A project of the Manship School of Mass Communication, LSU
Photo Credit: FORCE via The Hunts Point Express
By Simone Sylvester
(Jan. 17, 2014 | The Hunts Point Express) - When Teresa Rivera turned the glossy pages of top women’s magazines, she didn’t see women who looked like her and the people she knew. No brown skin, no thick hair and definitely no voluptuous bodies.
So Rivera, 20, decided to make her own magazine, one “written by us, for us,” she said. “Us” turned out to be the participants in The Point CDC’s W.O.M.E.N.’s group, along with its director Stephanie Messer.
Their zine, called POP Magazine (the initials stand for Power of the People) is published quarterly. For each issue, the group chooses one young woman to appear on the cover of POP and write the cover story. Read more
(Feb. 6, 2014 | Kaiser Family Foundation) - The Kaiser Family Foundation has launched a new series of comprehensive surveys of the low- and moderate-income population to help provide solid data on the impact of the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions on the affordability of health insurance, access to care and family finances.
The first survey in the series, fielded prior to the start of open enrollment, draws upon the experiences of more than 8,700 nonelderly adults and provides a baseline against which future surveys may measure changes in people’s lives that are brought about by the ACA, which took full effect Jan. 1. Read more
(Feb. 5, 2014 | DiversityInc.) - Americans are familiar with the concept of Blackface and yellowface. In Japan, an airline apparently thought it was OK to use whiteface.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has pulled an advertisement that ran in Japan during one weekend in mid-January after the commercial drew charges of racism from English-speaking viewers.
In the TV spot, two Japanese men dressed as pilots are speaking, in English, about the airline’s expanded international flight schedule. One tells the other, “Let’s change the image of Japanese people.” When the camera cuts to the second man, he is wearing a blond wig and a large rubber nose. Read more
By Lily Harrison
(Jan. 17, 2014 | EOnline) - Vanity Fair is the latest magazine under fire for allegedly altering the appearance of a celebrity featured in its pages.
In February's issue, rising star Lupita Nyong'o is photographed for the Vanities section of the magazine and appears to have lighter skin than usual. Shown dressed in a feathery white dress and surrounded by white balloons, the 12 Years a Slave actress looks radiant in the image. Read more
By Chris Hoenig
(Jan. 23, 2014 | DiversityInc.) - A Florida school board decided last month to remove the name of former Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Nathan B. Forrest from a high school whose student population is more than 60 percent Black. While the district made headlines for its decision to drop the name, other districts still lag behind. Read more
(Jan. 24, 2014 | DiversityInc.) - Children from underrepresented groups don’t use the proper car seat as often as white children do, according to a study out of the University of Michigan.
Researchers found that white parents were three to four times more likely to report using age-appropriate child safety seats than parents from underrepresented groups. But the survey, which included 600 parents of kids aged 1 through 12, struggled to explain the reasons for the racial disparities. Read more
By By Albert Lin
(Jan. 24, 2014 | DiversityInc.) - Imagine the surprise of Howard University students when the circular for the local branch of Giant grocery store welcomed them back to school following the winter break with an image of a white woman. Read more
By Latondra Newton
(Jan. 20, 2014 | DiversityInc.) - It’s sometimes difficult for people of my generation, born after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to grasp the tremendous extent of his influence on American culture—and cultures around the world. We read about Dr. King’s leadership of the modern civil-rights movement in our schools, heard references to his philosophy of nonviolence from the pulpits of our churches . . . read more
By Albert Lin
(Source: DiversityInc.) - Facing criticism from two major shareholders, Apple recently added language to its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter pledging to “actively” pursue women and members of underrepresented groups for its board of directors, according to a report on Bloomberg.com. Read more
By Chris Hoenig
(Jan. 10, 2014 | DiversityInc.) Candea and Sam Aarons are irate after discovering a racial slur written on their valet ticket after picking up their car in an Atlanta suburb. Read more
(Dec. 21, 2013 | DiversityInc.) - FOX News host Megyn Kelly has gone on the offensive in defending herself against a media firestorm after her controversial comments last week about Santa’s race. Read more
Related Story:
Is Santa Black?
(Dec. 20, 2013 | DiversityInc.) - When it comes to retirement readiness, race and ethnicity matter. And according to a new study, whites are the most prepared. Read more
By Jean Marie Brown
(Dec. 21, 2013 | Maynard Institute) - When crimes or acts of violence involve poor or working-class people, the perpetrators’ economic status is often included as a causal indicator thought somehow to help explain their actions. Read more
(Jan. 3, 2014 | The Washington Post) - Hank Stuever’s Dec. 19 Style review of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” [“It’s still a good try!”] limited the context to a racial perspective. This season, controversy swirled around the show’s lack of female African American cast members, but journalists failed to note that the “SNL” cast also had no Latinos and no Asians. Read more
By David Dennis
(Dec. 29, 2013 | The Guardian) - A few months ago, I wrote a commentary for the Guardian about how unpaid internships create an unfair funnel system to media outlets. They create a homogenous voice that excludes those who don't have the money or privilege to work for free. Read more
By Chris Hoenig
(Dec. 9, 2013 | DiversityInc.) - December 8 was the anniversary of one of the most symbolic moments of the civil-rights movement: On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus for a white person and was arrested. Read more
By Melissa Harris-Perry
(Dec. 8, 2013 | MSNBC) - English Professor Shannon Gibney joins to discuss the challenges she faced in teaching structural racism in her classroom. Read more
By MIJE Staff
(Dec. 21, 2013) - Maynard Institute President Dori J. Maynard interviews media professionals on the successes and challenges in diversifying the media landscape.
Part I:
Part II:
(Kaiser Family Foundation) - Two new briefs from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured provide a detailed statistical portrait of the nearly 5 million people who will fall into the "coverage gap" created in the 25 states not moving forward with the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion in 2014 – the low-income uninsured adults who will be ineligible to enroll in Medicaid and also won't qualify for financial assistance to buy private health insurance through the new Marketplaces.
Reports:
Characteristics of Poor Uninsured Adults who Fall into the Coverage Gap (Dec. 17, 2013)
The Coverage Gap: Uninsured Poor Adults in States that Do Not Expand Medicaid (Oct. 23, 2013)
By Associated Press
(Nov. 20, 2013 | The Washington Post) - Most teens and young adults on Facebook, Twitter or other social networking sites see them at least sometimes: slurs, offensive images or mean-spirited video clips that stigmatize groups of people.
Read more
By Paul Kleyman
(Nov. 12, 2013 | New America Media) - Even in this period of intense national debate over the National Debt, Americans fiercely want to protect Social Security from benefit cuts. But while 40 million seniors received retirement support from the program in 2012, about one in 10 seniors in the United States don’t qualify for Social Security, leaving many without a safety net. Read more
(Source: Mike Dreiblatt) - Bullying prevention and anti-bullying training are critical in creating an environment conducive to learning. By adopting proven bullying prevention techniques and anti-bullying strategies teachers, staff, and bus drivers can all become active participants in bullying prevention. Read more
By KIRO 7 STAFF
(Nov.13, 2013 | KiroTV.Com) - Burger King is taking heat after a photo of their sign advertising jobs for "Mexicans only" was recirculated this week. Read more
Related story:
Burger King fired the staff for "racist" help-wanted sign
By Robert Mann
(Nov. 17, 2013 | The Times-Picayune) -- The depiction of slavery's beastly inhumanity in the new movie "12 Years a Slave" is so realistic and stunning that I did not think I could survive the first 30 minutes. I made it, but am still haunted by this tragic story more than a week after I staggered, teary eyed, from the theater. Read more
By Chris Hoenig
Quick note to Sarah Palin, or anyone else who does this, for that matter: If you open a sentence with “This isn’t racist, but …,” well, chances are you’re about to say something that probably is racist and you should stop yourself right there. Read more
(Nov. 3, 2013 | The Guardian via Associated Press in New York) - Kerry Washington's turn as host of Saturday Night Live this week gave the show something it hasn't seen much lately: a black woman onstage, trying to make people laugh. Read more
By Katie McDonough
(Oct. 11, 2013 | Salon.Com) -- Sunday morning talk show guests are still, overwhelmingly, very white, very male and very conservative, according to a new report from Media Matters for America.
White men continue to dominate the guest lists on the major networks’ shows, with the single exception of the Melissa Harris-Perry show. Read more
By Katie Baker
(Nov. 1, 2013 | Newsweek) - If you donned blackface at a Halloween party this year but no one snapped a photo and shamed you by posting it on social media, does it still count as offensive behavior?
Of course it does.
Blackface, originally a form of theatrical makeup used by white vaudeville actors to caricature African Americans in the 19th century, has been problematic ever since it became massively popular as a way for white people to poke fun at disturbing racial stereotypes: Popular minstrel characters were lazy, lying buffoons and subservient mammys. Read more
DIVERSITY
Court to decide if race preference bans hurt diversity
By Richard Wolf
(October 13, 2013 | USA TODAY) - To hear Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette explain it, what could be wrong with a state constitutional amendment that "shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin?" Read more
Contributed by Elizabeth LeGros, , LSU Manship School Master’s Student
DIVERSITY
Across the South, youth resist racism and homophobia
Read the full report
Contributed by Lauren Leist, LSU Manship School Master’s Student
DIVERSITY
Does fast food near urban schools cause obesity in minority children?
By D.A. Barber
(June 5, 2013 | Race Report) - While many schools strive to introduce healthier meals in cafeterias, a new study indicates that fast food restaurants target locations near schools, it is more likely for black and Hispanic kids to be overweight. But does fast food near urban schools cause obesity in minority children? Read more
Contributed by Patricia Manetsch, LSU Manship School Master’s Student
DIVERSITY
Diversity in the PR field: Some progress, though challenges persist
By Natalie Tindall | Posted: February 7, 2012
(Source: PRDaily.Com) -- With February marking Black History Month in America, it’s worth examining the state of diversity in public relations, a profession that like many others, has had fits and starts when it comes to progress made toward racial diversity. Read more
Contributed by Kaleigh Dickson, LSU Manship School Master’s Student
By Kartina Richardson
(Sept. 30, 2013 | Salon.Com) - The most hurtful thing about Gawker’s “Privilege Tournament” (which invites readers to vote on NCAA-type brackets for who is the least privileged “category” of people, black, Hispanic, gay, etc.) is not its contempt for civil rights discourse, but that the prideful display of a white man’s humor is more important to a large liberal media outlet than compassion for people who suffer the dehumanizing effects of discrimination. Read more
By Brian Smedley
(Oct. 10, 2013 | America’s Wire) -- The implementation of the Affordable Care Act is an achievement Americans can be proud of. Making sure that all our brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren, have proper health insurance makes us a stronger, more prosperous nation. Read more
By Voices of NY | Via Colorlines, El Diario La Presna, Queens Latino
A New America Media Report
(Oct. 3, 2013) - Ethnic media expressed concern for the plight of federal workers. People of color make up a larger proportion of the federal workforce than they do the general workforce, Colorlines reports. Read more
Related Story :
Immigrants, minorities, poor feel sting of shutdown
By Voices of NY via GOTHAMSCHOOLS
(Oct. 1, 2013) - In an effort to get students of color involved in higher-level schoolwork, education officials are expanding the presence of Advanced Placement (AP) courses in public schools to 55 more high schools, reports Geoff Decker for GothamSchools. Read more
Associated Press Report
(Oct. 9, 2013) - The Cherokee's role in Kentucky will be commemorated in a historical marker being dedicated this month in Stanford. Read more
(Sept. 21, 2013 | The Guardian) - At the University of Alabama, a turbulent week of allegations of racial discrimination, campus protests and promises of change culminated with at least six minority women accepting bids into traditionally white sororities. Campus groups, however, expressed doubts that changing the sororities would result in progress tackling long-standing racial biases on the southern campus. Read more
By Voices of NY via The Uptowner
(Oct. 1, 2013) - In the state of New York, 13- to 17-year-olds accused of violent crimes are regarded as “juvenile offenders” meaning they are tried in adult court and subject to permanent records. New York and North Carolina are the only two states in the union that charge all juvenile offenders 16 and over as adults regardless of the crime. A movement is brewing across the city to help overturn these legal realities. Read more
By Emanuella Grinberg
(Nov. 30, 2012 |CNN) -- This November, events nationwide celebrated the traditions, fashion and food of the nation's 566 recognized Indian tribes as part of Native American Heritage Month.Read more
By Anand Giridharadas
(Nov. 30, 2012 | Source: The New York Times) - “There are liquids that are not mixable — it’s like that.” But Bedri Baykam — a prominent Turkish painter, activist, politician and author — was not talking chemistry. Read more
By Nadra Kareem Nittle
(Nov. 29, 2012 | Source: Maynard Institute) - The era of slavery in the United States was one of the darkest chapters in American history. Although the antebellum period is the subject of history classes, movies and narratives from slaves in libraries nationwide, mainstream media help to fuel gross misconceptions about slavery. Read more
By Sunnivie Brydum
(Nov. 21, 2012 | Advocate) - A bill that would proscribe the death penalty for homosexuality has been listed for discussion on the Ugandan Parliament's agenda . . . Read more
(Nov. 14, 2012 | Source: DiversityInc.) - Macy’s officially has refused to @DumpDTrump. Now Dump Donald Trump protest leader Angelo Carusone is ready to hit the retailer where it hurts. Read more
By Luke Visconti
(Nov. 9, 2012 | DiversityInc.) - This election was about diversity. As I watched John King go over the election map on CNN at around 11 p.m. EST last night, with President Obama trailing in the popular vote, it was clear to me that there were key counties in key states that were going to determine the electoral college—and that diversity was determining the trends overall as well. Read more
Related stories
On Election Night, Young People Tune In to See Their Impact
Maryland voters approved Dream Act and same-sex marriage
Ruben Navarrette's controversial message to Latino voters before the election day
By Adam Liptak
(Nov. 9, 2012 | The New York Times) - The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would take a fresh look at the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the signature legacies of the civil rights movement. Read more
By Nfic Paul DeMain
(Nov. 9, 2012 | NAJA via Victoria LaPoe) - Sawyer County, one of 106 swing counties in the U.S. looked upon as essential for an Obama win, and having the LCO Ojibwe Reservation within it, helped turn a historic Red County for almost a century, Blue, twice now during the last two presidential elections.
Sawyer County went to Obama by 46 votes (about the same amount Ojibwe tribal member, Trina Starr lost by in the 2012 school election when only 2,400 people in total voted out of 11,000 county voters, the reservation impacted vote is about 15% or 1,800 voters). Obama took Sawyer County 4,482 vs Romney 4,436. Key reservation districts with a large population were Town of Hayward, and the Town of Bass Lake.
If I remember right, Town of Hayward used to put out a historic 300-600 Republican vote margin, but in 2012 Romney 855 to 820 for Obama or only a 30 vote advantage to Romney in a formerly red district when Indigenous peoples did not vote on a regular basis.
The Native vote is truly a tipping point in this county and now the country's political process if those within the tribal sphere of influence come together. Other LCO voting districts with a rural but Native vote helped secure the vote advantage in all of the smaller districts as well to hold the Republican vote totals down in general.
Related Stories
Denise Juneau and the Montana Native American vote
By E.J. Graff
(Nov. 12, 2012 | Advocate.com) - Very few politicians have such celebrity status that they’re known by just a first name. Barney Frank is one—and, after more than 30 years of representing his Massachusetts district in Congress, he’s retiring when this legislative session ends. Read more
Related Story:
Nov. 13: Illinois teachers, social workers unprepared for LGBTQ issues
Oct. 31: Commentary: "Can you be homosexual without having a gay identity?"
Nov. 3: Gay Pakistanis, still in shadows, seek acceptance
Nov. 2: A Gay Voice, on the Edge of History
(Nov. 7, 2012 | Source: Tulsi Gabbard) -
Democrat Tulsi Gabbard won the race for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District on November 7. With this victory, Tulsi has become the first Hindu to be in the U.S. Congress.
Related Stories
- Hawaii Democrat poised to be first Hindu in Congress
- Religious symbols not allowed at LSU
By Debra Mason
(Nov. 5, 2012 | FAIR) - An independent Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) group has stepped up its visibility as a media watchdog group. The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR) was founded in 1997, but has been reinvigorated by the attention paid to the church as a result of Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. FAIR works to defend the Mormon Church and its teachings in the media and online forums.
Related Story
Religious symbols not allowed at LSU
(Source: Alabama Blues| Aug 26, 2012) - I just returned from a trip to Anniston to visit family, and came away with some thoughts I wanted to share. The first set of thoughts relate to a newsletter my father wrote from Thailand back on May 22, 1961, intended for folks in churches all across Alabama and other parts of the south. Read more
By Roland Martin
(Oct. 29, 2012 | Source: CNN) - When was the last time you heard someone say it's important to hire a qualified white person for a job? No, seriously, I really want you to think about that question. Read more
Source: MSN Now
Related Story:
Oct. 24: Northwest NAACP urges Washingtonians to support marriage equality
By Nadra Kareem Nittle
(Source: Maynard Institute | Oct. 18, 2012) -In December 1995, American Journalism Review wrote about a year-old Chicago study documenting that white victims of crime received more television news time than their minority counterparts. Recent research indicates that the trend continues in mainstream media. Read more
(Source: University of Missouri - Columbia | Oct. 18, 2012) - A study to be published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly reported a finding that a majority of the 113 female Pulitzer prize winners since 1917 enjoyed access to greater resources than the average male winner. Read more
By Chris Johnson
(Source: Washington Blade | Oct. 17, 2012) - The town hall presidential debate on Tuesday night included references to social issues, such as women’s rights, immigration and gun violence but as in the previous debate, there was no explicit mention of LGBT issues. Read more
By Mallary Jean Tenore
(Source: Poynter Institute | Oct. 19, 2012) - In a memo to staffers, the Associated Press clarified its stance on the term “illegal immigrant.” Read more
By James Esseks
(Source: ACLU | Oct. 19, 2012) -
In Edie Windsor’s challenge to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) violates the Constitution. It’s the second federal appeals court to strike DOMA down . . . Read more
By Nadra Kareem Nittle
(Source: Maynard Institute | Oct. 10, 2012) - Mitt Romney inadvertently coined a new phrase for working-class families when he dubbed them the “47 percent” at a private fundraiser secretly recorded in May. But who are this 47 percent, . . .
Read more
Related Stories:
Are Obama and Romney ignoring Latinos?
By Joshunda Sanders
(Source: Maynard Institute | Sept. 27, 2012) - In a now famous video, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney depicts 47 percent of Americans as supporters of President Barack Obama, describing them as people who receive government assistance through welfare, Medicaid and other federal programs. Read more
Related Story:
One man guides fight against gay marriage
By Mark Fogerty
(Source: Indian Country Today | June 24, 2012) - American Indians and the Mass Media (University of Oklahoma Press, 2012), edited by Meta G. Carstarphen and John P. Sanchez, is a scholarly work indeed. Its 15 chapters, by such well-known commentators as Mark Trahant, Roy Boney Jr. and Paul DeMain, are well researched and meticulously footnoted.
Read more
(Source: DiversityInc | Oct. 2, 2012) - A judge has stopped Pennsylvania’s voter identification law, one of the most restrictive in the country, from going into effect on Election Day. Voter ID laws disproportionately impact Blacks and Latinos, . . . Read more
By Nadra Kareem Nittle
(Source: Maynard Institute | Oct. 4, 2012) - Irrational. Violent. Fanatics. Members of the Muslim-American community say mainstream media in the West use these words consistently to portray followers of Islam. Read more
By Joshunda Sanders
(Source: Maynard Institute | Sept. 27, 2012) - In a now famous video, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney depicts 47 percent of Americans as supporters of President Barack Obama, describing them as people who receive government assistance through welfare, Medicaid and other federal programs. Read more
(Source: NABJ | September 19, 2012) - The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Census report in 2012 found that only 12 precent of the newsroom management positions of 295 television stations are comprised of journalists of color.
2012 NABJ Network Management Diversity
2012 Television Newsroom Management Diversity
By David Crary
(Source: AP/
October 2, 2012) - Of the four openly gay members of Congress, the two longest-serving stalwarts are vacating their seats. Instead of fretting, their activist admirers are excited about a record number of gays vying to win seats in the next Congress - and to make history in the process. Read more
(Source: USA Today | October 2, 2012) - The Kansas City Star got a call from a reader who was "incredulous" over the newspaper's policy of avoiding the use of the word "Redskins" in print and online. Read more