| When newspapers focus on race
Author: Sig Gissler
Published: December 03, 1998
Last Updated: May 20, 1999
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Diversity
Winston-Salem, Wichita Falls, Atlanta and Orlando examine
their communities — and themselves; projects marked by their humanity and
candor
The Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal’s story was matter of fact — and jarring.
“This series on race relations,” it began, “was conceived by white people,
written and edited by white people and illustrated by white people. It
is the product of one of the least integrated newsrooms in the state.”
The piece appeared in April during the third installment of the Journal’s
voluminous eight-part series, “Dividing Lines,” which explored how race
still influences everything in the community from residential patterns
to Sunday church services. About its own 101-year history of racial
coverage, the paper, circulation 90,000, said it had both “missed spectacularly
and behaved courageously.” Slanted news stories in 1947, it said, helped
break a black union in a tobacco plant. Yet, in 1971, editorial acceptance
of mandatory school busing promoted reason amid rancor.
Today, the story said, the Journal was struggling to build a minority
staff (5.6 percent of the newsroom). Managing editor Carl Crothers noted
repeated efforts but was quoted as calling the result “abysmal.”
The candor, remindful of prize-winning plunges into racial honesty in
1993 by The Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio, and The Times-Picayune in New
Orleans, exemplifies some remarkable work on race issues by newspapers
during the past year and a half — even as critics complain about press
failures to cover multiracial America with clarity, context and completeness.
Consider three other projects by papers, from small to large:
Wichita Falls, Texas
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“About Face,” a nine-part series by the Wichita Falls (Texas) Times Record
News, circulation 38,000, on persistent misunderstanding between black
and white residents 30 years after desegregation. Hitting issues such as
schools, jobs and crime, the series began with a local black leader declaring
on the front page: “Jim Crow is gone but Jim Crow Jr. is alive and well.”
The project also had a confessional moment. A story said the paper once
“opposed integration in word and deed” and “treated the black community
shabbily.” For example, under previous ownership, photos of black people
were barred from the paper until the late 1960s. And the paper reported
that today, despite recruiting efforts, it had only one full-time black
editorial employee.
Orlando
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“A Whole New World,” a special 12-page, full-color section by The Orlando
Sentinel, circulation 258,000, on Central Florida’s swiftly changing, multiethnic
face. A mixed-race team of six photographers used their cameras to tell
11 personal stories, augmented by excerpts from diaries kept by subjects.
The project, says Bill Dunn, the supervising editor, shattered stereotypes
by showing “ordinary people doing quietly extraordinary things.” The Sentinel’s
editor, John Haile, says the project struck common chords, revealing how
a diverse community shared aspirations regarding family, education, employment
and other human concerns.
Atlanta
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“From the Heart,” an eight-part series by The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta
Constitution, circulation 405,000, on how race affects the everyday lives
of black and white Atlantans. Judged the AP’s “story of the year” in Georgia,
the series by reporter Gary Pomerantz avoided race experts. Rather he spent
hundreds of hours interviewing “plain folks,” getting them to speak honestly
about intimate feelings. His story on a mixed-race family took more than
four months of interviews, he says, but produced sometimes brutal candor.
Generally, readers responded strongly to the projects. As its series unfolded,
the Winston-Salem Journal regularly published a page of comments. In Orlando,
schools snapped up reprints. In Atlanta, thousands reacted through special
phone lines, letters and Web-site visits. “My e-mail almost melted,” says
Pomerantz. While comments were mixed, he delighted in readers who said
his work “made them think about their own lives.”
Wichita Falls was different. The paper’s editor, Carroll Wilson, was
disappointed by tepid reaction. In retrospect, he says, the series probably
needed a “solutions” component to stir discussion. Even so, he thinks the
paper improved its credibility in the black community.
Positive reaction from skeptical minority readers was noted in other
cities.
“We’re on record as caring about this issue,” says Larry Conley, who
edited the Atlanta series. In Winston-Salem, where the Journal faced black
hostility, Crothers believes the self-assessment was the “single most important
story.” It amazed people, he says, “but without it, the series would have
been a farce.”
The challenge now, editors agree, is to make better coverage of race
continuous. Tactics range from neighborhood meetings to beat realignment.
“We’re trying to open up the paper to the whole community,” Crothers says.
Do projects expand minority sources? Yes, say editors and reporters,
but often the result is subtle. Building trust is “a slow journey,” says
Scott Maxwell, a lead reporter on the Winston-Salem project who now works
at The Orlando Sentinel.
Interviews also produced some tips on executing projects:
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High-quality race reporting takes extraordinary effort. But if you push
beyond polite conversation and hit nerves, intense readership can result.
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Have a clear focus and production timetable. Otherwise projects can drift.
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Talk to members of various racial communities before designing a project
(Winston-Salem used focus groups). Avoid “ivory tower” planning.
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Consider discussing defects in your paper’s past performance on race issues.
It can increase credibility.
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Emphasize humanity in reporting, writing and packaging.
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Focus on common problems or common emotions — such as love and ambition
— not just ethnic differences.
There is no single way to do a race project. But in these four ventures,
compelling personal stories seem most memorable. Like peeks into an apartment
building’s unshaded windows at night, they allow readers to glimpse America’s
struggle with its multiracial destiny.
Gissler, former editor of The Milwaukee Journal, is a professor at
Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York City.
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