The issue about diversity is burning up the web right now, because journalists of color are upset with the latest Forbes Under-30 Media List.  Not one person is Latino, African American or Native American.  There are a few Asian Americans.

Forbes unveiled its list stating:

“These are the people who aren’t waiting to reinvent the world. FORBES, leaning on the wisdom of its readers and the greatest minds in business, presents the 30 disrupters under 30, in each of 12 fields, making a difference right now.”

Robert Hernandez made me aware of the issue when he posted on Facebook  “Apparently Forbes does not know any Black or Latino journos under 30….let’s introduce them to some.  Please tweet them some names.”

Hernandez is assistant professor at USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism.  He’s also a current board member with the Online News Association and past board member with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Soon after Hernandez put out that call on Twitter; journalists started tweeting suggestions to Forbes.   Alexandra Talty, a spokeswoman with Forbes talked to Richard Prince who blogs about journalists of color for The Maynard Institute.  Talty told  Journal-isms:

“While there are over fifty people of color on our other 30 Under 30 lists, diversity in media remains a national issue, which this list reflects.”

WHO DID THE CHOOSING?

Forbes asked its readers to nominate candidates for the list.  The staff also submitted names. I just can’t believe that when they laid out the photos and bios of the top 30—no one said “wait a minute, what’s missing here?”

I’m wondering who were the judges. Was it a diverse group that included Latinos, African Americans and Native Americans?

DON’T IGNORE THE ISSUE

An effort has to be made to make everyone feel “included.”  That’s the bottomline.  Today no magazine, newspaper, online news site or television station can afford to lose readers and viewers.  Not when we have so much news at our fingertips.

If  journalists of color are upset that Forbes did  not include one African American, Latino or Native American on its media  list; don’t you think they will let others know?

On a broader look, if people of color do not feel included in a story; they will stop buying your newspaper or magazine or they’ll change the television channel. Forbes thought this golden list of people under 30 was going to be a wonderful way to end 2011, but for journalists of color—it was a slap in the face.

DO IT RIGHT

My suggestion to Forbes; DIVERSIFY in all areas.   Your spokeswoman said “diversity in media remains a national issue.”  There you have it!  Do a story on the lack of diversity in the media and start with your magazine.  Take an inside look.

Learn what Forbes is learning today from bad press: Diversity matters!

Rebecca Aguilar is an Emmy Award winning reporter with 30 years in the business. She’s a member of the SPJ Diversity Committee and a board member with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the SPJ Fort Worth Chapter.

One of the objectives of the SPJ Diversity committee is to provide story ideas that are important to our different minority and ethnic communities. We hope by sharing these ideas you will able to find them in your city and pitch them as a story to your news managers.

Today we’re featuring: Our Lady of Guadalupe Day on December 12th. Our blog is by Sandra Gonzalez, an SPJ Diversity Committee member and digital journalist.

STANDING ROOM ONLY

If you pass by most Catholic churches in the Latino community on December 12th, you’ll probably see huge crowds. That’s because people will be celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe Day (“Dia de la Virgen Guadalupe”).

I’ll never forget the first time I covered this event as a television reporter in Bakersfield, California. It was very early in the morning before the sun came up, and the church was “standing room only”.

Celebrations and processions will be part of the story if you plan to cover this event. An event that is very important to many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.

Here is a procession that went through a Chandler, Arizona neighborhood. You’ll be able to see how this story can be very easy for any reporter to cover, and you don’t have to speak Spanish. It’s visual with a good people element.

WHO IS LA MORENITA?

Most Catholic churches with large Mexican congregations will most likely be holding masses and celebrations in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It’s good to know the history behind this event.

According to Mexican legend, the Virgin Mary appeared to an Indian man, Juan Diego in 1531. She had Indian features, with dark hair and eyes, (which is why some refer to her as “La Morenita”/the dark haired one). She asked him to tell the bishop to build a church at the hill of Tepeyac, but the bishop didn’t believe him.

When Diego returned to the Virgin, she told him to go to a hill where it is barren and he would find some beautiful flowers as proof. Juan Diego found roses and gathered them up in his apron (“tilma”) and when he presented the roses to the bishop, instead there was an image of the “Virgen de Guadalupe” on his apron.

To this day that apron is on display in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

That legendary event spurred enormous growth of Catholicism in Mexico, and traditions honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe continue here in the United States.

ON THEIR KNEES

When I covered this story in Bakersfield, I saw the intense devotion of those who believed in the Virgin of Guadalupe. People fell to their knees in the back of the packed church. Others walked on their knees to the altar in the front. It looked painful, but this was their way of showing love and devotion and that they were humbled before her.

HOW TO FIND THIS STORY

Your best bet is to drive into the Latino community in your city. Even if the Mexican population is small–there will still be a celebration. Who would think you’d find Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration in Appleton, Wisconsin. Here’s the video:

If you can find the story in Appleton, you can find it in your backyard.

MORE TIPS

1. Call your Catholic Churches in the Latino community.
2. Contact the Catholic Diocese; they may know someone you can talk to in the church.
3. People angle: You can find the people angle when you go to one of these celebrations.

If you don’t get to cover it this year; jot it down in your calendar for 2012. Good luck!

Sandra Gonzalez is a digital journalist for WGNO-TV in New Orleans. She’s a multiple award winner with more than 20 year experience.

Our diversity committee is made up of people committed in making a difference in the landscape of journalism.Today we’re introducing you to two more members.  They come from different backgrounds and opposite sides of the country.

George Daniels is a faculty member of University of Alabama. He’s also the former chair of the SPJ Journalism Education Committee.

“I joined the SPJ Diversity Committee because diversifying our newsrooms has been a perennial goal of mine as a full-time working journalist and now as a full-time journalism professor. 

In my current position on the journalism faculty at The University, I not only teach two courses that focus on issues of difference or diversity in the media, but I also have made topics/issues of diversity a part of the academic research that I do. 

SPJ cannot be the nation’s largest, most broad-based group of journalists if it does not reflect the breadth of experiences and backgrounds of those who populate our profession.”

Sandy Frost is is online investigative journalist for Newsvine.com in Tacoma, Washington.

“I was asked to serve on the diversity committee because of my work for the Western Washington Pro Chapter. It is my hope to help other journalists understand how words matter, no matter who or what they are covering.

 The concept of diversity extends beyond who we are to include those we love and how we identify. As the proud mother of a transgender son, I hope to bring a certain awareness for equal rights and justice, whether it’s health care, marriage, employment or housing. I also want to contribute to a greater understanding of American Indian issues.

 Recently,  a celebrity mother used the derogatory term ‘Indian giver’ to describe her daughter keeping her expensive wedding ring. Instead of getting angry or demanding an apology, let’s use situations like this as ’teachable moments,’ educate with compassion and move on. “  

GETTING TO KNOW THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Every year there are changes on committees. We’re just making sure that as members you know who we are and what we stand for. Please feel free to contact us if you have an ideas for our blog.  Stay tuned for the next committee member profiles.

Stop by again!

Rebecca Aguilar an Emmy award winning reporter based in Dallas, TX.  She has 30 years of experience, with 28 in television news.  She’s also a board member with the SPJ-Fort Worth Chapter and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

SPJ 2011 Conference

I was asked to sit on the SPJ Diversity Committee at the SPJ convention in New Orleans.  I met many of the members and was inspired by their determination to improve diversity in newsrooms and news coverage.  

Each one of the committee members has the goal of diversity in common, but they all bring different experiences and journalism passions to the table.  Though they are all very busy individuals; I wondered why volunteering to be on this committee was important.  There is much to learn from what they have to say.

WHY SERVE ON THE SPJ DIVERSITY COMMITTEE?

Curtis Lawrence is the chairman of the SPJ Diversity Committee and a professor of journalism at Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois:

“Back in the 1980s shortly after I graduated from college, I remember reading how the American Society of Newspaper Editors vowed to make newsrooms reflect the racial and ethnic makeup of their communities by 2000.  A lot has changed since then. For example, ASNE is now the American Society of News Editors, reflecting the national decline of newspapers. And a lot has stayed the same.

Curtis Lawrence

Many of the faces in our newsrooms still do not reflect the communities they serve. That’s why I feel keeping the diversity issue at the forefront of discussions about our changing  media landscape is crucial.Aside from my work with SPJ, I also am involved with encouraging and training young journalist of color in the Chicago area.

I co-founded an organization at Columbia called Columbia Links. We reach out to students in the Chicago Public Schools and train them in the basics of journalism. That’s where it will have to begin if we’re going to continue to change the face of journalism.”

 

Justin Chenette is an assistant morning producer and weekend web producer at WPFO-Fox 23 in Portland, Maine. 

“It is important that stories are told about people from all walks of life, not just the ones that are the easiest to source or the ones most prominent in our society. This ideology is the basis for my continued interest and participation in the SPJ Diversity Committee.

Only through the incorporation of diversity training or diversifying newsrooms, with highly qualified individuals with a dynamic range of backgrounds, can news operations truly report a cross section of the entire community in which they serve.  

Justin Chenette

 Our country is facing some tough issues many of which are very controversial social dilemmas. We have the issue of illegal immigration, gay rights/marriage equality, equal pay amongst the sexes; the list goes on and on. With each issue comes their own set of unique challenges for the journalists that cover them.

 Do you use the phrase illegal immigrant or undocumented worker? Do you use the term gay or homosexual? Opening the dialogue about these topics can spur an awareness of how the media portrays, correctly or incorrectly, millions of people.”

MEET MORE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

We currently have 17 members on our committee.  Find out who they are in upcoming blogs.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rebecca Aguilar is an Emmy award winning reporter based in Dallas, TX.  She has 30 years of experience, with 28 in television news.  She’s also a board member with the SPJ-Fort Worth Chapter and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Check out these recent posts:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/newsrooms-discontinue-illegal-immigrant-illegal-alien_n_988728.html

http://mije.org/richardprince/unity-backer-has-second-thoughts#SPJ

If you see more, let us know.

This has been a great week for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Diversity Committee.  We had a successful Diversity Leadership Program including six stellar women.  We also were able to pass two resolutions — one including diversity hiring and one urging journalists to cease the use of  “illegal alien” in news coverage.  The resolution urging the end of the “I-Word” was the result of a courageous effort led by Diversity Committee member Leo Laurence over a two-year span. It also showed the willingness of the SPJ membership to “walk the walk” of the organization’s Code of Ethics. We are appreciative of all who helped in this battle and who voted in favor of the resolution.

Also this week, I was asked by our new president, John Ensslin, to chair the Diversity Committee for the coming year.  I succeed George Daniels, who will devote his energy to the SPJ and SDX boards.  I am honored to take on this responsibility and I look better to a year of  educating others about the need for diversity from the classroom to the newsroom.

Below is a description of last week’s events by Diversity Committee Member Jeremy Steele. He mentions some of the key players and includes the resolution at the end.

Thanks to all who made this happen.

Curtis Lawrence

SPJ Diversity Committee Chair

The following is a memo from Jeremy Steele to the SPJ Diversity Committee:

Good morning, everyone,

Yesterday’s closing business session was certainly interesting and packed with thoughtful debate on a lot of big issues. I wanted to give members of the Diversity Committee an update.

The diversity hiring resolution that George put forward to our committee – and we then endorsed – was approved in a block of six resolutions that were not controversial – ie, no one felt the need to debate them individually. Other resolutions in the block included thanking staff for their work to arrange the convention, thanking President Hagit Limor for her service, etc. Then we began the work on four other resolutions, including the resolution put forward by the diversity committee on the use of “illegal alien” and “illegal immigrant,” support of a federal shield law (passed), two resolutions attempting to bring back the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award (both failed) and an effort by the Conn. Pro Chapter to overturn a $3 dues increase approved by the SPJ board on Sunday (failed)

Earlier in the day, I received word that the resolutions committee had voted 3-0 to NOT endorse our resolution. I had a conversation with Mac McKerral, the resolutions committee chair and a former SPJ president. He indicated that the committee was not opposed to the spirit of the resolution, but had some issues with its language. So I workshopped that language a bit during the diversity fellows lunch a few hours before the closing business session and went over some revisions with Curtis, Becky, Rebecca Aguilar (a diversity fellow, NAHJ board member, Fort Worth chapter member and Sonny Albarado, SPJ’s president-elect. The most significant changes involved adding a new first whereas clause citing the SPJ Code of Ethics and revising the therefore be it resolved clause (which had been edited by the resolutions committee). I also added a few words for context and impact.

As I was also a delegate, I was able to put forward our substitute language (which I will include below) and speak in support of the resolution.

For those of you who haven’t experienced the convention of delegates – it’s an unpredictable place and a great example of how policymaking is, indeed, akin to making sausage (the end result may be delightful, but the process is messy).

After addressing a couple of questions from the delegates, I yielded the floor and others took their turns to speak. I have to admit their stance made my heart skip a beat or two. While no one spoke against the spirit of the resolution to be fair and accurate when reporting on various groups of people, there were some statements from a few sticklers who still didn’t like the language as presented and encouraged others to vote no.

Then, Rebecca Aguilar spoke. If you haven’t met Rebecca yet – the best way I can describe her is with a single word: “Wow.” She’s spunky and smart and passionate. Rebecca is also the daughter of undocumented workers and a board member of NAHJ, in addition to her involvement on SPJ’s digital media committee, Fort Worth SPJ chapter and as a diversity fellow this year.

Her brief comments on her mothers support of journalism – and offense particularly at the phrase illegal alien - led to other comments in support from young professionals and established members. Men and women. White and black. It was quite inspiring to watch.

Long story short, the resolution passed on voice vote, with a solid majority in favor.

Congratulations to Leo for his year of hard work on this effort, and THANK YOU to Rebecca for sharing her story and making a positive impact on the delegates.

jws
Jeremy W. Steele
jeremywsteele@gmail.com

My changes are in bold. A friendly amendment from another delegate is in bold italics. Other wording changes from what the diversity committee initially put forward reflect edits by the resolutions committee:

WHEREAS, the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics urges all journalists to be “honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information” and;

WHEREAS, mainstream news reports are increasingly using the politically charged phrase “illegal immigrant” and the more offensive and bureaucratic “illegal alien” to describe undocumented immigrants, particularly Latinos and;

WHEREAS, a fundamental principle embedded in our U.S. Constitution is that everyone (including non-citizens) is considered innocent of any crime until proven guilty in a court of law and;

WHEREAS, this constitutional doctrine, often described as “innocent-until-proven-guilty,” applies not just to U.S. Citizens but to everyone in the United States and;

WHEREAS, only the court system, not reporters and editors, can decide when a person has committed an illegal act and;

WHEREAS, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists is also concerned with the increasing use of  pejorative and potentially inaccurate terms to describe the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in the United States;

THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Society of Professional Journalists convention of delegates: urges journalists and style guide editors to stop the use of illegal alien and encourage continuous discussion and re-evaluation of the use of illegal immigrant in news stories.

by George L. Daniels

Some new data really might discourage me as an African American male student thinking about going in journalism.

I have far less of a chance of finding a job in journalism and communication than another student who is not from a historically underrepresented racial group.

Source: Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Graduates

This chart from the 2010 Annual Survey of Journali sm and Mass Communication Graduates, released last week,  is the visual depiction of the problem.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Abby Henkel

The issue of marriage rights for same-sex couples has become a frequent topic in the news. When reporting on issues in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, journalists will no doubt come across complex topics that require thoughtful consideration and different ways of approaching an increasingly common story.

Consider the Suquamish Tribe in Washington, which recently legalized marriage for same-sex couples. Effective, conscientious reporting on this story demands more than just correct use of terminology and a Who-What-Where-When-Why approach. Getting the whole story means taking into account not only the national discussions on same-sex marriage, but also the views on same-sex relationships and marriage generally held by the particular tribe and across Native American cultures.

SPJ’s Diversity Toolbox can be a good place to start for guidance in covering a story when the reporter is not fully familiar with the community or culture. One suggestion you’ll find is to “talk to new types of people – those with day-to-day knowledge about an issue, not simply formal expertise.” In doing so, you will give the source an opportunity to tell you what really matters to that person’s community.

Becky Tallent, a University of Idaho journalism professor and member of both the SPJ Diversity Committee and the Native American Journalists Association, explains a common misunderstanding by non-Native Americans, “that all tribes are alike. Nothing can be further from the truth. We are all separate and distinct.” She continues, recommending that “if a non-Native reporter were to go out and cover the GLBTQA community in Native America, they should first explore how the specific tribe views GLBTQA as part of their culture. Yes, this can mean significant leg work…They need to become a common sight in the tribe, not just someone who drops in for breaking news.”

In the case of the Suquamish Tribe, a reporter not familiar with the culture might initially expect that the issue of legalizing marriage for same-sex couples was heated and controversial, or that it came down to whether a majority of tribal members hold “traditional family values.” However, according to news reports, it appears the issue was more about timing and an assertive advocate for marriage rights. In an interview with The Associated Press, Suquamish Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman explains: “I’m just happy that we’re able to get the work done that will allow the same rights and privileges to all people, regardless of sexual orientation. It was a process that took longer than expected. We have a lot competing needs.”

In the end, when one member stood up and asked for an immediate vote, the group was unanimously in favor of same-sex marriage rights.

Tallent explains another detail that could be lost.

“What most Native Nations do believe in is the right of everyone to speak,” she said. “Every single tribal member has a voice, and, for the most part, those voices are listened to and respected. It is the ultimate in free speech. Anyone covering Native America needs to understand this is the real power of the people.”

Helen Zia offers an insightful look into expecting one answer and receiving another, from a reporter’s point of view, published here on the website of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. Like Tallent’s assertion that not all Native American nations support same-sex marriage rights just because some do, Zia explains that even among peers whom she believes share her beliefs (here, LGBT Asian Americans), there are differences of opinion and experience that make generalizations futile.

Reporting on issues in diverse or unfamiliar communities, then, is an exercise in asking open questions and listening to the complexities of the answers.

Abby Henkel is SPJ’s communications coordinator and a 2011 graduate of Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs master’s program, where she worked on diversity initiatives.

CLARIFICATION: The following article is an opinion piece and does not reflect the views of SPJ, its membership or its Diversity Committee. The committee itself has taken no official initiative on this topic.

Mainstream journalists use the phrase “illegal immigrant” regularly when referring to Latinos who lack documents to be in this country. Yet, use of the phrase is inconsistent with a fundamental doctrine in our Constitution.

We celebrate the blessings of being American on the Fourth of July, and those blessings are guaranteed because of our Constitution.

One of the most basic of our constitutional rights is that everyone (including non-citizens) is innocent of any crime until proven guilty in a court of law. The only person who can properly say that someone is doing something illegally (e.g., is an “illegal alien”), is a judge; not a journalist or politician or anti-immigrant advocate.

In contrast to our common-law system of jurisprudence; in many countries with laws following the Napoleonic Civil Code, you are guilty until you prove your innocence (usually a light burden, however; compared with the heavy burden facing prosecutors in our criminal courts).

Largely because of this constitutional doctrine stating that everyone is innocent of any crime until proven innocent in a court of law, we journalists add the critical adjective “suspected” when writing a story about someone who has been arrested or is a police target.

Except when referring to brown-skinned Latinos, however. Journalists today commonly refer to undocumented persons as “illegal immigrants,” or more offensively: “illegal aliens” (as if they were from another planet?).

Use of the phrases illegal alien and illegal immigrant seems to go back to rise of angry, anti-immigrant sentiment that has long been festering in America. Here in San Diego, those two, denigrative phrases were commonly used years ago by flag-waving, gun-toting, anti-immigrant vigilantes called the “Minutemen;” and which once operated openly along our long border with México . . . some still do.

A few people feel threatened by the increase in Latinos in
America, where brown-skinned people now outnumber whites in some areas. Yet, our immigrant diversity has made our country stronger.

My journalism career began in ’47 with the Middletown Times Herald, nestled in the foothills of the Catskills and rich in Revolutionary War history. Back then, most of my small, hometown village of Monroe, New York was white; with a few “negroes” living along the Erie Railroad tracks. I met my first Latinos and Asians when I joined the Navy and became a combat photographer.

Recently while returning to visit my hometown, I was pleasantly surprised to find so many Latinos living in Monroe. Indeed, while walking along Lake Street, the main drag in the small village, two Latino youths were so pleasantly surprised when I said “buenas dias,” as we passed on the sidewalk.

However, some Mexican journalists I know go out of their way to become more Americanized, and will themselves use the degnirative terms illegal alien or illegal immigrant in their stories. That doesn’t make it right.

Let’s be good Americans and work in our craft of journalism in a manner consistent with our fundamental, constitutional principles. This is a matter of law; and not just Leo’s, personal opinion.

My long professional life has been a mixture of journalism and law (including four years of unprecedented, post-doctoral study in appellate law at the California Court of Appeal). Ethically, I believe journalists can practice their profession in a manner that’s consistent with our basic, constitutional laws.

For those newswriters who insist on using the phrase “illegal immigrant” (or perhaps because it is a required, company policy); add the modifying adjective “suspected,” as “pro” journalists do when writing about arrestees or police suspects.

Clearly, only the phrase undocumented immigrant is consistent with our fundamental, constitutional law. Hopefully our SPJ diversity committee will consider this issue during the upcoming national convention in Las Vegas.

The following resolution is being sent to SPJ diversity committee members for consideration:

A fundamental legal principle in our American constitutional law is that everyone (including non-citizens) is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Consistent with that basic doctrine of law, journalists are urged to use the phrase “undocumented immigrant,” and avoid the denigrative phrases “illegal immigrant” or “illegal alien.”

TUSCALOOSA, Ala–   Less than a month after a late civil rights photojournalist’s double life as an FBI informant was revealed, the University of Alabama SPJ chapter is re-directing the attention to the positive images that changed the course of history.

Flip Schulke in a photo taken by Larry Spruill

This Thursday, the work of civil rights photojournalism Flip Schulke will take centerstage at a screening of the award-winning documentary, Stills of the Movement. Schulke, who died in 2008, did more than photograph Martin Luther King, Jr. and Medgar Evers.

He is credited with pioneering underwater photography, often accompany Jacques Costeau on expeditions.

Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. screening  at the University’s Ferguson Student Center will feature Morehouse College history professor and Accomplished Photographer Larry Spruill, who knew Schulke and Rider University Communications Professor Shawn Kildea, who was one of the producers of the documentary “Stills of the Movement.”

This week’s event falls less than two weeks after a (Memphis) Commercial Appeal investigation revealed Photographer Ernest Withers doubled as FBI informant to spy on the civil rights movement.