Journalism and Black America: Then and Now
Black and white journalists, at times working as colleagues, at other times separately, have produced the first draft of our nation’s difficult history of race relations. In this issue of Nieman Reports, journalists examine reporting at the intersection of black and white America and look at the racial conditions, climate and conversations in newsrooms. – Melissa Ludtke, Editor
Since The Dallas Morning News’s editorial board Weblog began on July 20, editorial writers have been sharing their views and, in some cases, arguing amongst themselves for the wired world to see. Many of their comments draw reader responses, which editorial writers then post on the blog to elicit additional responses and discussion. And so on. Some of the postings by editorial board members appear below.
On political labels:
RELATED ARTICLE
"Readers Glimpse an Editorial Board’s Thinking"
- Keven Ann Willey“I’m less concerned about the fact that there are labels out there like ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ than I am about the fact that far too many columnists and politicians whose every thought falls into one category or another. What we need are more folks who just call balls and strikes, without worrying whether what they believe or propose falls in line with one orthodoxy or another.”
—Ruben Navarrette
“Ruben, on the balls-and-strikes, call-’em-like-you-see-’em point, I can agree with you in a limited way, if by that you mean that a thinking person should not let his or her ideology get in the way of the facts. But let’s not make a virtue of a failure to think deeply and systematically about first principles. The position a thoughtful writer and commentator takes on particular issues will necessarily reflect certain principles the writer has decided, consciously or not, are true.”
—Rod Dreher
“I don’t like the balls and strikes analogy. Don’t we tend to praise people who have ‘principles?’ And by principles, don’t we mean that they are consistent in their thinking? And by consistent in their thinking, don’t we mean that we can slap a label on them? It’s harder to pinpoint people’s most important values or principles than to guide their opinions. But that’s what we should aim to do.”
—Michael Landauer
On economic news:
“So the recession ended way back in 2001? I guess all those folks laid off since then will have to blame their woes on the recovery. Is there clearer evidence, though, that the economic reporting mechanism is out of touch with the forces that drive the U.S. economy?”
—Jim Mitchell
On IBM’s secret plans to move tech jobs overseas:
“This is the kind of story that makes this conservative madder than hell. … It’s not news that multinational corporations feel no loyalty to this country and its people. But when so many are out of work and feeling a lot of economic pain, the planned export of good tech jobs out of America ought to outrage us. IBM is aware that politicians might get angry. Will they? Only if the people do.”
—Rod Dreher
On the Kobe Bryant rape case:
“I propose ‘Kobe’s Law.’ Let’s just cut to the chase and make it a matter of law that any professional athlete (any celebrity, really) who is able to charm a woman enough that she will be alone with him in a hotel room therefore and heretowith has every legal right to have sex with her, whether she is willing or not. See how stupid that sounds? But by default, that is what people are proposing when they say it is not worth a trial because they were alone together.”
—Michael Landauer
“Will we ever get to a point where there is no stigma attached to being a rape victim so that there’d be no need to shield the accuser’s name from the public?”
—Keven Ann Willey
On the photos of Uday and Qusay Hussein:
“Saddam’s power has become so mythical that it is impossible to prove that he or his kin have been killed without solid evidence. The situation in Iraq forces us to do this. And frankly, after reading the laundry list of atrocities these two sons performed on their own people, I don’t see how anyone could say they deserved any better.”
—Henry Tatum
On Arab hypocrisy:
“According to Reuters, ‘many Arabs’ are offended by the ‘un-Islamic’ display of Uday and Qusay’s corpses. Oh, give me a break. When Muslim extremists murder Israelis or Westerners for the greater glory of Allah, it’s hallelujah time. Besides which, where were these whiners when Uday and Qusay and their father were torturing and mass-murdering their Muslim brethren?”
—Rod Dreher
On media hypocrisy:
“Liberals get away with murder when it comes to any of the causes advanced by any of their constituents. Witness the media uproar over Trent Lott’s boneheaded comments about Strom Thurmond, who—as you recall when he was running for president in 1948— promised a white sheet in every closet. And then witness the quiet (‘chirp, chirp’) over Democratic Senator Robert Byrd (who once did wear a sheet) using the ‘n-word’ during an interview on Fox News. What a double standard!”
—Ruben Navarrette
On California’s governor:
“Do any Democrats worry that their party is taking precisely the wrong approach to Governor Gray Davis’s recall in California? Dismissing those advocating the governor’s recall as ‘a little band of right-wing nuts’ strikes me as unfair, untrue—and possibly—strate-gically foolish.”
—Keven Ann Willey
On life’s little consolations:
“I’m sitting here at my desk at home, looking at a wedding picture of David Gest, Liza Minnelli, Michael Jackson, and Liz Taylor. It reminds me that no matter how weird and depressing life gets, it could always be worse.”
—Rod Dreher
On the Catholic sex abuse crisis:
“Many Catholics hypothesize that Rome is reluctant to move against bad priests because the ranks are so thin it can’t afford to lose a single one. But I believe the opposite: If Rome were to move against bad priests, it would improve the culture of the priesthood, which in turn would attract more good and holy men. Rather than thin the ranks, accountability would fatten them.” —Tim O’Leary
On Texas politics:
“The good ole boys are trying to strip Grandma Strayhorn of some of her power. Looks as if the lieutenant governor and governor fear she’ll run against one of them in 2006 and they want to cut her off at the knees. They don’t like it that as comptroller she’s had the cojones (that the word Ruben?) to buck them during the session.”
—Carolyn Barta
On political labels:
RELATED ARTICLE
"Readers Glimpse an Editorial Board’s Thinking"
- Keven Ann Willey“I’m less concerned about the fact that there are labels out there like ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ than I am about the fact that far too many columnists and politicians whose every thought falls into one category or another. What we need are more folks who just call balls and strikes, without worrying whether what they believe or propose falls in line with one orthodoxy or another.”
—Ruben Navarrette
“Ruben, on the balls-and-strikes, call-’em-like-you-see-’em point, I can agree with you in a limited way, if by that you mean that a thinking person should not let his or her ideology get in the way of the facts. But let’s not make a virtue of a failure to think deeply and systematically about first principles. The position a thoughtful writer and commentator takes on particular issues will necessarily reflect certain principles the writer has decided, consciously or not, are true.”
—Rod Dreher
“I don’t like the balls and strikes analogy. Don’t we tend to praise people who have ‘principles?’ And by principles, don’t we mean that they are consistent in their thinking? And by consistent in their thinking, don’t we mean that we can slap a label on them? It’s harder to pinpoint people’s most important values or principles than to guide their opinions. But that’s what we should aim to do.”
—Michael Landauer
On economic news:
“So the recession ended way back in 2001? I guess all those folks laid off since then will have to blame their woes on the recovery. Is there clearer evidence, though, that the economic reporting mechanism is out of touch with the forces that drive the U.S. economy?”
—Jim Mitchell
On IBM’s secret plans to move tech jobs overseas:
“This is the kind of story that makes this conservative madder than hell. … It’s not news that multinational corporations feel no loyalty to this country and its people. But when so many are out of work and feeling a lot of economic pain, the planned export of good tech jobs out of America ought to outrage us. IBM is aware that politicians might get angry. Will they? Only if the people do.”
—Rod Dreher
On the Kobe Bryant rape case:
“I propose ‘Kobe’s Law.’ Let’s just cut to the chase and make it a matter of law that any professional athlete (any celebrity, really) who is able to charm a woman enough that she will be alone with him in a hotel room therefore and heretowith has every legal right to have sex with her, whether she is willing or not. See how stupid that sounds? But by default, that is what people are proposing when they say it is not worth a trial because they were alone together.”
—Michael Landauer
“Will we ever get to a point where there is no stigma attached to being a rape victim so that there’d be no need to shield the accuser’s name from the public?”
—Keven Ann Willey
On the photos of Uday and Qusay Hussein:
“Saddam’s power has become so mythical that it is impossible to prove that he or his kin have been killed without solid evidence. The situation in Iraq forces us to do this. And frankly, after reading the laundry list of atrocities these two sons performed on their own people, I don’t see how anyone could say they deserved any better.”
—Henry Tatum
On Arab hypocrisy:
“According to Reuters, ‘many Arabs’ are offended by the ‘un-Islamic’ display of Uday and Qusay’s corpses. Oh, give me a break. When Muslim extremists murder Israelis or Westerners for the greater glory of Allah, it’s hallelujah time. Besides which, where were these whiners when Uday and Qusay and their father were torturing and mass-murdering their Muslim brethren?”
—Rod Dreher
On media hypocrisy:
“Liberals get away with murder when it comes to any of the causes advanced by any of their constituents. Witness the media uproar over Trent Lott’s boneheaded comments about Strom Thurmond, who—as you recall when he was running for president in 1948— promised a white sheet in every closet. And then witness the quiet (‘chirp, chirp’) over Democratic Senator Robert Byrd (who once did wear a sheet) using the ‘n-word’ during an interview on Fox News. What a double standard!”
—Ruben Navarrette
On California’s governor:
“Do any Democrats worry that their party is taking precisely the wrong approach to Governor Gray Davis’s recall in California? Dismissing those advocating the governor’s recall as ‘a little band of right-wing nuts’ strikes me as unfair, untrue—and possibly—strate-gically foolish.”
—Keven Ann Willey
On life’s little consolations:
“I’m sitting here at my desk at home, looking at a wedding picture of David Gest, Liza Minnelli, Michael Jackson, and Liz Taylor. It reminds me that no matter how weird and depressing life gets, it could always be worse.”
—Rod Dreher
On the Catholic sex abuse crisis:
“Many Catholics hypothesize that Rome is reluctant to move against bad priests because the ranks are so thin it can’t afford to lose a single one. But I believe the opposite: If Rome were to move against bad priests, it would improve the culture of the priesthood, which in turn would attract more good and holy men. Rather than thin the ranks, accountability would fatten them.” —Tim O’Leary
On Texas politics:
“The good ole boys are trying to strip Grandma Strayhorn of some of her power. Looks as if the lieutenant governor and governor fear she’ll run against one of them in 2006 and they want to cut her off at the knees. They don’t like it that as comptroller she’s had the cojones (that the word Ruben?) to buck them during the session.”
—Carolyn Barta
