CNN Host Sorry for Question; Beloved Dad Becomes Pariah
"CNN anchor Don Lemon took to the airwaves Wednesday afternoon to respond to the massive uproar over his Tuesday evening question to an alleged Bill Cosby rape victim," Andrew Kirell reported for Mediaite.
The response took place on a day when "NBC — the network that roared back to television supremacy in the 1980s thanks to Cosby's warmhearted family sitcom — joined the list of entertainment companies and TV programs that have abandoned projects or distanced themselves from the 77-year-old comedian and actor amid the cascade of shocking headlines," as Paul Farhi reported for the Washington Post.
"NBC scrapped development of an upcoming TV sitcom starring Cosby, one day after Netflix, the video streaming service, backed away from a special that would have saluted Cosby for his long career and comic gifts. Also on Wednesday, cable's TVLand channel said it would stop airing re-runs of 'The Cosby Show,' his iconic, career-making sitcom. Scheduled appearances on 'The Queen Latifah Show' and 'Late Show with David Letterman' have also been canceled in recent weeks," Farhi wrote.
Kirell quoted Lemon for Mediaite. " 'As a victim myself I would never want to suggest that any victim could have prevented a rape,' Lemon said during today's 3 p.m. broadcast. 'If my question struck anyone as insensitive, I’m sorry as that was not my intention.'
"There has been an overwhelmingly negative reaction to Lemon telling Joan Tarshis that 'there are ways not to perform oral sex if you didn't want to do it,' including 'the using of the teeth.' "
Some news accounts used words more graphic than the delicate phrasing Lemon attempted in his Tuesday interview. "CNN anchor Don Lemon faced biting criticism after suggesting to Bill Cosby rape accuser Joan Tarshis that she take a bite out of the comedian's penis rather than perform oral sex," reported the tabloid Daily News in New York.
Lemon has been criticized for his controversial comments since CNN elevated his profile last year and encouraged him to offer opinions. On Wednesday, Jessica Roy of New York magazine compiled "6 of Don Lemon's Worst TV Gaffes." The remarks have grated on some black journalists as CNN has eliminated or reduced the visibility of other black journalists considered to have more gravitas.
Lemon and Cosby have bonded over the issue of "personal responsibility" among African Americans. In September 2013, Mediaite reported on an appearance by Cosby on "CNN Newsroom," hosted by Lemon. "Cosby talked to Lemon about young black men raising their kids, over-medication of juvenile inmates, and may have even coined a new word: 'No-groes,' " Mediaite wrote.
It added, "For the past few months, Don Lemon has courted controversy with several segments pegged to his general agreement with comments by Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly, aimed at solving problems within the black community. Legendary comic actor Bill Cosby has also stirred controversy by airing grievances against his community, but neither Lemon nor Cosby have backed away from their criticisms. . . ."
The allegations about Cosby, some decades old, have given rise to charges that journalists have downplayed them over the years. Jim Naureckas of Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting asserted Monday that "the rape allegations have received remarkably little coverage since they first emerged almost a decade ago."
Mark Whitaker, the former Newsweek editor whose biography of Cosby was published in September, has responded to such charges about his own book by stating the difficulty of establishing the truth.
"There are other stories and allegations about Cosby's relations with women and behavior that have circulated but that ultimately I felt I couldn't independently confirm," Whitaker said recently. "There were no definitive court findings, either nothing into the criminal justice system or there were no independent witnesses and I knew that this was going to be talked about when my book came out but I didn't want to be in a position where I repeated allegations that I couldn't independently confirm."
On Thursday, the Associated Press released a Nov. 6 video clip of Cosby asking an AP reporter to "scuttle" an interview segment in which he refused to address the rape allegations.
[" 'I would appreciate it if it was scuttled,' Cosby says," Amanda Taub reported for vox.com. " 'I think that if you want to consider yourself as serious, then it will not appear anywhere.' An off-camera Cosby associate can then be heard insisting that another AP reporter, Lynn Elber, had agreed not to question Cosby about the rape allegations, implying that there was some sort of AP policy against covering the issue.
"The AP obviously refused to accede to Cosby's demands not to show the interview. But how many times, over the years, have reporters agreed not to question Cosby about the rape allegations? How many times has he succeeded in having such interview segments quashed? . . ."]
On Wednesday, blogger Ta-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic recalled that he spent parts of 2006 and 2007 following Cosby around the country after the entertainer declared in 2004 that some black youth were, in Coates' words, "morally unworthy of their very heritage."
Coates wrote, "I published a reported essay in 2008, in this magazine, on these call-outs. In that essay, there is a brief and limp mention of the accusations against Cosby. Despite my opinions on Cosby suffusing the piece, there was no opinion offered on the rape accusations.
"This is not because I did not have an opinion. I felt at the time that I was taking on Cosby's moralizing and wanted to stand on those things that I could definitively prove. Lacking physical evidence, adjudicating rape accusations is a murky business for journalists. But believing Bill Cosby does not require you to take one person's word over another — it requires you take one person's word over 15 others.
"At the time I wrote the piece, it was 13 peoples' word — and I believed them. Put differently, I believed that Bill Cosby was a rapist."
Coates concluded, "The subject was morality — and yet one of the biggest accusations of immorality was left for a few sentences, was rendered invisible.
"I don't have many writing regrets. But this is one of them. I regret not saying what I thought of the accusations, and then pursuing those thoughts. I regret it because the lack of pursuit puts me in league with people who either looked away, or did not look hard enough. I take it as a personal admonition to always go there, to never flinch, to never look away."
Michael Arceneaux, NewsOne: Don Lemon's Apology To Alleged Cosby Rape Victim Is Not Enough
David Bauder, Associated Press: Model-TV Host Dickinson Accuses Cosby of Assault
Bill Carter, Graham Bowley and Lorne Manly, New York Times: Comeback by Bill Cosby Unravels as Rape Claims Re-emerge
Cynthia Littleton, Variety: NBC Pulls Bill Cosby Comedy Project Amid Rape Allegations
David A. Love, the Grio: As Cosby rape accusations escalate, expect division along racial lines
Jason Lynch, adweek.com: How Bill Cosby Went From TV’s 'Most Persuasive' Pitchman to Its Most Radioactive
Kevin Merida, Washington Post: Cos and Effect: Bill Cosby Sparked a Debate. Will His Own Troubles Snuff It Out? (Feb. 20, 2005)
Mary Mitchell, Chicago Sun-Times: Don't dismiss Cosby's accusers
Jason Molinet, Daily News, New York: CNN anchor Don Lemon apologizes after telling Bill Cosby rape accuser Joan Tarshis, 'There are ways not to perform oral sex' (VIDEO)
Frazier Moore, Associated Press: Bill Cosby hunkers down as rape scandal rages
Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Cosby loses his claim to good-guy image
Alyssa Rosenberg, Washington Post: We don't need another Cosby show
Broadcast Networks Opt Out of Obama Immigration Speech
Cable news television networks, but not their commercial broadcast counterparts, plan to carry President Obama's prime-time address on immigration Thursday, in which he will assert "his authority to protect up to five million undocumented immigrants from deportation, the White House said, and setting in motion an immediate confrontation with Republicans about the limits of a president’s executive powers," in the words of Michael D. Shear and Julia Preston of the New York Times.
"In a video posted on the White House website Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Obama said that he would deliver the 8 p.m. speech from the White House to announce 'steps that I can take to start fixing our broken immigration system,' " they wrote.
Brian Flood wrote Wednesday for TV Newser, "According to network insiders, the White House did not request time from the networks for tomorrow night's primetime speech."
Dominic Patten added for Deadline Hollywood, "ABC has the fall finale for Grey’s Anatomy on at that time, while CBS has ratings powerhouse The Big Bang Theory, NBC has reality show The Biggest Loser and Fox has Bones. . . ."
Unlike the commercial broadcast networks, PBS will provide live "PBS Newshour" coverage starting at 8 p.m., spokeswoman Jan McNamara told Journal-isms.
Spokeswomen for ABC, NBC and CBS confirmed that their broadcast outlets will not carry the speech. However, Julie Townsend of ABC News added by email, "it will be carried on all our ABC News digital platforms, including Apple TV, and radio."
Erika Masonhall of NBC News said by email, "We will stream it live on NBCNews.com and our NewsChannel service will offer a feed to stations — and I understand that MSNBC and Telemundo will carry it as well."
At the Spanish-language networks, the speech seems more of a priority.
Monica Talan of Univision said by email, "Univision Network will air the POTUS announcement regarding Executive Action on Immigration live tomorrow. We will proceed with our coverage plans for the Latin GRAMMY's, immediately following the President's remarks. Complete coverage of the announcement, reactions and what it means for the US will be covered across Univision's news platforms, as well as on the Network's 'Despierta America' morning show."
At Telemundo, "Besides the speech, which we will broadcast live, we will offer commentary and analysis with Jose Diaz-Balart and Maria Celeste Arraras from Washington, D.C.," spokesman Camilo Pino messaged. At CNN en Español, Isabel Bucaram provided this schedule by email, all times Eastern:
"Announcement at 8pm. CNNE will take live
"Washington: Ione Molinares live beginning at 6am. Juan Carlos Lopez live beginning at 4pm, 5pm, Special DUSA (Directo USA) edition show from 6pm until 10pm.
"New York: Maria Santana live beginning at 8am, 11am and 4pm. Yilber Vega live beginning at 5pm until 11pm (In watching party in [Queens]).
"Los Angeles: Gonzalo Alvarado live beginning at 4pm. ([Lynwood],CA).
"Texas: Gustavo Valdes live from McAllen/border beginning at 5pm
"Atlanta: Fernando del Rincon anchors special 1 hour show Conclusiones from 10pm-11pm."
Isabel Lara, spokeswoman for NPR, messaged, "we're making the speech available with anchored coverage special 8-9 PM."
Mariana Martinez Estens, Fox News Latino: Deported U.S. veterans push to be included in Obama's executive action
Hadas Gold, Politico: White House hits TV networks for skipping immigration address
Emil Guillermo, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund: Executive action, immigration, and nostalgia for when government really did work
Gwen Ifill with Frank Sharry and Josh Blackman, "PBS NewsHour," PBS: Debating the implications if Obama acts on immigration
David A. Love, the Grio: Obama's immigration plan is also a trap for Republicans
Ruben Navarrette Jr., Washington Post Writers Group: In a fog on immigration reform
Ali Noorani, Fox News Latino: Administrative action on immigration is only a short-term solution
Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: Obama's new attitude: Don't back down
Raúl A. Reyes, Fox News Latino: Like it or not, Obama's immigration action stands on solid legal footing
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: Boehner's immigration inertia forces Obama to act
Elena Shore, New America Media: Awaiting Obama's Executive Action, SF Wants to Be 'Out in Front'
Marisa Treviño, Latina Lista blog: New Pew report shows decline of undocumented immigration in 14 states, while 7 saw a rise
Coverage of Ebola Plummeted After Midterms . . .
"In early October, the GOP developed a plan to make the federal government's response to Ebola a central part of its midterm elections strategy," Matt Gertz and Rob Savillo reported Wednesday for Media Matters for America.
"Television media played into Republicans' hands, helping to foment panic about the disease. Following the diagnosis of a handful of U.S. Ebola patients, the major broadcast networks ran nearly 1,000 segments about the virus in the four weeks leading up to the elections. Coverage of the disease plummeted in the two weeks following Election Day, with the same networks running fewer than 50 total segments."
. . . Firestone's Role in Murderous Times Examined
Steve Engelberg and Robin Fields, editor-in-chief and managing editor, respectively, wrote this note to readers Wednesday for ProPublica:
"Uncovering buried history is one of the great traditions of investigative journalism.
"Today, with 'Firestone and the Warlord,' ProPublica, in collaboration with PBS FRONTLINE, publishes the extraordinary, untold story of one chapter in Liberia's civil war, one of the 20th century's ugliest. The story explores the unexamined role of an iconic American company in the rise to power of Charles Taylor, a murderous politician hungry for power in one of Africa's most volatile and vulnerable countries. . . ."
They also wrote, "The history it lays bare reverberates into the present. With the world watching, Liberia's civic institutions have buckled in the face of the crisis over Ebola. This story traces a critical passage in the wars that have left Liberia so wounded and imperiled. . . ."
Jarvis DeBerry, NOLA.com | the Times-Picayune: Dallas hospital apologizes for sending away Ebola patient, settles with his survivors (Nov. 13)
Juan Gonzalez, Daily News, New York: Dr. Craig Spencer walks out of Bellevue, shows need for new approach to Ebola (Nov. 11)
T. Christian Miller and Jonathan Jones, ProPublica: Firestone and the Warlord: The untold story of Firestone, Charles Taylor and the tragedy of Liberia.
Amanda Zamora, ProPublica: Discussion Transcript: Firestone and the Warlord
NBC News Senior Leadership Team Not So Colorful
In January, "NBC News president Deborah Turness sent out this org chart of her senior leadership team," Chris Ariens noted in TVNewser on Tuesday, referring to a chart that showed no people of color. Is there racial diversity in the leadership team? A NBC News spokeswoman did not reply to an inquiry from Journal-isms Wednesday asking that question.
The team once looked different. In 2007, Steve Capus, Turness' predecessor as president of NBC News, received the Ida B. Wells Award from the National Association of Black Journalists for his diversity efforts. Capus was praised then for appointing two African American vice presidents, Mark Whitaker and Lyne Pitts, both of whom later left the network.
Capus' departure from the network in 2013 meant an expanded role for Antoine Sanfuentes, senior vice president of NBC News and Capus' chief deputy. However, Sanfuentes, then the highest ranking Latino at a mainstream network, left when Turness arrived. She is a former editor of Britain's ITV News.
Teta Alim, current.org: By shifting focus, Whiteness Project aims for deeper discussion of race in America
3 Journalists of Color Hired for "Black Grantland"
Jesse Washington, race relations reporter for the Associated Press, Danielle Cadet, former editor of HuffPost BlackVoices, and Ryan Cortes, a freelance writer who has written for Broward New Times in Florida, are joining Jason Whitlock's soon-to-launch site for ESPN that has been dubbed "Black Grantland," ESPN announced on Tuesday.
The hiring of the three journalists of color comes a day after news of the expected hiring of Mike Wise, a white sports columnist for the Washington Post, caused concern among black sports writers that Whitlock was betraying the stated purpose of the site — to develop African American sports writing talent.
According to the news release, the site is to "provide in-depth coverage, commentary and insight on sports, race and culture directed [toward] the African-American audience.
"Jesse Washington, a veteran writer and editor, joins the project as a senior writer, based on the East Coast. Danielle Cadet, a former writer/editor for 'The Huffington Post Black Voices,' will be a senior editor for the site, based in Los Angeles, Calif. Ryan Cortes will be based in Los Angeles as a staff writer.
" 'Jesse, Danielle and Ryan represent the diversity of perspective, experience and background it will take to cover the intersection of sports, race and culture in an impactful, thoughtful and fair way,' said Whitlock, the site's founder and editor-in-chief. 'I'm honored they've joined us on this important journey.'
"Washington joins ESPN from the Associated Press where he has been the national writer on race and ethnicity since July 2008. Previously, he held several positions as AP's entertainment editor, editor in chief of Blaze magazine, and managing editor of Vibe magazine.
"A Yale University graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in English, Washington is author of [Black Will Shoot: A Novel] about the hip-hop culture.
"Cadet joins Whitlock’s ESPN project from 'The Huffington Post Black Voices' where she led the site's breaking news coverage of several national stories, including the Trayvon Martin murder case in Florida and the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer and its resultant civil protests in Ferguson, Mo.
"Cadet holds bachelor and master's degrees from the Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. She was named on Ebony.com’' list of '8 Dynamic Black Women Editors in New Media' in March 2013.
"Cortes joins ESPN after contributing to several media outlets, including the 'Broward New Times' in South Florida, Lifestyle Magazine group, Life Publications and others. He is [a] multimedia journalism graduate of Florida Atlantic University and was named the Florida College Press Association's 2012 College Journalist of the Year."
Whitlock's first hire was executive editor Amy DuBois Barnett, former editor in chief of Ebony magazine
Grantland is the sports and pop culture website founded by Bill Simmons, sports columnist, analyst, author and podcaster. It is known for its "longform" journalism.
Company Pulls Ads From KSTP-TV Over "#Pointergate"
"UCare, a Minneapolis based health-insurance provider, has pulled its advertising from KSTP-TV after the station aired a controversial news story suggesting that Mayor Betsy Hodges and a young black canvasser posed for a photo while flashing a hand signal associated with a North Side gang," Libor Jany reported Monday for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.
"Dan Ness, UCare marketing director, declined to say how much the company spent a year on air time, but said that the number was in the five figures. 'I pulled the ads, because I didn't want the UCare brand associated with an organization that appeared to denigrate an entire (segment) of the community,' Ness said on Monday afternoon. . . ."
The mayor told Minnesota Public Radio that the KSTP story wasn't really about hand signals. "It was about judgments based on race," she said, according to Michael Malone, reporting Wednesday for Broadcasting & Cable.
Malone added, "KSTP has, all the while, stood by its story, saying it showed the photo to as many as nine police officers, who agreed that the hand signals looked gang-related. . . ."
Erin Golden, Star Tribune, Minneapolis: Mayor Hodges to meet with police union president
Tim Harlan-Marks, Matt Barthelemy, Sam Gould, Sarah Goodspeed and Samantha Pree-Stinson, Star Tribune, Minneapolis: Pointergate reveals a key cause of city's cop problems
USA Today Finds Widespread Racial Disparity in Arrests
"When it comes to racially lopsided arrests, the most remarkable thing about Ferguson, Mo., might be just how ordinary it is," Brad Heath reported Wednesday for USA Today.
"Police in Ferguson — which erupted into days of racially charged unrest after a white officer killed an unarmed black teen — arrest black people at a rate nearly three times higher than people of other races.
"At least 1,581 other police departments across the USA arrest black people at rates even more skewed than in Ferguson, a USA TODAY analysis of arrest records shows. That includes departments in cities as large and diverse as Chicago and San Francisco and in the suburbs that encircle St. Louis, New York and Detroit.
"Those disparities are easier to measure than they are to explain. . . "
Sharpton Calls N.Y. Times Report on His Taxes Misleading
"The Rev. Al Sharpton on Wednesday sharply criticized a New York Times article that explored his history of unpaid taxes, rent and other bills, calling the report 'misleading and totally out of context.' " Russ Buettner reported Wednesday for the Times.
"During a news conference at the headquarters of his National Action Network in Harlem, Mr. Sharpton sought to refute the article's assertion that there were $4.5 million in state and federal tax liens outstanding against him and the for-profit businesses he controls. He said that the liens had been paid down, although he declined to say by how much, and that he was 'current on all taxes' he was obligated to pay under settlement agreements with tax authorities.
" 'We're talking about old taxes,' he said, adding: 'We're not talking about anything new. So all of this, as if I'm not paying taxes while I'm doing whatever I'm doing, it reads all right, but it just is not true.'
"State and federal tax records show, however, that the liens against Mr. Sharpton and his businesses remain active, meaning they have not been completely paid off. The article also noted that Mr. Sharpton had said in an interview that he had paid off some of the debt. . . ."
Sascha Brodsky, Reuters: Activist Sharpton denies New York Times report on unpaid taxes
Mark Joyella, TVNewser: Brit Hume: MSNBC's Al Sharpton 'A Tax Cheat And A Crook'
NPR Looks at Asian Motivations for Eyelid Surgery
NPR's "Code Switch" Monday began the first in a two-part series "looking at the history and motivations behind the Asian blepharoplasty, popularly known as 'double- eyelid surgery.'
"Stepping past the controversy — Is it appropriate to get this surgery? What beauty standards are you abiding by or reinforcing? — I wanted to get at the why," Kat Chow wrote. "Why some of us get the surgery, why some of us don't, or why everyone seems to have an opinion about those who seek it. I spoke with many people who had the surgery, considered it or chose not to get it. But to understand how the surgery became so common, I found it helpful to dig into its history, which goes back more than a century.
"In February 1895, an unnamed special correspondent for the Los Angeles Times wrote about this surgery in Japan.
" 'In their efforts to acquire recognition in the civilized world, the Japanese have found their greatest barrier in the unmistakable mark of their Mongolian origin,' writes the unnamed author. 'The prejudice against Mongolians is undeniable, and among the Japs, the slanted eye being its only evidence, the curse is being removed.' . . ."
In 2013, talk and reality show host Julie Chen revealed that comments from a news director led to her developing a complex about her Asian heritage that ended in plastic surgery.
Vesko Cholakov blog: Rules of Attraction: Why White Men Marry Asian Women and Asian Men Don't Marry White Women (July 29)
Kat Chow, NPR "Code Switch": The Many Stories Behind Double-Eyelid Surgery
14 Nigerian Journalists Abducted by Youth Gang
"Fourteen Nigerian journalists were abducted in a speedboat ambush by a gang of youths and beaten in what appears to be part of the rivalry between two communities — the Ijaw and Itsekiri peoples — on the Niger Delta," Roy Greenslade reported Wednesday for Britain's Guardian newspaper.
"The journalists were returning by boat from an Itsekiri press conference about a $16bn gas project in the Warri area of the delta when the gang came alongside and boarded them.
"Several journalists were beaten when they refused to hand over cameras and recording equipment. The Ijaw gang then demobilised the boat and ransacked the belongings of the journalists and six other people aboard, who included Kiki, an Itsekiri youth leader.
"All were forced into other boats and taken hostage to what appeared to be the gang's hideaway. The journalists were held for six hours, during which the boat driver and one of the journalists, Emma Arubi, senior correspondent of the Daily Independent, were badly beaten. . . ."
Temidayo Akinsuyi, Daily Independent, Nigeria: Daily Independent Reporter, Arubi, 13 Journalists Kidnapped in Warri
Emma Amaize, Vanguard, Nigeria: Untold story of how 14 journalists were abducted
Leadership, Nigeria: Leadership Regional Editor, Others Abducted in Warri
"Listeners who tuned in to hear the Tom Joyner Morning Show on K-Soul 94.5 got a big surprise Monday morning," David Schechter reported Monday for WFAA-TV in Dallas. "Joyner was gone. . . . Radio One switched the format of K-Soul to a new platform called Boom, which now plays classic hip-hop. . . . his voice is no longer heard in his hometown. . . ." Joyner spokesman Marty Raab told Journal-isms by email that the show is still available via "live stream every morning from 5am – 9am and then repeated throughout the day. They can stream online around the clock on BlackAmericaWeb.com and download the Tom Joyner Morning Show app on their smart phones as well http://bit.ly/TJMSApp."
The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications implemented a diversity requirement for its freshman class this academic year, Jeanne Kuang reported Wednesday for the Daily Northwestern. "The academic component of the requirement would mandate students take a course designed to achieve four learning outcomes, including demonstrating the ability to think critically about social inequalities and the diversity of social, political, cultural, economic and scientific experiences. The requirement also includes an extracurricular component involving Sustained Dialogue discussions." Medill faculty are developing more courses that would fit the requirement, Kuang reported, quoting Medill Associate Professor Patti Wolter, chair of Medill's curriculum committee.
"As issues of police brutality and accountability continue to receive national attention, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll shows about half of Americans aren't convinced calling law enforcement is an effective way to peacefully resolve a dispute," Nick Wing reported Monday for HuffPost LatinoVoices. Wing also wrote, "White respondents were more likely than any other race polled to say they thought police would resolve a situation peacefully, while black respondents were the most likely to say police would make it more volatile. . . ."
"Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in one of the four major North American professional leagues, announced his retirement Wednesday after 13 years in the NBA . . .," Melissa Murphy reported Wednesday for the Associated Press. "The 35-year-old Collins disclosed his plans in a first-person story for Sports Illustrated. It's the same forum he used in April, 2013, to publicly reveal his sexuality. He was signed by the Brooklyn Nets in February and played 22 games for the team . . . "
"From September 7 through September 21, FAIR analyzed the major Sunday chat shows," Peter Hart reported Friday for Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting. He also wrote, "On the high-profile Sunday talkshows, 89 guests were invited to talk about the war. But just one, Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel, could be coded as an anti-war guest. . . ."
Natalie Pierre, a Florida State beat writer for the Tallahassee Democrat who resigned after she was found to have plagiarized from a freelancer's story, has been hired as a sports writer for al.com. Roy S. Johnson, director, sports for the Alabama Media Group, which includes al.com, tweeted on Wednesday, "Really proud to work for a company that believes in 2d chances, when merited; proud to welcome @Natalie_Pierre to @aldotcom sports team and…… proud of how @Natalie_Pierre has handled…everything. With honesty and openness. Looking forward to great work from her on @aldotcom sports."
Ann M. Simmons of the Los Angeles Times, who recently reported from Russia, wrote Wednesday about the descendants of the "hundreds of blacks who traveled to the Soviet Union in the two decades after the 1917 Russian Revolution. Some were hard-core Communists. Others were curious adventurers." Simmons added, "Today, fewer than 50 descendants of these African Americans are believed to still live in Russia. . . ."
On Monday, before the failed Senate motion backing the Keystone XL pipeline, Tim Giago write for indianz.com, "South Dakota's Republican leadership of John Thune and Kristi Noem always march lockstep with the other Republican robots. Neither of them care that South Dakota's largest minority, the people of the Great Sioux Nation, diametrically oppose the Pipeline and they also fail to understand the determination of the Indian people to stop it. . . ."
"Jimmy Soni's departure several months ago from The Huffington Post, after having risen quickly through the ranks there from serving as Arianna Huffington's chief of staff to becoming the site's powerful and traffic-obsessed managing editor, was clouded in controversy," Jeremy Barr reported Wednesday for capitalnewyork.com. "But he seems to have bounced back quickly. In addition to working on a new book and writing for a Beltway website and weekly magazine, Capital has learned that Soni also has been retained as a social media consultant for The New York Observer. . . ."
For National Adoption Month, "Evy Ramos, an evening anchor at San Antonio NBC affiliate WOAI, shared her personal adoption story on yesterday's episode of 'San Antonio Living,' " Aneya Fernando reported Tuesday for TVSpy. "Ramos revealed that she got pregnant during high school and gave her son up for adoption. . . ."
"Both sides in the now dismissed lawsuit Jared Cerullo brought against Gray Television, KAKE and news director Michael Sipes are having their say," Kevin Eck reported Wednesday for TVSpy. "Cerullo brought the suit after being fired from KAKE in 2013 for reporting and later tweeting that the defendant in a story he had been covering had pleaded guilty to murder when he had actually pleaded not guilty. Cerullo later made an on-air correction. . . ."
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday said it "calls on authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland to do their utmost to arrest and prosecute the killers of a Somali journalist and identify the motive behind the murder. Two unknown gunmen shot Abdirisak Ali Abdi multiple times at a restaurant in the northern suburb of Galkayo town, then fled the scene, according to news reports. . . . "