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Friday, November 30, 2007

Does Dallas Morning News unfairly represent black people?

by Shawn Williams of of Dallas South

On Thursday I opened the Dallas Morning News and flipped through the front of each section. I started looking at the color images on the front of the main pages.

Then I began to think about my claims, and others, on how African-Americans are portrayed in this paper and media outlets across the country. I did an informal survey of the Thursday paper, and extended it to Wednesday and Friday to get more data.

What's listed below are the images on the Front Page of the major sections of the Dallas Morning News: Front Page, Metro, Sports, Business and Guide Live. I wouldn't consider HS Gametime major but I did include it from Thursday. Here are some observations from this rudimentary survey:

* The images of African-Americans for the three days all had to do with Sports with the exception of Norma Adams Wade - Metro columnist, bank robbers, an accused principal, and homeless veterans.

* There are a lot of White columnists writing for the Dallas Morning News

* Zero images of African-Americans on front of Business section

What does this speak to? Does it speak to the way The News chooses to portray blacks and others? Are African-Americans just not present in the fields of acting, business, music, education, government and other vocations? Is this more an American problem than a media problem? I'd like some feedback on this one.

WEDNESDAY

Front Page

Terrell Owens and Ray Sherman, Cowboys receiver and receivers coach, both Black

Helio Castroneves, and Dancing w/the Stars partner Julianne Hough (Helio is from Brazil, partner is Anglo)

Santiago Morales, Mexico - immigration story

Dr. J Robert Cade, Anglo - Gatorade inventor

Metro

Alphonso Warfield - Black Asst. Principal accused in fake badge case

Tom Leppert, White Dallas Mayor

7 Bank Robbery Suspects - 3 Black, 3 White, 1 undistinguishable

Norma Adams Wade - Black Columnist (article on page 7B)

Amber Twiss, White, and other nameless Black Homeless Veterans

Sports

Tim Cowlishaw - Anglo Columnist

Owens and Sherman again

Sean Taylor - Black football player killed earlier this week

Jeremy Maclin - Black U of Missouri football player

Business

Cheryl Hall - White business columnist

Guy Kerr - Belo Corp (Co that owns the Morning News) Executive

Guide Live

Emily Gray, Davide Fluitt, Sara Lovett - White actors

Trisha Miller Smith, Justin Flowers, Dana Schultes - White Actors

Castoneves and Hough

Michael Jackson - uhhhh, take your pick

THURSDAY

Front Page

Shannon Hawari - White (I think) volleyball player at Plano West

Greg Gunderson and John O'Neill - White Green Bay Packer Fans

Tony Romo - Anglo/Hispanic quarterback Dallas Cowboys

Metro

Legs of White skater at Katy Trail

Steve Blow&- White Columnist

Rick Walden and sons Jay and Trey - White complainants over school paddling

Hector Montenegro - Hispanic candidate for Arlington Superintendent

4 white females - Duncanville Women's Club

Sports

Dirk Nowitzki - White Dallas Maverick

Tim Cowlishaw - White Columnist

Tony Romo

Bret Favre - White Green Bay QB

Bob Knight - Texas Tech B-Ball coach in verbal dispute

Art Briles - New Baylor football coach

Business

Pat Snuffer -owner of burger franchise

White male on Wall Street holding up peace signs

Karen Harvey - White flight attendant unloading bags

Scott Burns - Business Columnist

James Moroney III and Skip Cass - Belo Corp. executives

Guide Live

Jeff Griffith - White country music singer

Lynn Alvarez - Hispanic playwright

Elena Hurst - Actress, not sure by maybe Hispanic

High School Game Time

Cousins Tim and Garry Jefferson - Black South Oak Cliff Football Players

Shannon Hawari, White Plano VBall

FRIDAY

Front Page

Terrell Owens getting his popcorn ready (Black, Cowboys)

Ben Bernanke - Federal Reserve Chairman, Jewish

Metro

Jacquelyn Floyd, White Columnist

Amber Terrace, White elementary teacher in DeSoto

Laura Burks, White Stepmother of soldier slain in Iraq

Sports

Tony Romo

Curtis Lofton, Black Oklahoma Football Player

LaDonna Fuston, Loftin's mom in prison from 1992-2004

Delora Terrell, Loftin's grandmother who raised him

Vincent McNeil, Jarvis Phillips, Troy Soudermire, Garry Jefferson - Black DISD QB's

Jerry Stackhouse, Black Dallas Mav

SportsDay II

Tony Romo and Anthony Fassano, White Cowboys Tight End

Jean-Jacques Taylor, Black Columnist

Tim Cowlishaw, White Columnist

Rick Gosselin, NFL Beat Reporter (understatement)

Brett Favre

Guide Live

John Gorka, White Director/Producer

Carson Daly, White Television Host

Business

Caricature of Larry King, Jewish TV Broadcaster

Steve Brown, White Columnist (Real Estate)&

Pegasus News content partner - Dallas South Blog

Staff
Verified User
Anonymous

littlekinder, says:

I think this is way to little data to form a real opinion. For instance, there is not one mention of any Asians. If you want to use this data, African Americans should feel great compared to those in the Asian and Indian communities...

You may be right or wrong, but three days isn't enough data collection.

Anonymous

2 years ago
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Clay213, says:

"* There are a lot of White columnists writing for the Dallas Morning News"

I guess I don't really see where you are going with this.. Why wouldn't a major newspaper in the united states have 'a lot of White columnists?'

Anonymous

2 years ago
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Rawlins Gilliland, says:

Being black does not automatically mean one can speak to readers about this city. I have highly educated native Dallas black friends who work in Dallas and, for instance, live in Flower Mound. What possible connect can I expect when they speak to rubber-meets-the-road reality(ies) here in ‘southern Dallas’… including West Dallas and certainly Southeast Dallas where I live?

On the other hand, I'm a native white Dallasite, son of a jazz musician whose Godfathers were bi-racial; raised by flaming liberal activist artists who is starting his 25th year living on a diverse white/black/brown/old/young/gay/straight/ middle class street/'working' class neighborhood about which I have written extensively; including for the DMN. I volunteer in Aids awareness and at-risk teen programs that are primarily brown/black targeted. Now I ask you; which qualifies them to speak about Dallas multi-racial disparate diversity issues? Skin color or actual walk-the-walk vs. talking a blue streak?

It has been my conversational experience that many times, those who grew up in South Dallas or South Oak Cliff or Pemberton Hills (southern most of the 7 Southeast Dallas neighborhoods, north of I-20 and just south of Pleasant Grove) and now make high 5 or 6 figures and never looked back; black professionals who now live in, say, State-Thomas Uptown which was totally a black neighborhood I played in growing up....have perspectives far ‘whiter’ than I who might daily be on South Hampton, Metropolitan or Hatcher. You know as well as I; their disconnect if it exists is intentional rather than cultural no less than mine is the reverse.

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2 years ago
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Scott Miller, says:

Nitpicking, but... John Gorka is a folk singer. Kind of like Tracy Chapman -just not nearly as successful.

I also saw that pic of Shannon Hawari in a co-workers paper. I would have pegged her for middle eastern descent. Not that it's important or relevant to her skills as an athlete.

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2 years ago
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littlekinder, says:

Yeah! Folk singers are underrepresented in Pegasus! They need more positive coverage - especially if they are folk AND black like Tracy Chapman. The positive coverage is always for the jazz musicians...

Anonymous

2 years ago
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Scott Doyle, says:

Isn't Shawn Williams the dude who always plays the race card?

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2 years ago
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littlekinder, says:

Yes...I think these things might be best taken up with the DMN and not in this forum - at least not repeatedly.

Meanwhile, I'm still playing the folk card.

Anonymous

2 years ago
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David Goodspeed, says:

In the interest of fairness and journalism (as this was listed under business news and not a column or commentary) what was DMNs side of the story? How does their content relate to their subscriber/advertiser demographics?

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2 years ago
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Mike Orren, says:

Fairness and journalism? You looking for that here? ;-)

We allow and encourage voice in all our "news." And this is a piece taken verbatime from the site of one of our content partners. Anyone, including the DMN is free to respond in the comments.