Barkley to Give $1 Million to Morehouse

Columnist Sees "Plain Ignorance" About Latino Politicians

"Let's say you're a smart and accomplished Latino politician with big dreams, impressive credentials and what many people agree is a bright future.,"Ruben Navarrette Jr. wrote Tuesday for the Washington Post Writers Group.

"Only one thing stands in your way: You don't speak Spanish.

"Will that fact cause you any grief, open you up to criticism or prompt the media to pounce? If you're a Republican, the answer is likely yes. If you're a Democrat, then probably not.

"The 2016 election is adding a new twist to familiar accusations of bias in the media. Latinos are at the center of the controversy, with two of them waging well-funded and credible campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination (Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida) and three more in the wings as possible running mates (Republican Govs. Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Susana Martinez of New Mexico, and Democrat Julian Castro, the secretary of housing and urban development).

"It's a new world, and the elite Beltway media can't keep up. In an interview with Castro's twin brother, Joaquin, a congressman from San Antonio, NBC News'Andrea Mitchell made reference to his 'Cuban-American' heritage. But, as the congressman pointed out, he and his brother are Mexican-American. Last August, The Washington Post introduced a blurb about Julian Castro dining with former President Bill Clinton under the tacky subheadline: 'We'll need more fajitas.'

"That's plain ignorance, the kind that grows like fungus in a petri dish in the laboratory of mostly white newsrooms where people who are paid to know a little about everything know virtually nothing about 54 million Latinos in the United States. . . ."

• James Oliphant, Reuters: Why Ted Cruz's Candidacy Isn't Catching Fire With U.S. Latinos

African Journalists Welcome Whistleblowing Platform

"Top editors and investigative journalists in South Africa have welcomed a new whistleblowing platform designed to protect sources who leak sensitive information to the media,"Raymond Joseph wrote Monday for the International Journalists Network.

"The platform, afriLEAKS, is being introduced to African media following a pilot phase during which it was tested by select newsrooms, including the weekly Mail&Guardian and Oxpeckers, an environmental investigative journalism platform that has played a key role in exposing the illicit trade in rhino horns.

"The embedding of afriLEAKS in African newsrooms is being spearheaded by the African Network of Centers for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR). Based on Publeaks, a successful whistleblowing platform that is widely used in the Netherlands, afriLEAKS provides a secure platform for sources to share information and sensitive documents. The platform was customized for African newsrooms by Nairobi-based technologists affiliated with Code for Africa.

"[International Center for Journalists] Knight Fellow Justin Arenstein, a founder of Code for Africa, is leading the strategy to roll out the whistleblowing platform on the continent and coordinated a high-level gathering in Johannesburg where afriLEAKS was showcased. . . ."

The center explained, "Knight International Fellow Raymond Joseph is working with Code for South Africa to strengthen the storytelling and audience engagement of news through data journalism and civic innovation in South Africa as part of ICFJ’s Code for Africa data journalism initiative."