In Black America; National Association of Black Journalists Region VII Newsmakers Conference With Ernest Nathan Morial and DeWayne Wickham

Music This is In Black America, Reflections of the Black Experience in American Society. If there is a degree of disaffection and blacks stay home, it's difficult enough to get black voters out.

We have these black districts where the black vote exceeds the white vote by 10 or 12 percent. But when it comes time for turnout, the whites turn out larger numbers. So therefore you go back to having a white majority. Because voting is a product of a variety of socioeconomic and educational factors. We have the hardest time getting the people out to vote though we get them registered who live in public housing in this city. And almost 8 to 10 percent of the people in this city live in public housing, of the total city population. So when you take the percentage of blacks, in fact that adds against the total population, it's much larger than that, living in public housing. And it's difficult to encourage them and influence them to get out. I would suspect that a similar situation occurs in a lot of places in the United States where you have black majority districts. The honorable Ernest Nathan Dutch Moriel, the first black mayor of the city of New Orleans. Recently, Region 7 of the National Association of Black Journalists held his seventh annual

newsmaker conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. The National Association of Black Journalists is the largest media organization of people of color in the world. Under the 1975, the organization seeks to strengthen times among black journalists, becoming an exemplary group of professionals that honor excellence and outstanding achievements by black journalists, expand job opportunities for black journalists, and assist in recruiting activities and work with high schools to identify potential black journalists. NABJ also provides scholarships to college students pursuing careers in print and or broadcast journalism. I'm John L. Hansen, Jr. This week, the seventh annual newsmaker conference of Region 7 of the National Association of Black Journalists with the honorable Ernest in Dutch Moriel and Duane Wickham, president of the National Association of Black Journalists in Black America. I listen very closely to what the judge and former mayor had to say in regard particularly to the lack of a presence of substantive presence of black or journalism organizations in

the city of New Orleans. And I would hope that if for no other reason than to protect yourselves, that you attempt to aspire to other opportunities in this industry, that you will come together in some formal way, someone said to me the other day that they were concerned that they personally might not make it as a journalist into the 21st century. And I said to them that I had a greater concern. And my greater concern is that black journalists as a group will not make it into the 21st century. It is a very real concern when you look at the retrenchment that is taking place in this industry. 1979, 15% of all journalists in this country were minorities. In 1985, that number had dropped to 13%. The numbers of blacks who are working in print journalism, if you talk to your editors, those numbers are increasing ever so slowly.

The fact of the matter is very little progress is taking place. And what we really see is a fluctuation in terms of the exiting of blacks out of this industry. There is very little improvement being made in the recruitment efforts on the part of people in this industry. The other day, I wrote a letter to the director of the American Press Institute. It is a training organization that is based up in rest in Virginia. It is funded by the newspaper industry. Its reason for existing is to prepare people who have entered this craft for other opportunities. It is personned by a staff that is lily white. It has recently established a minorities committee. And the only people they did not invite to participate in the formation of this committee were those who represent the leadership of the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Asian American Journalists Association.

But they will seek over the course of the next several months and years to undertake activities that will affect the very professional lives of our members. And when I wrote the protest, I complimented the Executive Director first on taking this effort. And then when I wrote the protest, this oversight, he sent me a lengthy letter. John Hanson has a copy of it, by the way, because he saw fit to CC about 35 people. In which he said to me that it was never their intention to make this an external activity. And that I should be mindful of his commitment to bringing about greater change in this industry relative to minorities. And as evidence of his commitment, he pointed out that when he came on as Director of the American Press Institute last year, the minority employment was zero. And in a fit of chest pounding, he pointed out to me that he has increased the numbers

of minorities on his staff from zero to 11.1 percent. And then he made the mistake of telling me the positions in which he had hired his minority staffers. One is secretary, and the other one is a receptionist. Clearly, he does not understand the nature of the concerns that we have as black journalists in this industry, because it is those white faces that bring with them the skewered impressions of what America is and ought to be to those training classes that we're concerned about. Because they train the editors who come back into the newsrooms, who make the decisions that focus news attentions largely away from black communities. And that is the crux of my concern. So I mention all that to let you know that we're fighting some battles on the national level. What do you need to be about some serious confrontations here in this city at the daily

newspaper and at the television stations and radio stations which exist in this city? Because if we can't win some local battles, the word will go out that black journalists are politically impotent. And the national confrontations that we have will really be wasted because we will not be able to mobilize the forces that are necessary. Wayne Wickham, syndicated columnists with Gennett News Service and President of the National Association of Black Journalists. In 1977, Ernest N. Dutchmoryale was elected mayor of the city of New Orleans.

And on May 1, 1978, he took office as the first black mayor in the history of New Orleans. On March 20, 1982, the people of New Orleans returned Dutchmoryale for a second term. The honorable Ernest N. Dutchmoryale's name is associated with many firsts. He was the first black U.S. attorney in the state of Louisiana from 1965 to 1967. The first black to serve in the state legislature since reconstruction from 1967 to 1970. And the first black elected to the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeals from 1973 to 1977. Dutchmoryale was also the first black to graduate from the Louisiana State University Law School in 1954. Dutchmoryale has served two years as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and has an extensive background in the area of civil rights.

Recently, Dutchmoryale addressed black journalists at Region 7's 7th Annual Newsmaker Conference of the National Association of Black Journalists in New Orleans. The following is that address. It is often assumed that the press loves the very powerful leader. For instance, in 1815, when Napoleon headed for Paris, in newspaper headline read, The Corsican has landed at Cape Juan. Eight days later, the same newspaper ran in more neutral headline reading, Bonaparte has only 60 leagues from the capital. When Napoleon finally arrived to take power again, the headline read, His Imperial and Royal Majesty arrived just to the evening amid the joyful acclimations of his devoted and fateful subjects. Even in the day as well, it seems that the press vacillates too quickly, between being loyal subjects to a media friendly candidate

and bloodhounds to a reticent one. Our own national press can be too faced and mechanical. In Watergate, enterprising reporters brought down the president, openly distrustful of the press. In Contragate, however, an administration with good press relations was able to spoon feed a scandal to the media at a press conference called by the Attorney General. What is the proper role for the media in the political process? Can or should it be more divine? The idea would be for the media to be, as in one right as words, the maximum of information and the minimum of comment. Of course, in 1987, it was debatable as to how informative it was for reporters to ask if presidential candidate, if he had ever

come in an adultery. For weeks, the press commented upon how this breaking of a taboo between politicians and reporters would color their relationship, probably for the worse, making the atmosphere more tense, blunt and personal. In that debate, however, rallied a Gary Hart answer to that question, get repeated. For so long, the national press has been held as being more isher-oriented. And while I served as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, national press coverage on my programs and policies in general received a much more objective treatment compared to local coverage, which tended to focus on the personalities and the political give and take of the conference. So the rise of character-dominated news over isher-oriented news is nothing new to a local politician. It is a reality intensified by the local press, largely because it's accessibility, too, dependence on and involvement in the

local political process. As journalism has become more compartmentalized between investigative reporting, personality profiles, and even the so-called political reporting, the results sometimes seem to have caused a shallower approach to news coverage. Ironically, this shallowness has resulted, despite an increase of access by the media to public officials, public documents and governmental meetings. Politicians cannot debate whether or not they in the press have their right to each other's company. Clearly in a democracy, this is guaranteed encouraged and promoted. But the question up for discussion is whether or not reporters have a right to be, as newsweek call them, character cops on patrol. Clearly the ethics of such a presumed role come under fire. When a person becomes a public official or a

candidate for office, he or she expects to have his or her actions publicize, analyze, criticize, and yes, even investigated by the news media. Fair and responsible examination by the press is welcome in a fair, respectable, and honest government. The delicate line between public disclosure and public disinformation, however, is crossed when a reporter packages news rather than reports it, takes a role in the political process rather than observes it, and promotes political personalities at the expense of political issues. There is a partnership which needs to be developed between a local politician and reporters. Unfortunately, from my experiences and discussions with other mayors, there seems to be in every city

very little feelings of mutual trust between local government officials and reporters. From the press side, this is often based on a reservoir of suspicions about perceived corruption and abuse. In all truthfulness, however, very few, if any, local officials have been indicted in the last 20 years. Perhaps this distrust then comes from the fact that both press and politicians are in some respects rival siblings. The local press generally seems to be very intolerant and distrustful of failure in a local government administration, whereas a politician must look for compromise and accept some losses, the press does not understand coalition building, just as they do not understand the need to take calculated risk in order to obtain certain goals, especially that of economic growth. The press is often

quick to perceive public issues as black and white, right or wrong, with very little middle ground. Again, the politician must look for the point where interests converge. So who is responsible for divining the public interests? Who is responsible for finding farmed electorate? Who answers to the electorate on public issues? The importance of an open press is unquestionable, but the expectations we seem to have of them are subject to analysis. The average American is still most dependent upon the morning paper for the news, yet America's press is increasingly controlled by the media monopoly. As one university of California professor calls it, in fact, four years ago, when Professor Ben Vatican, head of the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, first published his book, The

Media Monopoly, there were 50 corporations controlling America's mass media. When he prepared a revised edition last spring, the number dropped to 29. While the manuscript was in the mail, the number dropped to 28. While tight was being set, the Hearst Corporation bought some additional papers and the number dropped again. CBS is owned by the country's fort largest cigarette maker, P. LaRylar. When was the last time there was a strong investigative report on the tobacco industry on CBS? NBC is owned by generally electric. Isn't it interesting that last March, NBC added a pro-nuclear power documentary? USA Today looks and reads like TV news, and the chain of gunette newspapers are following suit. Sharda Stores, more colorful weather charts, more pretty faces, and more happy talk. New Orleans scene is another thing

and that's subject to a lengthy discourse and a lengthy dissertation, too lengthy for discussion here. But those of you of the local media know the local personalities, and you know the local favoritism, and how certain public officials are treated by certain people in the media because of their relationship. WLTV, who has the son of the general manager of the radio station as a city councilman, he's always on the CBS news, and the reporters will deny the fact that they're doing it for any subconscious reason. The Times pick you in and certain other individuals, certain people who tend to report upon the public atmosphere within a city. Can the press really be the fourth estate of government as it has saw pointed itself? Is it really capable of being the eyes and ears of the public? Who really is the representative of the people? The politician who is elected directly by

the people, responsible to them on a daily basis, accessible through meetings and town halls and re-elections, or is it the reporters who are hired by a profit-making corporation, answerable to his or her editors, accessible only through the editorial page, and bound to tell a whole story in 90 seconds of 15 paragraphs. The ethical question for the media increasingly must be what responsibilities or popular consent do they have to be king-makers or idle-makers when it comes to the government of our communities. The media is having such a profound impact on our political process under the guise of the First Amendment. Example, what does yes they want? That their professed duty to promote the public's right to know is impeding upon the basic privacy of foreign to politician as a person and as a decision-maker.

The press wants politicians to entertain to bring them into the political decision-making process to explain complex issues in the very simplest context, to sacrifice information for humorous anecdotes, to educate them on the issues, to save them the research, to task or simply superhuman. And the persistent examination is often to the detriment of building unity in an administration and in a community. Is the press impeding our search for the best leaders by creating an impossible image and task to live up to? In this city there is one major daily as in most towns. The nation's press is concentrated along the North East and Seaboard. The gatekeepers of information are becoming fewer and fewer so that their ability to control the news and public perception is increasing. The New Orleans scene. Last

year we had a good notorially election. For the first time that I can recall, the local newspaper endorsed to candidate for governor almost four or five weeks before the election. Shortly thereafter, shortly thereafter, six or seven other newspapers in the state endorsed that individual for governor of the state of Louisiana. We've had a tax scandal here with the sales tax. There's been an unwillingness on the part of state and television media to carry the story of the individual who is the one who, perhaps, expose the conduct that was underway in the revenue department. The press's preoccupation with personalities is also creating an undue emphasis on image and idiosyncrasies at the expense of governmental qualities and leadership ability. In return, more and more politicians are pandering to

the press. Aiming to be the most popular candidate are the most acceptable regardless of the veracity of their vision or their platform. On the local basis, this interplay between the press and politics can become all-intensive and ability to fight back, to question the press, to hold them responsible for not briefing themselves prior to press conference, to demand corrections or some self-examination is lost. There simply isn't enough time. The press retorts amid deadlines and editorial pressures. Instead, there are quotes to catch, producers to placate, careers to advance, questionable leads from so-called informed sources to chase down, all too often in a name of truth, regardless of the personal outcome for a potential leader. Our First Amendment protection is sacred, but it isn't to be transformed

into information control simply because one has the property and profits to own a part of the corporate media. Press responsibility deserves and demands the same public accountability standards as other public agents, and yet there is no professional code of ethics, no professional review board to carry this out by media peers. The National News Council disbanded in 1984 because the organized press refused to authorize it to look into public grievances about news reporting and conflicts of interest. The Society of Professional Journalists publishes a very good code of ethics, but less than 50 papers are organized media have adopted it as their own. The Society of Professional Journalists can't even get support for an organization in this city. The ethics must be upheld by the media is rather simple. An openness regarding ownership and income, concrete differences between editorial and publishing responsibilities,

rules regarding unnamed sources, a public differentiation between news analysis and news reporting, consistent performance as an observer, not a participant in the political process, a willingness to print retractions and corrections, an ability to keep its members informed and knowledgeable about their craft, irrespect for separating what is news from what is simply titillating. The National Journal once called the United States the first media state, and increasingly there seems to be a sense that the unfolding of political events is less significant than how these events are perceived and presented by the media. The satirical comment by the hit movie, broadcast news, upon our news media, aptly points out how control the news product is, from what is filmed and reported to how it's additive to who to when it's printed or presented and by whom.

Walk to Monday in 1984 said after his presidential defeat, there is a whole industry that dissects everything. Every part of your day and you're measured against this media thing, not against who you are or what you're saying. On the local level, politicians have known this for a long time, that the media is no longer the simple observer or chronicler of events, but a part of the political process warranted or not with a pervasive influence on public affairs and popular attitudes, not yet fully understood by the public or media themselves. The news media's powers, principles, responsibilities, and ethical standards need to be reassessed. The press is still an important force for freedom, but it is also increasingly becoming a threat to personal liberty because of its arrogance, disregard for privacy, presumed adversarial stance against the government, and emphasis on crisis and conflict. As the

number of media-honours do we know, the strength of a diverse press with differing opinions and voices decreases to the detriment of the political process. How do we reform this runaway press train? It is hard to say because the media is the most understood actor in the political field. While the nation's national presses relationship with the president has been studied, there is that during the academic reports of quantifiable data on the impact of the press at other levels of government or on political decisions. The University of Virginia's Millicene for Public Affairs called for an authoritative and comprehensive inquiry into the responsibility of the media in 1985. It is yet to be undertaken. Nevertheless, the need for media self-examination persists, not to quiet the press, but to bring to the forefront institutional ethics, personal morality, accountability, fairness, objectivity, and yes honesty. Such examination will enhance the freedom assigned to our press and remove

the fear we have come to associate with its exercise, and I would hope that as you meet here, and you enjoy all the beauty and charm that our city has, that this group will take unto itself some of those assignments to seek to expand upon your involvement as black journalists and your ascendancy into the media arena so that you can be the advocates for change and the instrument through which the press meets its challenge and through which we continue to protect the freedom of the press under the First Amendment. The honorable Ernest N. Dutch Morel, the first black mayor of the city of New Orleans. If you have a comment or would like to obtain a cassette copy of this program, write us. The address is in Black America, Longhorn, Radio Network, UT Austin, Austin, Texas, 787-12. Until we meet again for in Black America's technical producer Cliff Hargrove, I'm John L.

Hansen, Jr. Please join us again next week. You've been listening to In Black America, Reflections of the Black Experience in American Society. In Black America is produced and distributed by the Center for Telecommunication Services at UT Austin and does not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Texas at Austin or this station. This is the Longhorn Radio Network. In 1977, Ernest N. Dutch Morel was elected mayor of the city of New Orleans. I'm John L. Hansen, Jr. Join me this week on in Black America.

The Honorable Ernest N. Dutch Morel, this week on in Black America.