Check out the link to this Washington Post story. I have to admit, when I heard Tavis Smiley was organizing a debate on minority issues for Republican candidates at Morgan State, I said, "how in the heck did he pull that off?" Well seven days before the debate and they are dropping like addicts at a Rolling Stones concert. I'm willing to bet not even half of the Republican field will show up. Actually, Democrats haven't done much better in some respects. Remember my story at the NABJ convention where only Hilliary Clinton and Barack Obama showed up. John Edwards would only come if he was a keynote speaker at one of the night meal functions. Ha! At least Edwards replied. NABJ didn't get a response from a single Republican candidate and the other Democrats. We have had a tradition of hosting both Democratic and Republican candidates. It tells you a lot, or at least I think so. And come up with a better excuse than a "scheduling conflict." C'mon, that's not even real. You set your own schedule and when you have two things going on at the same time, you decided which one you want to attend and which one you will skip. Black folks and other minorities are getting skipped an awful lot this election cycle. When will we wake up? I know, I'm getting crabby in my old age. Enjoy the article and let me know what you think and how we ask journalists and communicators should respond to this affront? -- Clyde Hughes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/
09/18/AR2007091801781.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
The Media & the Jena 6: Are We On Board?
The influence of bloggers and the internet has been realized again with the coverage of the Jena 6. In the past, it would have been difficult for the mainstream media to pick up a story like this in the tiny town of Jena, La. if it wasn't for internet writers informing (and many times pushing) the mainstreamers along. The case of six blacks who are (grossly over) charged in the beating of a white youth is making national headlines.
The question remains if the mainstream media "really" is on board with the coverage of this case? What does the Jena 6 mean to us in Toledo, Lafayette, Ind., and African-Americans in general. Since I'm not in Toledo, so how has The Blade, television and radio handled the Jena 6??? If you don't know what I'm talking about when I say "Jena 6," then, uh, we need to talk. LOL. NABJ national president Barbara Ciara has already sent a note to all members asking them to give coverage to what's happening there. How about you? Here is a plea from another blogger. -- Clyde Hughes
The Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition “ask that the mainstream traditional media step forward and discharge their duty to provide coverage of this vitally important event to their viewers and readers and act as “the fourth institution" of governmental "checks and balance” that constitutional framers intended the press to be.” To further this effort the Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition will embark on a ‘Day of Blogging for Justice’ on Thursday August 30th.
Jena, LA, August 29, 2007 --(PR.com)-- There is growing concern surrounding the Jena Six case in Jena Louisiana. Yet, inexplicably, the national media, most particularly on television, has been abysmally silent on an occurrence of grave social, political and legal importance.
The 'common folk' media of the blogosphere, has stepped up to the plate in the absence of adequate traditional media coverage. Bloggers have taken to hanging banners to blog side-bars and placing them in blog entries at an increasing rate; displaying the words 'Free the Jena 6' accompanied by the evocative symbolism of a noose hanging from a tree. On these blogs strategies that can assist in bringing awareness to these young targets of racist psychological abuse are finding willing participants in discussion, and action; but they need the media’s help.
This issue, like Katrina, highlights how some people receive deference in treatment over others. “The Jim Crow style racism and government negligence, reflected in the Jena 6 case, are both quite worrisome. Unfortunately, the case is another incident that points to the entrenched racial and socio-economic disparities in the South, which this country has yet to fully confront,” says political scientist Dr. Sekou Franklin of Middle Tennessee State University. As the Congressional Black Caucus has noted “…we must speak out against injustice and inequality. This tale of two standards depicts a pattern of gross violations.”
The Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition “ask that the mainstream traditional media step forward and discharge their duty to provide coverage of this vitally important event to their viewers and readers and act as “the fourth institution" of governmental "checks and balance” that constitutional framers intended the press to be.”
In furtherance of this effort the Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition will embark on a ‘Day of Blogging for Justice’ on Thursday August 30, where dozens of the coalition’s members (and all else who wish to join with them) will write entries in their blogs on behalf of these six young men who are victims of racially motivated civil rights abuses. A list of bloggers who’ve signed on to participate can be seen here: http://www.blackperspective.net/index.php/day-of-blogging-for-justice/
Along with blogger support, a united front of more than 300 concerned community members gathered at the steps of the courthouse in Jena on July 31, 2007, in a show of support for the African-American youth civil rights victims who were imprisoned after reacting to the provocation of Caucasian students who received only a school suspension of 3 days for hanging nooses from a ‘whites only’ tree in the schoolyard that all students share.
In addition to online and in-person support, those who could not travel to join others at the steps of the courthouse have added their signatures and comments, some 45,000, to petitions generated by individuals globe-wide who are appalled enough to take action.
A coalition of civic groups has formed www.freethejena6.org as a standing central location, providing solutions for those who are seeking information with intent to take action.
Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition Advisory Group:
Wayne Hicks electronicvillage.blogspot.com
D. Yobachi Boswell www.BlackPerspective.net
Francis Holland afrospear.jconserv.net/
Daz Wilson http://purplezoe.blogspot.com/
The question remains if the mainstream media "really" is on board with the coverage of this case? What does the Jena 6 mean to us in Toledo, Lafayette, Ind., and African-Americans in general. Since I'm not in Toledo, so how has The Blade, television and radio handled the Jena 6??? If you don't know what I'm talking about when I say "Jena 6," then, uh, we need to talk. LOL. NABJ national president Barbara Ciara has already sent a note to all members asking them to give coverage to what's happening there. How about you? Here is a plea from another blogger. -- Clyde Hughes
The Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition “ask that the mainstream traditional media step forward and discharge their duty to provide coverage of this vitally important event to their viewers and readers and act as “the fourth institution" of governmental "checks and balance” that constitutional framers intended the press to be.” To further this effort the Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition will embark on a ‘Day of Blogging for Justice’ on Thursday August 30th.
Jena, LA, August 29, 2007 --(PR.com)-- There is growing concern surrounding the Jena Six case in Jena Louisiana. Yet, inexplicably, the national media, most particularly on television, has been abysmally silent on an occurrence of grave social, political and legal importance.
The 'common folk' media of the blogosphere, has stepped up to the plate in the absence of adequate traditional media coverage. Bloggers have taken to hanging banners to blog side-bars and placing them in blog entries at an increasing rate; displaying the words 'Free the Jena 6' accompanied by the evocative symbolism of a noose hanging from a tree. On these blogs strategies that can assist in bringing awareness to these young targets of racist psychological abuse are finding willing participants in discussion, and action; but they need the media’s help.
This issue, like Katrina, highlights how some people receive deference in treatment over others. “The Jim Crow style racism and government negligence, reflected in the Jena 6 case, are both quite worrisome. Unfortunately, the case is another incident that points to the entrenched racial and socio-economic disparities in the South, which this country has yet to fully confront,” says political scientist Dr. Sekou Franklin of Middle Tennessee State University. As the Congressional Black Caucus has noted “…we must speak out against injustice and inequality. This tale of two standards depicts a pattern of gross violations.”
The Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition “ask that the mainstream traditional media step forward and discharge their duty to provide coverage of this vitally important event to their viewers and readers and act as “the fourth institution" of governmental "checks and balance” that constitutional framers intended the press to be.”
In furtherance of this effort the Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition will embark on a ‘Day of Blogging for Justice’ on Thursday August 30, where dozens of the coalition’s members (and all else who wish to join with them) will write entries in their blogs on behalf of these six young men who are victims of racially motivated civil rights abuses. A list of bloggers who’ve signed on to participate can be seen here: http://www.blackperspective.net/index.php/day-of-blogging-for-justice/
Along with blogger support, a united front of more than 300 concerned community members gathered at the steps of the courthouse in Jena on July 31, 2007, in a show of support for the African-American youth civil rights victims who were imprisoned after reacting to the provocation of Caucasian students who received only a school suspension of 3 days for hanging nooses from a ‘whites only’ tree in the schoolyard that all students share.
In addition to online and in-person support, those who could not travel to join others at the steps of the courthouse have added their signatures and comments, some 45,000, to petitions generated by individuals globe-wide who are appalled enough to take action.
A coalition of civic groups has formed www.freethejena6.org as a standing central location, providing solutions for those who are seeking information with intent to take action.
Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition Advisory Group:
Wayne Hicks electronicvillage.blogspot.com
D. Yobachi Boswell www.BlackPerspective.net
Francis Holland afrospear.jconserv.net/
Daz Wilson http://purplezoe.blogspot.com/
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