Not to mention all of the racists who voted en bloc 95% for BO because of
skin color.
B
But why should it matter to anyone but a racist whether a White House
reporter is black or white?
http://jewishworldreview.com/jeff/jacoby011509.php3
January 15, 2009 / 19 Teves 5769
Superstitions and skin color
By Jeff Jacoby
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Barack Obama will face a sobering array
of problems when he takes office as the nation's 44th president next week,
but the color of the reporters who will be covering him is not one of them.
Nor is the pigmentation of Washington journalists one of the genuinely
unnerving problems with which the news industry is grappling these days.
With so many other things to worry about, and with the whole world able to
see that racial identity is no longer a barrier to even the most powerful
position in American life, you might think the press would finally be ready
to abandon its unhealthy preoccupation with the color of skin - especially
the skin within its own ranks. Alas, no.
"Obama, Like His Predecessors, Will Face a Press Corps Lacking in
Minorities," laments the Washington Post on the front page of Monday's Style
section. Media reporter Howard Kurtz describes "the relative paucity of
black journalists at the White House" as a "cause for concern," and he isn't
the only one who thinks so. Even President Bush is quoted as saying that
"there need to be more minorities in the press corps."
But why should it matter to anyone but a racist whether a White House
reporter is black or white? Well, says Michael Fletcher, a colleague of
Kurtz's, "you would want to have black journalists there to bring a
different racial sensibility." By the same token, more evangelical
journalists would presumably bring a different religious sensibility to the
White House, more journalists from the Deep South would bring a different
regional sensibility, and more Republican journalists would bring a
different political sensibility. Do you know of any news organizations that
are fretting over the "relative paucity" of evangelicals, Southerners, or
Republicans on their payrolls? Me neither.
Meanwhile, Politico reports that Obama's accession to the White House "is
prompting major changes in the nation's black press, ushering in a series of
firsts that editors say will reshape print, internet, radio, and television
coverage aimed at African-American audiences." Among those changes: Essence
and Ebony, two top magazines among black readers, are going to assign
reporters to the White House. Jet magazine is adding a two-page Washington
report to each issue. On Jan. 20, Black Entertainment Television will
replace its "booty-shaking music videos" with a live, four-hour broadcast of
Obama's swearing-in. TV One, another black-oriented cable network, is going
even further, with 21 hours of inaugural coverage.
All of which, Politico observes, marks something of a return "to a time when
the black press - particularly magazines - were newsier." It was Jet, for
example, that first printed the shocking pictures of lynching victim Emmet
Till in 1955.
But hold on. If it's been decades since the black press paid close attention
to presidential politics, why should anyone be surprised that black
reporters haven't been thronging the White House press room? If bringing
that "different racial sensibility" to Washington journalism hasn't been a
priority for Essence or Jet, why should it have been one for the Washington
Post or NBC?
The plain if unfashionable truth is that the White House press corps, and
journalism generally, don't need more black reporters. They don't need more
white reporters, either. Journalism needs good reporters, and good reporting
isn't a function of race. If the color of Obama's skin is immaterial to his
fitness to occupy the White House, surely the color of any other man's skin
is immaterial to his fitness to cover the White House. Washington journalism
will not be improved by seeking out "journalists of color," but by seeking
out journalists of integrity, talent, and thoughtfulness.
Americans are often astonished to learn about the Japanese obsession with
blood type. To us it is the sheerest nonsense to believe that blood type
determines character, personality, or matrimonial suitability, but millions
of Japanese are convinced of it. Four books on the importance of blood type
were among Japan's bestsellers in 2008, selling more than 5 million copies.
We wonder that intelligent people can put stock in such nonsense; we can't
imagine that anyone would let an irrelevant physical characteristic like
blood type affect a hiring decision or a romantic choice. Shouldn't we find
equally preposterous the irrational belief that skin color is related to
professional skill, intellectual outlook, or journalistic "sensibility?" It
is time to lay aside such superstitions, even as we have laid aside the
shibboleth that a black man cannot be president of the United States.
"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it
is
a dangerous servant and a fearful master." -- George Washington
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
--------------------------
Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list,
[email protected].
--------------------------
Brooks Isoldi, editor
[email protected]
http://www.intellnet.org
Post message: [email protected]
Subscribe: [email protected]
Unsubscribe: [email protected]
*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has
not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of
The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT
YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of
intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods,
techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other
intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use
this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,'
you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
