Onetime NAHJ board member was both compassionate, funny; Karen Dunlap retiring as Poynter Institute president; Suarez: "NewsHour""didn't have much of a plan for me"; Neal voted first black leader of "seamheads" (baseball writers); one person's fun costume can be another's racial insult; student journalists relate their side of Grambling story; Gannett again has an African American on board; Fusion network debuts with brief Obama interview; ABC apologizes to Chinese-Americans for Kimmel show joke (10/28/13)Onetime NAHJ Board Member Was Both Compassionate, Funny
Karen Dunlap Retiring as Poynter Institute President
Suarez: "NewsHour""Didn't Have Much of a Plan for Me"
Neal Voted First Black Leader of "Seamheads" (Baseball Writers)
One Person's Fun Costume Can Be Another's Racial Insult
Fusion Network Debuts With Brief Obama Interview
The Fusion network, the collaboration of ABC News and Univision that targets millennial English-speaking Hispanics, launched Monday featuring an interview with President Obama.
Interviewed on "AMERICA with Jorge Ramos" by Jim Avila, White House correspondent and ABC News senior national correspondent, Obama answered questions about deportations and the Affordable Health Care Act framed in the context of millennials.
"Are they just the people who are going to finance the older generation in their medical problems?" Avila asked. "Why would someone who's under 30 want to sign up for Obamacare?"
"Well this is pretty straightforward," Obama said. "A study — analysis has shown that if you're between 18 and 34 right now, about half of the people can get high quality health care for less than 50 bucks a month — less than your cellphone bill, less than your cable bill. And about 70 percent can get if for less than 100 bucks a month. Now, you know I know that, or at least I kind of remember when I was in my 20s and early 30s I thought I was invincible, but it turns out I broke my nose playing basketball, it turns out that you know there were times where I had unexpected illnesses or accidents, and making sure that you've got coverage insures that you're not a ending up paying out of pocket thousands of dollars that you may not have.
"And so this is a good investment for young people and you know when you look at the number of young people who actually want health insurance, but are having trouble affording it, that fact that we're making it affordable for them for the first time, that's a big deal."
The president also joined growing numbers of Americans who are eliminating "fewer" from their vocabulary and substituting "less.""Internationally there are less constraints on how our intelligence teams operate," Obama said, word usage that would once make an English teacher cringe.
- Aura Bogado, the Nation: Fusion and Latino Media's Race Problem
- Mark Hugo Lopez, Pew Research Center: Hispanic or Latino? Many don't care, except in Texas
- Mark Hugo Lopez, Pew Research Center: 5 demographic realities behind the creation of Univision/ABC News'"Fusion" channel
- Lisa Richwine and David Adams, Reuters: New U.S. TV network fuses news, satire for young Hispanics
ABC Apologizes to Chinese-Americans for Kimmel Show Joke
"ABC is apologizing for a segment of Jimmy Kimmel Live in which a child joked about killing Chinese people to help erase the U.S. debt," the Associated Press reported on Monday.
"The boy's unscripted comment ('Kill everyone in China,' he suggested) came during a comedy bit in which youngsters commented on news events. The skit, aimed at poking fun at childish politicians, aired last week on Kimmel's late-night talk show.
"ABC's apology [PDF] came in response to a complaint from a group called 80-20, which identifies itself as a pan-Asian-American political organization.
"In an Oct. 25 letter to the group, ABC said it would never purposefully do anything to upset the Chinese, Asian or other communities. The network says the skit will be edited out of the 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' episode for future airings or any other distribution, including online."
In a news release, the 80-20 group said that Tim McNeal, ABC's vice president, talent development and diversity, "also verbally requested S. B. Woo to convey ABC's eagerness to have Asian American writers, actors and producers apply for jobs with ABC. It is one way to avoid such unfortunate incident in the future — through diversity in its organization. McNeal said, 'ABC takes achieving diversity very seriously.' Interested parties may reach his office at Tim.McNeal@ABC.com."
Woo, president of the 80-20 National Asian American Political Action Committee, said in an fundraising email to supporters, "80-20 PAC is proud to have served the Chinese Am. component of the Asian Am community by being the ONLY organization to have obtained a verbal & written apology from ABC.
"This incident is a teachable moment for our community — the importance of an Asian Am organization that has the stature & ability to serve the rightful interests of our community. It illustrates the importance of SELF RELIANCE. . . ."
- Dan Kedmey, Time: Poll: Jimmy Kimmel Leaves 90% of Chinese Angered, Saddened or On Guard