Another Slight Slide on Newsroom Diversity

W Magazine Devotes Spread to Models of Color

"It's rare, even today, to see a mainstream fashion magazine dedicate an entire spread to models of color,"Joy Sewing reported Friday for the Houston Chronicle.

"So, fashion journalists are buzzing over W Magazine's August fall fashion issue that features six black models: Ajak Deng, Amilna Estevao, Anais Mali, Aya Jones, Binx Walton and Tami Williams.

"All are wearing either Afros or natural hair.

"Maybe times are changing.

"The August issue of Teen Vogue also features three black models on the cover for its 'Fashion's New Faces' spread."

Coates Book Debuts at No. 1 on N.Y. Times Nonfiction List

Ta-Nehisi Coates' new book "Between the World and Me"debuts on the New York Times best seller list for Aug. 2 at No. 1 in the Hardcover Nonfiction category.

It is also No. 1 in the Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction category.

With the exception of Malcolm Gladwell of the New Yorker, black journalists rarely reach the top position on the best-seller list. Coates is national correspondent for the Atlantic.

The book continues to prompt debate.

Spencer Overton, president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, wrote Friday for Huffington Post, "Through deeply personal stories and reflections, Ta-Nehisi Coates's new book 'Between the World and Me' provides essential perspective into a critical topic: violence against black people. The book's primary shortcoming is that it fails to offer any real vision or policy solutions. Indeed, the book effectively counsels black people to disengage from the policy process — which would only make the violence worse. . . ."

Greg M. Epstein, who told readers that "for the past 11 years, I have worked as a chaplain for atheists and agnostics, at Harvard University and beyond," reviewed the book Monday for Salon.

"Crafting a powerful narrative about white Americans — or, as he says, those of us who need to think we are white — who are living The Dream — Coates makes a profound statement of what is, and is not, good, with or without god.

"Coates refers not to Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream, not quite even to the 'American Dream,' but rather to The Dream in which we forget our history, our identity and much of our nation's prosperity is built on the foundation of the suffering of people of color in general and black people in particular. The Dream, in other words, is not a state in which only Fox News Watchers find themselves. It is a state that can cancel out the very best of white, liberal, humanist intentions. . . ."

• Guy Emerson Mount, African American Intellectual History Society: Ta-Nehisi Coates, David Brooks, and the Master Narrative of American History
  
  
• Touré, "The Cycle," MSNBC: A must for your summer reading list (video)

Photographer Captures "Sea Slaves" in Southeast Asia

"Although Adam Dean had photographed for The New York Times in Southeast Asia before, he was excited to work with Ian Urbina on part of his investigative series, 'The Outlaw Ocean,'"Beth Flynn wrote Monday for the Times'"Lens" blog.

"He saw it as an opportunity to dig into a story and spend some time trying to find out what was really going in the violent, unregulated world of fishing boats in international waters.

"The resulting article, "''Sea Slaves': The Human Misery That Feeds Pets and Livestock,' details the stories of fishermen who have fled forced labor. He spoke recently with the deputy picture editor Beth Flynn about his experiences on the project. . . ."

• Robin McDowell, Martha Mendoza and Margie Mason, Associated Press: AP Exclusive: AP tracks slave boats to Papua New Guinea