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	Related Links New California Media This group of more than 700 ethnic media organizations works to bolster the power of the ethnic press in American journalism. National Association of Black Journalists This 30-year-old group is the largest advocacy and service organization for journalists of color in the country. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education This organization offers training and professional-development programs aimed at increasing diversity in the news business.

The organization’s venture with an African-American paper is a dramatic move from a social and business perspective. The current state of black newspaper publishing — which began in the 19th century and was badly damaged by a "brain drain" of reporters to the mainstream media in the racially turbulent 1960s — is less robust than the Hispanic news industry. The 2005 State of the News Media survey said the black press had been hit "particularly hard" by the economic downturn that began in 2001 and led to ad-revenue drop-offs of 40 to 50 percent at some publications. Even the bullish New California Media poll found that for African-Americans, the ethnic medium of choice is radio, not newspapers.

The Newspaper Association of America, which tracks ethnic papers and print products, could find only a handful of mainstream media initiatives designed to reach black audiences.

"I think there are some efforts in the core publication" to appeal to black readers, says Randy Bennett, vice-president of readership integration for the association. "But in terms of a separate product, we haven’t seen much of that on the mainstream side.... I think there’s a sense this is the right strategy to reach out to underserved audiences with these kinds of publications, [but] most of them are Spanish-language."

GRABBING DOLLARS

Reaction to the New York Times Company’s plans to launch the Gainesville Guardian can be broken down into three categories: angry, wary, and cheery. Some of the Guardian’s potential rivals certainly fit into the first category.

Candace Lewis-Khufia, publisher of the Mahogany Revue biweekly in Ocala, Florida, is worried about the newcomer’s effect on local ad dollars.

"The main thing that’s going on here is grabbing dollar bills from every which way but loose," she says. "The issue here is not about the paper’s circulation. What it’s about is advertising, and the advertising that should be going into [local community papers]."

In a toughly worded column, George E. Curry, editor in chief of the news service of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, an organization of black journalists, said, "What is so galling is that White-owned media companies that have done such an embarrassingly poor job of accurately portraying people of color on their pages and broadcast outlets are now seeking to supplant the only legitimate Black media voices that have performed that task admirably for more than a century."

Usnik responds to critics by citing grassroots support in Gainesville. "We’re thrilled that the community and business leaders in Gainesville are all upbeat," he says. "The most important thing is the community is welcoming this, and we’re excited to be providing this service."

The Reverend Kevin Thorpe, pastor of the city’s Faith Missionary Baptist Church, is not aware of another local paper that really serves the African-American community there and is reassured by the hiring of Charlotte Roy as editor.

"I may have been a little more leery ... if someone outside the African-American community was editing the paper," he says.

Larry McDaniel, the head of the Focus on Leadership minority-training program in Gainesville, says "the majority of the community is supportive" of the Guardian. "There hasn’t been consistent coverage of the community as a whole by local media outlets.... I’m convinced they’ll do a good job. The lady who is editor has impeccable credentials."

A more wait-and-see approach is taken by Richard Prince. He has written frequently about the Guardian in his regular journalism column, posted on the Maynard Institute’s Web site.

"They’re trying to make money and they see an opening here. I see it as very similar to what all these companies are trying to do in the Hispanic market," Prince says. "I think the proof will be in the product, whether people will view it as genuine or an imposter."

"For some of the people it’s a labor of love," he adds quickly. "Which you can’t say about the New York Times."

Mark Jurkowitz can be reached at mjurkowitz[a]phx.com