Interestingly, the Time article’s comments underscore what most news organizations still are slow to recognize: Thanks to the Web, their craft has morphed from a monologue to a conversation.

There’s another problem: In our soon to be so-called “majority minority”  country, the Time piece still was talking about local news for, basically, whites.

In contrast, although The Coastal Star covers a niche of mostly white oceanside towns south of Palm Beach, it also regularly includes my Interfaith21 column, seeking to cover the waterfront of diversity on area and other spiritual traditions.

In addition, the South Florida Times, another newspaper for which I write, is fulling its self-stated mission of “elevating the dialogue” in print and online from an African-American perspective, led by Publisher Robert Beatty, former Miami Herald general counsel and VP, and Brad Bennett, a former Miami Herald and Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel editor.

The link from the Time article to “25 sites you can’t live without” also illustrates the problem. With no disrespect to any on the list, or to anyone else, does the Time editor really think we can’t live without Television Without Pity.com‘s TV series recaps and reviews, where on a scan of the home page, nary a soon-to-be-majority face was to be found?

Again, given that our children’s children’s children are likely to be paying for our nation’s misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan, wouldn’t the range of information and views at Altmuslim or Informed Comment be more topical for such a list?

Or — since we’re on the subject of “What’s happening to our newspaper(s)?” —  how about an invaluable source for media watchers — the Journalisms online column by veteran Richard Prince, of whom not so coincidentally, commentator Faye Anderson said on her Facebook page today: “Happy Birthday to the Prince of Peacemaking’ among old and new media.”

In any event, it appears that the “hyperlocal” story soon will not be so whitebread.

“And lastly I give back generously by creating jobs and providing opportunities for those that will follow me. Having wealth is nice but I believe to truly be successful you have to give something back.” — Tarra Pressey

(My latest in the South Florida Times.)

An aunt had a restaurant in Belle Glade; she worked there.  An uncle was foreman for a labor camp; she worked there. Her mother had a grocery store in Riviera Beach; she worked there.

Since then, Tarra Pressey has traveled the world. Each year, her nonprofit organization flies 30 girls – much like the girl she once was – everywhere from college tours to Congress while exposing them to myriad possibilities.

Pressey owns and operates airport concession businesses in four different markets: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Atlantic City.

Yet referring to her native Riviera Beach, and her mother’s hometown of Belle Glade, she says, “I’m just a black girl from The Raw by way of The Muck.”

The CEO of Tarra Pressey Enterprises shared some of her story with several dozen local entrepreneurs at a July 15 “Chamber Chat.”

The event was hosted by the Palm Beach County Black Chamber of Commerce, and took place, suitably, in her golf-themed Sam Snead’s Tavern at the Beach International Airport.

This is one of as many as 30 businesses that she owns. How to stay fresh and current in today’s changing business and economic environment was the focus of her exchange of ideas with the chamber group.

“She’s always had aspirations to do good,” said Melvin Williams, president of Melawil Cleaning and Restoration, an indoor air-quality business.

Williams, who said he has known Pressey since she was 16 and working part-time at a department store after school, and who introduced her at the chamber gathering, told the South Florida Times:

“Among all the young ladies, she was a perfect model then, so it’s not surprising to me that she turned out to be a perfect model in the community now. I don’t know how she does it.  It’s always hard to please everyone in business, and she seems to do that so well.”

Pressey, 41, of Riviera Beach, outlined the strategies she tries to use: Obtain broad exposure, forge diverse ties, think entrepreneurially, position yourself to prosper, and give back generously.

The latter is what she has been doing with her Girls II Women, Inc., a non-profit that provides life-changing training and experiences — etiquette to education, culture to travel — for underserved young ladies from Belle Glade, Riviera Beach and Pleasant City in West Palm Beach.

Some of the girls attend Riviera’s John F. Kennedy Middle School and Suncoast High School, as Pressey did.

This year, the college tour took them to Memphis, Tn. Their connecting stop in Atlanta allowed Pressey to highlight the people traveling all over the world: “They got to look at the monitors and see that people were going to Korea, Austria.”

Two years ago, the group was hosted by U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the majority whip. In addition, the late U.S. Rep. Stephanie Jones Tubbs, the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress from Ohio, was speaker that day. She invited the girls onto the floor of the chamber.

“They could see people like them and it was extremely rewarding. I get it, having had their experience. I was in their place when I went to JFK,” said the Tuskegee University graduate.

Her own role model is Lou Ella Jordan, her mother and also an accomplished businesswoman.

“I’m in the place that I am because of my mom,’’ she said. “So I think it is important for every generation to get to that next level. There’s no way you can’t do it if you’re given the roadmap. And that’s what I was given.”

Asked what books she has read, or is reading, she quickly cited This Child Will Be Great, the memoir by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia’s — and Africa’s — first elected woman president: “Late in her life she held public office, and has made a huge contribution based on her life experiences in education and economics.”

Her “favorite books in the whole world” are a biography and a fictional book about Sarah Breedlove — the hair-care entrepreneur and philanthropist who by 1917 had the largest African-American owned business in the United States.

Although more popularly known as Madame C.J. Walker — after her former husband Charles Joseph Walker — Pressey doesn’t refer to her “by a man’s name.”

Breedlove’s rags-to-riches tale “is an amazing story,” Pressey said. “I probably relate to her because she had one daughter, like my mother. She provided jobs for women who had never worked before, improving their self-esteem and the community in general.”

Today’s cosmetics mogul Mary Kay, “duplicated her process, her system. It’s one of the finest American stories,” she said, noting the fictional account The Black Rose, by former Miami Herald writer Tananarive Due.

When a chamber member at the July 15 meeting asked whether she has any political aspirations, she responded, “I really don’t.”

But there are a lot of opportunities that her city “is missing out on,” she said. “So it is in the back of mind, maybe when I’m retired. My goal is to give back.”

“Although I don’t have political aspirations,” she added later in an interview, “I do know politicians. The best part of knowing the minority whip was him hosting those girls. Those things are important to me because they help me in helping the community.”

In a few days, Pressey will join other high-powered entrepreneurs in an informal dinner at the home of one of their members in Washington, D.C. A top official in President Obama’s administration is due to make an appearance.

Not long ago, she joined other African-American women, “all at the top of their game,” in a session with Florida Chief Financial Officer and gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink. She recently held a fundraiser in her home for U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who is running for the U.S. Senate.

In the meanwhile, say 10 years from now?

“My goal is to create generational wealth.  My goal is to create true business enterprises that will be here after I’m gone. If in 100 years Tarra Enterprises is still here, I will have accomplished my goal with something I started.”

Here are Tarra Pressey’s keys to success, also known as “Pressey’s Five:”

1.  “Obtain broad exposure to many ideas, to many people and to many backgrounds. Exposure includes being adventurous. I love to do things I’ve never done before. It helps me to grow.”

2.  “Forging diverse ties in family and professional life. Sometimes it’s about who you know.”

3.  “Always try to think entrepreneurially while acting resourcefully. Having vision for what I want to accomplish. I am resourceful in how I get things done. I think big, I dream big, and I trust my crazy ideas.”

4.  “I try to position myself to prosper. I value education and will always be a student. I spend a lot of time reading and online because information is power. I attend world-class events where there are other business-minded people.”

5.  “And lastly I give back generously by creating jobs and providing opportunities for those that will follow me. Having wealth is nice but I believe to truly be successful you have to give something back.”

Former Florida state representative Priscilla Taylor, at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast in West Palm Beach two years ago, with Gov. Charlie Crist, who has appointed her to the Palm Beach County Commission.

My latest in the South Florida Times.

At the time, the new governor was in great demand for similar events in South Florida and around the state.

Yet he was there, because then-state Rep. Priscilla Taylor invited him.

It was another sign of her ability as a Democrat, an African American, and a woman — and his as a white male Republican — to work across party boundaries and other lines of division.

Neither of them likely anticipated that two years later, Gov. Crist would be appointing Taylor to fill the District 7 vacancy on the Palm Beach County Commission.  Taylor was sworn in July 13 after Commissioner Addie Greene resigned in April for health reasons.

Despite the excellent working relationship that Taylor and the governor share, there was obvious sentiment for Crist to appoint a member of his own party.

Also among the 24 applicants living in the district were Riviera Beach Councilwoman Billie Brooks, who was elected in March, and Elizabeth Wade, a former Riviera Beach councilwoman. Both are Republican and African-American.

In announcing July 3 that the proven three-term legislator was best qualified to replace the county’s only African-American board member, Gov. Crist not only noted Taylor’s statewide experience.  He also cited her experience as a businesswoman who owns an insurance agency.

He recognized her six years of service as a Port of Palm Beach commissioner, including as chair, before she was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2004, and was reelected in 2006 and 2008.  Also, he cited her service on numerous local boards.

Taylor, 59, was born and raised in Fort Pierce.  She earned a bachelor’s degree at Barry University and an MBA at Palm Beach Atlantic University.  In Tallahassee, she served as Democratic whip from 2004 to 2006, and was respected as hardworking and effective in the Republican-dominated Legislature.

In her state House District 84 seat that stretches from Riviera Beach to the Glades, Taylor already represented many of her Palm Beach County Commission District 7 constituents, who live in areas stretching from Lake Park to Delray Beach.

Supporters in the community say that in appointing her to the commission, the governor was doing the right thing.

“Priscilla is what we really have been needing and waiting for a long time,” said retired educator Edith Bush. Also chairwoman of the Martin Luther King Jr. Coordinating Committee’s annual activities, including the breakfast at which Gov. Crist spoke two years ago, Bush lauded Taylor’s “smarts, professionalism and integrity.”

“She is a people-oriented person,” Bush said.  “She believes in helping people, especially the youth.  She is budget minded, and will question you to the Nth degree.  She believes funds should go toward services instead of administration, and be geared toward preventive programs and services for keeping kids out of trouble. Though she is a Democrat, she looks past partisan politics.  If you provide her with an issue that will benefit the community, whether from the cradle to the grave, she will pursue it and work to provide the funding for it.”

Taylor said in an interview with the South Florida Times that she wants “to do things that are going to make things better for the people in this county.”

She cited issues ranging from health to public transportation.

“It’s not really about me,” she said. “I try to stay tuned to the issues that really affect people – because we’re all so much alike.  I believe in education.  As a state representative, I tried to do town hall meetings and seminars, and I plan to continue that. I am a strong believer in prevention programs for our children.  We have to reach them early.”

She added that, “Being from the business community I didn’t see party.  I saw people as people. If you have a good idea, let’s look at it. I believe in relationship building.  It’s why I have gotten as far as I have.

“And I am very grounded as a Christian,” she said.  “Even in Tallahassee, I was part of the worship group at 7 a.m. Wednesday mornings.  I don’t believe anybody is in such a low place that I can’t try to reach them.  I believe in helping everybody.”

That helps explain why Taylor pushed a hate crime bill after vicious attacks on homeless men in Broward County. And why she went to Westgate

Tabernacle in West Palm Beach to investigate county zoning objections to the church sheltering the homeless.  She was a staunch advocate for juvenile justice and the restoration of felons’ rights.

Taylor said she probably received more letters from Republicans lamenting her leaving the Legislature than from Democrats.

“I work with them,’’ she said.  “I talk with them.”

She invited Gov. Crist to that MLK breakfast two years ago, she said, “because I felt that he cares about the people.”

Nevertheless, Crist made her wait — and wait — for his choice to be announced to a board still recovering from having three commissioners since 2006 — Tony Masilotti, Warren Newell and Mary McCarty — resign and go to prison on federal corruption charges.

The delay had left “a void” for District 7, Taylor said. Last month, she upped the ante, announcing she would forego reelection to her state post and run for the Palm Beach County Commission District 7 seat in 2010.

Already lining up for the Aug. 25 special election to fill her unexpired term are West Palm Beach business consultant and former District 84 representative James Henry “Hank” Harper Jr., Delray Beach Commissioner Mackenson “Mack” Bernard and Riviera Beach Councilman Cedrick Thomas.

All are Democrats. If no Republicans qualify by the July 28 deadline, a Democrat again would be elected in the Democrat-leaning district in which black people comprise roughly half the voters.

That new representative could find that Taylor has not had a chance to move out of her Capitol, Belle Glade or Riviera legislative offices.  Upon being sworn in, she immediately had to consider major issues that her commission colleagues had been contemplating for weeks, including drastic cuts in the county’s $4 billion spending plan and a proposed 15 percent property tax rate increase.

But the work is in caring hands, Bush said.

“If you have someone like Priscilla representing you, you can feel really good, because you know she’s going to take you somewhere.”

From our recent Washington, D.C. conference of the world’s news ombudsmen, I came away thinking that we members of the international Organization of News Ombudsmen don’t have The Answer for newspapers either. At least, not here in the USA.

Our group’s president, Stephen Pritchard, reported that since last year’s meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, U.S. newspapers have lost 12 ombudsmen, including yours truly, to buyouts, retirement, layoffs or some other budget-motivated downsizing. Of course, the overall number of professional news journalists no longer serving U.S. readers is staggering.

This year’s ONO meeting began with a reception at the board rooms of National Public Radio, a tour of NPR’s recording studios and an opportunity to observe a taping of NPR’s trademark All Things Considered.

(See the conference agenda here; a photo slideshow here; the audio and video of a notable panel and the text of some presentations here.)

Our sessions continued at The Washington Post, the Newseum, NPR and The New York Times’ Washington bureau.

And repeatedly, during formal and informal comments over the next three days, colleagues from as far afield as Eastern Europe and South America reported a different story from that in the U.S. — namely, flourishing rather than waning support for newspapers.

During the past decade I reported to Palm Beach Post readers the surging interest in ombudsmanship abroad compared to the U.S. ( for example here and here).

In his post-conference column, Janne Anderson, ombudsman for Stockholm’s TV4, provided the typical kind of report I gave Post readers over the years, including:

“The U.S. ombudsmen are quite worried and the whole conference was colored by this anxiety but also by many discussions and suggestions about how media ombudsmen can survive and whether they will have a future?”

Meanwhile, from the former Soviet republics to East African countries such as Kenya and Tanzania, there is emerging interest in quality news journalism. That’s in contrast to its decline in the U.S., notably showcased in the Judith Miller debacle at The New York Times, and the supine behavior of U.S. news organizations in general, in helping promote our country’s invasion of Iraq.

(For which, our colleagues from elsewhere continue to remind us, there has been little accountability. Sure, there is U.S. newspapers’ Internet-devasted business model. But also too-often damnable performance. But that’s another post.)

A new trend around the world is media organizations emerging from decades of dictatorial repression or state censorship, reaffirming their commitment to be accurate, fair and transparent — and wanting to establish an ombudsman role.

Alicia Shepard, NPR’s ombudsman, spelled this out in her column following last year’s sessions. For example, she quoted Pam Platt, then ONO’s president as well as the public editor at the Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal, the first U.S. newspaper to establish the position: “Ombudsmen are growing in parts of the world where a free press is starting to assert itself.”

Shepard concluded by noting that “the editorial director for Kenya’s Nation Media Group has asked ONO for help in writing a job profile so he can hire an in-house critic. Considering the dozens of polls that repeatedly tell of the media’s loss of credibility in this country, it is unfortunate that more U.S. news outlets aren’t willing to take this same step toward regaining public esteem.”

Similarly, TV4′s Anderson reported this year that “A number of media companies from various countries in Africa want ombudsmen and have requested help from the ONO.”

One result of such interest has been the demand by foreign members that more ONO meetings be held outside the U.S. Reflecting that sentiment, “Next year will be the ONO conference’s 30th anniversary,” wrote my Swedish colleague. “It will be held in Capetown, South Africa.”

In a previous post I mentioned The Coastal Star newspaper, one of the publications in which my freelance work appears, and the Palm Beach Arts Paper. The feedback I’m hearing regarding them and the South Florida Times, another newspaper for which I write, suggests an encouraging future for quality journalism whether delivered via print, broadcast, online or whatever technology provides next.

The big question in the U.S., however, is not news. It still is whether quality newspapers will prove to be the exception rather than the rule.

WEST PALM BEACH — If Amefika Geuka were planning a 1,000-mile walkathon from West Palm Beach to the White House while cursing out President Obama along the way, he likely would lead evening news broadcasts and get invited to all the professional haters’ radio and cable-TV talk shows.

Instead, he says he is embarking on his trek, at age 69, to promote a constructive message on behalf of the African-American students whom traditional public education poorly serves.

(This post originally appeared in the  South Florida Times July 11, 2009.)

These students’ future will be tested when his “National Walkathon for African-Centered Education” steps July 15 from the Joseph Littles-NGUZO SABA Charter School on Corporate Way in West Palm Beach.

Geuka, the school’s co-founder, announced his journey at a June 30 kickoff news conference at the school. He plans to lead a contingent of South Floridians on the first leg, and to be joined daily by surrogate walkers on the way to the nation’s capital.

Following the scheduled Aug. 12 arrival will be a ceremonial stop at the U.S. Department of Education, a visit to the White House and rally.

Geuka emphasized that his walkathon is not a protest march; that he’s not walking against anything, but for something: the needs of students.

Parents and students alike have cited the Joseph Littles-NGUZO SABA Charter School’s ability to help reverse the decline of students who were foundering or had failed in traditional public schools, and the school’s ability to help those students thrive.

The difference comes, he said, when children of African descent get the education they should: in “a nurturing environment rooted in their own heritage, history and culture.”

Geuka draws the parallel that “African-centered education for children of African descent is every bit as valid as Jewish-centered education for Jewish students, and Christian-centered education for Catholic students. But when it comes to black folks, somehow that is supposed to verge on racism and reverse discrimination and all that kind of nonsense.”

Geuka said he not only wants to elevate awareness of and respect for African-centered education, but also to counter opposition to the schools’ access to the education financing that regular schools receive.

Public education unions generally oppose charter schools. In theory, such institutions can be organized by anyone in the name of educational innovation, can earn legal standing from states or local districts, and can receive public education dollars.

Because public funding migrates with students from regular to charter schools, the argument is as much over money as it is about approaches to education.

Moreover, Palm Beach County School District officials long have cited the Joseph Littles-NGUZO SABA Charter School for poor financial management, and its students for poor academic performance.

District officials say that is why the school is an estimated $300,000 in debt and its students are failing the FCAT.

Geuka counters that his school’s nearly 100 kindergarten through eighth-grade students generally are the very at-risk kids who were being forced out of regular schools. He says the district’s consistent handicapping of the school by withholding the full financial support its students deserve, particularly capital dollars that can be used for buildings, is the reason why it is behind on rent payments and looking to raise money as part of the walkathon.

Jeffrey J. Hernandez, the district’s chief academic officer, has told Geuka that a meeting between officials with the school district and the charter school to address their mutual concerns will be scheduled soon.

Also pending is the national education conversation, which will include President Barack Obama and new Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, about how charter schools in general, and those with African-centered curricula in particular, will fare.

A major question is how local, state and national officials will deliver on education’s political cliché of the last decade: choice.

Meanwhile, Geuka is organizing a network of supporters, hoping to generate a snowball effect similar to the Internet-and-talk-radio phenomenon on behalf of the Jena 6 African-American teens accused last year of assaulting a fellow Louisiana high school student.

Regardless of whether news organizations consider his trek historic, traveling with it will be the simmering debate about the status of charter schools, and African-centered schools in particular, in public education.

CBHanif@Gmail.com

Editor’s Note:  C.B. Hanif is a former news ombudsman and editorial columnist for The Palm Beach Post.  He has written on education in Florida since 1988. He also blogs at www.cbhanif.com.