Phila. Tribune's Murray lauded by Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

"For the second year in a row, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is honoring a writer who embodies the pioneering spirit of Sam Lacy, a Hall of Fame sportswriter whose half-century of work for the black press beat the drum for equality in the sport," Justice B. Hill of MLB.com told fellow sportswriters on Monday. "The inaugural Lacy Award, in 2007, went posthumously to Larry Whiteside, a longtime baseball writer for The Boston Globe and a mentor to scores of Task Force members. This year the award goes to Chris Murray, who has written extensively about baseball for The Philadelphia Tribune, a weekly paper that targets the black community. Murray is one of a handful of black sportswriters in America who cover Major League Baseball regularly."

Phila. Inquirer's Long to handle desk consolidation

Philadelphia Inquirer managing editor Sandra Long has been named vice president of news operations for both the Inquirer and the Daily News. She will be responsible for all aspects of the recently announced consolidation of the photography, copy desk, editorial assistants and photo toning functions. Long is the highest ranking African-American woman in the newsroom. She began her journalism career at the Inquirer in 1984 as a reporter and then became a Neighbors editor, deputy Pennsylvania editor, assistant managing editor for finance and administration, associate managing editor for operations, deputy managing editor/news operations and managing editor.

PABJ Media Watch July 12 Seminar – "Blacks and Communications Law: What You Need to Know"

PABJ's Media Watch Committee’s first seminar “Blacks and Communications Law: What You Need to Know” is scheduled for 11 a.m., Saturday, July 12 in the African-American Studies Department of Temple University's Gladfelter Hall in the 8th Floor bubble room.

Acclaimed journalist and Temple professor Linn Washington is scheduled to be the instructor for the day. This is an open refresher course on Communications Law for all African-American journalists, public relations employees and others seeking enlightenment as well.

PABJ Media Watch Seminars were created as a professional development tool for African-American media employees in their everyday responsibilites at work and to help excercise those critical thinking skills journalists need to use in various settings at their respective jobs.

Driving directions to Gladfelter Hall: Coming from City Hall, take North Broad Street to Cecil B. Moore. Make a right on Cecil B. Moore. Take Cecil B. Moore to N. 11th St. Make a left on N. 11th St. Drive two blocks north until getting to Berks. Gladfelter is on the corner of N. 11th and Berks.

SEPTA directions: Take Broad Street line to Temple. Walk toward campus bell and library on Berks walk. Cross N. 12th Street. Gladfelter is on the left hand side.

Parking directions:
Lot 7: This is the most convenient lot to Gladfelter Hall. The entrance is on Norris Street, between 11th and 12th Sts. Gladfelter is the large modern structure that looms over the south end of the parking lot.

Lot 2 Visitor Parking: The main visitor parking lot is on Montgomery Avenue, between 12th and 13th Sts. When exiting the parking lot, walk east and make a left onto 12th and walk approximately half a block to Berks St. Gladfelter is the second of the two large modern structures connected by a walkway that appear to your right.

For more information contact Media Watch Chair Johann Calhoun at (215) 893-5741.

Philly station WYSP fires DJ over racist song

The host of a rock radio morning show in Philadelphia has been fired for airing a song that referred to African-Americans in slang terms that station management determined to be highly offensive, according to a statement released by station owner CBS Radio.
WYSP's “Kidd Chris” was terminated, along with his program director, as a result of complaints about the song called “Schwoogies,” which aired on the morning show on March 21st originally, and several times after that.
“What we fail to realize, particularly African Americans in the media, is that the fight for civil rights did not end in the ’60s,” said Denise Clay a vice-co chair of the Media Watch Committee for The Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. “It just began there and if you’re going to make sure that people understand, no this isn’t cool and that there are certain things we’re not going to tolerate.”
On March 21 Lady Gosh sang her own version to the 1980 Blondie song “Call Me” on WYSP-FM, which is a local affiliate of CBS radio. Chris and others in the studio were heard in the background loudly encouraging her to belt out the following words.
It aired again on the public traded company’s affiliate between noon and 5 p.m. The following is an approximation of those lyrics.
“Coloreds steal your wallets,” the words said. “And coloreds have pink feet. Coloreds are loud and obnoxious when they watch movies. Sticky fingers what they are. Always try to jack my car. Schwoogies. Or shines, you can call them anything you like. Schwoogies. Watch out, jigs will rob you day or night. Schwoogies. Mookie doesn't like to work. Just rolls blunts all day long. But there's one job he can do: Hold a lantern on my lawn. If someone else has your watch on, you can bet it’s a mulignon. Shwoogies all around. The sambos, monkeys, knuckle draggers, so much brown, mandinko, Mr. Bojangles. I have no problem singing about the negros.”
CBS Radio also owns KYW Newsradio.
WYSP-FM issued the following statement:
"We found the song to be highly offensive and completely inappropriate for broadcast on our airwaves. When senior management of the station learned that it had been played, they took immediate steps to prevent it from ever appearing on the station again.
"At the same time, we launched an extensive internal investigation into the situation including a thorough review of the editorial controls and systems we have in place to prevent this type of content from airing. We instituted additional educational training for the station, and have taken appropriate disciplinary action, including termination of the individuals involved."
There was no immediate word on what programming would replace the Kidd Chris morning show on WYSP.

Philly cameras catch cops beating suspects

"Fifteen Philadelphia police officers have been taken off the street as authorities investigate a video showing the suspects being kicked and beaten by city police," WTXF-TV, the Fox station in Philadelphia, reported on Wednesday.

"Doug Oliver, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter, says the mayor stands behind the police department, but that 'at a glance it does appear to be beyond the pale.'

"'We are not going to prejudge the situation based on the video,' he said. 'We all saw the video, but none of us was there.'

"The beating happened two days after the fatal shooting of a Philadelphia policeman, the third city officer slain on duty in two years.

"Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey says he's disappointed in the actions of the police officers involved in a videotaped beating of three suspects.

"Appearing on 'Good Day Philadelphia,' Ramsey watched the tape again and said it speaks for itself.

"'When they first got him out of the car [it was being handled well]," said Ramsey. 'But once they're down . . . that level of force is only necessary to affect an arrest. I'm disappointed in what I'm looking at.'

"The commissioner says he spoke with his command staff immediately after seeing the tape on television. He encouraged them to give relief to officers who may be stressed out or tired.

"Only Fox 29 cameras caught a violent confrontation Monday night between police and three men who fled a shooting that has triggered a firestorm of controversy. The scene played out in the Hunting Park section of Philadelphia shortly after a triple shooting at the intersection of Second and Cayuga.

"On Tuesday, Fox 29 received a warrant for the videotape of the beating from the Internal Affairs division of the police department, and we complied with that request."

By Richard Prince's Journal-isms

Sound Off – Rate this year's primary coverage?

It’s coming down the wire…

With that said, was the local media fair and balanced in its coverage when it came to Sen. Barack Obama and or Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Pennsylvania Primary?

Or did it find itself getting caught up in the “gotcha” issues and not the important ones similar to last week’s debate with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson?

How would you rate the election coverage this year? If you had the chance, what would you have changed?

Sound off…

Instructions to comment: Click on "comments" directly below then leave your statement in the comment box provided and press "publish comment."

Sound Off – ABC dropped the ball in Phila. debate?

Was ABC wrong in granting George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson almost a full hour on “gotcha” issues in Wednesday night’s debate between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton?

Was the tone in Wednesday night's debate anti-Obama?

Why weren’t critical issues such as the struggling economy, crime and the War in Iraq – topics affecting both Philadelphia and the country – avoided until the second hour?

And was it "bad ethics" for Stephanopoulos, who was a former Clinton employee, to ask questions for such an important debate?

Instructions to comment: Click on "comments" directly below then leave your statement in the comment box provided and press "publish comment."