The AJC and the Controversial Race Cleansing Story

by A.man.I

Pulitzer award winning journalist Elliot Jaspin's new book, "Buried in Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Clensing in America" is getting some much needed attention. Jaspin accuses the Atlanta Journal Constitution of bowdlerizing a story he wrote about racial cleansing that occured in Forsyth County back in 1912. His book documents racial violence agianst blacks, how property belonging to blacks ended up being transferred to whites without any sales records, or legal title transfers, and why the AJC failed to run his story.


Elliot Jaspin
Richard Prince recently examined the issue in his Journal-isms column writing, "The reporter (Jaspin) who uncovered a 60-year pattern of expelling African Americans from communities around the country and wrote a series about it last year says the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the flagship of the newspaper company he works for, tried to undermine what he produced."

According to reports, Cox newspapers around the country published the series, but the AJC didn't. Creative Loafing's John Sugg writes, "That created the odd circumstance in which the chain's largest newspaper didn't run high-profile articles by its own Washington bureau, stories that highlighted events in the AJC's own backyard."


A Cox Washington Bureau Chief is quoted as saying that AJC editors "are afraid of angering white people," and Jaspin said,"The stories I had written were edited to obscure the Atlanta newspaper's lackadaisical coverage," he says in his book. "Editors ignored clear conflicts of interest while editing the racial cleansing series."

Angering white people, how about angering blacks? Not only did people get terrorized out of their land, but it looks like a highly regarded newswpaper made a deliberate attempt to hide the truth.

Thanks to G. Daughters for the heads up.

A Video Lesson

By A.man.I
I've always had an interest in teaching, and I had the opportunity to teach video production at a Tampa community college for about three years when I lived there.

I would encourage anyone to take a class or two at a community college if you've ever considered learning about journalism, or video production. I got my first taste of broadcasting at a SF Bay Area community college (College of San Mateo), where I had the chance to work as a radio announcer, and TV producer. That lead to more opportunities and before I knew it, I was in Tampa, Florida reporting the news.

I'm now in Atlanta where I've become an advocate of the emerging form of journalism, most commonly known as citizen journalism. Since I'm now looking for grassroots journalism stories that focus on urban issues, I figured some of the Atlanta colleges may be a good source for stories.

It just so happened that one of the instructors is teaching journalism students about broadcasting this semester. Since this is my area of specialty, he asked me to lead a few class discussions on video basics.

The class is made up of a small group of seniors, who seemed very skeptical at first about having to learn about video. They're going to have to produce a video story for their mid-term project, so I'm giving them a production crash course.

Watch the video below.

YouTube video
Download video

Reporter Training Program

by A.man.I
This could be a great opportunity for broadcasting students. It's called the "Minorities in Broadcating Training Program." I haven't heard of the organization, but here's the link. The deadline is February 15th. I learned almost everything I know about broadcast journalism through a reporter trainee program. Believe me, it's work.

Memphis! Episode 2

by A.man.I

It was a smooth road to Memphis. I travelled from Atlanta, through Birmingham Alabama, into Mississippi, and finally arrived at the "home of the blues" about six hours after my road trip began.

Now remember, these events took place the weekend of January 12th. It takes time to edit these adventures for your viewing pleasure. The National Conference for Media Reform was a very interesting experience. There wasn't a large presence of mainstream media, but some local Memphis stations covered the event. Speakers and participants were highly critical of the mainstream - how minority issues are covered, and the way the news networks have covered the war in Iraq. Just about everyone stressed the need for more voices to be heard, and why coverage needs to better reflect this nation's diverse communities.

I was most interested in hearing how people felt about the way the news covers urban issues, and what people think about citizen journalism. From the Rodney King beating to 9/11, people who are non-journalists have been sharing videos with news outlets. Now, the Internet, and sites like YouTube, have cut out the middle man.

YouTube version
Download video (wmv)

Last Hired, First Fired

By A.man.I
Controversy continues in Philadelphia over the recent layoffs at the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Philadelphia Tribune is reporting that the Philadelphia NAACP, and the National Association of Black Journalists is now involved in the discussion surrounding the Inquirer's decision to layoff 71 employees. 20% of those who are losing their jobs are Black, and there are concerns that it will cause a disproportionate amount of minorities on staff. The NABJ is apparently concerned because Black journalists at the paper were twice as likely to be laid off than whites. The spokesman for the Inquirer's CEO, Jay Devine is quoted as saying “It is strictly based on seniority... The last hired is the first to be let go.”

Reporter Returns to Bagdad

Here's a link to an article by NABJ's 2004 Journalist of the Year, Hannah Allam. She paints a grim picture of the situation in Iraq.

Check Deez

From A.man.I

Viewfinder Blues - The life of a news photographer
Live Crash - From TV station KSBW-TV Louisville KY
GlendaleDailyPlanet - Citizen produced news