U.S. Asks Google to Block Anti-Muslim Video

"Latino," "Illegal Immigrant" Interchangeable to Many

"For many non-Latino Americans, the words 'Latino' and 'illegal immigrant' are one and the same," Sandra Lilley reported Wednesday for NBCLatino.com. "A new poll . . . finds over 30 percent of non-Hispanics believe a majority (over half) of Hispanics are undocumented. However, the actual figure of undocumented Hispanics in the U.S. is around 18 percent, and only 37 percent of U.S. Hispanics are actually immigrants, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. . . .

"These are some of the findings of a new poll [PDF] released by the National Hispanic Media Coalition and Latino Decisions on how media portrayals impact public opinion of Latinos and immigrants.

" 'There is widespread exposure to negative stereotypes of Latinos in the media, and exposure to these images and stereotypes does have a causal effect on people's perceptions,' explains political scientist Matt Barreto, principal at Latino Decisions.

"Non-Latinos hold some positive views of Hispanics — over 75 percent of those polled think Latinos are family-oriented (90 percent), hard-working (81 percent), religious (81 percent) and honest (76 percent). However, 1 out of 2 non-Latinos think 'welfare recipient' describes Latinos very or somewhat well (51 percent), as well as 'less educated' (50 percent), and 'refuse to learn English' (44 percent).

" 'The media is doing a disservice with coverage that is misleading the public about Latinos who live in the U.S.,' said National Hispanic Media Coalition president and CEO Alex Nogales. 'It is producing attitudes among non-Latinos that contribute to hate speech and hate crimes. We must demand that the media do a better job with its coverage,' Nogales added in a press conference in Washington D.C. today. . . ."

• Tony Castro, voxxi.com: Hispanic journalists: Dinosaurs at the LA Times
  
  
• "rebeldes," Latinorebels.com: Why Hispanic Heritage Month Fails: The Case of the EPA, Che Guevara, and Plagiarism

As "#!&% Cartoons!! 2012 — A Festival Celebrating the Political Cartoon" opened Friday in Washington, Michael Cavna, Comic Riffs blogger for the Washington Post, asked 18 editorial cartoonists, 'Not as a citizen but strictly as a cartoonist, whom would you prefer to see as our next president: Obama or Romney?" Among the respondents were Mike Peters of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, who drew the cartoon above, and Nate Beeler of the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, who drew the one below. (Story)

Obama Denies First-Term Pledge on Immigration

"President Barack Obama said Thursday in an exclusive interview with Agencia Efe, Spain's international news agency, that he had not promised to complete his entire 2008 campaign agenda, including immigration reform, during his first term but rather had said that he would begin working on it, Fox News Latino reported on Friday.

"When asked if he regretted not having been able to deliver on immigration reform, the president responded: 'No, because what a president does, or what a candidate for president does is you lay out an agenda of where you want to take your country, a vision for how we would strengthen the country and, in my case, my vision has always been how do we create a strong middle class, ladders of opportunity into the middle class.' "

Obama's statement was immediately challenged online.

Immigration lawyer Matthew Kolken, for example, posted an Associated Press video from 2008 in which candidate Obama said of immigration reform, "We can't wait 20 years from now to do it, we can't 10 years from now to do it, we need to do it by the end of my first term as president of the United States of America."

In questions prepared this week for the moderators of the upcoming presidential debates, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists suggests asking of Obama, "You promised immigration reform in the first year of your term but that never happened. . . ."

• Michael Cottman, blackamericaweb.com: Obama's Just One of the Guys
  
  
• Earl Ofari Hutchinson, syndicated: What Obama and Romney Say About the Missing Campaign Issue of Civil Rights
  
  
• Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post: Talk show hosts Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, fire up 'Poverty Tour' in Northern Virginia
  
  
• Zerlina Maxwell, thegrio.com: From Jack Ryan to Mitt Romney: Obama's foes tend to self-destruct
  
  
• Askia Muhammad, Washington Informer: Blacks Bashing Barack
  
  
• Pew Research Center for the People & the Press: Democrats Now More Positive on Campaign 2012

Redesigned USA Today: 30 Years and Counting

USA Today, which startled the newspaper industry with its consumer-focused approach to the news when it debuted 30 years ago this week, unveiled a redesigned product Friday. But an author who has written about the newspaper predicted that USA Today "is in danger of 'marking 30,' a journalistic term for coming to an end, or dying."

Lest we forget, 30 years ago, USA Today was also a beacon for diversity. As John Quinn, Gannett's chief news executive at the time, said in this space on the paper's 25th anniversary, the percentage of people of color at USA Today's founding exceeded that in the nation as well as in the newspaper industry. Of the five managing editors, two were women. At the level below them were two more women and two African Americans. The average age was 30. "More important, we had the talent we needed," Quinn said.

USA Today reported 19.8 percent journalists of color in the 2012 census of the American Society of News Editors, compared with an industry percentage of 12.3 percent. "According to the U.S. Census, the percentage of minorities in the total U.S. population is nearing 50 percent," ASNE notes.

The paper told readers on Thursday, "The new look of USA TODAY is designed to take 'visual storytelling to the next level' by displaying more color, photos and infographics . . .  The States page will contain photos for the first time, while the Weather page will sport a cleaner look.

"USA TODAY's new logo — a large circle in colors corresponding to the sections — will be an infographic that changes with the news, containing a photo or image that represents key stories of the day.

"Under [Publisher Larry] Kramer and Editor-in-Chief David Callaway, both of whom joined the company this year, USA TODAY will increase the amount of original reporting in its pages and host more videos produced by the more than 5,000 journalists at USA TODAY and other Gannett properties. . . ."

John K. Hartman, a Central Michigan University journalism professor and author of "The USA Today Way" and "The USA Today Way 2 The Future," was not impressed.

He wrote Wednesday in Editor & Publisher, "In the spirit of [founder Al] Neuharth's 'journalism of hope,' I give the Kramer/Callaway duo a chance of remaking USA Today as a digital force, but I cannot imagine it becoming a revolutionary factor online as it was in print during its first decade, and I cannot imagine Gannett devoting even a fraction of the former $1 billion subsidy to make it so.

"More likely, USA Today will be shuttered in the next three years, a product of the collective turning away from print and from the concept of being fully informed about national issues (even sports and entertainment) that has swept the country."

After Friday's unveiling of the redesign, Journal-isms asked Hartman if his views remained. "Yes," he replied by email. "Nothing positive other than hiring media columnist. Rest of the stuff has been done, more or less, in the past and has not paid off. Where is the celebration of USA Today's 30th anniversary? Redesign is a PR gimmick to distract us from reality that once innovative and once profitable icon is headed for the dumper. See: Newsweek."

• Eric Deggans blog, Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times: What do you think of USA Today's first redesign in 30 years?
  
  
• Christine Haughney, New York Times: Taking Pointers From Web Sites, USA Today Modernizes Its Look
  
  
• Al Neuharth, USA Today: Can 'old' newspapers remain relevant?
  
  
• Edmund Lee, BloombergBusinessweek: Gannett Shares Jump as Demand for Advertising Grows (Sept. 11)
  
  
• Michael Meyer, Columbia Journalism Review: USA Today’s 30th birthday bash
  
  
• USA Today video

Tony Ortega Stepping Down as Village Voice Editor

"After five and half years as editor of The Village Voice, Tony Ortega announced in a by-the-way blog post that he would be leaving to work on a book about Scientology while the music editor, Maura Johnston, took to Twitter to say she was leaving the paper as well," David Carr and Ben Sisario reported Friday for the New York Times.

"Mr. Ortega said he would leave next week and that there were staff members available to handle the transition. No successor has been named, but Mr. Ortega said that Christine Brennan, executive managing editor of the company, was looking to hire in New York, a fact he said, 'should please all the writers out there.' "

Ortega is of Mexican-American heritage and has worked at Phoenix New Times, New Times Los Angeles, the Pitch in Kansas City and New Times Broward-Palm Beach in Florida.

He told Journal-isms last year, ". . . In general, alt-weeklies not only work to increase the diversity of our staffs, but we also report on communities of color with more courage and passion than the dailies. We're fearless about taking on controversial stories that we know might upset our readers of color because we respect them as readers and don't feel they need to be patronized."

In the New York Observer Friday, Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke wrote, "sources with knowledge of the situation tell The Observer Mr. Ortega's exit from the Voice was not his decision.

"Though writing about Scientology may be Mr. Ortega's life preserver, a former staffer told us his relentless pursuit of scoops on the controversial church may have been a distraction in his final months at the paper."

Frederick Douglass Statue Headed for U.S. Capitol

"The District [of Columbia] doesn't get many victories in Congress, but the city scored an important symbolic win Wednesday as the Senate approved a measure to put a statue of abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass in the Capitol," Ben Pershing reported Wednesday for the Washington Post. "With the House having passed the bill Monday, it now heads to President Obama's desk for his signature.

"The 50 states have statues of two luminaries apiece in the Capitol, mostly in Statuary Hall. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) and other local officials have long sought the same honor for the District, but their effort had been stymied by unrelated debates over gun laws and voting rights. The Douglass statue and one of architect Pierre L’Enfant have been sitting at One Judiciary Square awaiting resolution of the issue.

"The compromise measure set to become law, allowing one statue, was authored by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) and backed by Norton. The Senate version, offered by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), passed that chamber by unanimous consent Wednesday."

Douglass published the abolitionist newspapers the North Star and Frederick Douglass' Paper in Rochester, N.Y., and his likeness graces the highest award bestowed by the National Association of Black Journalists.

• David Andreatta, Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, N.Y.: Douglass statue to be displayed in Capitol
  
  
• David W. Blight, New York Times: Voter Suppression, Then and Now
  
  
• Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times: A nod to D.C.: House OKs Frederick Douglass statue in Capitol
  
  
• Erica Taylor, "The Tom Joyner Morning Show," blackamericaweb.com: Little Known Black History Fact: Frederick Douglass Statue

Public Radio's "The Takeaway" Shrinks by Three Hours

The morning public radio show "The Takeaway" has been shrunk from four hours to one and its co-host, Celeste Headlee, granddaughter of the noted African American composer William Grant Still, has left the program, Jennifer A. Houlihan, director of publicity for New York Public Radio, told Journal-isms on Friday.

"As of Monday, September 3, The Takeaway is no longer a 4 hour morning drive program, but rather a one hour mid-morning / mid-afternoon news and talk show" hosted by John Hockenberry, Houlihan said by email.

"The Takeaway now feeds live as a one-hour program at 9am ET, with an updated version feeding at noon ET, providing stations with maximum flexibility across time zones and significantly increasing our service to West Coast stations.

"Why the change? We found that some stations were already airing The Takeaway as a post-AM drive show, and we hope this move will ensure its sustainability and service to the public radio system over the long-term.

"Upon learning of the change, Celeste asked us to release her from the Takeaway so she could pursue other opportunities, such as covering the conventions for PBS. Celeste had obviously been an incredible asset to the Takeaway."

Houlihan said "The Takeaway" airs on about 60 stations.

According to Headlee's bio, "In addition to her journalistic background, Headlee is a classically trained soprano who has performed at the Michigan Opera Theater and various recitals around the country. She has contributed pieces to Chamber Music magazine, and is the granddaughter of 'The Dean of African American composers,' William Grant Still."

Native Journalists to Do Without Interim Director

The Native American Journalists Association plans to name a new executive director about Nov. 15, President Rhonda LeValdo told Journal-isms on Friday, and will do without an interim director to succeed Jeff Harjo, who announced his resignation last month.

"We launched our search for a new executive director last week just after Jeff's last day with NAJA, and we expect that we will begin interviewing candidates in October and name a new executive director later this fall," LeValdo said by email.

"As far as appointing an interim, we decided against doing so and we developed a strategy to see us through the next two months. Our treasurer Tristan Ahtone is currently working with our accountant to put together the budget for the 2013 FY; I am overseeing overall operations, polices and wrap up from the UNITY convention; [Vice President] Mary Hudetz is working with a strong local committee on early planning for the 2013 conference; we have our board members as well contributing to daily tasks. We have an office assistant who is handling other duties for us, including processing new membership applications and bills, and answering phones in our headquarters."

The particulars of the executive director position are on the NAJA home page, www.naja.com.

Sharon McGhee, WVON News Director, Dies at 55

"Maybe you call it moxie, or chutzpah, or swagger. By whatever name, Sharon McGhee had it," Maureen O'Donnell wrote Wednesday for the Chicago Sun-Times.

"After the radio station where she worked in St. Louis changed formats, she drove to Chicago in 1997, determined to get a meeting with the boss at WVON Radio, Melody Spann-Cooper.

"She succeeded by stationing herself in the lobby — for four days.

"Spann-Cooper was impressed.

" 'She sat in the lobby until I would see her,' Spann-Cooper said. 'I almost hired her on the spot when I sat down and listened to her tape.'

"Ms. McGhee, who went on to become WVON's news director as well as a talk-show host, died Tuesday of ovarian cancer at the Columbia, Mo., home of her brother, Ivan McGhee. She was 55.

"In addition to her career as a broadcaster, Ms. McGhee also was a playwright. Her work grew out of her concern about the high rate of HIV/AIDS among black women and the success of 'The Vagina Monologues,' based on women's personal stories about their sexuality. Ms. McGhee called her production 'The PocketBook Monologues,' for the delicate reference for intimate parts used among some older African-American women. The play was dubbed 'The Vagina Monologues with Soul.' . . ."