N.Y. Post Beats Back Racism Lawsuits

Almost 2/3 of Female Journalists Threatened in Their Work

"Almost two-thirds of women journalists have experienced intimidation, threats or abuse in relation to their work, according to the findings of the first global survey into violence and threats against women working in the news media," the International News Safety Institute reported Monday.

"The survey by the International News Safety Institute and the International Women's Media Foundation was released to coincide with the UN's Global Forum on Media and Gender.

"It found that the majority of those threats, intimidation and abuse directed towards female media workers occurred in the work place and were committed by male bosses, supervisors and co-workers.

"The survey also found that the majority of women who are harassed do not report what has happened to them, despite the fact that more than half of them confirmed that the 'experience had a psychological impact on them.' . . ."

"60 Minutes" Segment on Capitol Told Only Some of Story

Monday marked the 150th anniversary of the completion of the dome atop the U.S. Capitol, and CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" Sunday took viewers into the dome, 288 feet above ground level.

The report, narrated by Scott Pelley and produced by Nicole Young, was careful to note the contribution of the enslaved Philip Reid, who cast the Statue of Freedom atop the dome, but there was much more to the participation of African Americans in building the Capitol.

"Blacks were not just brute labor at the Capitol. They also brought highly specialized expertise in carpentry, bricklaying, ironworking, and other skilled trades,"Jesse J. Holland, an Associated Press reporter, wrote in "Black Men Built the Capitol: Discovering African-American History In and Around Washington, D.C.," published in 2007.

Holland also wrote, "More than four hundred slaves, or more than half of the documented workforce that constructed the Capitol, cleared trees from Jenkins Hill and dug up stumps for the wide avenues that radiate out into the city, according to research first publicized by NBC reporter Edward Hotaling in 2000. We now know that slaves baked the bricks used for the building's foundation, worked the Virginia quarries where the sandstone was cut, and laid the stones that hold up the Capitol to this day. . . . "

In the "60 Minutes" segment, historian Lonnie Bunch described the statue: "Well, she is this beautiful woman who has some Native American features [and] is capped by this beautiful headdress as reminder that this is a country that was different because it was built first and foremost around the issue of freedom. . . ."

Roland Martin Says Va. Digs Remind Him of Texas Home

Roland Martin's new home in the Washington, D.C., suburbs was the cover story of the Washington Post Real Estate section on Saturday. "A bit of Texas in Virginia," it read. "At home with Roland Martin/ Political analyst's 8,400-square-foot dwelling reflects his home state and need for plenty of space."

"In June, the Martins bought an 8,400-square-foot dwelling on 4½ acres in the Beacon Hill community of Leesburg," according to the story by Kathy Orton.

"'Let's be clear: I live here, but I'm from Houston,' Martin said. 'This is the closest I feel to being back home in Texas.'" He added, "Being born and raised in Texas, I value space. I absolutely value space."

The spacious new digs are not exactly like the Texas where Martin, host of the daily radio show "News One Now," was raised.

As Martin wrote in his syndicated column in 2002, "I grew up in a black neighborhood and attended mostly all-black primary and secondary schools."

Martin clarified for Journal-isms. "No, I didn't grow up in such a house.

"I'm speaking of living out here is like living in Texas," he said by email.