Fatal Shooting on Live Television

April 17, 2015

Airing car chase, producers had little time to cut away; Mother Jones puts gun-violence cost at $229 billion a year; St. Louis paper wins access to records of secretive courts; bystander now charging $10,000 for video of fatal shooting; Jorge Ramos makes Time's "most influential" in the world; Arise, international black network, in critical condition; a glimpse of Obama when he spoke candidly about race; Lakota columnist says residents glad for Unity visit; critic says late-night needs someone "unsafe" like Noah (4/17/15)

Airing Car Chase, Producers Had Little Time to Cut Away

Mother Jones Puts Gun-Violence Cost at $229 Billion a Year

St. Louis Paper Wins Access to Records of Secretive Courts

Bystander Now Charging $10,000 for Video of Fatal Shooting

Jorge Ramos Makes Time's "Most Influential" in the World

Arise, International Black Network, in Critical Condition

Lakota Columnist Says Residents Glad for Unity Visit

Karin Eagle, a columnist for the Lakota Country Times on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, told readers this week that she has seen "a huge response" from both near and far" to the planned May 2 visit by Unity: Journalists for Diversity.

"Okay, so now we have the skills and support coming to us, hand delivered," Eagle wrote.

"What are we going to do with it? We are going to learn such things as promoting our own businesses and programs and organizations through social media and mainstream media; we are going to learn how to initiate investigative reporting so we can start to uncover some of the corruption on the various levels we have identified it; we are going to learn how to access vital information that despite anyone's attempts to keep from us, we are entitled to.

"The kids are going to benefit from the artistic stylings of not one but two amazing cartoonists who are known for using their art to speak volumes about current issues.

"There will be so much more to be won from learning how to talk about our own stories and to share them with [whomever] we choose to. We can never tell all of the stories because every single person has their own unique perspective of many different situations, and every single person can and usually does have perspectives that vary wildly based on what they have seen or heard.

"We have an infinite number of stories to tell and now we are going to have the support and encouragement from some of the greatest minds in Indian Country, people willing to lay it all out and support our storytelling; what . . . will we do with this gift? . . ."

Critic Says Late-Night Needs Someone "Unsafe" Like Noah

In a nearly 4,000-word rumination on the biracial South African comedian chosen to succeed Jon Stewart on Comedy Central's the "Daily Show," critic Wesley Morris concluded Friday for Grantland that Trevor Noah deserves a chance.

"Understanding the explosion of outrage around the announcement of Trevor Noah as the new 'Daily Show' host requires looking at everything from the state of political satire to the Brian Williams mess to the racial politics of South African popular culture," read the headline on Morris' essay.

"In other words: It gets really complicated, really quickly."

Within 24 hours of the announcement of Noah's appointment, he was quickly criticized for old tweets that were called misogynist, tasteless, anti-African American and anti-Semitic. Noah replied, "To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn't land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian."

Morris, a black journalist who won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for criticism while at the Boston Globe, wrote, "American racial comedy requires some firsthand experience that also eludes him." His 2013 stand-up special, "African American,""is almost 70 minutes of condescension and backhanded compliments."

Still, Morris writes, Noah deserves a chance.

Referring to comedian and actor Patton Oswalt, Morris concludes, "The Oswalts of the world are arguing that this is a terrible time to be a Trevor Noah stepping in for a Jon Stewart. Just do lip-syncing contests! Otherwise they'll flay you!

"But this could also be the right time for a Noah. Things are upside down. They have been for years. At any moment Brian Williams could have hosted The Daily Show and Jon Stewart could have anchored NBC’s Nightly News, and it would have seemed only loosely surreal. Whoever Noah is — whoever, on The Daily Show, he turns out to be — it's likely he'll be what late-night comedy desperately needs: unsafe."