he said. . . .”

Separately, Reporters Without Borders Tuesday released what it calls “a damning 82-page document, published a year before the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China, scheduled for late 2022. A report that demonstrates the acceleration of violations of Beijing’s international commitments on freedom of opinion and expression. The great leap in journalism . . . reveals the unprecedented campaign of repression waged by the Chinese regime in recent years against journalism and the right to information around the world.”

Police Abuse of Journalists ‘Deeply Entrenched’

The fundamental right of journalists to not only inform the public but also hold the police accountable is being undermined by police abuse, according to a new report by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Joel Simon, outgoing executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, wrote Tuesday for the Los Angeles Times.

“In 2020, 142 journalists were arrested or detained when Black Lives Matter protests swept the nation. Although that number has declined this year, 56 arrests and detainments were documented in the U.S. through the end of November. . . .

“Data compiled by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, which has documented press freedom violations in the United States since 2017, shows that the police abuse of journalists covering protests has become a deeply entrenched problem.

“Not only are journalists routinely detained and arrested while covering protests, they are also often assaulted by police. Sixteen journalists were assaulted by police in 2021, and three had their equipment or footage confiscated. This is a pattern dating back to the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2008 and the 2014 racial justice protests in Ferguson, Mo. . . .’ “

In October, the Justice Department told Journal-isms, “The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice is currently conducting a civil investigation into whether there is reasonable cause to believe that the police departments in Louisville, Kentucky; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Phoenix, Arizona have engaged in a pattern or practice of civil rights violations (second item).

“Among other things, each investigation is examining the police departments’ handling of protest activities, including police interactions with journalists. If you have information you would like to share about this issue, we encourage you to reach out to the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section via the respective email or phone number listed below that corresponds with each investigation.

“LOUISVILLE – Email: Community.Louisville@usdoj.gov. Toll-free phone: 844.920.1460

“MINNEAPOLIS – Email: Community.Minneapolis@usdoj.gov Toll-free phone: 866.432.0268

“PHOENIX – Email: Phoenix.Community@usdoj.gov Toll-free phone: 866.432.0335.”

Some journalists defend “brown envelope journalism” by saying that media owners subject them to poverty wages and exploitative working conditions. (Credit: YouTube)

Zimbabwe Wants End to Reporter Kickbacks

In Zimbabwe, the information deputy minister, Kindness Paradza, “says corruption among journalists from both public and private media organisations must be eradicated to restore honour to the noble profession,” James Muonwa reported Tuesday for the New Zimbabwe.

“The cancer, he said, was threatening professional and ethical standards of journalism, where scribes accept bribes from news subjects to suppress or distort information.

“Paradza made the remarks while addressing guests during the Mashonaland West Provincial Journalism and Media Awards (PJAMA) held in Chinhoyi Friday.

“Paradza said: ‘l appeal to journalists to refrain from taking brown envelopes, refrain from brown envelope journalism and maintain high ethical standards.

“ ‘We all agree that journalism is a noble profession, the fourth estate. As such, we expect you to uphold high standards of integrity, professionalism, and accountability.

“He added: ‘It gives a bad name when allegations of bribery are levelled against some of you by society, which subsequently loses faith in your reportage, and your watchdog role becomes highly questionable.’

“The ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services has received numerous complaints against media personnel demanding kickbacks, he added. . . .”

In 2012, Knight Fellow Joseph Warungu of Kenya wrote for the International Center for Journalists, “The practice of journalists accepting money from news sources, especially politicians, in order to ‘facilitate’ their stories has become rather common in African media. Some of the journalists defend the habit, saying that media owners subject them to poverty wages and exploitative working conditions, leaving them little choice but to rely on politicians’ and other corporate handouts for their daily survival.

“Other journalists complain that newsroom managers don’t pay for the cost of chasing and filing stories. They don’t provide transportation for assignments or compensate the journalists for use of their own meager resources, such as mobile phone airtime, taxis or meals while on duty outside their stations of work. As a result, we now have a new
strand of the trade – envelopmental journalism. . . .”

Short Takes

  • “We’re thrilled to announce an expansion of Monica’s masthead role as she takes responsibility for exploring significant new editorial initiatives, especially those that extend beyond the core of our newsroom into new subject areas, formats and business opportunities,” New York Times editors wrote Monday about Assistant Managing Editor Monica Drake (pictured). “This is a crucial entrepreneurial role in shaping the future of The Times’s journalism. Monica will be the primary partner to David Perpich in exploring new subscription-based editorial opportunities. She’ll work with department leaders, Strategy and others across the newsroom in exploring new journalism opportunities closer to the core. She’ll also shape journalistic vision and standards for new editorial initiatives and participate in testing and recruiting teams to run them. . . .”
  • “Netflix Inc. has shifted $100 million to financial institutions that support Black communities in the United States,” Todd Gilchrist reported Monday for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Gilchrist also wrote, “The company initially made its pledge in June 2020 as other Hollywood institutions made similar commitments. Comcast Corp. promised to distribute $75 million over three years to organizations like the National Urban League and the NAACP, and Sony Music Group launched a $100 million fund to support social justice and anti-racist initiatives around the world. . . .”
  • “I have to give a shout out to the Poynter-owned Tampa Bay Times, in particular, reporters Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray,” Tom Jones wrote Friday for the Poynter Institute. “They wrote part three of their ‘Poisoned’ series which revealed how a lead factory polluted a Tampa neighborhood. Yes, this is a story that impacts just one part of the country, but it’s a good example of the importance of local journalism. . . .”
  • In covering last month’s trial in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery (pictured), “The mainstream media didn’t pay enough attention to the fact that these antiquated laws of citizen’s arrests and ‘stand your ground’ are still on the books in many states,” Atlanta Daily World editor Mark Hayes told Michael H. Cottman, program editor for the NBCUniversal News Group’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Team. Three white men were found guilty of murdering the 25-year-old Black jogger running in their south Georgia neighborhood in 2020. Hayes said, “The law has been repealed here in Georgia, but the mindset has not been repealed, and people still feel like it’s OK — as we saw the McMichael father and son and William ‘Roddie’ Bryan chase down an African American man in broad daylight to hunt and kill him. I think until we start addressing those issues and the issues that are systematic, we’re going to see more and more of these cases.”
  • “This fall, Trusting News held its first Trust 101 class dedicated to earning trust with communities of color. Joy Mayer writes that there were three main takeaways from the class. One is that newsrooms need to hold themselves accountable by first assessing their current relationship with traditionally marginalized communities. Second, newsrooms also need to become consistently aware of whose stories are being told authentically and whose are being misrepresented — or are missing entirely. And third, newsrooms need to treat the goal of building trust as a core newsroom priority,” according to the American Press Institute. Mayer wrote, “To develop and lead the class, we partnered with Letrell Deshan Crittenden (pictured), the new director of inclusion and audience growth at the American Press Institute. (API co-hosts Trusting News, along with the Reynolds Journalism Institute.) We learned so much from Letrell, and from the 33 journalists from 15 newsrooms who were selected to participate. . . .”
  • “The Conversation U.S. is launching an ambitious plan to ensure experts in the American media look more like the American population,” the organization announced Friday. “Supported by many leading universities and foundations, the strategic initiative extends The Conversation’s successful efforts to unlock the knowledge of academic experts through journalism for the public. It is also designed to help other media organizations easily tap into a pool of diverse expertise for their own reporting and interviews. This Diversity Initiative is funded by 41 colleges and universities – listed below – as well as the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Lumina Foundation. . . .”
  • ViacomCBS “recorded a marginal increase in its nonwhite U.S. workforce,” Rebecca Sun reported Dec. 1 for The Hollywood Reporter. “Employees from the global majority currently comprise 37.7 percent of the 15,926 domestic staff and 27.7 percent of senior leadership (vice presidents and above), up slightly from 36.2 percent and 25 percent, respectively, a year ago. This year, ViacomCBS also provided a racial breakdown of its top executives (senior vps and above), revealing that 75.83 percent are white, 9.29 percent are Black, 7.14 percent are Asian, 5.95 percent are Hispanic or Latino, 1.43 percent are multiracial, 0.24 percent are Native American and 0.12 percent are Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. . . .”

“That story that I wrote is about Philadelphia, but it’s also about environmental injustice and what my community is going through right now,” Sheena Howard said. (Credit: WPVI-TV, Philadelphia)

  • “We’re excited to welcome” Melanie Figueiredo “to URL Media (which stands for Uplift, Respect and Love), as the inaugural VP of Sales and Sponsorships,” URL Media announced Thursday. “In that role she will build the ad network to support URL’s consortium of Black and Brown-owned media organizations that have joined together to share content, reach and revenue. A seasoned sales exec, Melanie joins us from GBH in Boston, public media’s largest station, where she spent the past eight years overseeing sponsorships.”
  • “Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex and the wife of Prince Harry, won a decisive victory in her long-running legal feud with a British tabloid on Thursday, as an appeals court rejected a bid by the publisher of the paper, The Mail on Sunday, to force a trial over her claim that it violated her privacy by publishing an anguished letter she sent to her estranged father in 2018,” Mark Landler reported Dec. 2 for The New York Times.
  • “Colombia’s House of Representatives on Monday approved legislation that allows government officials to request the shut-down of news media that report on them,” Adriaan Alsema wrote Wednesday for Colombia Reports. “The controversial rider was part of an “anti-corruption” bill that was sponsored by coalition party Radical Change and has yet to be approved by the Senate. The vote triggered a storm of protest of free speech advocates who claimed that the bill sought to censor journalists who report on government corruption.”

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