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Panelists
debate media coverage If the nation's newspapers were scored on their coverage of affirmative action, what kind of grades would they get? The answer may be as elusive and complicated as the issue of affirmative action itself. "Affirmative action has not turned the industry on its ear," said Gilbert Bail-n, executive editor and vice president of the Dallas Morning News. Hundreds showed up yesterday morning to hear Bail-n and 11 other speakers speak at "Balance or Bias: Affirmative Action and the News Media." The plenary session was sponsored by Times Mirror Co. Charles J. Ogletree Jr., panel moderator and a Harvard University professor of law, introduced the panel as a report card of sorts on the nation's newspapers and how it portrays affirmative action. Media coverage of the topic has been the subject of much debate recently as both California and Washington state passed laws banning the use of race and gender in public employment, public education and public contracting decisions. While the topic is broad, the panel soon focused its discussion of coverage of affirmative action. Panelists focused much of the discussion on coverage of Washington's Initiative 200, which passed in November. Much of the discussion centered on the coverage of I-200, but also related the initiative to the rest of the nation. Bailon, former president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and former board member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, said legislation similar to I-200 will become issues in Texas and will be "front page" topics. At least one panelist said objectivity is difficult when it comes to coverage of affirmative action. Faye M. Anderson, president of the Douglass Policy Institute, noted this difficulty as she recalled a Washington Post column that said minorities and women are getting ahead at white men's expense. The Douglass Policy Institute is a nonpartisan education and research organization that promotes public awareness on issues including affirmative action, education and black voter participation. "I am interested in the concept of justice," said Angela Oh, an attorney and advisory board member of President Clinton's Initiative on Race Relations. For example, Oh noted that Asian-Americans are "nowhere in public contracting." Fellow panelist Farai Chideya, an ABC News correspondent, said that there is no question that minorities and women are still being discriminated. "There are things that affected us in the past that still affect us today," Chideya said. However, journalists of color are mandated to be even fairer when covering stories relating to minority communities, said Lloyd LaCuesta, bureau chief at KTVU/Channel 2 in San Francisco and past president of the Asian American Journalists Association. He noted that white colleagues perceive minorities as unprofessional because they cover affirmative action and other topics relating to minorities. John Carlson, media commentator, radio talk show host and chairman of the I-200 campaign, said affirmative action stories ran on the front page because Washington state residents knew what was going on in California, and they wanted to know what was going on in their state. He was referring to Proposition 209, which ended affirmative action in California. Aside from talking about media coverage, Carlson also talked about the results of I-200. He cited enrollment at elite schools by black, Hispanic and white students dropped while the enrollment of Asians increased. Carlson later mentioned that Martin Luther King Jr. did not want people to use their color to get ahead while many in the audience shook their heads in disbelief. Whenever panelists strayed from the topic of coverage of affirmative action, moderator Ogletree brought the discussion back on track. Tom Brune, the Seattle Times' lead reporter on I-200, mentioned that Frank A. Blethen, publisher and CEO of the Times, spent $275,000 in an advertising campaign against I-200. "Why aren't more papers covering affirmative action issues? Why are other papers so timid?" asked Blethen. "I admire Frank, but I wish he was on our side," said Carlson. "I am very embarrassed by I-200," said Brume. "I am criticizing ourselves," Brume said, as he noted the Seattle Times' advertising effort.
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