Forwarded message:
From: John Young <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 07:58:13 -0400
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: NYT on Mumia
The New York Times, July 17, 1995, p. B6.
Pending Execution of Former Radio Reporter Divides
Organization of Black Journalists
[Photo] Mumia Abu-Jamal is scheduled to be executed on
Aug. 17.
By Lena Williams
The scheduled execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a black former
radio reporter convicted of killing a police officer, has
intensified debate among black journalists over how, or
even whether, their national association should deal with
the case.
Mr. Abu-Jamal, 41, is to be executed by lethal injection on
Aug. 17 for the fatal shooting of a white Philadelphia
policeman in August 1981. His 1982 conviction was upheld by
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and the United States
Supreme Court refused to review the case. His lawyers filed
another court appeal, which is pending.
For several years, Mr. Abu-Jamal's friends and supporters
have asserted that his trial was legally flawed in several
respects, like the racial composition of the jury, which
had two black members in an area that is 40 percent black.
Mr. Jamal's advocates have also criticized the National
Association of Black Journalists for not speaking out
formally through its board of directors on behalf of Mr.
Abu-Jamal, who was the president of the association's
Philadelphia chapter in 1980 and 1981. Barring a stay, his
execution at the Pennsylvania Correctional Institution in
Greene County will occur during the group's 20th annual
convention, in Philadelphia.
Despite emotional appeals from some of its 2,500 members,
the association's 18-member board has kept a distance from
the case, saying Mr. Abu Jamal's troubles were a criminal,
not a journalistic, matter. The board voted last month to
"abstain from taking an official position." In a statement,
the association presideny, Dorothy Butler Gilliam, said:
"As an organization of journalists, the board felt that the
complicated issues involved are ones around which
individual members in their capacities as journalists may
make personal and professional judgments. The organization,
however does not see this unfortunate circumstance as an
issue of journalism which it feels compelled to take a
stand on at this time."
The board's decision sparked often acrimonious discussions
in many newsrooms, over the airwaves and among blacks.
After a barrage of complaints, the board modified its
position last Wednesday, expressing concern that Mr.
Abu-Jamal's First Amendment rights may have been violated
by corrections officials, but still not taking a stand on
his guilt or innocence or the fairness of his trial.
That vote referred to problems Mr. Abu-Jamal has been
having while in prison. His lawyers have filed a petition
in Federal court in Pittsburgh accusing the Pennsylvania
Department of Corrections of denying him permission to
grant interviews to reporters and denying him access to
"leftist" publications. He was recently given 30 days in
what one of his lawyers called "special isolation" for
publishing a book, "Live From Death Row" (Addison Wesley,
1995). Prison regulations prohibit inmates from operating
a "business" while imprisoned.
The board's vote on the First Amendment issue was not
enough to satisfy some association members.
"It doesn't come anywhere near to addressing the central
issue, which is whether Mr. Abu-Jamal received a fair
trial," said Eddie B. Allen Jr., a general assignment
reporter at The Toledo Blade in Ohio.
Some association members and some nonmembers have accused
the organization of compromising its moral authority and
its racial heritage for the sake of objectivity. Others
have expressed disappointment that the group could not find
a middle ground that would let it remain true to its
journalistic principles while focusing attention on the
disproportionate percentage of black men on death row.
Some black-oriented and black-owned news organizations say
that black journalists who work for white-owned news
companies are reluctant to express opinions openly on a
racially charged case involving a slain police officer.
These critics also suggest that Mr. Abu-Jamal did not get
more support because he was known as a sympathizer of Move,
a radical nationalist group that he covered as a reporter
for WUHY-FM in Philadelphia.
Mr. Abu-Jamal was convicted of shooting Officer Daniel
Faulkner, 25 during a dispute between the officer and Mr.
Abu-Jamal's brother. Mr. Faulkner was shot in the back and
the face. The wounded officer shot Mr. Abu-Jamal in the
chest, though the wound was not life-threatening. At the
time of the shooting, Mr. Abu-Jamal had lost his radio job
and was working as a cabdriver.
The jury convicted Mr. Abu-Jamal of murder after three
witnesses testified that they saw some or all of the
shooting incident. Several other people who said they had
seen a man running from the scene were never called to
testify. Mr. Abu-Jamal, who was representing himself at the
trial, said later that he had not had the resources to
track down all the witnesses.
Yesterday, 11 people were arrested during a protest outside
the home of the judge who had sentenced Mr. Abu-Jamal to
death.
Some members of the journalists association say its board
should at least call for a review of the case. The group's
New York chapter, one of the largest, issued a statement
last week in which it urged its members and news
organizations to "take a closer look" at the case.
The Society of Professional Journalists has also been
approached by some of its 14,000 members about taking a
position on the case.
Reginald Stuart, president of the society and a member of
the black journalists association, said on Thursday that
the society planned to write prison officials objecting to
their decision to punish Mr. AbuJamal for publishing the
book. But he also said that some members had reservations
about taking any stronger stand because at the time of the
crime Mr. Abu-Jamal was not a practicing journalist.
Among those who say the black journalists association
should do more is Acel Moore, a Pulitzer Prize-winning
columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and a longtime
association member. "It's a tragic case, and I think there
is nothing journalistically unethical about having a point
of view about this issue of life and death," he said. "I
disagreed with the board. I also understand why they would
articulate that this is not a journalistic issue -- but
everything is a journalistic issue."
Utrice Leid, host of "TalkBack," a talk show on WBAI radio
in New York City, said the organization's nonposition was
"a pathetic expression of a journalists group founded to
champion the cause of journalists."
"To refer to his pending execution, euphemistically, as an
'unfortunate circumstance' was offensive," said Ms. Leid,
who exhorted callers to her show to besiege the journalists
organization with protests. She is not a member of the
group.
Dr. Jannette L. Dates, acting dean of Howard University's
School of Communications, said journalists are among
society's moral leaders, a role that requires a broad view
and a willingness to examine their own motives. "In a case
such as Mr. Abu-Jamal's," Dr. Dates said, "journalists
should ask themselves whether they are taking a position on
the case because it has racial overtones and whether those
racial overtones alone are a valid reason for taking an
editorial position."
The issue appears to have divided the association along
generational lines. Many senior journalists say the group
could destroy its hard-won reputation for integrity by
taking a position without knowing all the facts. Indeed,
some suggested the organization was being used as a pawn by
anti-death-penalty forces and Mr. Abu-Jamal's supporters.
"The issue of Abu-Jamal is a legitimate journalism story,"
said Thomas Morgan, a past president of the group. "But we
can't blindly support him because he is a black
journalist."
But younger members say the group should take a more active
advocacy role in matters of journalism, especially those
involving race.
"What this situation shows is the overwhelming paradox
and/or contradiction of black professionals operating
within a white reality," said Todd Burroughs, 27, a
syndicated columnist. "The N.A.B.J. has taken a position
that from their point of view makes itself true to its
profession but contradicts the reality in the black
community."
[End]
--
Michael Golden
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Biology
Grossmont College
8800 Grossmont College Drive
El Cajon, CA 92020
619-465-1700 x332
