Reporting for understanding

10.21.04

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The minority populations of their communities are in single digits, yet the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, S.D., The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press and The Wausau (Wis.) Daily Herald have stories of diversity.

And each of the newspapers has made telling its community's story a priority.

Here are looks at the stories of three notable nominees for the 2004 Robert G. McGruder Awards for Diversity Leadership.

Argus Leader

Executive Editor Randell Beck noted that the Argus Leader staff "has labored to bring readers meaningful coverage about diversity issues on every level, from coverage of spot news events to major enterprise efforts."

The newspaper produced "Progress of a People," a yearlong report on the status of Native Americans in South Dakota in 2003. After examining the impact of the Wounded Knee occupation 30 years later, the series reported on tribal sovereignty, religion and culture, economic development, health care and education.

The newspaper received positive reader reaction to the reporting. "We heard throughout the year from people — Natives and non-Natives — that the sections offered a breadth of journalism about Native issues they'd rarely seen," Beck said.

The Argus Leader serves a market with a minority population of less than 5% but a state that is home to eight American Indian reservations.

In nominating his newspaper for a McGruder award, Beck wrote: "We believe strongly that the inclusive environment we have created in our newsroom has helped foster a culture that aggressively covers issues but also seeks out opportunities for explanatory journalism that informs readers and helps them understand how our state's diversity affects their lives."

Beck said the newsroom spends time each Fall planning projects. "That process involves every desk and every staff member — brainstorming big sky ideas and coming up with a final list of things we'll go after in the coming year."

In another reporting effort, the newspaper's education reporter studied Bureau of Indian Affairs schools and how they performed under the No Child Left Behind Act.

The newspaper also has reported on the uncovering of Native American remains along area rivers. "We have worked hard to tell the story in a way that is respectful of Native traditions surrounding remains, seeking permission from tribal elders before photographing sites," Beck wrote.

While reporting for understanding, the newspaper has not ignored racial problems, writing about race relations that sometimes have involved conflict.

"I think the clarity and sharpness of the picture we paint every day of South Dakota and the region correlates directly to the diversity of our staff, and not just racially," said Beck, whose newsroom staff is 12% journalists of color. "The more diverse sets of eyes we have trained on the people, places and issues in our region, the more accurate that newspaper is every day."

The Burlington Free Press

Over four years, The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, led by coverage by Reporter Candy Page, published 130 stories, editorials and letters about the settlement of Sudanese and Bantu refugees in Burlington.

Free Press Executive Editor Mike Townsend wrote: "Page, a seventh-generation Vermonter, grew up in Burlington at a time when the city had one black family. She understood the refugee program's fear that black African immigrants would encounter suspicion, prejudice and discrimination." Her coverage introduced "lost boys of Sudan" to the community. The result was "a huge public embrace," he noted in nominating Page.

Her coverage included enterprise, breaking news and feature stories. Page wrote about the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program. She tracked the progress of the young men in a community with a minority population of less than 5%. She wrote about the men's search for their long-lost families. She covered the arrival and adjustment of a second group of refugees, the Somali Bantu. She connected recent news of ethnic cleansing in Sudan's Darfur region to her local community. As a result of encouragement by Page, one Sudanese man wrote an op-ed piece on his thoughts about the situation in Darfur.

Page said she was surprised by the difficulty of the reporting. "There was only a modest language barrier, since most of the 'lost boys' spoke lovely English. But this was the first time I had ever tried to report in depth about someone from a non-Western, non-Western-influenced culture," she said.

"The young men would use English words, but meant different things by them. When they said 'family,' for example, I thought they meant father-mother-sister-brother. Often, they meant second or third cousins, people nearly as important to them as brothers and sisters."

Page spent up to half of her time reporting and writing about refugee issues for about two years. "I had no idea that covering Vermont's refugee community would become so all-consuming," she said.

"The increasing presence of refugees in the greater Burlington area certainly justified stepped-up coverage. But not all decisions are made entirely in the head. Sometimes the heart weighs in as well. I could not get to know the young men from Sudan without being deeply moved by their story and mesmerized by their attempts to start new lives in Vermont."

Reader reaction also influenced the amount of coverage. "The huge response from readers — my first story provoked about 100 e-mails and telephone calls to me and more than a thousand offers of assistance to the refugee program — showed that others, too, were moved."

She since has been assigned to cover the Vermont Capitol, but people still ask her when she is going to write about the "lost boys" again.

Townsend wrote: "The resettlement agency, support groups and the young men themselves give the newspaper credit for establishing their identity in the community and creating an environment in which they were welcomed rather than regarded with the suspicion African immigrants often encounter."

Page said she also learned from the experience. "I've never covered a beat that taught me as much about myself and my work, from the limitations of journalism to the unconscious cultural superiority we Americans have to new arrivals. Looking back, I fear I may have treated some of the men's Dinka customs as quaint or amusing — for example, their use of cattle as currency to pay for a bride."

Her biggest challenge was limiting her involvement with the young men to interviewing and observing them and writing about the group. "I had an overwhelming urge to try to help in more direct ways … (After my first stories, my family invited three of the young men to Thanksgiving dinner, a lovely day for my children and grandchildren as well as for the young men.) After I wrote my stories, the community provided much of the assistance and advice the men needed to get started in Vermont — a heartening lesson in the power of community journalism."

The Wausau Daily Herald

In Wisconsin, The Wausau Daily Herald considers coverage of its Hmong community partly an educational effort.

"Comprehensive coverage of the Hmong community is essential to producing a newspaper that reflects lives, interests and struggles of the people who live here," said Mark Baldwin, Daily Herald executive editor. "It's a way of life in our newsroom."

Wausau, which U.S. Census figures once called the whitest community in the country, experienced its second arrival of Hmong immigrants last Summer. In anticipation, the newspaper sent a reporter to a refugee camp north of Bangkok, Thailand, to report on the people who would be making their way to Wisconsin.

Coverage included a first-person account printed in both English and Hmong of a Wausau resident who spent 11 years as a refugee before being placed in Wisconsin.

"The community had a lot of work to do to prepare households for the arrival of 500 or so new residents in a very short span," Baldwin said. "It was important that residents be aware of the need and be challenged to respond. This we did in the news pages and on the editorial page. In addition, we believed it was important for the newspaper to set an uncompromisingly welcoming tone for arriving refugees. Not everyone in town is pleased by the influx. We believe we have an important role to play in knocking down stereotypes and advocating for diversity."

The Daily Herald published an editorial praising the community's preparation and noting its strides in acceptance and assimilation since the first Hmong settled in Wausau in the 1970s.

Today, Wausau has a minority population of just more than 6%.

In a partnership with the Wausau Area Hmong Association, the newspaper has begun a monthly Hmong publication. It also called on local government to declare a Hmong History Month, following up by printing profiles of local and national Hmong leaders.

"Our community has changed significantly from the community that existed here in the 1970s," wrote Tom Rau, executive director of The Neighbors' Place, a center that provides activities, intercultural acclimation and support services. "At each step, The Wausau Daily Herald was an active participant. It provided information, challenged long-held ideas and encouraged thoughtful discussion."

Related

Diversity leadership award winners named
Editors at The Courier-Journal and St. Cloud Times to be honored at APME convention.  09.29.04