A few months ago, I picked up a copy of The Clarion-Ledger's VIP Jackson magazine and flipped through. I was shocked at how few black VIP Jacksonians I saw in the stories, party pics and advertising.
After we ran an index in the paper showing just how racially un-diverse this Gannett publication is, some of the usual suspects e-mailed, whining that we dared say out loud that a huge corporation that prides itself on its diversity actually markets a disturbingly un-diverse publication to a decidedly un-diverse target audience.
This is something you might expect from either The Northside Sun (which has long shown that it cares little about diversity) and The Jackson Advocate (which we have long criticized for its "Brown Society" treatment of blacks and whites who work together.)
But since the Gannett Corp. bought The Clarion-Ledger--historically, one of the nation's most racist newspapers--it has bragged about its diversity. Its top editor, Ronnie Agnew is black and is the national diversity chair for the American Society of Newspaper Editors--a similar position to what I held until recently for the nation's alternative newspapers. ASNE is a loud proponent of media diversity; I've been at training sessions with its people where we learned, among other things, that it is vital to "mainstream" people of color into all aspects of your publications, especially in positive, uplifting sections (which, no doubt, includes party pics and wedding spreads). The Ledger even won an ASNE "Pacesetter" award for newsroom diversity, but little diversity is evident on the VIP Jackson masthead.
Where is the disconnect? How does a paper that prides itself on diversity put out a "very important person" magazine about "Jackson" and not bother to pursue content diversity that comes close to reflecting the city? Not to mention, how does Mr. Agnew sleep at night knowing that VIP Jackson is distributed free to a list of affluent zip codes, more in the "white" suburbs than actually in (northeast) Jackson?
Of course, my pointing this out causes rolled eyes among many of the same people who never seem to care about the lack of diversity in anything, whether the Neshoba County Fair or their children's classrooms. Is this the target audience that the Ledger wants?
Many will declare that I am obsessed with race, and the real idiots will say that I hate my own race because I point out the race hypocrisy of a major Virginia-based media corporation down here to make money. That's stupid logic: I promise that I do not hate my own skin color, and some of my best friends are white. Not to mention family members.
Actually, something much bigger than my mythical hatred of white people or my real disdain for hypocrisy is at play here. What is at stake is the future of our city.
Seriously. It's basic: Young (and older) people need to see positive images of people who look like them. People of color need to see "local" media outlets covering them for positive actions at least as much as for negative actions--they need to know that they are just as "VIP" as white people who hold and attend fund raisers and engagement parties. And in a city--Jackson, as in the magazine name--that is more than two-thirds black, it is remarkable to see a Gannett-owned publication largely ignore most of the city and even its well-to-do black philanthropists.
White folks also need to see people of color in roles that have nothing to do with sports, crime or music. If we do not see these positive images, it is very easy for us to form stereotypes without meaning to, not to mention sensationalize crime, especially among "them."
Then, playing to their perceived audience (and advertisers), the mass media overwhelmingly present negatives images of people of color, especially young people.
In turn, young people of color can grow up feeling like second-class citizens when they and their families are not reflected fairly in the media: It's the white folks who raise money. It's the white folks who get lauded in the largest media outlets for accomplishments. It's the white folks who give the VIP parties that matter. It can be self-perpetuating: The media continually show kids of color on a path to destruction, and hopelessness sets in.
In case you think I am making all this up to sound smart or alty, alas, I am not.
The research is rampant on the desperate need for media diversity and how the lack of it can negatively affect a city, including raising the likelihood of crime (which is directly connected to the sense of hopelessness and esteem in a community). When you're told, or shown, over and over again that you're not among the best, you don't believe you can be. That's when you make the wrong choices.
Back in 1968, our nation was warned about this hopelessness-to-bad-choices cycle after the infamous spate of race riots racked several cities around the country, including Jackson. The president convened The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, which studied conditions leading to the riots.
In what is known as the Kerner Commission report (PDF, 88 KB) (which every American should read; sadly too little has changed), the panel reached unflinching conclusions about the status of blacks in the U.S. As a journalist, the chapter on the media's role in creating these conditions, as well as what we can do to change them, has long motivated me.
The report warned that media had done a terrible job of integrating its coverage, leading to hopelessness in what it called the "ghetto" (which it dared say out loud was created by whites and white flight) and white ignorance about problems segregation created for blacks. Among other suggestions, the report told media that it must stop excluding "Negroes" (the language of the time): "Integrate Negroes and Negro activities into all aspects of coverage and content, including newspaper articles and television programming. The news media must publish newspapers and produce programs that recognize the existence and activities of Negroes as a group within the community and as a part of the larger community."
Today, we live in a majority-black city with mostly leadership of color. And even now, the "white" media are falling into the old traps they warned us about in 1968. This is a vicious cycle that must be broken.
Do it for our kids. It matters.
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