Gates, Affleck Issue Regrets in Slaveowner Flap

Half of Whites See No Racial Disparity in Death Penalty

A majority of Americans favor the death penalty for those convicted of murder, but support for the death penalty is as low as it has been in the past 40 years," the Pew Research Center reported on Thursday.

"A new Pew Research Center survey finds 56% favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder, while 38% are opposed."

The center also reported, "Support for the death penalty has edged down among whites, blacks and Hispanics since 2011, but wide racial differences persist. About six-in-ten whites (63%) favor the death penalty, compared with 34% of blacks and 45% of Hispanics.

The study also found, "As with overall views of the death penalty, there are demographic and partisan differences in attitudes about capital punishment.

"The sharpest disagreements are in views of whether minorities are more likely than whites to face the death penalty.

"Fully 77% of blacks say minorities are more likely than whites to receive the death penalty for similar crimes. Whites are evenly divided: 46% say minorities are disproportionately sentenced to death, while an identical percentage sees no racial disparities.

"More than twice as many Democrats (70%) as Republicans (31%) say minorities are more likely than whites to receive the death penalty for similar crimes.

"There also are educational differences in these opinions: 60% of college graduates say minorities are more apt to receive the death penalty than are whites, as do 55% of those with some college experience. But among those with no more than a high school education, 44% say minorities are disproportionately sentenced to death; 48% say whites and minorities are equally likely to receive the death penalty for similar crimes.

"In contrast, there are much more modest differences in opinions about whether the death penalty presents a risk that an innocent person will be put to death, or whether there are adequate safeguards in place. Majorities across every demographic and partisan group see some risk that an innocent person will be put to death, including 74% of blacks, and 70% each of whites and Hispanics. Still, larger shares of Democrats (79%) and independents (71%) than Republicans (61%) say there is a risk of executing an innocent person. . . ."

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• Merlene Davis, Herald-Leader, Lexington, Ky.: S.W.A.G. helps members deal with loss, work with community on ways to avoid gun violence
  
  
• Rubén Rosario, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.: Help for pregnant inmates [benefits] babies — and taxpayers

NPR Ebola Stories, "Latino USA," Afropop Win Peabodys

"The NPR News Reporting From The Frontlines: The Ebola Outbreak coverage has been honored with a George Foster Peabody Award, one year after the public media organization led early and exceptionally deep coverage of the infectious outbreak in West Africa,"the network announced on Monday.

"NPR's Latino USA is also a winner in the Radio/Podcast category for Gangs, Murder and Migration in Honduras, an episode that examined the many reasons driving contemporary migration from Honduras, a country in crisis.

In addition, "Vice News was honored for two stories: one on a Chicago high school of high-risk students and the other coverage of ISIS in Iraq and Syria,"Luke McCord reported for Broadcasting & Cable.

". . . CNN nabbed a Peabody Award for its coverage of treatment delays in Veterans Administration hospitals and the kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram. . . ."

An institutional award is to be presented to Afropop Worldwide.

In the entertainment category, "Jane the Virgin" on the CW network was among the winners. "Immaculately conceived, it's a smart, self-aware telenovela that knows when and how to wink at itself," the judges said. "Its Latina lead, Gina Rodriguez, is incandescent." 

Documentary, public service, education and children’s programming winners are to be announced on Thursday.

Nominate a J-Educator Who Has Helped Diversity

The Association of Opinion Journalists, formerly the National Conference of Editorial Writers, annually grants a Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship — actually an award — "in recognition of an educator's outstanding efforts to encourage minority students in the field of journalism." The educator should be at the college level.

Nominations, now being accepted for the 2015 award, should consist of a statement about why you believe your nominee is deserving.

The final selection will be made by the AOJ Foundation board and announced in time for the annual symposium Nov.14-15 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., when the presentation will be made.

Since 2000, the recipient has been awarded an honorarium of $1,000 to be used to "further work in progress or begin a new project."

Past winners include James Hawkins, Florida A&M University (1990); Larry Kaggwa, Howard University (1992); Ben Holman, University of Maryland (1996); Linda Jones, Roosevelt University, Chicago (1998); Ramon Chavez, University of Colorado, Boulder (1999); Erna Smith, San Francisco State (2000); Joseph Selden, Penn State University (2001); Cheryl Smith, Paul Quinn College (2002); Rose Richard, Marquette University (2003); Leara D. Rhodes, University of Georgia (2004); Denny McAuliffe, University of Montana (2005); Pearl Stewart, Black College Wire (2006); Valerie White, Florida A&M University (2007); Phillip Dixon, Howard University (2008); Bruce DePyssler, North Carolina Central University (2009); Sree Sreenivasan, Columbia University (2010); Yvonne Latty, New York University (2011); Michelle Johnson, Boston University (2012); Vanessa Shelton, University of Iowa (2013); and William Drummond, University of California at Berkeley (2014).

Nominations may be emailed to Richard Prince, AOJ Diversity Committee chair, richardprince (at) hotmail.com. The deadline is May 22. Please use that address only for AOJ matters.