Journalists do not immediately associate “diversity” with the Middle East media but it is a major topic among Middle East journalists. Usually, journalists in the West only think narrowly about the issue of women’s rights in the Middle East and Islamic World. It does go beyond that.

This week, the issue came up in a keynote speech by Wadah Khanfar at the Arabian Business Media and Marketing Conference in — I know this is considered profanity in American but I am going to say it anyway — DUBAI.

Most Americans wouldn’t know who Khanfar is because of the Demonization of Arabs that takes place in this country, a form of discrimination that is one step worse than racism. But Khanfar is one of the most influential media personalities in the Middle East, and director general of — get ready, I am going to say another bad word in the American lexicon, AL-JAZEERA.

Khafar slammed the 24-hour media frenzy as being concerned with headlines rather than substance. He told the packed crowd in Dubai that the media needs to “slow down” sometimes to get the story right, (rather than the FOX Cable News system of report whatever and slowly get it right, with an emphasis on “right” being a political not journalistic term).

But, Khanfar also said that the media must focus on diversity, too. According to ArabianBusiness.com, one of the leading media and business resources in the Middle East, Khafar said,

“Diversity is also key. Before Al Jazeera was launched in 1996 the majority of voices in the region were Western. The concept of diversity is one of the key secrets to success. We have Muslims and Christians, we have men and women and we have a huge age and experience range with people who have 35 years experience at the BBC and others who have only known Al Jazeera,” he added.

“We should always try to embrace diversity and distance ourselves away from one colour and one religion.”

Khanfar then said something most Western media pretend isn’t a problem right here in the United States. Be independent.

Khanfar also urged “those who finance media” and who want to make an instant return on their investment to “distance themselves from the newsroom”.

“The Qatari government understood this from the beginning and more than any other government in the region. Journalism should be left alone from governments.”

Now, the idea of al-Jazeera not being independent is a fabrication created by the bosses who own the American media. Comcast Cable refused to allow Al-Jazeera (English) to be offered to its American subscribers (as a choice) mainly out of prejudice and fear that adding the Middle East new voice to the lineup would give AT&T a weapon to use it the campaign it was drafting to challenge Comcast Cable TV market share.

I can just imagine AT&T Cable’s marketing message in appealing to people to switch: “We don’t broadcast the terrorist news network. Comcast Cable TV, does.”

God forbid that Americans might be able to hear something and use their own brains to figure out what is truth and what is not truth on their own, without being manipulated by the mass media in this country.

Yet the reality is that the American public and the mass media is being slowly pushed aside by a media presence based in the Middle East that is growing in influence and pushing the American media to the side. One day, the center of the Media Universe won’t be in the United States where only approved news is reported and race and political opinion are factors in deciding who works in the news media. It will be in the Middle East which is providing more news to the rest of the world than ever before.

You can read this and other stories from the Media and Marketing Conference that took place in Dubai at ArabianBussines.com:

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/media_marketing_2007

Ray Hanania

www.NAAJA-US.com

There was a time when Arab Americans were begging the American government to include them as a formal designation on the US Census Forms, rather than as an after thought.

When they ask for your ethnicity on Census forms, they include African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians and a few more. But not Arabs. When you are formally identified as a “minority” group, you suddenly qualify for special government funding support from federal programs created to help minority groups.

But because Arab Americans were always excluded from the category of being a “minority group,” in the eyes of the Federal Government, we never qualify for, say, special contract awards like minority set-asides.

I think the reason had a lot to do with anti-Arab sentiment and the fundamental lack of knowledge by Americans which presumes, wrongly, that all Arabs are Muslims, and Christianity and Islam have a problem dating back to the Crusades, yadda, yadda, yadda …

Being an American born Arab who was targeted by the FBI in the 1970s (immediately after serving two years during the Vietnam War (and subsequently 10 years in the Illinois Air National Guard), I am a little sensitive. I mean, when they do an FBI report on you and it begins they suspect that I am engaged in terrorist activity (although they never said “boo” when I was in the military with security clearances up the wazoo), and then 45 pages later and two years of wasted taxpayer money, they conclude that Ray Hanania is just an Arab American concerned about helping better his community.

Imagine, if they had treated Arab American properly back in the 1970s and 1980s when we were begging to be classified as a “minority,” and begging to be recognized formally on the census.

Now, the Los Angeles Police — an organization that many minorities compare to a domestic version of Blackwater — wants to “Map Muslims.”

Targeting someone on the basis of religion in this country is outrageous and violates the American Constitution. But, as we have seen over the past few years, the American Constitution is merely wrapping paper for Christmas presents and other “American recognized” holidays and groups.

The LA Police are not saying they want to Map Muslims because they hope to serve them better. They are saying that they want to map Muslims in order to better identify potential terrorism activity.

Nice.

I understand the logic. Most — not all — of the violence in the world is by people from the Middle East who are Muslims. Well, to be precise, most of the response to failed American foreign policies in the Middle East involves Arabs angry with seeing their relatives and friends and families and lifestyles murdered, destroyed and oppressed. And even more perturbed that Americans act as if they don’t know that their policies have disrupted and destroyed so many lives in the Middle East over the years, or that American foreign policies have served to create situations of injustice in the Middle East, just so that Americans can buy gasoline at low prices. (Well, now it’s just about making sure that gasoline stays in the “high price range” and doesn’t skyrocket to the “I can’t get elected” excessively outrageously priced gasoline, which is how gasoline is priced in Europe.)

But if the logic is that “Hey, Middle East terrorism is committed by Muslims,” then we could apply that logic to Chicago where the Cook County Jail is filled up with mostly African Americans charged with criminal acts. Maybe the Chicago Police might “Map Black People” and place Black people under special watch since, according to this absurd logic, they are involved in most of the crimes in Chicago. (We can’t look at the causes of Middle East terrorism, but we do look at the causes of crime in Chicago — it’s not about being Black, but about being poor, abused, disenfranchised, inadequate economic programs to help the homeless, poor, to fight rising street gangs and drug dealers.)

That “fear” of racially driven crime extends into the racist suburbs of Chicago. I live in Orland Park where minorities make up maybe 5 percent of the population. I see police there stopping “potential criminals” all the time, pulling them over on the side of the road. It’s amazing how those police have such “luck” when it comes to pulling people over, that almost always, they drivers are African American. (Profiling at its most effective ineffectiveness.)

I think the LA Police want to “Map Muslims” because simply being professional crime fighters is too difficult. It’s so much easier when you can profile a criminal as being “Black” or “Muslim” because it makes the public feel comfortable. It doesn’t do anything to protect people, but making the public feel comfortable is a great way to keep the public off your back and strengthen political goals.

The real way to fight Middle East terrorism is to look at it as a crime, and fight it the same way we fight domestic crime. We investigate based on cause involving evidence, not a person’s race or religion.

That means that agencies start treating Arabs and Muslims like we are equal citizens, instead of always figuring out ways to deny us. (Deny us jobs. Deny us government funding. Deny us support. Discriminate against us in politics and representation and service.) Embrace us, because some of us “Ay-rabs” are more “Amer-kin” than Americans. We serve this country in the military. Pay our taxes. Are as afraid of crime and terrorism as anyone else. And if we were treated with respect and dignity, instead of being criminals — this behaviour on the part of American society to single us out and discriminate us didn’t begin after Sept. 11, 2001 but has been going on for years before — we would be more focused on helping instead of worrying about defending ourselves against government civil rights violations.

The LA Police wouldn’t have to “Map Muslims.” Muslims and Arabs would be front and center, as we always have been, serving this country and helping educate the uneducated American about the reality and the truth of the Middle East.

Treat us like human beings and we will do everything we can to help this country, as we always do. Treat us like animals, like outsiders, like non-Americans, and we respond with a disdain. And even a few of us, the real extremists, find themselves crossing the line and doing misdeeds and criminal acts they otherwise might not do.

People are not born criminals. They are not born terrorists. They are not born bad. In some cases, people are pushed to extremes. They are so excluded, abused, disrespected that they develop wrong attitudes and respond in the wrong way.

One of the places where we can start correcting this is to force the mainstream news media to set the example and be fair. Stop excluding us. Stop ignoring us. Stop pretending youare fair and unbiased when you are biased, unfair and, more importantly, unprofessional.

I know many journalists hate my “whining.” I get it in emails. Usually odd yahoo addresses that disappear quickly.

But I don’t care. You’re not going to shut me up just because you don’t agree with me. That’s not a chip on my shoulder. That’s a determine to right a wrong and make this country (and this news media) to be the better country (and news media) that it can be.

Thanks for being annoyed with me

Ray Hanania

I did something interesting today. I typed the word “diversity” along with another word representing different races to see what the world is talking about when it comes to diversity.

The word diversity, alone, came up with about 90 million references. Wow. “Diversity” is a popular word.

Then I paired Diversity with other words and found: 18.2 million references to “Diversity” and “Black” (1.83 million if you use “Diversity” and “African American”); 1.8 million references to “Diversity” and “Hispanic”; 1.95 million references to “Diversity” and “Arab”; and 3.37 million references to “Diversity” and ”Asian.”

There were 2 million hits exactly for the phrase “cultural diversity,” and 50 million hits for the words “cultural” and “diversity” used separately in the same document.

Searching through Google News, I found 646 references to Diversity and “African American” and 10 for Diversity and “Black”; 779 for Diversity and “Hispanic”; 858 for Diversity and “Asian”; and, 230 for Diversity and “Arab.”

On Google News, there were 637 hits on articles that used “cultural diversity” as a phrase, and almost 3,000 hits for the two words used separately int he same document.

The word “diversity” alone will bring up 21,478 hits, which means that there are a lot of people writing things about diversity that are indexed on Google News that don’t even mention Blacks, Hispanics, Asians or Arabs.

So what do all these statistics mean? Nothing, really. A search engine reflects the people using it and I think that the availability of computers to everyone is often skewered by societal parameters. The haves have and the havenots, well, have not.

But it did occur to me that maybe people like to discuss the topic of diversity without definining it. “Oh, we need diversity.” Sounds good to hear it, but without the racial or ethnic partnership, maybe it’s just meaningless.

As I looked more closely to the usage of the word diversity, I found that most of what is referenced has nothing to do with racial or ethnic diversity at all. (What? Did I expect the word “diversity” to be the domain only of Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Arabs?) Yes, there are lots of discussions about geographic diversity in terms of “products” and “services.”

In 2004, a study was released by UNITY: Journalists of Color, which is not very diverse itself (as it excludes journalists of color who are not Black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American — just ask them. I did.) Despite UNITY’s failings as an organization, the study showed that only “one in 10 of the journalists covering the nation’s capital for major newspapers and news groups are minorities.”

Last week, Variety reported that the major television networks were becoming more diverse. Latinos have a higher representation in the television medium, although images of Asian and American Indians are “lagging behind.” I know Saturday morning is filled with Hispanic themed cartoons for my kid, and George Lopez has his own comedy sitcom.

Our diversity as journalists is not diverse enough, apparently. And, clearly, we talk about diversity a lot.

But when it comes down to practicing diversity, well, that’s another story, I guess.

So I shouldn’t hold my breath that one day we’ll have a TV sitcom featuring Arabs, nor will we have many newspapers that published columns by Arab Americans. God forbid a newspaper would be so unpatriotic.

Okay. I’ll get off my “falafel box” (soapbox in Arabic) for the moment. But not long.

Ray Hanania
www.ArabWritersGroup.com

Looking for a story idea? Looking for a story?

Why not choose one that makes the world just a little smaller for your readers and viewers?

That’s where Global Voices Online comes in. The website was founded by Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Here what it is:

The site features the work of bloggers from all around the world. The bloggers’ material has been summarized (and in many cases, translated as well). Many of the bloggers communicate ideas not covered by their country’s mainstream press.

So what you are really getting are the “un-heard” voices of a particular country. That might give you a good idea of how to make those global stories local, such as looking for an immigrant community in your town and writing about what’s on their mind. The work of the bloggers in their home country gives you a good start.

Go to: http//www.globalvoicesonline.org/about/

I was a 25-year-old reporter for The Associated Press when I first heard about the National Association of Black Journalists. I was based in Tallahassee, Florida, as the state’s chief political writer and correspondent for the AP, so I got invited to a number of journalism-related social events. One of them was a dinner with Bob McGruder, the late executive editor of The Detroit Free Press. He had just finished a speaking engagement at Florida A&M University’s journalism school.

“Are you going to the convention,” Bob asked me as I took a seat across from him in an Italian restaurant.

“Convention?”

“The NABJ convention. Don’t tell me you’re not a member.”

“Never heard of it,” I said.

“Well, now you have,” Bob replied.

So my wife, who was in graduate school studying mass communication at the time, and I drove to New Orleans, site of the 1984 convention. I had never been to New Orleans — yes, I was too “square” to go to Madri Gras when I was in college — and was looking forward to the city’s magic. It was one of the country’s “Chocolate Cities,” with a majority-black population, a black mayor, a powerful black political class, two black colleges and a large black middle class.

I pulled up to the front of the hotel. A short man, also black, looked at me with disdain as I got out of the car and handed him the keys.

“What the hell you want me to do with these,” he said, handing the keys back to me.

He had on a shirt that indicated he worked for the hotel. And he was standing by a sign that said “Valet parking.”

“Aren’t you the valet?”

“You don’t have money for a tip. Park across the street in the lot.”

Whoa! That was pretty rude. Glenda, my wife, calmed me down and said let’s just park the car and don’t cuss that man out, Mike. I parked, walked into the hotel and found the NABJ registration desk. I was excited about going to my first convention. I was still pretty green as a journalist, even though I had been promoted often and early, and the only famous black journalist I knew up to that point had been Reg Stuart, then the Southern correspondent for The New York Times.

Another of those famous journalists was in front of me at the registration desk. I knew that Mal Johnson was a pioneering reporter in Washington, D.C. I didn’t know at that moment that she was among the founders; heck,  I barely knew the current officers (I didn’t know at that moment that Mal was treasurer) let alone the founders.

I had mailed the registration fees for me and Glenda to the required address about two weeks earlier.

“McQueen,” I announced. “Michael and Glenda McQueen.”

Mal didn’t bother to search the file. “Why are you telling me your name?” she asked.

“I thought you needed that to look up my registration material,” I said.

“No need to. You’re not registered. I know everyone who is and you’re not. Now, when you’re tired of playing games with me and want to pay your rightful money for you and your lady friend..”

“That’s my wife!” I interrupted.

“..your little friend there, let me know. Otherwise, move aside while I handle the paying customers.”

Then she turned her attention to someone else. I was fuming. I knew that I had sent the materials in. I walked toward a pay phone, although I had no idea who I could call, and then I came back to the registration desk.

“Look. I’m registered,” I said, slowly. “Look through your list for my name.”

“No,” Mal said.

“No?”

“Yes, no. I know your name. It was on your check. The check bounced. As if you didn’t know that. So we don’t have any money from you. Now, I was trying not to call you out in front of all these people.”

Mal said I would have to pay on the spot. I thought she was rude as hell and, combined with the reception I had received from the valet, I began to think that maybe I didn’t belong in NABJ.

I found out that Mal Johnson was rough on everyone. She held NABJ together during his formative years by dealing sternly with threats to its revenue base. My returned check represented a threat to NABJ’s revenue base. So as far as Mal was concerned, I was the enemy.

Mal was treasurer for eight years. Sadly, my first year with NABJ was Mal’s last as treasurer. Members, perhaps a little fed-up with Mal’s heavy-handed style, elected Tom Morgan of The New York Times for that position. Tom, an eloquent speaker with movie-star looks, promised  member customer service and transparency. Mal promised to ward off all threats to NABJ’s revenue base and reminded members — many of whom were like me, young with no ties to the Old Guard — that if it were not for her, there would not be an NABJ. The scoundrels that you people elected to office — she said, no doubt shaking her head from side-to-side – would have long since led this organization into bankruptcy.

Again, I had no attachment to the Old Guard. Tom was closer to our age and he represented the future. Mal slowly tapered off her activities with NABJ and by the time I joined the NABJ board of directors three years later as director for the Southeast, I had stopped seeing Mal. Maybe she was at the conventions, but I was too busy fronting as a big-shot to notice.

As many of you know, Mal died last week in Fairfax County, Virginia. She was suffering from diabetes. She was 85.

There are a lot of NABJ members who have far more star appeal than Mal. She was a worker, a field hand, if you will permit me to use that term in the context of a fellow African-American. She made the operation work. She knew that she would be unpopular, that some might even hate her. But she knew she had a larger obligation to ensure the future of the enterprise and to make sure young black journalists — so many of whom, like me in 1984, needed to wrap ourselves in the warmth and love of fellow black journalists so that we could endure the travails of working in nearly all-white newsrooms — had a place each year to call home, to say that hundreds, and now thousands, of fellow black journalists were “family.”

Yes, I had a rude introduction to NABJ. But that lasted only an hour or so. Since then, I and thousands of other black journalists, have received so many blessings from NABJ. I personally received two job offers at conventions, following through on one. Many of us will never be able to repay our debt to the organization. I can go into any large city in this country, pick up the phone and call a fellow NABJ member. They won’t make excuses about being too busy for a meal or a drink or just a quick visit to their office. We’re family. NABJ family.

This is what Mal helped protect. And it is the legacy of Mal Johnson — putting NABJ before self — that continues to fuel the organization.

Rest in peace, Sister Mal.