Panel fails to reach conclusion on how media cover people of color

08.05.04

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WASHINGTON — A celebrity panel speaking Tuesday to a joint convention of minority journalists failed to reach conclusions about how the media cover people of color.

Instead, panelists spent almost two hours voicing concerns about their involvement in the entertainment industry.

The session billed as a town hall meeting marked the opening of UNITY 2004, which is meeting this week at the Washington Convention Center. About 800 people attended the event sponsored by Gannett Co., Inc.

Some in the audience said they were disappointed with the outcome.

“They started late and rehashed old topics,” Audrey Burgs, night metro editor at The Des Moines Register, said. She walked out of the session before it ended. “I don’t think anything was accomplished. That’s why I’m leaving.”

Asmaa Malik, a reporter with The Toronto Star, said: “The discussion didn’t feel urgent enough, timely or topical. It sort of digressed.”

But Ronnie Agnew, executive editor of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., offered a more optimistic view of the session.

“I’m very much looking forward to exchanging ideas with colleagues and learning from panel discussions like this one,” Agnew said after the town hall meeting. “This is UNITY. This is what it’s all about. You try to take it all in.”

Maria Hinojosa, a CNN correspondent, co-moderated the session with Black Entertainment Television host Big Tigger and spent much of the evening trying to keep the discussion on track.

“With so many issues to talk about, it’s difficult to do it all in two hours,” Hinojosa said afterward. “It gets frustrating.”

The session, titled “The New Multicultural Dynamic in Entertainment,” featured a diverse pool of artists, including rapper Litefoot, actress Sandra Oh and comedienne/actress Mo’Nique.

Hip-hop pioneer Doug E. Fresh complained about how the media covers his industry.

“It’s not covered correctly,” he said. “They don’t do it right.”

At several points, he and other panelists emphasized the need for people of color to educate themselves about their own cultures to build bridges.

On what hip-hop can do to help encourage intercultural dialogue and cooperation, Fresh said: “We need to show appreciation and respect for other cultures. … We need to be open to hearing someone else’s expression, that’s the first thing.”

The panelists soon departed from the theme, choosing instead to discuss other issues, such as the lack of positive representations of people of color in the mainstream entertainment industry and the need for underrepresented groups to create their own ways to promote their cultures.

Mo’nique said minority actors must be allowed to do their jobs on their own terms instead of trying to conform to what she called mainstream standards.

“Who is mainstream?” she asked. “We’re too afraid to say who mainstream is. Mainstream is white America.”

But Henry Cho, an Asian-American actor/comedian, said green was the only color that concerned entertainment industry executives.

“We all know what’s going on. We’re not fooling anyone,” he said. “It’s all about making money. You’re going to be working for people that will want you to do things you don’t want to do. Yes, you have your integrity, but you also have bills to pay.”

UNITY 2004 is expected to be the largest gathering of journalists of color in history. More than 7,000 members of the Asian-American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Native American Journalists Association pre-registered for the event. The groups have sponsored joint conventions every five years since 1994.

This year’s theme is “A Powerful Alliance. A Force for Change.”

The week will be highlighted by a career fair, a series of professional development workshops and appearances by President George W. Bush and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

Georgia Runs-Above, a recent graduate of Montana State University, said attending UNITY would help her to grow as a Native-American journalist. “It’s a way to learn and gain a deeper insight.”

Diversity Institute Fellows Dana Arellano, Elwin Green and Anthony Pennington contributed to this report.

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UNITY 2004 coverage by Diversity Institute reporters
Summer fellows file dispatches from Washington, D.C., where more than 7,000 journalists of color are attending convention workshops, speeches, receptions.  08.05.04