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‘Worst 33 Days of My Life’

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Gaza Journalist Describes His Detention by Israel
Terry Tang Named L.A. Times’ First Female Top Editor
Coalescing: Environmental Journalists of Color
Amnesty International Calls Out Cuba on Denial of Freedoms
James Washington Dies, Trailblazer for Black Press
Marvin Lake, Virginian-Pilot Pioneer, Had Dementia

Short Takes: Don Lemon-Tim Malone wedding; solar eclipse and Benjamin Banneker; HBCU audio archives; D.C. Journalism Job Fair; hair relaxer products; teaching Asian American and Hmong American histories; Miguel Gonzalez; Diana Maltez; media blocked from witnessing executions; Tony Regusters, Nancy Ancrum services; Sudan suspends broadcasters. 

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A video image shown by the BBC on Dec. 8 depicts the mass arrest of Palestinians from Beit Lahya in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces told the BBC that “IDF fighters and Shin Bet officers detained and interrogated hundreds of terror suspects” on Dec. 7. (Screenshot: Video obtained by BBC)

Gaza Journalist Describes His Detention by Israel

“On December 7, Diaa Al-Kahlout, a 38-year-old Palestinian journalist, was detained by Israeli troops in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza,” Luis De Vega reported Feb. 7 for Spain’s El Pais. “He and several dozen men were forced to strip to their underwear and stand in the middle of the street. Videos and photos recorded by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) leaked out and spread throughout the world, sparking widespread condemnation. Al-Kahlout can be seen sitting on the ground with over 100 other detainees.

“He endured over a month of captivity in Israeli territory, facing torture, interrogation and humiliation. On January 9, he was released without charges and returned to Gaza. ‘The worst 33 days of my life,’ Al-Kahlout told us in a phone call from the tent he shares with other displaced people in Rafah, near the Egyptian border. . . .”

The Committee to Protect Journalists published a more extensive interview with Al-Kahlout on Thursday, providing this context:

“Six months into the Israel-Gaza war, Gaza’s journalists remain almost the sole eyes and ears on the ground as foreign correspondents are effectively barred from the territory,” CPJ said. “The Gaza press corps has paid a heavy price for its coverage, with scores killed, injured, or arrested.

“ ‘The truth is, that the outside world sees only 10% of the actual reality in Gaza, and what we see is unimaginable,’ local journalist Diaa Al-Kahlout told CPJ’s Doja Daoud. Al-Kahlout spent 33 days in Israeli detention, where he says he was brutally interrogated about his work. ‘In addition to the bruises still on my body, I can’t sleep or rest normally since my release,’ he said. ‘I used to be able to get all the news, and today, many significant stories haven’t been covered.’ “

More specifically, Al-Kahout told CPJ, “Detention left its mark on me, both psychologically and health-wise. The most significant issue I face is with my vision, as I cannot see well due to being blindfolded for 33 consecutive days and nights. My vision was excellent before my arrest.

Journalist Diaa Al-Kahlout in the tent that is his home and office in Rafah, southern Gaza.(Credit: Mohamed Al Kahlout)

“In detention, we were beaten and ‘ghosted’ if any part of our eyes showed. I have severe chest inflammation and acute vertebral inflammation, resulting in leg pain, in addition to malnutrition, and lack of sleep. Before my travel, the cracks in my skin caused by detention conditions resulted in pus and severe pain. . . . I behave as if I were still in prison; even my sleep was affected by the prison experience and what I suffered. I would sleep in the same position we were forced into during detention. . . .”

The press-freedom group continued, “Other journalists are struggling to continue reporting in the face of food, fuel and equipment shortages, supply restrictions, and power outages.

“Three organizations providing material aid to journalists on the ground — Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and [Palestinian NGO] Filastiniyat — spoke with CPJ’s Lucy Westcott about what journalists need to continue reporting and surviving. ‘They really expect to die daily,’ said PJS communications officer Rania Khayyat. . . . “

Tang Named L.A. Times’ First Female Top Editor

“The Los Angeles Times is removing ‘interim’ from executive editor Terry Tang’s (pictured) job title,” Katie Kilkenny reported Monday for the Hollywood Reporter.

Tang becomes the Times’ first female top editor and the rare Asian American woman in such a role at a metro daily. In 2022, Jennifer Kho, whose background is Indonesian, became the first woman and the first person of color to lead the Chicago Sun-Times newsroom.

Kilkenny continued, “The newspaper announced on Monday that it was making things official with its former editorial page editor, who was elevated to the leadership role on a provisional basis in January. ‘We’re thrilled to have Terry Tang leading the L.A. Times newsroom,’ owners Patrick and Michele Soon-Shiong said in a statement. ‘We made a decision in December to make changes in leadership to revitalize the L.A. Times. Terry in short order has demonstrated the capability of building on our legacy of excellence in journalism with stories that matter.’

“In particular, the Soon-Shiongs highlighted Tang’s comprehension of their mission to make the paper ‘a thriving pillar of democracy’ and to highlight the ‘issues that matter most, especially for those whose voices are often unheard.’ Tang also understands that the paper must build new audiences and ‘better engage with our readers,’ the owners stated, in order to make its business sustainable. . . . “

Kilkenny added that Tang was taking the helm “during a period of intense turbulence in media and at the Times itself . . . . In the months since she was first named interim executive editor, Tang has promoted former deputy managing editor for California and metro Hector Becerra to managing editor and former city editor Maria L. La Ganga to Becerra’s former role. Tang has also continued to oversee the opinion section during this time and is set to continue to do so under her official leadership role.”

Meg James wrote in the Times, “Since being tapped as interim executive editor, Tang moved rapidly to reorganize the newsroom, form her own leadership team and put a heavier emphasis on traditional news gathering . . . .

“Tang, 65, has deep roots in Southern California. She was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and her family spent a few years in Japan before immigrating to Los Angeles when she was 6. Her father worked in administration for Continental Airlines and the family settled near LAX in Gardena, where Tang and her sister attended public schools.

“She graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and earned her law degree from the New York University School of Law. She served as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in the early 1990s.

“Prior to joining the Times, she worked two years at the American Civil Liberties Union, where she served as director of publications and editorial. Before that, she worked at the New York Times for 20 years in a variety of roles in opinion and on the news side of the operation, including as deputy technology editor; metro desk major beats editor; and co-founder of a previous online platform for commentary.

“In January, she replaced Kevin Merida, who departed after disagreements with Soon-Shiong over his role as executive editor and the extent of the newsroom cuts. . . .”

Sharon Waxman and Alexei Barrionuevo reported then for The Wrap: “In interviews with a half-dozen individuals close to the LA Times news operation, it became clear that Merida’s relationship with [Publisher Patrick] Soon-Shiong — though never close — had broken down irreparably by the end of last year over the owner’s interference in newsroom decisions, a lack of support for Merida’s independence as editorial leader and ongoing financial losses with no apparent plan to reverse them.”

“So in the city of New Orleans, we are known for our culinary skills,” said Julie Gable, co-executive director of the Grow Dat Youth Farm, and all of these great things you can eat. But we are also a food desert. So when we talk about food justice, we want to make sure that everybody has equal access to food. (Credit: YouTube)

Coalescing: Environmental Journalists of Color

Two milestones were reached when the Society of Environmental Journalists met at the end of the week in Philadelphia: The group saw record attendance — 1,200, unofficially; and the Uproot Project, a three-year old group created to support environmental journalists of color, said its membership had leaped from 10 at its inception to 746 today.

For people of color, the second is no doubt more significant.

Underserved neighborhoods and people of color are disproportionately affected by climate change, extreme heat and environmental inequalities, according to numerous studies.

And yet, a 2022 demographic study from the Pew Research Center showed that of all beats in journalism, “environment and energy” is the whitest. Whites represented 84 percent of reporting journalists, Blacks 2 percent, Hispanics 6 percent and English-speaking Asians, 3 percent. 

“When the stories are being reported they are not being reported from the perspective of someone in that community. You don’t get all of the nuances and the true devastation of that community,” Lucia Priselac (pictured), director of the Uproot Project, has said.

Nor do we hear enough about the self-empowering success stories, Priselac said over lunch at the University of Pennsylvania complex, site of the SEJ conference. She cited the Grow Dat Youth Farm in New Orleans, where community residents grow food on a former golf course in the Central City to address that community’s designation as a food desert.

The Uproot Project facilitates networking, provides a space to share stories, awards fellowships, publishes a biweekly online newsletter, and maintains a private Slack channel. Its long-term mission is holding newsrooms accountable for environmental coverage of people of color, said Priselac and her colleague, Sofia Prado Huggins, a Venezuela native and the group’s project and social media manager.

True, the Society for Environmental Journalists is overwhelmingly white, but that, too, is slowly changing.

The family of its new executive director, Aparna Mukherjee (pictured), immigrated from India in the 1970s, though she was born in New York. Asian Americans were clearly in evidence at the convention. Some of those present as fellowship recipients were from abroad.

This year the group, founded in 1990, heard from Michael Regan (pictured), the first Black male administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Regan defended a new $20 billion federal “green bank” program, saying it will finance a variety of projects to create low-carbon solutions to combat climate change, including in disadvantaged communities that are most affected by pollution, Matthew Daly reported Friday for the Associated Press.

That proposal was applauded by the NAACP, which declared, “The history of climate calamities in Black communities underscores the urgency of addressing environmental and racial injustices on a global scale. Prioritizing Black voices and capital is crucial in shaping the future to ensure a world that uplifts equity, justice, and sustainability for all.” 

The previous week, Regan announced “the first ever HBCU-MSI Advisory Council, a major step forward in our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion at EPA.” The initials refer to historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions. “By harnessing the unique insights and energy of students and faculty from HBCUs and MSIs, we are ensuring the future of environmental leadership is diverse and dynamic.” (Photo: On University of Pennsylvania campus; credit Richard Prince)

Convention panels addressed such topics as “Covering the Environmental Impact of War,” “Communicate, Don’t (Just) Infuriate: Strengthening How Climate Journalism Converses With the World, “Working With Whistleblowers” and “From the Margins to the Mainstream: Rethinking Environmental Justice Coverage.”

The latter panel, moderated by Evlondo Cooper of Media Matters for America, promised to “highlight the systemic reasons behind the lack of coverage, including a lack of diversity in newsrooms and prevailing editorial biases. Panelists will provide tips on the ways journalists can champion the role of nonwhite media outlets and integrate persons of color into mainstream reporting, ensuring diverse and inclusive coverage of environmental issues. A crucial part of this approach is the inclusion of community voices, especially those impacted by hazardous waste and pollution.”

A session on the 2024 election offered advice and cautions.  “Turnout is going to be everything for the climate movement,” said Nathaniel Stinnett, founder and executive director of the Environmental Voter Project. But those who care most deeply about environmental issues are much more likely to be nonvoters. Speaking of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Stinnett added, “Biden secured the largest climate law in U.S. history and nobody knows about it. . . . If the climate voters don’t show up big time, he’s toast.” 

Others urged climate supporters to stress local initiatives with voters. but, said moderator Ximena Bustillo of NPR, “Talking about climate change is not helping us. It’s seen as one more progressive issue.” 

A tour of the hidden rural lands and stories of New Jersey took SEJ members to southern New Jersey farms and the Pinelands National Reserve, where guest speakers encouraged attendees to engage critically with the history of rural lands, highlight Indigenous perspectives and learn about farming practices, Astrid Code and Ava Chatlosh reported for the inaugural SEJ student newsroom team. (Credit: Gwendolyn Craig/X)

A closing plenary on Saturday took on artificial intelligence, how to channel anger into productive journalism, and whether accepting advertising from fossil-fuel companies compromises the integrity of the journalism. The answers were delivered with the surety that the respondents are on the right side of history. Few media outlets see the need any longer to include climate deniers in the name of “balanced” coverage.

Everyone is affected by climate, they said. “It’s almost trite to say it’s an ‘everything’ beat, replied Tony Barboza, editorial Writer for the Los Angeles Times and SEJ board member; every beat has a climate component.

But how inclusive will that reporting be? The words of the Uproot Project’s Priselac and Huggins also ring true: “Who else is going to advocate for us if not us?”

Cuban rapper Maykel Osorbo, now imprisoned, performs “Un Dia,” (“One Day”). The lyrics include, “I protest, for the dead and those under arrest, for my people who have an uncertain future, those who abuse their position. I dream of freedom, prosperity, progress, that for telling the truth, no one goes to jail anymore.” (Credit: YouTube)

Amnesty Int’l Calls Out Cuba on Denial of Freedoms

Amnesty International is calling for Cuba to “to immediately and unconditionally release all individuals detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” and urged Cuban authorities “to cease subjecting human rights activists and journalists to surveillance and arbitrary detention, including de facto house arrest.”

Reporters Without Borders has said that “Cuba remains, year in and year out, the worst country for press freedom in Latin America,” ranking it 172 of 180 countries on its World Press Freedom Index.

Amnesty’s March 25 statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council coincided with the death of Cuban dissident and former political prisoner Daniel Santovenia Fernández, who died at 69 in the province of Matanzas, a victim of cardiorespiratory arrest.

He was released in 2018 after serving a 30-year sentence as one of three Miami-based Cubans who in 1991 were captured with arms and explosives when they arrived clandestinely in Cuba to start a campaign of sabotage. “I came to Cuba to fight for the freedom of my country, to give a free homeland to my children so that here they could live happily, with the protection of human rights,” he said on his release.

“During his long stay in prison, Santovenia faced inhumane conditions, including torture and medical neglect, according to his own accounts and testimonies from those who shared his captivity,”  the website CiberCuba reported.

“In an interview with CubaNet in 2020, the former prisoner said that among the forms of torture was poor nutrition, which included bread and sugar water for breakfast; the rice sometimes had worms in it, and the peas or flour arrived with weevils: ‘They had to eat it because there was nothing else,’ he said.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken supporting the release of Cuban artists and activists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo Pérez and all political prisoners, activist Anamely Ramos noted in a March 29 Facebook posting.

The two artists took part in composing and recording “Patria y Vida” (video), the viral rap song that “became the anthem for disaffected Cubans banned by Cuba’s Communist regime and won two Latin Grammys,” as the Center for a Free Cuba reported. 

Castillo was being held incommunicado and in a punishment cell “because they do not want to give him the phone and he has protested,” Ramos said on Facebook.

In 2019, Amnesty International named five Cuban prisoners of conscience – “people imprisoned solely because of the peaceful exercise of their human rights“ – and called for their immediate and unconditional release. “We know so far that two people were released, but at least one of them (if not both) has been detained again,” an Amnesty spokesperson says.  

“Cuba’s response to the protests on July 11 and 12, 2021 – including mass incarcerations, the use of arbitrary detentions, and the implementation of a new Penal Code that intensifies censorship – indicate a worrying disregard for fundamental freedoms,” Amnesty said.

“Although Cuba accepted during the 2022 review the recommendation to ‘ensure that prisoners are treated with dignity and humanity’ in line with the Minimum Standards for the Treatment of Prisoners, Amnesty International has received multiple reports since then of ongoing mistreatment in prisons, violations of the right to due process, and the use of incommunicado detention.”

The organization also said, “Cuba must also repeal articles of the new Penal Code that criminalize dissent and limit freedom of expression in line with recommendations it has received.

“Finally, we insist that Cuba implement recommendations to abolish the death penalty and promptly ratify, without making any reservation, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Cuba should also accede to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and allow access for human rights organizations, as well as extend invitations to the United Nations human rights special procedures to visit the country.”

Amnesty followed up Friday with an announcement that it had published the book “Images of Rebellion,” “an extraordinary visual compilation that chronicles and celebrates the defiant spirit of civil resistance in Cuba. The book contains a poignant selection of the more than 21,000 letters and drawings sent to Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Cuban artist and prisoner of conscience, in a global outpouring of support. . . .

“The book is available for free in English and Spanish in digital format at cubasinrepresion.org to reach as many people as possible with Images of [Rebellion’s] message of resistance and hope.”

Separately, “Cuban ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel declared during a visit to the official newspaper Granma his interest in that newspaper becoming the most read digitally in the country,” CiberCuba reported Saturday.

However, the publication added, “Criticism of the Cuban official press, especially the reports of the Granma newspaper, is recurrent among the island’s population, tired of triumphalist readings, without reflecting the daily life of Cubans and taking advantage of all events to glorify a government administration that has the country in one of the worst economic and social crises in its history.”

James Washington and his wife, Janis L. Ware, publisher of the Atlanta Voice, at the United Negro College Fund Mayor’s Masked Ball in Atlanta in 2022. (Credit: Itoro N. Umontuen/Atlanta Voice)

James Washington Dies, Trailblazer for Black Press

“No matter the time, day or night, if you needed to talk with James Washington, he was ready to listen, whether you were talking about your spouse, your children or even a story idea for the next edition of The Atlanta Voice,” Rebecca McCarthy reported Sunday for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“ ‘He was very genuine in caring about the people he worked with, beyond the employee-boss relationship,’ said Craig Allen Brown, who worked with Washington in 2018. ‘He was great to me as a young journalist. Our conversations would start small and then go from there, with him asking me if I was being the best husband, the best friend.’

“James Alfred Washington, 73, president and general manager of The Atlanta Voice and a long-time advocate of Black media excellence had battled cancer in recent years. He died at home April 3. Black newspapers around the country carried the news of his passing, and many called him a trailblazer for the Black press.

“ ‘He led with love,’ said Itoro Umontuen, managing editor of The Atlanta Voice. ‘And he was constantly looking for ways to innovate, ways to incorporate new technologies into making the paper better.’ . . . ”

Donnell Suggs added for the Atlanta Voice, “For over four decades, Washington had been involved in nearly every level of the communications field. From his time as the publisher of The Dallas Weekly, a Black-owned and operated publication, to his work as the public relations manager for the Dallas Ballet, Washington had always been a strong representation of Black excellence and intelligence. . . .”

The National Association of Black Journalists awarded Washington its Legacy Award in 2019. The organization said then, “As a prominent publisher among the Black Press, Washington has made constant efforts to promote the value of diversity and inclusion in the newsroom and the value of African American news leadership and ownership.”

“Jim’s commitment to media entrepreneurship and ensuring that the black perspective is present in news coverage is what makes his legacy so special,” then-NABJ President Sarah Glover said in that announcement. “His dedication to the industry has opened many doors not just for himself, but for the many journalists that have and will come behind him.”

Marvin Lake, Virginian-Pilot Pioneer, Had Dementia

Marvin L. Lake (pictured), who died March 27 as the first African American reporter, editor and public editor of The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., had been in the later stages of dementia, his wife, Ruby Fararr-Lake, told Journal-isms.

Despite his many public-facing roles, his wife said, Lake was a “very, very private person” and did not let many know of his dementia. But the disease needs more public discussion, she said, “to make more people aware, and especially to pinpoint the type” and to understand how to treat it better. “It would make it easier for families who have to care for their loved ones, Farrar-Lake said, and aid in providing such benefits as getting test results faster.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “An estimated 6.5 million persons aged ≥65 years in the United States live with Alzheimer disease, the most common dementia . . . . This number is projected to double by 2060, with the largest increase among non-Hispanic Black or African American (Black), and Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) adults . . .

“Dementia is not a specific disease but is rather a general term for the impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that interferes with doing everyday activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. Though dementia mostly affects older adults, it is not a part of normal aging.

“Of those at least 65 years of age, there [are] an estimated 5.0 million adults with dementia in 2014 and projected to be nearly 14 million by 2060.”

“Neurodegenerative dementias, like Alzheimer’s disease, have no cure, though there are medications that can help protect the brain or manage symptoms such as anxiety or behavior changes. Research to develop more treatment options is ongoing. . . .”

In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made in Lake’s honor to Norfolk State University, Shiloh Baptist Church Legacy Fund, or the Alzheimer’s Association. (Photo credit: Bill Tiernan/Virginian Pilot)

Short Takes

 The wedding at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan was officiated by Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. (Credit: Tony Valdez)

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