As the nation sorts through the meaning of the Jena 6 March, the nation's media has been put on notice.
The politics of race in America are alive and well. Just like the memorable scenes from the civil rights marches from the 1950s and 1960s, America’s and the world's eyes focused on a sea of black faces crowding a small southern town.
Whether you think the Jena 6 incident was only a blip in time or a defining moment, the fact is the nation's media needs to do a quick gut check to make sure we are doing the best possible job in covering all residents of our community.
It is time we have a very honest, open and aggressive debate on how well our media is covering our communities of color. Back in 1968, the famed Kerner Commission Report criticized the nation's media, calling them ineffective at covering the urban communities that were engulfed in flames because of racial unrest and riots in some of the nation's cities. In fact, the report clearly states that the media covered minorities from the standpoint of a white man's world.
We have made much progress in many facets of this business, and this organization is one result of the mission of the Kerner Commission's report. But, in many ways our journey is just beginning.
Yes, we need to celebrate all the wonderful efforts in all forms of media that are trying to capture the increasingly diversified communities. But I challenge each and every publisher, editor, general manager, producer to take some time over the next few months to do a content audit to determine how well it is covering its multicultural communities. This is a very revealing process. One simple approach is to analyze your media organization's coverage over the past month. How many images of black, Asian, Hispanic or Native American people have you included in your stories? How many of these stories are not about accused or convicted criminals, athletes or celebrities? How many are of local civic, business or youth leaders? I'm hoping you'll be pleasantly surprised with what you discover.
Whatever you discover, you should know that NAMME wants to hear your stories of how well you're doing, and how our organization can possibly help you do better.
As you know, we love to recognize your successes at our “Celebration of Diversity,” Awards banquet (April 15, 2008, in Washington, DC). You can take a step today by nominating someone or a company that has distinguished itself in the area of diversity over the past year. Nominations are due by November 1st and you can go to the NAMME website (http://www.namme.org) to download the form.
NAMME also stands with you to help you literally change the 'face' of your coverage and the leadership of your organization through it job bank, leadership development institute and McCormick Fellows program.
So, as we reflect on Jena and its longer term implications, always remember the huge responsibility and duty media bears to ensure the fair and accurate portrayal of all facets of our communities.
Neil Foote
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Cell: 214.448.3765