8
'Rainbow Register/Thursday, July 15, 1993
Depth of Blue’s politics
not evident to students
by Sherry Parfait
Politics and Blue.
What do they have in common?
Both come in many shades and
hues.
That is obvious in the case of
Dan Blue, speaker of the North
Carolina House of Representatives.
He is a politician, through and
through, in dealing with the issues
and the public.
Thirteen students from the Rain
bow Institute summer program in
journalism visited Blue recendy at
the North Carolina Legislative Build
ing in Raleigh. He gave them an
articulate talk about the current
state legislative session, during
which the bill giving the governor
veto power was defeated, with the
Speaker’s help.
Blue, who is one of two black
House speakers in the country,
said that he took a strong stand
against the legislation because too
many powerful people have easy
access to the governor, including
newspaper editors and CEOs of
major businesses. Ordinary people
don’t, so they have to work through
their state legislators.
He argued that it is much easier
for influential people to contact the
governor than it would be for com
mon folk to reach all of the state’s!7o
Mass media must overcome questions about integrity
by Suzanne Lye
Caveat emptor: Can you really
believe everything you read?
Recent incidents have suggested
a frightening trend in American
journalism which points to a less
than ethical media.
The first disturbing incident
was an NBC controversy over a
rigged test of General Motors truck
fuel tanks, which resulted in the
resignation of NBC news president
Michael Gartner. About the same
time USA Today, the nation’s larg
est selling paper, was blasted for
running a picture of five gun-wav
ing gang members with a gang
violence story, when in fact, the
Basketball not only career path for black youth
by Michael Lee
Why do people see a young
black man and assume he’s just a
basketball player and not a bud
ding artist or a developing scientist,
or even a future politician? Why do
some people deal in stereotypies?
My experience at the Rainbow
Institute was somewhat awkward
because the institute coincided with
Dean Smith’s Basketball camp.
I enjoyed playing with the
campers in my spare time, but I
didn’t enjoy being labeled as a
camper by everyone I came in
contact with. No matter where I
was, people assumed that I was a
basketball camper.
I admit that I am a tall, black
male, with a decent jump shot, but
why must all young black males be
Rainbow experience shows
what it’s like to be the minority
by Ben Pillow
As I drove from my hometown
of Beaufort, S.C., to UNC-CH for
the Freedom Forum Rainbow Insti
tute, I felt many different things,
ranging from anticipation to fear to
excitement. Now, at the conclu
sion of the Institute, I feel the
program has fulfilled all of the
wishes and desires I hoped it would
contain.
Being the only “non-minority”
at the Rainbow Institute, designed
primarily for minorities to increase
minority employment in journal
ism, I did have some anticipatory
worries and concerns coming into
the workshop. Would I be ac
cepted? Would it be difficult for me
to smoothly associate with the other
13 people who were coming? As it
turned out, I quickly put to rest
these trivial concerns.
After our first day, I realized
everyone here was mature beyond
most of my peers and there was no
reason for worries about not being
accepted. I was the first one to
arrive, and my anticipation doubled
as I waited for the others. But as
soon as Jamal Jafari, an Asian-
American from Gaithersburg, Md.,
and Michael Lee, an African-Ameri
can from Kansas City, Mo., intro
legislators.
The gubernatorial veto would
make it possible for the rich and
powerful to have one-stop shop
ping, at the governor’s office.
But there’s another way to look
at this.
It is not surprising that a high
ranking official like the Speaker
would oppose giving the governor
veto power. It only makes sense for
Blue to want to keep as much of
the power for himself as possible.
Why would anyone want to give
governmental power to someone
else, if they could keep it in their
own hands?
North Carolina is the only state
in the country that does not grant
its governor the authority to veto
bills that are passed by the legisla
ture.
Whatever happened to the sys
tem of checks and balances in the
Tarheel state?
Obviously the voters are im
pressed with Blue, since they have
returned him to office repeatedly,
and his colleagues have elected
him as their leader. But the Rain
bow Institute delegation was not as
impressed.
Some felt that he didn’t take the
student journalists and their ques
tions seriously. He seemed deter
youths had posed for a story on a
community program called guns
for-jobs.
Where do reporters draw the
line? The answer too often is no
where. There is no agreed upon set
of ethical rules for reporters and
editors. Since the First Amendment
guarantees the right to a free press,
there have been no successful ef
forts to regulate this growing,
chimerical beast, which feeds on
the darkest aspects of human life
and the curiosity of perverted indi
viduals.
Journalistic ethics has to do
with the question of fairness. Yes,
both newspapers and TV take po
labeled as just basketball players?
One day, I walked into a store
in Chapel Hill and this kid said that
he saw me playing basketball the
other day.
He asked, “ What group are you
with,” referring to the various bas
ketball camp groups.
I replied, “ I’m not in the camp,
I’m here for the Rainbow Institute,
a journalism workshop.”
All his little friends began gig
gling and the boy said, “No you’re
not.”
Again I said I was in the journal
ism workshop, but the child said I
wasn’t, maybe my jump shot is
better than I thought it was. Finally
I gave in and said that I was in the
camp, to drop the subject.
“ We knew it,” a couple of the
duced themselves and we started
talking, relief subdued my con
cerns.
We
met Julius Chambers, chancellor at
N.C. Central University, July 6, and
he told us one reason for racial
tension today was because people
of different races didn’t know how
to communicate. That is the reason
I think our group got along so well
- we knew how to communicate.
At one point during the Insti
tute, there was a concern that cliques
were developing and excluding
some students. We stayed up until
almost 3 a.m. and brought all of our
feelings out into the open and
explained our own ideas and prob
lems. It ended up being a very
emotional and enlightening night
for all of us and we gained a better
understanding of each other.
For me personally, this pro
gram has almost been like a dream
come true. I now know exactly
what I want to do, pursue a career
in journalism, and just working
with our faculty foursome of Jan
Elliott, Chuck Stone, David Hawpe
and Merv Aubespin has been the
most valuable educational experi
ence one could ask for.
From Chuck’s acquaintances,
OPINION
mined to avoid the main issues and
did not fully explain his position on
some of the issues he did talk
about.
The students expected to learn
his views about his job and his
positions on legislative matters. And
they assumed that, if he were really
sincere, he would make himself
clear. Maybe he was as sincere as
a politician can be.
There was limited time for stu
dent questions, since Blue appeared
to elaborate on several things to
pass the time. Like a typical politi
cian, when questions were asked
he tended to talk around them,
smiling when he thought he was
making particularly good sense.
The one thing that the students
learned about when they visited
the Speaker that day was politics.
How ironic that it would be a high
ranking official, who ought to be
above the low-level petty political
realm, who would introduce the
students to politics-as-usual. Ironic,
but not surprising.
Although he was well-spoken
and friendly, and the Rainbow stu
dents were grateful for the time he
spent with them, his pitch was
unconvincing.
He never showed the students
his true colors.
etic license in depicting people
and events. But that license is not
carte blanche. If NBC had informed
the public that the GM truck had
been rigged for greater clarity in
the story, then GM might never
have filed a suit against the net
work and Gartner would still have
a job.
The work of a newspaper is not
only to inform, but also to bring
clear, startling insight and experi
ence to segments of society that
may not know what is happening
in the world around them. Journal
ism should give human beings a
sense of connection with each other
in the basic struggle for survival.
little boys said, and continued their
shopping.
That conversation probably
meant nothing to the kids, but it
will linger with me for a long time.
It made me feel bad because other
people feel that if you are tall and
black there’s nothing for you but
basketball.
Little did they know that I am
also an artist, a writer, and a num
ber of other things.
Later in the week, when some
of the other journalists from the
Rainbow Institute began playing
basketball with me, it became evi
dent to the campers that I was
indeed a journalist, but I came
across another conflict.
Everyone began to make fun of
us as we played against the camp-
to Uncle Merv’s experiences, to
David’s butchering of my stories,
and Jan’s ability to keep it all to
gether, I can honestly say I’ve
learned more about journalism then
in three years of high school to
gether.
And Harry Amana. He taught
me more about writing stories and
leads by simply finding things
wrong that I get applauded for in
my high school newspaper.
The entire feeling, however,
surrounding the whole Institute has
been the greatest part. The almost
celebrity attention we get from the
entire faculty and UNC-CH makes
the hard work we’ve all done in
high school worth it. The one-on
one opportunities available to us
anytime has really been this
program’s best asset.
So, as I prepare to return to
Beaufort with all these new vol
umes of information I can use for
my senior year and future career, I
feel extremely honored and privi
leged I was part of the Rainbow
Institute.
I will always be grateful to
everyone who gave me this oppor
tunity and the chance to enjoy it,
and these are definitely three weeks
and 18 people I will never forget.
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Photo by Javier Martinez
Speaker of N.C. House of Representatives Dan Blue discussing state politics
Inaccurately portrayed stories like
the one in USA Today and the NBC
news not only reinforces the sepa
rations of race and class, but also
misrepresents corportations by
negatively stereotyping inner city
gang members and corporations.
Such misrepresentation makes an
audience ask, What is the truth?
When a newspaper or television
network misinforms its audience, it
breaks a trust that is not easily re
acquired.
Unfortunately, the solution is
not as easy to define as the prob
lem. In a survey of editors by the
Associated Press Managing Editors,
over half of the respondents said
ers. Throughout the game we
heard remarks like, “You guys go
ing to write a story about how you
lost?”
Taunt after taunt and all of the
other journalists seemed to take it
in stride. But for some reason in
side, I felt as if I was being chas
tised for being a black male trying
to make something of himself out
side sports.
What upset me more was that
through all of the remarks that
were made, I knew that many of
those players saw basketball as
their only escape and hope for a
brighter future.
I began thinking that this was
a problem more with society than
with the individual campers.
Many black male youth dream
Rainbow Register staff
News Editors: Victoria Lopez, Suzanne Lye, Mimi Moon
Features Editors: Lai-Har Cheung, Laurie Saenz
Editorial Page Editor: Jamal Jafari
Profiles Editor: LaKeesha Washington
Layout: Carl Andrews, Antoinette Parker
Photography Editor: Javier Martinez
Copy Editors: Sherry Parfait, Ben Pillow
Cutline Editor: Eliseo Amezcua
Artist: Michael Lee
Writers: Eliseo Amezcua, Carl Andrews, Lai-Har Cheung, Jamal Jafari, Michael
Lee, Victoria Lopez, Suzanne Lye, Javier Martinez, Mimi Moon, Sherry
Parfait, Antoinette Parker, Ben Pillow, Laurie Saenz and LaKeesha
Washington.
Publisher: Jan Elliott
Associate Publisher: Chuck Stone
Editor: David Hawpe
Associate Editor: Merv Aubespin
Production Coordinator: Stacy Wynn
Colophon: The Rainbow Register is a production of the students who
attended the 1993 Freedom Forum Rainbow Institute journalism program
at the UNC-CH School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Special thanks to The Daily Tar Heel for assistance in producing the newspa
per. p
the recent controversies have
caused credibility problems for their
publications. However, a whop
ping 67.9 percent said that they had
not done anything to change or
reassure their readers.
There are two ways to promote
honesty. The first route is through
responsibility. It starts at the top
and works its way down. Editors
should set an example for their
writers by pulling out those dusty
journalistic ethics guideline books
and enforcing the codes. Further
down in the hierarchy, if reporters
took personal responsibility to
double-check information with their
sources, inaccuracies and misquotes
of “being like Mike.” It seems that
the only image portrayed of blacks
on television are athletes. Rarely
are black doctors and lawyers
shown on television, so young kids
look at some athletes successes
and begin to idolize them.
In 1968, reporter Jack Olsen
wrote in an article, “The Black
Athlete: A Shameful Story,” in Sports
Illustrated, of “ the countless Ne
groes who obviously had abun
dant will and determination to suc
ceed, but who dedicated their
childhoods and energies to (sports).
If there were other ways out and
up, they were blinded to them by
the successes of a few sports celeb
rities.”
As I see it, the problem is that
when people focus on sports alone
would be reduced dramatically.
The second route is through
community action. If readers are
outraged about a story, they can
scream their anger to the wind and
nothing will result. However, if
those people wrote a letter to the
newspaper or TV station express
ing deep concern, some change
could occur. One thoughtful, per
suasive person can make the me
dia know they have gone too far.
With journalistic responsibility
and community involvement, news
papers and TV can depict reality
honesdy and fairly. Then maybe,
just maybe, we can again begin to
trust.
and success in athletics doesn’t
occur, there is little or nothing
remaining for them.
I felt that many of the campers
fit into that characterization and
focus too heavily on athletics. Pro
grams like the Dean Smith basket
ball camp are good to help players
improve their games, but it may be
detrimental to society because in
the process of focusing on basket
ball, we may in turn lose a future
doctor, lawyer, engineer, or even a
journalist.
When the media and society as
a whole begins to focus on black
accomplishments and educational
opportunities outside of sports then,
and only then, will people look at
tall, black males as something other
than just a basketball player.