While right-wing media chooses stories that serve its political agenda, progressive media increasingly covers the same “news.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mitchell-bard/krugmans-takedown-of-ryan_b_674845.html

… And other hard-to-find perspectives amid our blame-Obama, Faux News-driven news media:

Decline of the middle class as metaphor for decline of America

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/raymond-j-learsy/decline-of-the-middle-cla_b_675022.html

… Also:

Third World America: 11 Books predicting the collapse of the middle class

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/09/third-world-america-11-bo_n_672280.html#s122823

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.

(Also, while NABJ kept its comment media-centric, Betty Baye of Louisville Courier-Journal, one of my journalistic role models, weighs in nicely, as usual. — cbh)

WASHINGON (sic), DC, (July 22, 2010)-Today, the National Association of Black Journalists issued the following statement in response to the reaction of media organizations covering former U.S. Department of Agriculture staffer Shirley Sherrod:

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is dismayed by the profound failure of media organizations in their rush to report on the allegedly racist remarks of former U.S. Department of Agriculture staffer Shirley Sherrod.

Because of the activist propaganda of conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart and the subsequent lack of due diligence on the part of pundits on the FOX News Channel and others to verify the authenticity of a tape with  Sherrod’s remarks on race, this veteran public servant was unjustly castigated and convicted as an unrepentant racist in the court of public opinion.

We expect better, and so do the millions of readers and viewers who rely on news organizations for accuracy before airing or publishing any material, especially those with potential negative consequences. This didn’t happen and, as a result, Sherrod’s decades-long reputation as a champion of equity and justice was tarnished in mere hours. The swift, decisive echo chamber of bad judgment from all involved, from cable networks to the White House, should be a lesson learned for us all.

To be sure, the 24/7 news cycle now requires all of us to sometimes move at a dizzying pace to report news, even when the circumstances are still developing. But those demands do not negate our responsibility as a public trust to get it right, each and every time.

Breitbart and those who went with the tape’s content without first checking its authenticity owe Sherrod – and America – an apology for creating yet another sad chapter in the long history of the explosive mix of media, race and politics in this country.

An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation, with nearly 3,000 members, and provides educational, career development and support to black journalists worldwide.

_________

(Having aired that, check out the schedule for another outstanding NABJ Convention, coming up in San Diego  next week. — cbh.)

That “Open Letter to Maureen Dowd?”  That’s what I was talking about at the conclusion of my last post over at InterFaith21.

Our increasingly discredited “mainstream” news organizations continue feeding a diet of Faux News from the right and the Dowds and Tom Friedmans on the left.

But the Internet is making accessible such folks as the knowledgeable Juan Cole. Also the ladies of Muslimah Media Watch where, on the subject of far-right politicians’ thinly veiled obsession with defining how Muslim women should dress, see here and here.

Can’t say enough for MMW, whose About page states:

“Muslimah Media Watch is a forum where we, as Muslim women, can critique how our images appear in the media and popular culture. Although we are of different nationalities, sects, races, etc., we have something important in common: we’re tired of seeing ourselves portrayed by the media in ways that are one-dimensional and misleading. This is a space where, from a Muslim feminist perspective, we can speak up for ourselves.

“As Muslim feminists we aim to locate and critique misogyny, sexism, patriarchy, Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia as they affect Muslim women. Furthermore, we believe in equal opportunities, equal respect, equal freedom, and equal value — regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, and ability.

“This blog is meant to be inclusive to all people, with a special focus on Muslim women. MMW strives to create an environment in which our writers and readers feel safe and welcome. We ask that you be considerate towards others and their opinions. This is a respectful forum for dialogue, not argument or personal attacks.”

Imagine that: articulate Muslim women, speaking for themselves. Seen that regularly — even lately — in a daily newspaper or local TV station near you?

MMW even offers a list of organizations designed to serve the needs of Muslim women. In contrast, our biased, confused, or lazy Western journalists seem to think that misguided, suffering, self-serving Ayaan Hirsi Ali somehow is supposed to help.

Back to Dowd:

Given this kind of illuminating er, journalism (note the reader comments), it’s no wonder so many Americans were so clueless about Islam and Muslims that we could be frightened into invading a sovereign nation for its oil, and killing untold numbers of innocent people in the name of freeing them — while sacrificing our patriotic servicemen and women, and ruining our economy in the process. And Dowd happened to be a critic of the invasion and of then-President Bush.

Alas, such is today’s wisdom from the s0-called liberal media. With friends like that, who needs Faux.

Media watchers, and other folks who keep asking “What’s happening to our newspaper,” may appreciate this look at the Dubai news organization’s strategies.

As reported by Magda Abu-Fadil, director of the American University of Beirut’s Journalism Training Program:

“In the West, it’s evolve, or die, or suffer,” said (hub editor Adam) Flinter. “There, it’s done out of necessity; here, we don’t have to do that yet.”

And about readers sending pictures, videos, stories, and consulting with the paper’s editors?

“You make yourself relevant to your audience,” noted Flinter. “That culture is what we’re trying to spread. The sheer simplicity lets everyone come.”

In other news he can use, Flinter said both the online and print editions make money, with only 3% of the audience reading online in the low broadband using United Arab Emirates.