Culture

Alarm Sounded at Expansion of Young White Male Network The issue of diversity at Internet journalism startups blew up this week after critical pieces called out the startups on — of course — the Internet, and leaders of two of the leading targets pleaded their commitment to inclusion. “What people may not understand is that…

How Civil Rights Movement Expanded Freedom of the Press A libel case arising from the civil rights movement is responsible for a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that expanded guarantees of freedom of the press, a New York Times editorial reminded readers on Sunday. “How is society to preserve open criticism of the government, while…

Bill Whitaker to Join 60 Minutes 30-Year Correspondent Follows Ed Bradley, Byron Pitts Bill Whitaker will join CBS-TV’s 60 Minutes as a correspondent, the network announced on Thursday, placing a black journalist in a regular spot on the program for the first time since Byron Pitts left for ABC-TV a year ago. “Bill Whitaker is a…

The 1995 convention of the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia was the scene of “a struggle for the soul of NABJ, a struggle between the nationalistic-activist and professional establishment wings of the association,” Wayne Dawkins wrote in “Rugged Waters: Black Journalists Swim the Mainstream,” his history of the group. At issue was what…

Blacks, Latinos Find Much to Like in Oscar Biggest Audience for an Entertainment Show Since ’04 Black and Latino commentators each pronounced Sunday night’s Academy Awards a banner occasion — and the night also recorded the first Oscar for a Filipino-American. Composer Robert Lopez, with his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez, won an Oscar for “Let It…

Reaction to Plans for Young Men: “At Last,” “Not So Fast” President Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, unveiled Thursday as a heartfelt and personal effort to assist young men of color, was largely praised by African American commentators but criticized by some as elevating the importance of “personal responsibility” over the effects of structural racism.…

Defending N-Word in NFL Puts Writers in Awkward Position Newsrooms Don’t Allow Words for Which Athletes Get a Pass The NFL is considering penalizing players 15 yards if they use the N-word on the field, leaving sportswriters and columnists who question such a penalty in an ironic position: They would be sanctioning language that they…

Tamron Hall Named Co-Host for Third Hour of “Today” “Tamron Hall has officially been named a co-host of the 9 a.m. hour of the ‘Today’ Show,” Katherine Fung reported Monday for the Huffington Post. “Hall, who is a frequent fill-in host on the show, joined the rest of the co-hosts on the ‘Today’ sofa when the news was…

“Arsenio Hall is one of the most enduring names in late night history, and so he was more than a little P.O.ed that his name was excluded in an NBC report on the late night wars and Jimmy Fallon’s ascendancy,” Josh Feldman reported Wednesday for Mediaite. “Hall called out Brian Williams for his exclusion, and Williams apologized on the air tonight for…

The jury verdict Saturday in the killing of Jordan Davis lit up the black blogosphere over the weekend, with comparisons to the plight of young black men and the “Stand Your Ground” case of Trayvon Martin, another slain, unarmed black Florida teenager who claimed national attention last year. The “Democracy, Now!” radio and television show…