If you're in journalism you're on your way up or on your way down.

On the last night of this year’s National Association of Black Journalists convention my wife and I were sitting in the lobby of the Philadelphia Marriott hotel chatting and having drinks with from some colleagues commiserating about the sorry state of journalism and our place in it.

One subject that invariably comes up during these gatherings of the journalistic tribes is how hard it is to make a living as a journalist anymore.  Newspapers have gutted their staffs, the number of places where you can go online to write for are tightening their belts and the ones that pay for content are tougher than ever to break into.   It’s a buyer’s market and a lot of journalists are being shut out of it.

The cliche was “last hired, first fired” but now there’s no security for anyone.  Whites are just as likely as Blacks and Latinos to be shown the door when the next series of cuts, layoffs, buy outs, early retirements and firings come along.   Maybe it used to be the bottom feeders were the ones who had the most to worry about when they were called into the boss’ office on Friday, but now anybody can get kicked to the curb at any moment.  Job security is a joke and the few left standing doing double and triple-duty are like the last survivors in The Walking Dead.  Their time is coming soon and they know it.

I got a good laugh at the convention when I was informed the title “freelancer” is passe.  Now the vogue term is “entrepreneurial journalist” and your business is selling Brand You.  You have to have a blog, a Facebook page, a Twitter and Linkedin account.  You should have streaming media of your television and radio appearances and you should be ready to strut your stuff and show you’re a 21st Century Renaissance Man ready, willing and able to navigate the brave new world of the new media world.

Which is a crock.  You can paint your body red, white and blue, stick a flag in your navel and call yourself Yankee Doodle Dandy.  It matters less what title you go by than it does whether there are any opportunities available.  If there aren’t does it really matter what’s on your 500 free Vistaprint business cards?

There’s still work for journalists, but what work there is may not be permanent, may not be where you want to go or the type you want to do.

Listen to the optimists and the great recession sounds like a great opportunity. This is the time for the creative class to brand itself! A day job, they say, is so 20th century – as quaint and outdated as tail fins and manual sewing machines.

Thanks to laptops, cheap Internet connections and structural changes in the world economy, we’re living in a world of “free agents” – “soloists” who are “self-branding” and empowered to live flexible and self-determining lives full of meaning. We are all citizens of Freelance Nation — heirs not to the old-school stodgy, gray-flannel-suit Organization Man but to the coonskin-capped pioneers and rugged, self-made types who built this country.

Maybe Clark Kent should be Superman full-time.

But for those who must actually scrape together work in this new “gig economy” – architects, filmmakers, writers, musicians, bookstore managers, graphic designers and other downsized members of the creative class, folks made obsolete by the Internet and the current predatory style of corporations – Freelance Nation is a place where they fight to keep a home or medical insurance.

Some are losing their houses. Others are watching marriages go up in smoke or falling into heavy drinking. Still others are couch-jumping for months or years at a time. Or they’re veering close to bankruptcy because of the risk of living without medical insurance. Call it the new creative destruction.

Matthew Wake had paid his dues. Post-college, he’d worked as short-order cook, waited tables, worked construction and clerked in record stores. While he was living in New Orleans, playing guitar in bands, a girlfriend suggested he might try something less financially risky than piling into a van to play small clubs across the South: music journalism.

Wake didn’t walk right into a staff job – he wrote copy for a bank, freelanced for papers for free, sold ads and sat through three-hour town-planning meetings, all ways to break in. But after a few years he became a writer, and later editor, at several Southern papers. For his latest job, he was a staff writer at a weekly in Greenville, S.C. The paper was owned by Gannett – a famously profit-driven company. “Every quarter was like a Friday the 13th horror film,” he recalls. “‘Am I gonna be the guy that Freddie gets?’”

One day in June, he and his colleagues were called into a room and told the paper was eliminating its arts and entertainment staff: The weekly would recycle copy from other papers in the chain. It was one of about 20,000 layoffs at Gannett under former CEO Craig Dubow, who retired last month due to medical issues and left the company with a $37.1 million golden parachute.

“First,” Wake says of his life post-job, “I went through my savings the way Jane’s Addiction goes through bass players. I hit up tons and tons of publications – local, regional, national. What I’ve observed is that as times get tough, freelance is the first thing they cut.” And publications are shrinking. “Spin just went bimonthly. The Rolling Stone I get in the mail is about as thin as a brochure. There will be more rats fighting for that same piece of cheese.”

Unpleasant as working for Gannett could be, Wake lived in a three-bedroom house, buying CDs or heading to bars when he wanted to. Now, he’s moved back to his hometown – Huntsville, Ala. — and has taken a room in the house he grew up in, now owned by his attorney brother. He writes for pay when he can, and lives off what he makes taking care of his 91-year-old grandmother. “It gives me something to do so I don’t have to go back to waiting tables,” he says. “I just turned 40.”

It’s hard not to feel like he’s going backward. When Wake had a job, he was able to make some forays into collecting art. “Now I have the same Stones poster I had in college… Do I go into PR? Marketing? I go from interviewing Slash to writing copy for a Denny’s menu? It’s gonna be a weird world for a while.”

As long as there are people willing to read, there will always be a need for people willing to write.  Whether or not anyone will pay you for your words is another matter.  There will always be a place for writers, but I’m not so sure there will always be one for journalists.   It feels like an endangered profession.

This month counts as a good one for me.  I submitted an article to The Root and they published it.  It only took ten months since the last one they accepted.

You owe anyone money they’re willing to wait ten months before they get it?  You can make a nice living as a freelancer, but it’s going to take a lot of writing for $25 bucks here and $100 bucks there before you make any money at it.   That is if you can find a publisher who doesn’t expect you to write for nothing.

I wouldn’t tell a student today looking at a career to consider journalism.  No way.  If they ignored my advice and pursued the profession anyway, I’d tell them they better have a strong minor to fall back on.  Clark Kent needs Superman more than the other way around.

Reporters should be considered an endangered species.

NABJ 2011 Multimedia Short Course at FAMU

By Ameena Rasheed, Texas Southern University Journalism Major

I was able to attend the 2011 NABJ Multimedia Short Course at Florida A&M University, Sept. 8-11 and it was an exceptional experience. I learned a wealth of information that made me a better journalist and I feel the need to share those skills that I learned with my fellow NABJ students. Here we go!

1. This first tidbit is one that I received from Florida A&M University Professor Dorothy Bland. Expand your network and get involved in a multitude of journalism and professional organizations. From the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) to the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), there are a plethora of associations you can join to diversify your network. Try to shy away from keeping your circle of connections “strictly chocolate.”

2. Make sure you not only know current events, but details about historical events in history like 9/11. Don’t forget about government officials (President’s Cabinet and Supreme Court Justices) and international dignitaries. REMEMBER: Spelling counts, so make sure that you know the names of these people backwards and forwards. Many news organizations, like CNN, give current events quizzes to future employees. The last thing that you want to do is end up unemployed because of something like a misspelled name.

Y- Your brand. What is it? What are the things that no one can take from you? Integrity, hard working, attentive? Figure out what you are about.

E – Embrace a support system. Make sure that you have a mentor.

S – Skills. Know how to do it all and at the same time, become the go-to person for a certain something. Whether it is website design or producing video, find your niche.

Feel free to add in any other tips in the comments section and make sure that you check out the FAMU-NABJ blog:
http://nabjmsc2011.wordpress.com/
. I hope I was able to help another fellow NABJ student with me sharing what I learned from the short course. As you began to progress, you must always look back and help your peers. You have to “lift while you climb.”

Queen Arianna invites Black journalists to join her empire.

It occurred to me though I wrote about going to the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Philadelphia I never said anything about actually attending the convention.  Setting all the Al Sharpton drama aside, it’s worth getting into.

As much as it will distress the convention officials we didn’t stay at the official convention hotel, the Philadelphia Marriott as it was priced a bit out of our budget and since nobody pays my way to these gatherings of the tribe but me, what’s out of our budget is always a major consideration.

We stayed at The Independent, a smaller boutique hotel minus all the trappings of a major chain (no valet service, no on site gym, no parking garage and no hotel bar), but without the jacked-up prices you get for those luxuries.  The Independent was clean, comfortable and austere.  I wanted something close to the convention site because in its sprawling Center City area Philadelphia is a walking city.

The first full day of the convention kicked off with an opening ceremony and this year’s featured an address from Attorney General Eric Holder followed by a plenary session dubbed “A Conversation with Arianna Huffington,” a title that proved misleading.  It was more of a monologue than a dialogue.

Anyone who has followed this blog knows I have issues with the president and editor of The Huffington Post.  Mostly because she’s a cheap exploiter of writers and journalists who reeks of hypocrisy even while she pumps out a pseudo progressive political slant uncomfortably juxtaposed with a heavy dose of brainless celebrity worship.

Waiting for me at the hotel was a box of flyers from the The Newspaper Guild and the National Writers Union I was going to distribute at the convention asking Huffington to create a business model that promotes paying the HuffPo’s unpaid writers, photographers, cartoonists and other contributors.   Queen Arianna has shown no interest in channeling any of the $315 million AOL coughed up to buy the HuffPo into the pockets of those whose labor made the news aggregator valuable in the first place.

That morning I arrived at the cavernous Philadelphia Convention Center and left the flyers in key spots where others could find them including outside of the main ballroom where Huffington was scheduled to appear.  Representatives of the Newspaper Guild showed up to hand out more information to the attendees as well.  Many NABJ members have no idea of how sketchy Queen Arianna’s journalism practices are.

My anticipation was instead of facing questions from an audience of experienced journalists, Huffington would duck the inquiries about her wretched labor questions.   That anticipation was  confirmed.  Huffington only submitted to a few Twitter questions asked by moderator Lester Holt.  No live questioning from the floor.  That limited the scope of questions to what could be fitted into 140 characters and there was no chance to ask follow-up questions.  Queen Arianna had made sure she had a built-in escape hatch and NABJ apparently agreed to the kid gloves treatment.

Huffington fielded one question about her no pay for play practices and she blandly deflected the criticism by boasting the HuffPo has 1,300 paid staffers and nobody forces anyone to write for them.  She stuck to her standard line how contributing to the HuffPo provides a “platform” for aspiring writers, journalists and bloggers.

“People can choose to participate in the platform, if they have something they want to write that requires wider distribution, or not to participate in the platform,” Huffington said. “We are not dependent on them.”

I call bull.  Huffington built her business on the backs of the  unpaid writers she now claims she isn’t dependent upon.  Her background is one of a status-seeking socialite, not a crusading publisher.

Huffington asked her Black staffers in the audience to stand up. One of her newest hires is Christina Norman, the former CEO of the Oprah Winfrey Network, who was ousted from her position by Oprah.  Norman, who will lead the HuffPo Black Voices division is considered a major “get” by Huffington whose aspiration of creating a similar media empire lays bare her ambitions of becoming the Greek Oprah.

The two most powerful women in the media battle for global supremacy.

Huffington’s pretense as a progressive crusader is undercut by her overbearing superiority complex, barely concealed disdain for working people and phony aristocratic bearing which is never too far from swaggering into view.  Huffington is one of the most powerful women in the world and a media mogul.   She has a way to go before she becomes the universal brand that Oprah is, but don’t doubt her desire to hold the crown of Queen of All Media exclusively for herself.  She has the ambition and has already demonstrated the ruthlessness.

It was a mistake in the first place to invite a poseur and exploiter like Huffington to speak at NABJ’s convention.  What she does is the antithesis of serious journalism.  To allow her to do nothing more but announce the HuffPo was seeking contributors (unpaid,  of course) to the newly revamped AOL Black Voices site was an insult.

Attorney General Holder was left with the thankless task of being the warm-up act for Queen Arianna and brought with him a videotaped greeting to NABJ from President Obama.  Otherwise, the news value of the opening ceremony was pretty much nil except for former NBC Universal chief diversity officer Paula Madison pledging $100,000 to support the 2012 NABJ convention in New Orleans.

Madison, whose family holdings include the Africa Channel and the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks, was motivated by her wish to support NABJ which will be competing with the UNITY 2012 convention in Las Vegas for sponsors and attendees.   NABJ split from the UNITY coalition of minority journalism organizations over differences in finances, accountability and respect.    The fallout from this messy divorce hung over the entire convention and had prompted the New York Times to announce they would be attending the UNITY gathering instead of NABJ next  year.

Madison told the audience, “To every NABJ member who is wavering whether to make a choice between UNITY and NABJ, let me just say to you: If you are three blocks down the street, and folks can’t see your gender, they can see your skin color.”

The message was clear.  UNITY is nice, but you’re first, foremost and always Black and that precludes fanciful notions of reaching across the table to other groups of color.

“No matter how you define yourself, you are defined by the rest of the world as black,” Madison said.

The only decision I’ve made about NABJ in N’awlins or UNITY in Vegas is I don’t see myself in either place next summer.  Attending these conventions are expensive propositions when you’re footing the bills to be there.   The story of why NABJ split from UNITY is a long and winding road that probably needs its own post, but it comes down to the usual reasons.  Money, power and respect and the NABJ board felt it was getting enough of any of the three from UNITY.

More about that in Part 2 and how that messy separation turned what should have been a routine one-hour board meeting into a three-hour soul-searching of what NABJ stands for and where its priorities should be.

NABJ officials join Arianna in cheesin' for the camera

Related articles

• HuffPost TV: WATCH: Arianna Speaks At NABJ 2011 (huffingtonpost.com)
• Media Decoder: Black Journalist Group’s Members Want Talks on Rejoining Alliance (mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com)
• National Association of Black Journalists to open 36th convention in Philadelphia (philly.com)
• United No More: Minority Journalists Alliance Breaks Down (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)

As a writer, I’m usually quite verbose.

But right now, I’m speechless.

In the historic re-vote, I was elected NABJ Student Representative with 56 percent of the vote. Of the 156 students who cast votes, 88 of them clicked on my name.

Being the NABJ Student Rep has been a dream of mine for three years and to have finally acheived it is both exciting and humbling.

Thanks are due to the NABJ Board of Elections for conducting the re-vote despite having no precedent for how to handle it, as well as my campaign team, especially Dexter Mullins and Deron Dalton. I couldn’t have run without the support of my family – in fact, without my father’s urging I might not have ever joined NABJ when I first paid my dues four years ago.

Thank you to my friend, mentor and predacessor Georgia Dawkins for giving me the chance to serve as deputy student rep for the last year. That experience will serve as a guide as I transition onto the board.

A special tribute goes to my friend, and opponent, Marissa Evans, who gave me quite a run for my money. Marissa is a dedicated, passionate NABJ member who I’ll be honored to work with moving forward. Her energy and love for NABJ inspires me.

And to all of my Facebook friends and Twitter followers, thanks for putting up with MONTHS of campaign postings.

A huge thank you to all who voted. One goal of mine during these two years will be increasing student engagement. By the time my term is up and there is a contest for my successor, I’d love to see the number of NABJ Students who vote in that election triple.

But that won’t happen without hard work. While I’ll celebrate tonight, tomorrow I’ll get down to work – crafting my student council, getting in synch with the rest of the newly-elected board and beginning to implement my plans.

As I’ve said throughout the entire campaign, my term as student representative will be about mobilizing our student membership in new ways and keeping student issues at the forefront of NABJ’s decisions.

This is not just my NABJ, it is OUR NABJ.

Excited to serve,

Wesley.

Courtesy of wesleylowery.com.

Read the original provided information below:

“The Sports Journalism Institute is now accepting applications for its 2012 class to be held June 1-8 at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. Students will complete an eight-day class at the university followed up with paid internships in newsrooms across the country.”

“Editing and online candidates are urged to apply and may receive priority.”

Content courtesy of Sports Journalism Institute.

Click here to download the application.

On the night of the NABJ elections, the press room buzzed with energy, tension, and suspense as the results were read. When it came time to announce the winner for student representative, there was a dramatic turn in the story that no one, not even the NABJ Board, expected.

An even tie between the two candidates Marissa Evans and Wesley Lowery — earning 69 points each, a first in NABJ’s election history. This means that 138 students voted, yet we make up 1,164 members of NABJ. This could have been one of those moments in which one person could have made a difference.

I will be transparent and admit that I did not vote in this year’s election. I procrastinated when it came to do so and allowed other distractions to keep me from fulfilling my duty to my organization, peers, and self. This tie and the low number of student votes can be reflective of a number of issues that our generation struggles with: apathy, dis-concern, and perhaps lack of compassion.

In a panel discussion at the convention, Dr. Cornel West emphasized that this generation stopped caring: for our elders, our health, our spiritual well-being, and about what happens to us in government. The panel, consisted of Sophia A. Nelson, Kasim Reed, Michael Steele, and Roland S. Martin, urged the need for us to take action and do what is needed to make change happen. We can’t let this student election and re-vote fall by the wayside again-we all need to vote.

It’s apparent that we have two candidates who feel strongly about NABJ and serving us, so why can’t we support them? In the 2008 presidential election we were excited to vote and those old enough to do so will remember that historic moment for the rest of their lives. Remember that less than 100 years ago women were not allowed to vote, and slaves and Blacks were not allowed to vote in this country they helped build until 1870. We cannot operate in dis-concern or apathy in 2011, 2012 and so on. We have a stake in this organization, we pay our dues, and we work hard to come to the conventions with the little money that we have as students.

My fellow student journalists, this is a wake up call yet an opportunity to get things right. Re-voting is slated to begin August 15-22 and I will do my part and vote. I will vote with no ties or allegiance to anyone, I will vote based on the candidates’ platforms and what changes they want to make on behalf of us.

A new NABJ Board is in office and our president is the youngest to serve in the organization’s history. Greg Lee Jr. was also an NABJ student and knows what we go through now. We should be just as passionate about our rights, benefits, and opportunities in NABJ as the man who represents us all. My colleagues, we are journalists and therefore are catalysts for change and influence; let us do what is right and let our voices be heard. Participate in this unexpected and historic moment for NABJ students, all eyes are on us.

- NABJ student re-voting opened up on Monday, Aug. 15, 2011 and will end Monday, Aug. 22, 2011 at 5 p.m. EDT. In this re-vote, national student members were sent an email with a new, specific username and password to login to the voting system and cast their ballot on the morning of August 15. Here is the link to re-vote: 
https://eballot4.votenet.com/nabj

Opinions submitted by Tatianah Green, NABJ Monitor

An Open Letter from the National Association of Black Journalists to the BBC – St. Louis American: Local News.

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Libergirl, my partner in truth has been to a few NABJ(National Association of Black Journalists) Conferences and her conclusion: they’re a bunch of pretentious jerks(her opinion, of course).  Is this why they are upset because a certain civil rights leader has gotten a sweet gig(unofficially). Another network also has interest in this certain civil rights leader.

In the business that is the news industry, blacks as well as other ethnic groups make up a minute number of managers. That word business carries a lot of weight, it’s equivalent to the word ratings. As with any business you want ratings and plenty of them. Maybe Al Sharpton is better suited for the position because he can bring in the ratings as well as the viewers. Sure, he may not have a degree in journalism but he does have something some journalists don’t have; experience and lots of it.

Rev. Al is already in a position where he knows people who most journalists will never know. He  has a pretty successful radio program–”Keeping it Real.” Wouldn’t you think he’s already cemented himself as a person who is well qualified for the position? The question that remains, why the resistance from the NABJ against this voice of the voiceless? Sure Rev. Al (as he likes to be called) has had many missteps along the way. The Tawana Brawley case will forever be synonymous with him but he’s transformed himself from an overweight jogging suit wearing agitator to a slimmer designer suit wearer. He’s a more refined individual that you know you can take seriously. Just look at the National Action Network that he runs to help people in dire straights.

Rev. Al has blazed into new territory by keeping it real. He has moved into the mainstream. The NABJ should get in line and celebrate his success. When he gets on he’s able to bring others in or at least recommend others. Hopefully MSNBC will soon make it official and make him a mainstay.

John Jones

The NON-Conformist

One of the topics we discussed was one near and dear to my heart — the history and legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen.  Two weeks ago, I attended the EAA AirVenture show where a trailer for the new George Lucas film on the Airmen — Red Tails –  was screened, along with a panel discussion.  And last week, I was in Philadelphia for the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention, where Lucas did another screening and panel with Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. and Oscar-nominated Terrence Howard.

As the daughter and granddaughter of Air Force officers, I grew up listening to tales of the exploits of the Tuskegee Airmen.  When we lived at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., we went to Tuskegee to see where the Airmen trained.

I hope that this documentary will bring this important piece of aviation, military and civil rights history to the forefront yet again.  I don’t want the generations to forget just how amazing they were in their time, a time when a man — and his abilities — were judged basically by the color of his skin.

So I hope that when this film is released in January 2012, you will support it.  Take your friends, your children and your family to learn about an amazing piece of American history!  And enjoy the trailer, below.

KYW’s Matt Leon spoke with Hunt about getting this prestigious honor and his long career in sportswriting.
Listen to Matt Leon’s extended interview with Donald Hunt in this CBS Philly SportsPod…

Reported by Matt Leon, KYW Newsradio 1060

More CBS Philly Sports News

More CBS Philly Podcasts

[listicle id=55129 show_title=true]

NABJ President Gregory Lee isn't mad at Sharpton, but he's not too fond of Winbush.

A friend asked me had a NABJ member ever been asked to resign or had their membership revoked?

I replied, “I don’t know, but there’s always a first time.”

Yesterday, Gregory Lee, the newly elected president of the nation’s largest minority journalist group spoke to Richard Prince for his Journal-isms column about Sharpton’s no-show last week.

The new president of the National Association of Black Journalists says, “We are happy to see Al Sharpton get the opportunity to have a prime-time show on MSNBC.”

Gregory Lee Jr. told Journal-isms, “NABJ is just concerned about all of the cable networks” and their representation of people of color and wants “journalists to have the opportunity to host the shows on any network on cable. . . . We’d like to see journalists of color behind the scenes, as executive producers, as bookers, decision makers,” not just as hosts.

Sharpton canceled a Thursday appearance at the NABJ convention in Philadelphia because of comments by NABJ members questioning MSNBC’s reported choice of the activist to host a 6 p.m., pre-prime time show on the network, according to NABJ.

“I’m not angry at Al Sharpton,” Lee said. “I think what he read was the view of Jeff Winbush,” a Columbus, Ohio, blogger quoted in Journal-isms, “who is one member” and does not represent the entire organization. “It’s not our official stance.”

So the NABJ President essentially blamed ONE member—me–for Sharpton refusing to attending the convention.

If Lee isn’t angry at Al Sharpton is he angry at Jeff Winbush instead?

Am I misreading Lee’s remarks?  Possibly, but could it be he misread mine? 

Lee did not have to name check me. He could have said “the view of one member” and STOPPED RIGHT THERE. Instead, he chose to say one person in an organization of over 3,000 members did what Pat Buchanan, Bill O’ Reilly, Sean Hannity, Cornel West, 60 Minutes and countless others could not do: make Sharpton opt to take a pass.

I do appreciate President Lee giving one blogger from Columbus so much juice, but I don’t think it’s warranted. I also don’t think I deserve to be thrown under the bus because I said something that no one has offered a serious rebuttal to. At least nobody in the NABJ leadership.

I’m annoyed my new president is not supporting one of his members, but not terribly surprised. At least I know now how much NABJ has my back. Not.At.All.

For the past few weeks I thought I had a problem with Reverend Sharpton.   My mistake.  It now appears my real problem is with the organization I pay membership dues to. 

There probably are some who would be pleased if I were to resign from NABJ. That pleasure will be deferred until my membership lapses. But quit? I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

"Hello NABJ. I must be going."

This would still be just another non-journalist media “celebrity” receiving a TV show based upon their name recognition, not their years of experience, training, ability and talent.

The National Association of Black Journalists invited the Reverend Al Sharpton to last week to speak at their convention.   He accepted the invitation.  Then he turned it down.
The Reverend Al Sharpton blew off the convention based upon his anger at statements made on the NABJ discussion board by two members.   I am one of those two.  I wonder if the other guy is feeling like events  have swirled out of their control.

It’s not always fun being stuck in the eye of the storm.  It’s even less fun when only half of what you say gets any notice.

There’s a saying that a lie can be half way around the world before truth puts on its shoes.  The same thing applies to misinformation except in cyberspace it can be all the way around the world before truth even wakes up.

In my nearly 20 years as a reporter, editor, columnist and blogger, I have been at the center of controversy more than once.   A syndicated radio show host called me a “Sambo.”  I’ve had more than a few readers accuse me of being a  “White-hating militant.”   There is no need for me to declare who I am to anyone who doesn’t know me.  When I write something I never declare it to be the definitive truth.  It is simply my truth and truth is subjective.  It can be accepted, rejected or ignored.

It’s regrettable Sharpton chose to blow off over a thousand Black journalists because in his words, he “would have been a distraction” by showing up.   Sharpton was scheduled to be part of a discussion on presidential politics  as part of a panel with Cornel West, former RNC chairman Michael Steele, author Sophia Nelson and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

Sharpton said in an interview, “I was invited to come speak about politics and the upcoming presidential election. If they had invited me to talk about whether advocates and activist organizations should host talk shows, I would have considered coming to discuss those kinds of things. But to put me on a political panel and then for it to go into something else about MSNBC, that wouldn’t have been good.”

I have no idea what moderator Roland Martin would have asked Sharpton or what questions he would have gotten from attendees.   But so what if the MSNBC question or my remarks would have come up.   I know Sharpton wasn’t invited to talk about whether he was getting a show or not.  By refusing to attend he made his absence the issue and a huge distraction.   Or does he think Martin and NABJ president Kathy Times were calling to ask him to reconsider because they had nothing better to do?

The issue is not whether or not Sharpton should get a show.  It never was the issue.  Since so many seem to have missed out on what the subject actually was here is a reminder from Carole Simpson as reported by Richard Prince on his Journal-isms column.

Simpson sees the problem in Sharpton's new gig.

Carole Simpson, the retired ABC News anchor, echoed Winbush in a telephone interview Wednesday with Mallary Jean Tenore of the Poynter Institute.

“[Sharpton] was not a journalist. It seems like having a name is more important than your credentials and the news you’ve covered, and how well you did as a reporter and how much you did as a thinker and writer about the issues of the day,” she said. “Who’s going to get the eyeballs? … That’s the bottom line. It’s all about eyeballs. It’s the drive for ratings.

“I have nothing against the Rev. Al. I’ve known him for years. I’ve covered him, but he doesn’t sound like a professional broadcaster. Somebody sounding like that wouldn’t typically be hired by any station. Yeah, as a pundit. He’s an intelligent man. I give him credit for that. But he doesn’t sound like a professional broadcaster.

“But he’s controversial, he’s provocative, he yells, and so they’re looking for personalities and not journalists. The problem that I have, as NABJ has, is fine — hire somebody of color — but how about a journalist? Not a reverend. I don’t get it.”

I don’t either.  The point was never whether or not Sharpton should get the MSNBC gig.  The point was why can’t a journalist even be considered? 

My comment has appeared on Blackamericaweb.com, Beliefnet, the conservative Accuracy In Media website, three times on Prince’s column,  the Tom Joyner Morning Show, read by Keith Olbermann on his newly revived Countdown program and last week Politco picked it up.

With the exception of Prince nobody has picked up the phone or dropped me an e-mail asking me why I wrote what I wrote.  The comment is all that matters.  The commentator is irrelevant.

Sharpton has run for president.  He’s faced down angry White mobs in Howard Beach, Bensonhurst, and Crown Heights.  He’s gone head-to-head with the likes of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity.  He’s been in screaming matches with Cornel West.   Sharpton has taken on professional back breakers and walked away with a big winning grin on his face.

Last week he got in a shouting match with that old Nazi sympathizing racist Pat Buchanan over his calling President Obama “your boy.”

Am I supposed to believe Sharpton is afraid to take on a freelance writer and blogger from Columbus, Ohio he’s never heard of?  If Sharpton had shown up in Philadelphia and someone asked him a question about the NABJ list serve he didn’t want to answer there’s a simple two-word response, “no comment.”

The mind boggles at the suggestion, but it seems to be a reality.

Sharpton said,  “People are making conclusions based off their assumptions. I’ve been guilty of this too in the past, so I understand it, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that people are rushing to judgment.”

No argument there, Reverend.  Unfortunately, since you haven’t bothered to get the story, you are one of those people.   What you believe I said was not necessarily what I meant.

Philly loves NABJ, but Al Sharpton doesn't.

Related articles

• CNN’s Reliable Sources Guest Prefers MSNBC Hire A Black Journalist, Not Al Sharpton (mediaite.com)
• Keith Olbermann Trashes MSNBC Over Rev. Sharpton Hire, Suggests Quid Pro Quo (mediaite.com)

Again.

Last time it happened, I was on vacation during the Fourth of July weekend when a bunch of misbehaving young black people ransacked a gas station convenience store and attacked residents in a park.

This time, I was in my hometown of Philadelphia attending the National Association of Black Journalists convention when my BlackBerry started blowing up with news about what happened Thursday night at the Wisconsin State Fair.

According to reports, it was similar to what happened in Riverwest last month, but on a much more brutal – and scarier – scale.

When people start reporting they were being beaten by black people for no other reason than being white people at the State Fair, that’s pretty disturbing.

It’s also thuggish and disgusting.

Now that we’ve got the rough words out of the way, it’s time to get some real answers.

I wasn’t there – most readers weren’t either - so I have to depend on the version from bystanders who called police and the Journal Sentinel newsroom for firsthand accounts.

Nobody seems certain about the size of the groups – I’ve heard everything from about 30 to 40 all the way up to 300 – and no one seems sure what triggered the incident. I have heard the complaints about rap music at State Fair being a possible culprit, but after learning the featured performer was 1980s star MC Hammer, I’m skeptical.

Real thugs don’t listen to MC Hammer.

As I’ve stated before, I believe some young blacks act out in public because they know how frightening black people appear to some whites and it gives them a sense of power. That’s not an excuse for the behavior, but it’s a very real component.

It’s always embarrassing for law-abiding African-Americans with good children when this stuff happens. I know because I hear from them in the same numbers I hear from white readers who want to blame every black family for raising criminal offspring.

Frankly, the latter group can get pretty tiring.

But I do have real concern for the state of this community, where twice so far this summer there’s been a shocking example of mob violence by young black people that can’t be explained in any sensible way.

It’s interesting that I spent much of last week in Philadelphia, a city that recently has seen its own problems with youth violence involving African-American teens.

For most of the summer, Philadelphia cops have dealt with a series of so-called flash mobs that turned violent, scores of young blacks roaming the center city area and attacking mostly white pedestrians and shoppers.

It’s so bad, Mayor Michael Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey recently announced a coordinated response to the problem, which involves law enforcement measures, social responses and neighborhood outreach. They’re relying on a network of African-American professionals, community leaders and officials in the city to step up to the plate.

On Friday, Nutter said he would increase police street patrols and enforce curfews for young people. The city’s curfew ordinance says children under the age of 13 must be home by 10 p.m., and young people between the ages of 13 and 18 must be home by midnight.

The city is taking the flash mobs seriously, particularly the troubling racial dynamic that makes whites most vulnerable to the attacks. And by dealing with the issue in a rational way, my hometown can protect its image and its ability to attract big national conventions like the one I attended last week.

Seeing how the problem with young thugs doesn’t seem to be abating, my adopted hometown of Milwaukee needs to follow the same steps.

Hopefully, these flashes of violence can be extinguished so I don’t have to worry that each time I leave the city, another crisis involving young black people pops up for me to hear about.

Eugene Kane/Milwaukee Journal Sentinal

5:49 The debt ceiling debate was a political drag on President Obama.

6:11 Eagles Defensive Lineman Mike Patterson has been diagnosed with AVM.

6:13 Team owner Jeffrey Lurie downplayed the talk that the Eagles are a “Dream Team.”

6:15 Peggy Noonan says the President overestimates his rhetorical powers.

6:42 Sherri Sheppard said on The View that Congessman Doug Lamborn comparing President Obama to a tar baby is racist.

6:44 Eric Holder addressed the National Assoication of Black Journalists at the convention center.

6:48 Cornel West says President Obama is not angry enough.

7:10 Chris talks to Steve Cordasco about yesterday’s market crash on Finance Friday.

8:12 Chris talks to CBS 3′s Beasley Reece with an update on Eagles Defensive Lineman Mike Patterson and Hunter Pence’s first week with the Phillies.

8:40 Chris talks to former Chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, Jonathan Newman, about privatizing the state stores.

The gathering heard from two top people in the White House: President Obama, through a video, and Attorney General Eric Holder, in person.

Echoing the words of the president, Holder exhorted the journalists, “to speak truth to power by raising awareness of what is right and what is wrong.”

Holder says without the work of journalists, there would not be a starting point for progress, or the pursuit of justice, “I consider journalists to be essential partners in the administration and the achievements of justice. We do share a professional obligation, that is, to seek the truth.”

NBC News anchor Lester Holt sat down with Holder for a spontaneous newsmakers’ session. Those in the audience were able to submit questions using Twitter.

Reported by Steve Tawa, KYW Newsradio 1060

[listicle id=55129 align=left show_title=true]

The NABJ was started in Philadelphia in 1975, so Philadelphia, as the founding city and this year’s host city for the convention and career fair, is really putting on the show.

“We’ll be here from August 3rd to the 7th with a variety of activities and community events.  We’ll be bringing newsmakers like Arianna Huffington and Eric Holder.  We’ll also be bringing entertainers like Terrence Howard and Eric Benet,” says Deirdre Childress, the NABJ’s vice president for print.

A number of events are open to the public including the “Philly Love” party on Friday night at the Electric Factory, starring ?uestlove.

For more information, go to NABJ.org.

Reported by Karin Phillips, KYW Newsradio

[listicle id=55129 align=left show_title=true]

Rev. Sharpton slimmed down, but he's still a big target for his enemies.

The Germans, when they weren’t conquering Europe coined a word to describe the pleasure or satisfaction others receive from the misfortunes of others.  Schadenfreude is the word and over the last two weeks I’ve given a lot of folks I’ve never met a lot of pleasure.

Jeff, I’m hearing your name everywhere. Even this morning on my drive in to work, I hear about your thoughts on the whole MSNBC thing. How is this newfound (or renewed) stardom treating you?

That was a message waiting for me when I signed on to Facebook the other day.  I had no idea what my friend was talking about.

It turns out she was talking about me being talked about on The Tom Joyner Show.   The fly jock was jockin’ my name regarding remarks I made about the Reverend Al Sharpton replacing Cenk Uygur on MSNBC.

Jeff Johnson, a contributor to Joyner’s morning radio show and a writer for Black America Web.com had some thoughts he wanted to share about what I had said on my blog and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) discussion board  that had been picked up by media reporter Richard Prince on his Journal-isms column and gone nationwide.

Prince wrote in his July 21 column:  When rumors surfaced this week that Sharpton was under consideration for the MSNBC job, one NABJ member told colleagues without challenge, “This would still be just another non-journalist media ‘celebrity’ receiving a TV show based upon their name recognition, not their years of experience, training, ability and talent.”

Media Writer Richard Prince

That observation became the centerpiece every critic and supporter of the Sharpton hire springboarded off of.

Johnson rolled up his pants legs and waded in on Blackamericaweb in an essay, “Don’t Hate on Sharpton-Congratulate Him”:

For years, there have been no black hosts in primetime cable news and fewer than a handful anywhere in cable news. Last week, that reality was served a blow when MSNBC decided to announce that Rev. Al Sharpton would become the network’s newest host, filling the 6 p.m. hour of the cable network’s programming. Now, MSNBC had been using Rev. Sharpton to fill in for Cenk Uygur and then seemingly opened space for him to continue to audition (if you will) for the spot. I heard my fair share of comments regarding his performance, from praise to reasonable critique, to straight-up hate. And when it was finally announced that he would get the spot, the naysayers came out of the woodwork.

Even Keith Olbermann, a former MSNBC host, weighed in, helping to spread one of the most reported quotes about Sharpton’s hiring from Ohio journalist Jeff Winbush. He stated, “This would still be just another non-journalist media ‘celebrity’ receiving a TV show based upon their name recognition, not their years of experience, training, ability and talent.” It is important to state that Winbush went further to say that he did not have an issue with Sharpton, but wanted legitimate black journalists to get an honest shot at this type of opportunity.

I hope that we as a community pause, put this into perspective and make the most of this moment in time.

As a growing journalist myself, I want to see seasoned, tested and consistent black journalists get greater visibility as well. However, let us not allow others to use this moment to create division between us.

I guess I’m supposed to one of those “others” Johnson says is creating division.   I always wanted to be an “other.”

This was apparently the quote heard round the world.

It showed up on Roland Martin’s website, The Poynter Institute which covers media-related issues,  Blackamericaweb.com, Beliefnet, Media Bistro, the conservative Accuracy In Media site and places I never knew existed.    When I learned Media Takeout, the Black-oriented celebrity and scandal site, had picked up on it with the headline, “Jealousy??? Black Journalists Criticize MSNBC…For Hiring Al Sharpton!!!”, I knew things had snowballed into something way beyond my control.

A quick Google search of “Al Sharpton, Jeff Winbush” found this article from EEW Magazine Buzz: 

Is it the age old “crabs-in-the-barrel” syndrome among African Americans? Or does National Association of Black Journalists member, Jeff Winbush, have good reason to get all huffy about MSNBC’s rumored plans to hire Reverend Al Sharpton for a primetime nightly hosting gig?

Winbush’s written commentary about the decision to potentially hire Al Sharpton has made its rounds online.  Said Winbush, “This would still be just another non-journalist media ‘celebrity’ receiving a TV show based upon their name recognition, not their years of experience, training, ability and talent… “

On the one hand, black folks complain about not having a visible role on primetime cable news. On the other hand, once someone is chosen, complainers are not satisfied because they would like to see someone else get a shot.

Can anybody really win?

Although there is merit to Winbush’s argument that qualified journalists of color consistently get passed over for these type positions, should we allow that issue to cloud the fact that one of our own may be getting a nationwide platform to advance our causes and interests?

Johnson agreed with some of my remarks, but thought it was too harsh on Sharpton

Then there was this from J.C. Brooks at EURWeb:

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and the NAACP have been asking for more faces of color at the news desks across the country, but for some reason when Al Sharpton was asked to consider a position at MSNBC’s news desk in the 6pm slot, he was met with strong words and, to make it simple, a little “hateration.”

One member of the NABJ took to his blog saying, “‘This would still be just another non-journalist media ‘celebrity’ receiving a TV show based upon their name recognition, not their years of experience, training, ability and talent.”‘  Well, when Jeff Winbush made that comment, it took off across the Internet, columns, and even Keith Olbermann’s new “Countdown” show.  Now he feels he should clarify his statements.

According to Journal-isms, Sharpton was asked how he felt about the controversy that stirred up with Winbush’s comments and he told the Root.com, “We can’t get into a crabs-in-the-barrel mentality,” Sharpton said. “We cannot let them play us off one another. There is a history here. Kweisi Mfume had a talk show. Jesse Jackson Jr. had a talk show. If someone can advocate nationwide, we need to do that given the pain of our people. We need to do that on television, in newspapers and magazines. And all of us need to be united.”

The Root’s Leslie Holloway further clarified that the position being offered to Sharpton is not one of news, but “opinions and advocacy.”  Winbush contends that he didn’t want to stir anything up with Sharpton and that he has “no ill will” toward the community crusader, he just wants journalists to get a fair shake too.

They both make sense, but most journalists and everyone else were given the wrong impression.  The media reported Sharpton’s position as one of a 6pm news format and in that capacity, Winbush and fellow journalists had reason for concern.

Concern?  Yeah, you might say I was concerned.  Mostly because my name was floating around as ripping Sharpton and had mutated from a pointed observation to a truncheon to bludgeon a non-journalist taking a gig away from somebody more deserving.

What surprises me most is how nobody ever asked me why I made the remarks about Sharpton in the first place.  If anyone had bothered to ask I would have explained I’m not anti-Sharpton, I’m pro-Black journalists.   All I did was point out Reverend Al is a man of the cloth, not the Associated Press style book.

Nobody wanted to hear that.  I thought I had exposed an inconvenient truth.  The truth is all these writers on these websites wanted was a juicy pull quote.  Once they got it, it was time to whip up a controversy that all these Black journalists were upset over Sharpton beating them out of a gig when the only person who said jack was me.

Richard Prince’s Journal-isms column ran a follow-up where he identified me as the source of the controversial quote.  I was glad Prince gave me a chance to clarify my remarks, but the follow-up never gets the kind of play as the original statement.

Freelance journalist Jeff Winbush wants it known that he is not hatin’ on the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Winbush is a blogger in Columbus, Ohio, a former editor of the black newspaper the Columbus Post and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. More to the point, he was the source of a quote in Thursday’s “Journal-isms” about MSNBC’s reported readiness to hire Sharpton for its 6 p.m. slot.

“When rumors surfaced this week that Sharpton was under consideration for the MSNBC job, one NABJ member told colleagues without challenge, ‘This would still be just another non-journalist media “celebrity” receiving a TV show based upon their name recognition, not their years of experience, training, ability and talent,’ ” the column read.

Winbush’s quote reverberated around the Internet and was even shown, with the column, on Keith Olbermann’s “Countdown” show on Current TV. Olbermann was fired by MSNBC, where his show was also called “Countdown,” in January. On Thursday, Olbermann gave a platform to Cenk Uygur, the former MSNBC host whose slot has been filed temporarily by Sharpton.

“MSNBC Set To Hire Sharpton; Black Journalists Slam Impending Hire,” one headline read.

” ‘Slam?’ I did no such thing. I said nothing of the sort,” Winbush told Journal-isms by email. “I was not attacking him personally. I bear him no ill will. I simply want to see Black journalists get a fair shot as well.”

There is no control when the Internet gets hold of something you say or do.  If it’s caught by a camera it will soon be slapped on You Tube.  If it’s a muttered racist remark everybody will hear it.   There is no hiding place in cyberspace.

I’ve written several miles worth of columns and essays taking on and taking down politicians, celebrities and other pundits.  Keith Olbermann and Sharpton are among the many subjects I’ve praised, slammed or damned, so I can’t really bitch about having my words thrown back in my face.  My words are like my kids and they belong to me.  I can’t distance myself from them and I can’t deny I said what I said.

Sharpton getting a show has upset both the Right and the Left.

After all the times I’ve bad-talked Michael Steele, I’m surprised he hasn’t called to say, “How it’s feel to get played, brother?”

It’s been an interesting experience.  Next time though I would hope over something I said that was actually newsworthy instead of scandalous.

Next week I’ll be in Philadelphia attending the National Association of Black Journalists Convention.  I’ll have more to say later about the convention, but a lot of my “friends” will be there.  Sharpton will be there.  So will Michael Steele, Cornel West, Roland Martin, Jeff Johnson, Melissa Harris-Perry, Joel Dreyfuss, editor of The Root, and Arianna Huffington among a cast of thousands.

For Black journalists next week is our Woodstock.   There’s going to be far more partying, drinking, and over indulgence in four days than most folks will do in four months, but for me it will also be an opportunity to look some of the people who got my remarks wrong and set them right.

And if I get a chance to get close enough to Reverend Sharpton and shake his hand,  I’ll introduce myself and tell him how sorry I am my name was used to scandalize his.  Sharpton is taking heat not from his enemies on the Right, but from the Left as both The Daily Caller and The Huffington Post have blasted MSNBC for ousting Uygur and replacing a White liberal with a Black liberal.

I’m no fan of U2.  Not even a bit, but I have to credit Bono and the boys this much.  They came up with a song that perfectly captures the mixed emotions one experiences when something they say gets all mashed up into something unrecognizable as your original thought.    When the media starts manipulating it is like being stuck in a moment you can’t get out of.

You’ve got to get yourself together
You’ve got stuck in a moment and you can’t get out of it
Don’t say that later will be better now
You’re stuck in a moment and you can’t get out of it

Related articles

• Vibe and Vegas Show: Black Journalists Question Plans by Msnbc to Hire Al Sharpton (thevibeandvegasshow.wordpress.com)
• Exclusive: Sharpton on Black Journalists (theroot.com)
• Token Gestures and Table Scraps (jeffwinbush.com)
• Keith Olbermann Trashes MSNBC Over Rev. Sharpton Hire, Suggests Quid Pro Quo (mediaite.com)