In Ferguson, press corps has become its own story; AP decides not to refer to Brown, 18, as "teenager"; Native American sees parallels in Michael Brown case; executed journalist called "martyr for freedom"; major media ignore provocative book on slavery's link to 1776; Vargas, 10 others ask for deportation deferrals; 5 children slain after deportation to Honduras; BuzzFeed boasts a dozen Latino staff bylines (8/20/14)In Ferguson, Press Corps Has Become Its Own Story
AP Decides Not to Refer to Brown, 18, as "Teenager"
Native American Sees Parallels in Michael Brown Case
Executed Journalist Called "Martyr for Freedom"
Major Media Ignore Book on Slavery's Link to 1776
Vargas, 10 Others Ask for Deportation Deferrals
5 Children Slain After Deportation to Honduras
BuzzFeed Boasts a Dozen Latino Staff Bylines
"Online news outlets have been gaining on print when it comes to getting minorities in their newsrooms,"Dennis Romero wrote Tuesday for LA Weekly. "There, one in five journalists is a person of color. One publication, BuzzFeed, says it's showing the way forward when it comes to covering Latinos in the United States:
"The site has gone on a hiring spree this year, adding about a dozen Latino bylines to its staff, although about three of those people are temporary fellows. . . . A majority of those folks are in BuzzFeed's airy Los Angeles office on Beverly Boulevard.
"The growth represents an explosion, as BuzzFeed employed only a pair of Latino reporters before its hiring spree this summer and spring. Already this month, BuzzFeed received a National Association of Hispanic Journalists Media Award for 'truly humanizing stories about Latinos fighting, protesting, fasting for immigration reform.'
"The driving force behind the stories, and the man directing BuzzFeed's Latino coverage, is its new Latino editor, twentysomething Adrian Carrasquillo. Appointed to the position in April, he's been covering the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, reporting on the child immigration crisis on the border, and sorting BuzzFeed's Latino content so that it gets to the virtual front-pages of the site.
"'I want to respect the audience and I want people to feel we come from an authentic place,' he says.
"Carrasquillo has corralled a team of young, hungry reporters for BuzzFeed, including Juan Gastelum. Interviewed along with a half-dozen other Latinos at BuzzFeed's L.A. office, Gastelum says that the site has had to reconcile the fact that the dominant Latino faction in the U.S., Mexican Americans, reside mostly in the Southwest, even as the news industry has a strong northeast bias. . . ."
- Gabe Rosenberg, contently.net: Journalism Has a Diversity Problem. How Can We Fix It?