"Nobody matters less to our society than young black women"; TMZ readers vote for N-word over "African American"; White House, journalists agree to expand media access; "Rape in the Fields" collaboration wins duPont-Columbia; with paper's support, Confederate name voted off school; . . . in Memphis, grave and statue stay, but park name goes; Maria Bartiromo is Italian-American, but a person of color?; 211 journalists worldwide jailed for their work; "Smiley & West" show airing final episode (12/18/13)"Nobody Matters Less to Our Society Than Young Black Women"
211 Journalists Worldwide Jailed for Their Work
"Turkey, Iran, and China accounted for more than half of all journalists imprisoned around the world in 2013, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found," the press freedom organization said Wednesday. "In its annual census, CPJ identified 211 journalists jailed for their work, the second worst year on record after 2012, when 232 journalists were behind bars.
"Intolerant governments in Ankara, Tehran, and Beijing used mostly anti-state charges to silence a combined 107 critical reporters, bloggers, and editors. Turkey and Iran retained their distinctions as the worst and second worst jailers for two years in a row, despite each having released some prisoners during 2013. The number detained by China held steady. . . ."
"Smiley & West" Show Airing Final Episode
The final edition of "Smiley & West," the public radio show pairing activist Tavis Smiley and scholar-activist Cornel West, airs the weekend of Dec. 27. "The Tavis Smiley Show" on Public Radio International will expand to two hours in January.
The pair, who began the show in 2010, are perhaps best known for their vocal criticism of President Obama. A year ago, syndicated radio host Tom Joyner, on whose show Smiley once delivered commentary, blamed the two for creating the climate that led to Time magazine editor-at-large Mark Halperin calling the president a "dick."
"While I am appalled at Halperin's statement . . . I'm even more disgusted with Smiley and West, two brothers who I did have expectations of — and thought I knew," Joyner said then. "These two have done much worse than what Halperin has done because they set the tone for it, opened the door to it, and must take much of the blame for creating a climate that would make a white, professional journalist feel comfortable verbally and vulgarly attacking the first black president of the United States."
An October news release said of Smiley and West, "Both agree that it is critical to offer differing viewpoints on the airwaves, especially the stories of the more than 45 million Americans living in poverty.
"Smiley will be devoting more time to the Tavis Smiley Network, the first online programming network for BlogTalkRadio."
Smiley laid out the rationale for the program in a 2012 "open letter" to Torey Malatia, then president and CEO of Chicago Public Media, who had canceled the show on his station.