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I wish this statement by 10 leading journalism deans had started with needed self-criticism of our field & how we have utterly failed communities of color, who had to resort to social media to be seen, for they were too long not heard in mass media. 1/ https://cronkite.asu.edu/news-and-events/news/carnegie-knight-deans-values-statement
I wish the deans had strongly criticized the field we send graduates to for chronically failing to diversify newsrooms--or even enumerate that failure--& for frustrating journalists of color such that journalism does not promote and empower them and loses too many each year. 2/
I wish the statement were more specifically critical of the culture of journalism schools themselves for not facing race squarely. Every school, including mine -- including me -- has much work to do. Let us start there. 3/
The deans say they recommit "to confronting and challenging racism in our communities and in our institutions" and "create more inclusive environments." How, exactly? The time for rhetoric is long past. We--again I include me & mine--must now enumerate changes. 4/
The deans' statement starts where journalists always do: with ourselves, with journalism rather than with the communities we are to serve: "our belief that journalism is critical for a functional democracy." Judging by current evidence, we seem to have failed there, miserably. 5/
We should recognize not just systemic racism in journalism but also our failure to inform the nation and the public conversation. Schools should examine why and propose radical alternatives to "time-honored methods." I try to. I'll try harder. 6/
The deans say recent killings of Black (at last we capitalize that) Americans forces the country to confront systemic racism. They say protests challenge journalists to hold institutions to account. But who holds journalism to account? Schools? 7/
Here @oiioxford calls (in 5.1) for "Detailing the ways in which our field(s) & specific department are complicit in anti-Blackness & other forms of racial & social injustice." I'd like a j-school, any j-school (my j-school) to take that on. 8/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fn4ddFgQT32Nf8SgRvdTMS_PJlMLL12tph6X6gzNORY/edit
The deans say they are "mindful of the burden our colleagues of color are shouldering" as they "remain unflinchingly dispassionate." Do we really still believe they should be dispassionate, neutral, objective, balanced?
Have we learned nothing in the face of fascism? 9/
Have we learned nothing in the face of fascism? 9/
They deans say our "time-honored methods of news-gathering" will "help reestablish trust in institutions--our own, and the ones we cover." No. They assume communities not reflected in mass media *ever* trusted mass media. They haven't. We must listen to learn why. 10/
The deans protest the harassment and injury of journalists in "an atmosphere of terror." Agree. How about empathy, too for witnesses, for the courageous 17-year-old woman who recorded George Floyd's murder, without whom there would be no story? https://www.insider.com/teenager-filmed-george-floyd-video-says-shes-being-harassed-2020-5 11/
How about recognizing that people of color and women had to go to Facebook and Twitter to assemble and act and share what they endure and witness under hashtags as platforms. What does that say about our failure in journalism and media? 12/
Friend @jayrosen_nyu notes that neither his school nor mine was included in this statement. Fine. But why didn't this group of leading schools reach out to HBCU and Hispanic-serving institutions to amplify their voices?
https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/status/1274397759559184384 13/
https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/status/1274397759559184384 13/
Please also see @perryrparks excellent thread.
https://twitter.com/perryrparks/status/127439042296673485013 14/
https://twitter.com/perryrparks/status/127439042296673485013 14/
In short, journalism is not about us. It is about the communities we serve. We must shift our focus away from ourselves. 15/
As for me: I need to examine my failings as an old, white man regarding race throughout my career and as a teacher. I am working on that.
I need to learn more and also see the world through other lenses and not expect people of color to tutor me. So I read and listen. 16/
I need to learn more and also see the world through other lenses and not expect people of color to tutor me. So I read and listen. 16/
I need to find more ways to support, sponsor, elevate the experience and voices of, and especially share power with, colleagues of color in my field. Too late, I am trying.
I need to do better the next time I am on a search committee to demand more of us. 17/
I need to do better the next time I am on a search committee to demand more of us. 17/
I need to do more to specifically support my colleague @Brizzyc in the work of #socialj, which we believe is critical to reimagining journalism that begins and ends in service to communities too long not served by mass journalism.
That's the start, just the start, of my list. 18/
That's the start, just the start, of my list. 18/
I have much work to do. I don't criticize the deans' statement from a higher step. Instead, I'd have hoped they'd have pushed me & their faculties & students to commit to specific goals to reform journalism, how we teach it, how it serves the public, how it is accountable. 19/
I think the statement from @oiioxford people, linked above, is a good model. @bonappetit's statement of contrition and commitment tries hard.
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/where-we-go-from-here
If you see any other models for change, please share them. 20/
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/where-we-go-from-here
If you see any other models for change, please share them. 20/
I am proud of my school and of the grand diversity of our graduates, who take their lived experience and perspectives, their innate talent and acquired skills, their principles and courage to our field. I want to do better by them in every way I can. That is my challenge. /fin
