#NABJ12 Maynard Institute lunch on Media Depictions of Black Males

Panelists Leonard Pitts, columnist Miami Herald (@LeonardPittsJr); Kevin Merida, Washington Post national editor (@meridak) and Mira Lowe, senior editor/features, CNN.com (@miralowe) sponsored by the Maynard Institute (@djmaynard)

  1. Kevin Merida: we didn't want black men to be bit players in the Being a Black Man Series #nabj2012 #maynard35 #mije35th
  2. 86% of males depicted on tv were for something criminally related. #mije35th
  3. Kevin Merida: You disentangle stereotypes by showing who people really are, not who we think they are. #nabj12 #mije35th
  4. "We have to do stories that bring lives to our audience (to dispell stereotypes)." Kevin Merida, National Editor, Washington Post #mije35th
  5. Mira Lowe is discussing differences between writing and reporting for mainstream media and ethnic focused media. #nabj12 #mije35th
  6. "We did stories highlighting black folks doing regular things," says Mira Lowe, senior editor for features, CNN Digital. #mije35th
  7. Kevin Merida: There are more than 400 studies and reports on black men. There are more studies than us than sharks. #nabj12 #mije35th
  8. Merida: We didn’t want to create a series [for the Post] where black men are bit players in our own narrative. #nabj12 #mije35th
  9. "These are real life stories. Just because it shows achievement doesn't mean we're trying to slant things." Mira Lowe #mije35th
  10. Lowe dismisses the idea that ethnic outlets are biased toward positive stories, she notes that our worlds are nuanced. #mije35th #nabj12
  11. Lowe: The fact that we have to explain our existence (in mainstream media) is real. There is an element of education. #mije35th #nabj12
  12. Moderator: How did it feel to have to explain your existence? Lowe: It's what we have to do. These stories must be told. #nabj12 #mije35th
  13. "It's a responsibility u have to take, and u know it's for the betterment of the company, community," Lowe on pitching stories. #mije35th
  14. Leonard Pitts talks about how this perception of black men as dangerous leads to Trayvon style situations. #nabj12 #mije35th
  15. When there is skewed coverage of #black #men in #news "people's lives are diminished or even ended" #LeonardPitts #nabj12 #Maynard35th
  16. Lowe: The fact that we have to explain our existence (in mainstream media) is real. There's an element of education. #mije35th #nabj12
  17. Pitts notes that it isn't just white people that associate black men with crime. Our internal perceptions are poisoned. #mije35th #nabj12
  18. Pitts quotes from the racial crime statistics, noting that most crime is intra-racial - but perception warps those facts. #mije35th #nabj12
  19. "It affects our kids and how we treat ourselves," Leonard Pitts on depiction of blacks. #mije35th
  20. Mod Reynolds asks why we are still having these same newsroom conversations after generations have tackled this problem. #nabj12 #mije35th
  21. Intellectual laziness has persisted for too long when it comes to blacks, Pitts says. #mije35th
  22. Pitts thinks the media suffers from "intellectual laziness"; Lowe believes the lack of newsroom wide effort. #mije35th #nabj12

Did you find this story interesting? Be the first to or comment.

Liked!

Sherri Williams

Multimedia reporter published in Essence, Heart&Soul, Ebony. Writes about health, race & more. Adjunct professor & PhD student @SyracuseU. Blog @BackboneWomen

Total views
182

Storify

@Storify