Changing the rules, continued

by Dan Kennedy

When Boston Herald consumer and transportation columnist Robin Washington was briefly suspended last spring for publicly accusing his editors of "censoring" his stories about FleetBoston, one oft-repeated statistic no doubt made management distinctly uncomfortable: Washington's status as the paper's only black news reporter (see "Don't Quote Me," News and Features, May 5).

The statistic was particularly painful for an urban paper that's heavily read in Boston's African-American neighborhoods. Now the Herald is taking some tentative steps toward rectifying the situation.

The most important is the return of Leonard Greene, an African-American who left the paper several years ago to take a job at Long Island's Newsday and who will come back to the Herald in his previous capacity as a metro columnist. Two other African-Americans have also joined the staff: Azell Murphy Cavaan, a former Herald reporter who'd left to take a job at Northeastern University and who's returned as a feature writer; and music critic Sarah Rodman, previously a freelance contributor. The paper has also begun a program to train young minority journalists.

Still, the Herald's numbers are nothing to brag about. According to managing editor for news Andrew Gully, the paper now has 16 minorities (he estimates about 10 are black) out of a total of 210 newsroom employees, or nearly eight percent. By contrast, the Globe employs 86 minorities (53 of whom are black) out of a newsroom of 462, or nearly 19 percent, says Globe spokesman Rick Gulla. Nationwide, about 11.5 percent of editorial employees are minorities, according to the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE). (The Boston Phoenix has four minorities, including one black, out of a staff of about 40 full-time editorial employees and regular contributors.)

The Herald's Gully contends that his paper has long wrestled with the problem of how to bring talented minority reporters to a relatively low-paying, low-prestige paper -- and, more crucial, how to keep them. "Any minority person of ability has his pick of jobs throughout the country," Gully says. "If you've got a certain level of experience, you can write your own ticket."

For a paper that's overwhelmingly white, the Herald does attempt to cover stories of interest to black readers. Witness its excellent recent report by Washington bureau chief Andrew Miga on low minority hiring rates among the state's congressional delegation, and features on a cotillion for black teenage girls in Boston and the annual Black Picnic in Salem.

Clearly, though, the Herald has a long way to go. Washington, the president of the Boston Association of Black Journalists, declined to comment. But his vice-president, New England Cable News reporter Davida Wright, calls the greener-pastures argument "bogus," saying, "There are many blacks who would be willing to come to a city the size of Boston and report for a major newspaper. While it's probably true many blacks are opting for better-paying, more prestigious jobs, there are still many blacks who have a passion for journalism. The Herald should learn where to find them."

Adds former Herald staffer Jason Johnson, an African-American who's now a political reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle: "Folks leave for other opportunities. But I think the Herald should make a better effort to retain people, because it's good for the city."

Perhaps the Herald's biggest long-term challenge in recruiting and keeping minority journalists is the logjam at the top of the masthead. Three white editors (Gully, editor Andy Costello, and managing editor for features Kevin Convey) keep a close rein on the entire paper. Recruiting a top minority editor to join that triumvirate in a real decision-making role would do more good than any 10 young minority journalists the Herald might hire.

"I think diversity in leadership is very important," says Newsday managing editor Charlotte Hall, an African-American who chairs ASNE's diversity committee. "It helps you to understand that there's a career track for you." Not only does a top minority editor help recruit and retain minority reporters, she adds, but that person can also have a crucial impact on the way news is covered and the paper is edited.

Responds Gully: "That's a valid point."

---

It was bad enough that the American Prospect "Summer Books Issue" included such long-in-the-tooth releases as Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point (published last February) and Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose's Bush-whacking exercise Shrub (another February favorite). Now the new issue, dated July 31, has Ronnie Dugger's two-and-a-half-page-plus review of Patrick Buchanan's A Republic, Not an Empire, which was released last September 1.

Gee, if they'd waited a few more weeks they could have run it on the anniversary.

Page 1 | 2

---

Dan Kennedy's work can be accessed from his Web site: http://www.shore.net/~dkennedy

---

Dan Kennedy can be reached at dkennedy[a]phx.com

---

Articles from July 24, 1997 & before can be accessed here

---