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Dangerous Journalistic Politics
Gary Hart, the leading Democratic Party
presidential hopeful is suddenly gone. In re
sponding to the news media's "womanizing
question," Hart said, "Follow me around. I
don’t care. I'm serious. If anybody wants to
put a tail on me, go ahead. They'd be very
bored." The Miami Herald accepted Hart's
challenge. They staked out his Washington
townhome and reported that a beautiful wom
an named Donna Rice was seen entering the
house with him and spent the night alone with
him.
Some, including media people, have been
severely critical of The Herald claiming that
"Peeping Tom” journalism borders on being
unethical and unprofessional. However, the
Florida-based newspaper justified its actions
on three key points. First, as a presidential
candidate, the public has a right to know
about any flaws in the character and moral
judgement of a person who is seeking a pub
lic office that requires the full faith and trust
of the American people. Secondly, it was the
allegations of womanizing that led The Her
ald to accept Hart's invitation to follow him
around. Thirdly, notwithstanding the moral
question, it was important for all to kno.w
about Hart's judgement skills.
The Herald's original report that Ms. Rice
spent the night with Hart was later discredit
ed when the newsmen admitted that they had
not watched both entrances to the townhouse.
While Hart was claiming innocence of any
wrong doing, it was revealed that the same
young woman had spent another questiona
ble night on a boat with Hart and two other
couples last year.
These developments led Gary Hart to with
draw his potential candidacy for the highest
office in the nation. It means too that from the
very moment of Hart’s withdrawal, the di
rection of America's political stance has
changed from an unknown, what might have
been to what now is and possibly through the
very actions of the next president. This is
and will be at least pfcrtly thj^result of the ac
tions of The Miami Herald.
An example is evident, too, in a related de
velopment being influenced by the news me
dia. With Gary Hart out of the presidential
hopeful picture, it would appear that the sec
ond most notable candidate for the Democrat
ic Party's nomination would move up to the
number one spot. This is not happening be
cause neither the Democratic Party leader
ship nor the news media believes the candi
date in questioh can win the presidential
election in 1988.
The candidate we are referring to is Jesse
Jackson. While a distant second to Hart,
Jackson has name recognition, it is believed
that he can influence a major portion of the
black vote, and a few white liberals, and he
has considerable presidential campaigning
experience. Yet, the sad an somewhat embar
rassing fact is that neither the Democratic
Party nor the news media truly believes that
a black candidate can win in 1988.
Jackson has said and done some things
that have upset some blacks and some Demo
crats both liberal and conservative. These
concerns aside, if Jackson were white, the
media with or without the encouragement of
the Democratic Party, would be heavily court
ing Jackson as the new Democratic Party
front-runner. We have referred to this as an
embarrassing fact" because it implies some
racist feeling's attitude which may or may not
be real.
Most voters don't know these other long
shot candidates. Beyond the borders of their
respective states - Rep. Richard Gephardt of
Missouri, Gov. Michael Dukakis of Massa
chusetts, and a few lesser known hopefuls -
these candidates lack instant name recogni
tion and even less presidential planning and
campaign strategy.
Again because of the media's action, or in
action in this case, the direction of political
history is and will be changed from an un
known what might have been to what now is
and may possibly be thrdugh the presidency
of1988 through 1992.
These are examples of journalistic policies
because in different ways and for different
reasons, the media is not simply reporting
the news that's fit to print," but rather is act
ing as a king maker. We would like to think
that in free society with a free presa that
pewsmen would be pleased ito just report the '
news and not be the news makers. Further
more, at the very least let a national political
• convention select a presidential candidate;
and at the very most let the voters decide who
shall be our next president. Journalistic poli
tics is dangerous because its wider use could
lead to government regulation and thus
threaten the loss of our free press.
Re-Evaluate American Moral Standards
\ . J • Sl ' * I • •
Ted Kennedy, Jim Bakker, Gary Hart.
Two of these men lost opportunities to become
President oflhe United States. The other, Jim
Bakker, lost a $140 million a year television
evangelism ministry and first class hotel
and amusement part facilities. In addition,
the multi-million dollar newly built Ameri
can embassy in Moscow is said to be awash
with listening devices that would allow the
Russians to be fully aware of all our embassy
dealings.
Each of these missed presidential opportu
nities, the loss of a worldwide television
ministry and a totally useless foreign em
bassy are all the result of sexual behavior in
volving these three men and two U.S. Ma
rines, one black and one American Indian,
each with women of some questionable char
acter and. purpose. Indeed, the affairs raise
serious questions, too, about the character of
these men iq whom the public is asked to •
place great trust and the two young Marines
who lacked the sense of discipline to be a first
line of defense for our nation by not letting
the Russians have free reign to "bug" our
embassy in exchange for monetary sexual
favors from a few Russian women. All of
this appears to show a great need for America
and Americans to re-evaluate their moral
standards and not sell their souls to the devil,
be they Russians or others.
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Good News In The News Room
special To The Post
By Rev. Ben Chavis
They were told they couldn't
win. They were told the lawsuit
would ruin their careers. Still,
they continued. And now, four Af
rican American reporters on the
staff of the NEW YORK DAILY
NEWS have been vindicated.
They have won their law suit. A
jury has found that the four jour
nalists were given lower salaries,
fewer promotions and worse as
signments because of their race. It
is Predicted that the outcome will
have major national impact. For.
it is the first time that a discrimina
tion suit, filed by newspaper edito
rial employees, actually went, to
tiiW, and thud so rally exposed lie
racism in that industry.
The evidence presented at the
trial was overwhelming. For ex
ample, the editorial department of
the DAILY NEWS hired only 36
African Americans since the late
1940's through 1981 -a period of
over 30years. And it wasn't until
1981 that one was promoted into a
management position. According
to the testimony of Vincent Dona
to, a former Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) manager, in the two short
years from 1979 to 1981, the News
hired or promoted 47 People into
management positions. Yet none
was African American.
As Mr. Donato, testified. "We
found whites, as a group, were
paid more than Blacks. White em
ployees were likely to get merit in
creases and the increases they got
were likely to be higher." Based on
its findings the EEOC, has now
filed a class action discrimination
suit against the DAILY NEWS on
behalf of 25 African American em
ployees.
However, statistics never tell
the full stoiy. Statistics can't re
veal that an assistant night editor
told another white staffer that
"Blacks are not well suited for
journalism [because] they didn't
have the background and the edu
cation." Statistics can't show how
Joan Shephard, a cultural affairs
editor, felt after one editor called
her a "street-walker". Numbers
can't demonstrate how David
Hardy, the NEWS' political report
er, felt after he was pulled off the
famous ABscanv scandal in favor
of a white reporter, even though
he had exclusive knowledge about
one of the Abscam defendants.
And figures don't explain the frus
tration that assistant news editor
Steven Duncan, now 63 years old,
felt as he was passed over by other
white reporters, some of whom he
had trained. It was only after he
filed discrimination charges in
1983 that he received his latest
promotion.
Just as this trial has more than
local implications, the situation
which it revealed exists in more
than just the city room of the NY
DAILY NEWS.- In newsrooms
across this nation the percentage
of Blacks and other racial and eth
nic peoples at the top manage
ment level is only 3%. In fact, ra
cial and ethnic Employment at dai
ly newspapers, at any level, is a
mere 6.3%.
For those who wonder about
the skewed and — dare we say it —
racist coverage of papers like the
NY DAILY NEWS, these statistics
provide a clearer understanding.
However, knowledge is insuffi-1
dent without action. Our commu
nities must begin to better use their.
power. In dties with large African
American and Hispanic popula
tions, such as New York City, the
daily newspapers depend on the
newsstand sales in these commu
nities...and on the advertising dol
lars supported by the business of
these populations. If we want our
dailies to provide piore balanced.
coverage of our communities, we
need to show them how their con-,
tinued racist coverage will affect,
thajr Pocketbooks.
We also applaud tW JfTorts.T
from the inside, of the interradal,
Institute for Journalistic Educa-,
tion, a watchdog and training or-;
ganization. The Institute provides
top-notch training for racial andt
ethnic journalists and has consis
tently spoken out against the,
shameful hiring and promotion
practices of this nation's daily
newspapers.
The greatest credit, however,
goes to the four journalists who
perservered through five long
years of legal maneuverings until
they won their day in court. Their
battle is far from over, of course. '
THE NEWS, in all its arrogance, '
will continue to fight with all the*
money and power at its disposal. ’
But nothing can erase the decision'
nor the evidence upon which it'
was based. As always, it is not'
only organizations, but also two or'
three people unitedin action, who
continue the movement for
change.
On Politicians And The Constitution
Memorial Day is an opportuni
ty for America to honor her dead.
It is also a time to pay tribute to
those Americans who gave up
their lives to preserve the free
doms guaranteed by the UA Con
stitution. Yet, many national lead
ers demonstrate little respect for
the Constitution on its 200th anni
versary.
While suffering a bad case of
Wall 8treet Journal Withdrawal"
in the Phillipines during the ten
ure of former President Ferdi
nand Marcos, I learned to appre
ciate the Conetitution as a living
document. It had been some time
since I had read the Journal so I
was ready to settle for anything. I
asked the lady at the hotel desk
where I could buy a paper.
She pointed to some newspaper
machines in the hotel's lobby. As I
started in their direction, she com
mented that if I wanted to read the
truth I should buy a paper from
the boys on the streets. She felt the
other newspapers were merely
government propaganda.
This small experience highlight
ed the importance of America's
free press. Thus the news media
must take a leadership role in the
celebration of the 200th anniver
sary of the U.8. Constitution. The
national media must point out to
our political leaders that they need
to show reverence for the Consti
tution.
flhennm MUw |
There is currently a movement
afoot to get the U.8. Congress to
meet in Philadelphia, PA, the birth- j
place of the U.8. Constitution, for a
200th Constitution celebration. So
far, Pennsylvania's Congressional
' Delegation is. still trying to con
vince their associates to corns to
Philadelphia. The mare fact that
our national leadership places the
U.8. Constitution so low on their
priority list is a slap in the face of
the American families whose sons
and daughters died in foreign
wars to preserve this great natidn.
Since the leadership of both the
U.S. House of Representatives and
the U.8. Senate have not seen fit to
honor the U.8. Constitution, then
perhaps the 1988 presidential can
didates will prove theihselyes
worthy of the U.8. presidency.
One of these candidates will tkke
the Presidential Oath, "1 do sol
emnly swear (or affirm) that I trill
'' * «
faithfully execute the Office of!
President of the United States, and!
will to the best of my ability, pie
serve, protect and defend the Con
stitution of the United States."
If Democrats like U.S. Senator
Joe Biden and Representative!
Richard Gephardt and Republi
cans as U.8. Senator Bob Dole and
Representative Jack Kemp cannot
rally their peers to honor the U.8.
Constitution, they do no deserve to
be President.
Perhaps non-officeholders for
mer Republican governor Pate
Dupont IV | or Democrat Rev.
Jesse Jackson will seize tfiis gold
en opportunity to lead the nation
in paying homage to our
"Founding Fathers" dream.
When I think about the numer
ous lives lost to preserve our Con
stitution, I conclude that Congres
sional members who fail to con
vene in Philadelphia for the 200th
anniversary constitutional cele
bration should not stand for la
election. These people's actions
will have demonstrated their lack
of respect for the U.8. Constitu
tion.
Let us hop* our Congressional
leadership demonstrates to the
world that our Constitution is re
v*r*d Ly the American people.
Hopefully the world will believe
us when w* claim that our demo
cratic form of government is su
perior to all others.