Independent Women's Forum - Research Areas > Civil Rights and Racial Preferences

IWF in the News: Like the Candidates, TV's Political Pundits Show Signs of Diversity

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:31:00 EDT

The New York Times

The historic and long-running presidential campaigns of Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton have injected issues of race and gender into politics as never before. With campaign coverage center stage on the cable channels, producers and critics are again assessing the diversity among pundits, who talk (and talk) about things like Mr. Obama's pastor, the Hispanic vote, Iraq and the economy.

Both MSNBC and CNN this election season have given new prominence to a handful of contributing commentators from varied backgrounds and perspectives: blacks, Hispanics and women. Whether such moves signal real progress in diversifying the punditocracy or merely reflect the needs of a particular news cycle is the question, some media experts say. The most prominent positions on television remain overwhelmingly with those who are white and male, and some critics note how striking that non-inclusion can seem during this election year.

"Whatever progress has been made with contributors and commentators as of late, the cable networks have a long way to go before they look like the American people," said Karl Frisch, the spokesman for Media Matters for America, a liberal television watchdog group. He added that white men were the hosts of all the major Sunday morning talk shows, the major prime-time cable news programs and - except for Katie Couric, a relative newcomer - the network evening news broadcasts.

But incremental gains should not be dismissed even if more change is needed, said Pamela Newkirk, an associate professor of journalism at New York University and author of "Within the Veil: Black Journalists, White Media" (New York University Press, 2000).

Black commentators under 40 at CNN, like the journalist and radio host Roland S. Martin; Amy Holmes, a conservative strategist and a former senior speechwriter for Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, the former Senate majority leader; and Jamal Simmons, a Democratic strategist, Obama supporter and veteran press spokesman with international experience, have been "breakout stars" this election, Professor Newkirk said.

"They bring such a fresh perspective that we are unaccustomed to hearing in the mainstream media," she said. "Hopefully, the value of having different perspectives will be appreciated beyond this historic campaign."

The 2008 lineup at CNN also includes Alex Castellanos, a Cuban-born Republican strategist, and Leslie Sanchez, a Mexican-American Republican strategist who has also appeared on Fox News.

Donna Brazile, who is black and a well-known Democratic strategist, is also a regular CNN contributor who was part of the team in 2004.

Their counterparts at MSNBC include Michelle Bernard, a lawyer by training, who is black and conservative; Rachel Maddow, who is white and has a show on the liberal Air America Radio; Eugene H. Robinson, a black columnist for The Washington Post; and Joe Watkins, a Republican strategist who is also black. Last week Harold Ford Jr., a former congressman from Tennessee, made his MSNBC debut as a political analyst. Mr. Ford, a black Democrat, had been an analyst at Fox News.

Juan Williams, who is black and a National Public Radio correspondent, is a longtime regular on "Fox News Sunday," which also uses minority female analysts like Angela McGlowan, a Republican strategist who is black; Michelle Malkin, a conservative Filipino-American journalist; and Linda Chavez, who is Hispanic and held positions in the Reagan administration. A recent addition is Laura Ingraham, a syndicated radio host who is white.

All the commentators appear when the networks need them, but are on television more than guest pundits from the outside. While a few are unknown to general audiences, they all come with extensive résumés that mostly include backgrounds in journalism, politics, academe, nonprofit organizations or business.

"We're trying to attract a new audience drawn to the broad interest in this campaign," said Phil Griffin, senior vice president of NBC News and the executive in charge of MSNBC.

When asked how the network finds its commentators, Mr. Griffin said, "It's word of mouth - someone says, ‘Let's use this person.' " He added, "After the Don Imus situation, we had to reflect and say we've got to make a bigger commitment" to diversity.

Jon Klein, the president of CNN's domestic networks, said he believed that the same historical forces that put Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton on the cusp of the Democratic nomination also meant that more people of color and more women were available as talking heads. The channel did not round them up just because of this election, he said, adding that CNN has a commitment to reflect the country.

"With the advent of the Internet, consumers realized that there are a lot of other voices," he said. "There are an awful lot of people writing, at think tanks, advising campaigns."

Barbara Ciara, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, said that all the election coverage on television left "a lot to be desired" when it comes to her members. The black pundits often disappear as quickly as they arrive, she said, and too often talk only about race.

A more saladlike pundit mix has been front and center in the last couple of weeks, she said, because of news developments: Mr. Obama's speech on race, prompted by the controversy over the remarks of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.; and Geraldine Ferraro's assertion that Mr. Obama's race was a reason for his political success.

Diversity is not just good journalism but also good business, Ms. Ciara and others said.

"It doesn't take a brain surgeon to understand that a large number of the audience is black, Hispanic and women," said Al Primo, a television news executive who invented the "Eyewitness News" format decades ago and helped give many black and Hispanic journalists their first breaks. He added, "If you're a Hispanic-American or an African-American, you don't want to get a sense that they don't understand your perspective."

With hours to fill, political coverage consumes the cable channels. During the week that included Feb. 5 (the day of coast-to-coast nominating contests) CNN's ratings among viewers 18 to 34 were up 232 percent over the corresponding week in the 2004 election, and, CNN officials said, its audience on that date was 36 percent black and Hispanic. Fox attracted 78 percent more young viewers, and MSNBC was up 400 percent (although from a much smaller base) from the same week during the 2004 election.

Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, said that cable programs relied more and more on people who can analyze campaign developments, rather than just report them. So television needs more pundits and more kinds of pundits, he said.

"In the past week we have seen a distinct difference in commentary on Rev. Wright from people who have spent time in black churches and those who have not," said Gwen Ifill, a senior correspondent for "The Newshour With Jim Lehrer" on PBS and moderator of "Washington Week."

Recently, on CNN, when Mr. Martin butted heads with a guest, Tony Beam, a host of "Christian Worldview Today," he was able to say that his listeners at his radio station back in Chicago understood why Mr. Obama stood by Mr. Wright.

"In any other year, when Geraldine Ferraro said what she did, it would have been people saying, ‘Oh, no, she didn't mean anything,' " added Mr. Martin, a nationally syndicated columnist and author. He predicted a growing appetite for more multidimensional analysis.

Indeed, Ms. Sanchez indicated that she had plenty of television suitors. "I'm everywhere," she said, adding that in addition to her work for CNN, she had recently been on "Studio B With Shepherd Smith" on Fox discussing the controversy over Mr. Obama's former pastor, as well as the fight over the primaries in Michigan and Florida.

She and Ms. Bernard of MSNBC, like the other analysts, said they were not confined to speaking about race and gender but did not shy away from them, either.

Ms. Bernard, the president of the Independent Women's Forum, a right-of-center research and education institution in Washington, recalled chiding Patrick J. Buchanan, the conservative commentator, for calling Mr. Obama "articulate," saying the term, when used to describe an accomplished black person, often carries the connotation of being unexpected.

Those different voices have injected some new life into the world of talking heads, some critics said.

"We haven't ever had as much talk about women as voters, except as soccer moms," said Marie C. Wilson, president of the White House Project, which seeks to advance women in business, politics and media. "Now there's talk about white women, African-American women, women over 60, and what about Latinos?"

Mark Anthony Neal, who is black and teaches black popular culture at Duke University, said: "There is suddenly a demand for smart Negroes. You're seeing a lot less of the Jesse Jacksons and the Al Sharptons and more academics and thought-leaders. This is expressly in response to Barack Obama, less so Hillary. Because of the combination of Hillary and Barack, you're seeing more black women."

The shift to more interpretation and less reporting calls for greater transparency about who is talking, said Mr. Rosenstiel of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Often the channels put labels like "Clinton supporter" or "Republican strategist" on the screen.

"If these are people you don't know well, that's an issue," Mr. Rosenstiel said. "Just because people aren't aligned officially, it doesn't mean that they don't have allegiances."

Many of the pundits said they had received an overwhelmingly positive response from viewers. Mr. Martin described getting e-mail messages from junior high school students and being hailed by men who shine shoes.

"Even in this day and age, people have not been exposed to a lot of different kinds of people," Ms. Bernard said, "so it's important for us to all be here on TV together, talking about these things that really matter."

Thomas Sowell on Higher Education

info@iwf.org (Allison Kasic) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:50:00 EST

National Review's website has featured a series of interviews with Thomas Sowell this week. In the third installment, Peter Robinson and Sowell discuss several issues pertaining to higher education including grade inflation, the problems associated with faculty tenure, and the lack of market forces within the academy. It's well worth a watch.

The video is available here.

Update: The rest of the series is great, too. Part onedeals with women in the workplace (note that Sowell's research shows, as IWF has said for years, that the key variable in women obtaining high level positions is child rearing, not discrimination as the wage gap theorists claim), part two deals with income levels and social mobility, part four tackles more issues pertaining to higher education including the price of tuition, and the final installment deals with fallacies associated with race.

Measurable Progress

info@iwf.org (Allison Kasic) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:00:00 EST

In today's Washington Times, IWF President and CEO Michelle Bernard reflects on the civil rights movement:

Black Americans are making important economic gains. A vibrant professional and entrepreneurial class helps lead all of the cities that once suffered urban unrest. Middle- and upper-income African-Americans have moved out of the inner-city into suburbs across the nation. Blacks have taken an even greater leadership role in politics. Forty years ago African-Americans had to fight to exercise the right to vote. Today, the Democratic frontrunner for president is a black man. America's 65th secretary of state was an African American man, and the 66th secretary of state is an African American woman. Blacks now routinely serve in Congress and the cabinet, on the U.S. Supreme Court and Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as governors and mayors across the country. While we once would have been surprised to see a black face at an important political gathering, we now are surprised if there isn't one.

However, problems still exist and many are quick to call for government assistance. Michelle argues against that mentality (emphasis mine):

The Kerner Commission recommended new welfare programs, and the federal government has spent more to fight poverty than it spent to win World War II. Unfortunately, bigger social programs backfired, encouraging family and community break-up, discouraging education and employment, and creating pervasive dependency. We know more government social engineering will not work.

The 1996 welfare reform, agreed to by a Republican Congress and Democratic president, freed many of the nation's poor from the fetters of dependency and encourages self-sufficiency. Today, we must improve education and generate economic opportunity for those still stuck in poverty. To do so we must empower people rather than bureaucracies. For instance, pouring more money into failing public schools won't improve student achievement. Giving parents improved options and forcing public institutions to compete will help kids learn. Poor people are poor, not stupid, which is why so many black Baptists work so hard to place their children in parochial schools.

Similarly, policies like the minimum wage may sound "progressive," but actually destroy jobs. We need to clear away regulations that make it hard to start a small business and enter a profession. Entrepreneurs, not politicians, create real jobs with the potential for advancement.

The Washington Times: Measurable Progress

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:05:00 EST

A reading of Michelle D. Bernard's op-ed, Measurable Progress, which was published in The Washington Times.

Measurable Progress

info@iwf.org (Michelle D. Bernard) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:53:00 EST

Washington Times

In the mid-1960s, inner cities around the country exploded in violence. Americans were shocked and scared. In 1968, the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders issued the Kerner Commission Report, which ominously warned that America was "moving toward two societies, one black, one white - separate and unequal." We have come far since then, but still have far to go. Our goal must remain to be one nation with equal opportunity for all. That objective is achievable, but requires more hard work by all of us.

Forty years ago, the civil-rights movement was struggling against institutionalized discrimination throughout the South. Lynchings, white-only restrooms, segregated schools and lunch counters were a plague upon the nation. Crime, drug abuse, illegitimacy and dependency were spreading throughout black neighborhoods. Poverty was the inner-city norm, with declining hope for the future.

Since that time, in some areas we have come far. In others, our progress has been disappointing. We have learned to live and work together. As the recent Iowa Democratic caucus demonstrated, Americans increasingly look past color. Racism still exists, but no longer can be considered the primary cause of many serious problems facing the African-American community.

Black Americans are making important economic gains. A vibrant professional and entrepreneurial class helps lead all of the cities that once suffered urban unrest. Middle- and upper-income African-Americans have moved out of the inner-city into suburbs across the nation. Blacks have taken an even greater leadership role in politics. Forty years ago African-Americans had to fight to exercise the right to vote. Today, the Democratic frontrunner for president is a black man. America's 65th secretary of state was an African American man, and the 66th secretary of state is an African American woman. Blacks now routinely serve in Congress and the cabinet, on the U.S. Supreme Court and Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as governors and mayors across the country. While we once would have been surprised to see a black face at an important political gathering, we now are surprised if there isn't one.

We should be proud of our progress. As columnist Eugene Robinson observed: "This successful black America gets very little coverage, for the obvious reason that good news isn't really news in the traditional sense."

Nevertheless, there is much more to do. Residential segregation remains distressingly common. In many areas it still looks like there are two Americas. Moreover, the dramatic economic improvement for many blacks cannot hide the persistence of poverty in what we once called "the ghetto." Illegitimacy rates for young girls and incarceration rates for young men have hit staggering levels. Our public education system continues to fail children throughout the nation. Too many African American kids determined to succeed find themselves ill-prepared for the competition in top universities and an increasingly globalized workplace.

There's no simple answer.

The Kerner Commission recommended new welfare programs, and the federal government has spent more to fight poverty than it spent to win World War II. Unfortunately, bigger social programs backfired, encouraging family and community break-up, discouraging education and employment, and creating pervasive dependency. We know more government social engineering will not work.

The 1996 welfare reform, agreed to by a Republican Congress and Democratic president, freed many of the nation's poor from the fetters of dependency and encourages self-sufficiency. Today, we must improve education and generate economic opportunity for those still stuck in poverty. To do so we must empower people rather than bureaucracies. For instance, pouring more money into failing public schools won't improve student achievement. Giving parents improved options and forcing public institutions to compete will help kids learn. Poor people are poor, not stupid, which is why so many black Baptists work so hard to place their children in parochial schools.

Similarly, policies like the minimum wage may sound "progressive," but actually destroy jobs. We need to clear away regulations that make it hard to start a small business and enter a profession. Entrepreneurs, not politicians, create real jobs with the potential for advancement.

Although people are focused on the subprime lending crisis, and its negative impact on minority homeownership, building codes, rent controls and zoning restrictions do far more to limit good housing. Better policing is also necessary to provide safe neighborhoods for poor as well as rich.

Forty years ago the Kerner Commission provided us with an important warning. However, unlike the conventional wisdom of the 1960s, what we know today is that blacks haven't been so crippled by past discrimination that we cannot compete with whites. We can, and will continue to do so, if government will let us.

Michelle D. Bernard is president and CEO of the Independent Women's Forum and author of "Women's Progress: How Women and Are Wealthier, Healthier and More Independent Than Ever Before."

Toot, Toot, Here Comes the Diversity Police

info@iwf.org (Allison Kasic) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:56:00 EST

The diversity police are alive and well in California: The California Assembly recently passed a bill mandating that foundations gather information about the gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation of its members, staff, and board of directors. This information would be reported on the organization's website and in its annual report.

David Lehrer and Joe Hicks point out the obvious problems in the L.A. Times:

First, the minority or sexual orientation makeup of a nonprofit's board, staff or beneficiaries should in no way be the measure of whether a nonprofit does a good job. As the recent, tragic story of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital made clear to Angelenos, the minority status of decision-makers and staff guarantees very little in terms of outcomes.

Second, the universe of the underserved is not defined by race, ethnicity or sexual orientation. The poor and disadvantaged come in all sizes, shapes, colors and sexual orientation. Focusing on selected groups looks more like special pleading and identity politics than true concern for the disadvantaged.

Finally, the state should not be subtly directing where foundations spend their charitable dollars. Just as private individuals don't want the government looking over their shoulders when they write charitable checks (so long as the recipients are tax exempt and legal), foundations should not have their discretion impinged upon by someone else's notions of what is appropriate.

The Wall Street Journal points out the problem of donor intent:

There's also the little problem of accountability and donor intent. Private citizens typically establish foundations with specific charitable goals in mind -- such as wetlands conservation, or medical research, or even promoting free market ideas. If donors are suddenly supposed to allocate grants by the color or sexual lifestyle of the grantee, that donor intent will be distorted at the very least. Presumably we want money for cancer research to support the most promising research ideas, not to be based on whether the labs have a rainbow coalition of Ph.Ds. The goal is to cure cancer.

More here and here.

In the News: Fueled by Nevada Caucus Results, Democratic Candidates Set Their Sights on South Carolina

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:43:00 EST

BlackAmericaWeb.com

By: Associated Press and BlackAmericaWeb.com

A day after winning the Nevada caucuses, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton flew to Missouri, a key Feb. 5 battleground state, while rival Sen. Barack Obama hoped to invigorate his candidacy with the help of black voters in South Carolina.

Although Clinton won 51 percent of the popular vote in Nevada, Obama's campaign argued that the outcome in Nevada was a shared victory because Obama collected 13 delegates, compared with 12 for Clinton.

Obama left Nevada without delivering a concession speech. "We're not treating this as a loss," an aide to Obama told The Washington Post.

Clinton campaign aides disagreed with the delegate count, saying there has been no final count from state elections officials. The Obama campaign also alleged the Clinton camp resorted to voter suppression tactics, a claim the Clinton campaign denies.

"This race is still wide open on both sides of the partisan aisle -- these primaries only emphasized that point more, Peter C. Groff, a Colorado state senator, publisher of Blackpolicy.org and executive director of the Center for African American Policy at the University of Denver, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

"The win in Nevada was actually not much of that for Clinton, considering Obama still snags a large enough amount of delegates to keep him at the top," Groff said. "Plus, he won 11 out of 17 counties in that state. He should be touting that, including the fact that he experienced a 20-point surge in the polls within 30 days. Remember, he was 25 points down in December."

"What's ironic here," he added, "is that the Clinton campaign for so long insisted that this race was all about the delegates; now they're placing greater emphasis on the states won."

According to The New York Times, Clinton dismissed questions about the delegate count.

"We're looking really good," Clinton said during a news conference. "I find it somewhat strange, actually, that there's such a reaction when this was a very effective campaign to reach as many as people as possible."

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain won a hard-fought South Carolina primary Saturday night, avenging a bitter personal defeat in a bastion of conservatism and gaining ground in an unpredictable race for the Republican presidential nomination.

"We've got a long way to go," McCain told The Associated Press in an interview. The man whose campaign was left for dead six months ago quickly predicted that victory in the first southern primary would help him next week when Florida votes, and again on Feb. 5 when more than two dozen states hold primaries and caucuses

Nevada's presidential caucuses gave Clinton a big boost, powering her to a second straight win over Obama in the first Western contest of the 2008 calendar. She bested Obama among women, as she did in New Hampshire, and showed significant strength among Hispanic voters -- an important and growing segment of the Democratic electorate in the mountain West and key states like California, Florida and New York.

But Obama won decisively among black voters -- nearly 80 percent -- who could account for more than 50 percent of the voters in South Carolina's primary Saturday. And Nevada's likely delegate count appeared to be almost evenly split between Clinton and Obama, indicating a protracted delegate battle yet to come.

Clinton acknowledged the excruciatingly tight race before departing Nevada, calling her win "one step on a long journey."

"The results of the Democratic caucus in Nevada do not necessarily portend the future, but they do set the stage for what will be a very interesting battle among the Democratic candidates for the votes of African-Americans, Hispanics, and women," Michelle Bernard, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Independent Women's Forum, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

"In Nevada, it appears that a clear majority of Democratic women and Hispanics favored Sen. Clinton. African-Americans voted for Sen. Obama five to one," Bernard said. "Although Sen. Clinton won the popular vote in Nevada, Sen. Obama won more delegates. This is as much a race for the popular vote as it is for delegates and the all-important superdelegates."

"The Clinton Nevada victory puts a certain amount of pressure on the campaign of Sen. Obama," Craig Kirby, a Democratic strategist, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "I think a big win is needed in South Carolina for Obama to continue on for Feb. 5 [Super Tuesday] -- with a look to the next round Feb. 12."

On the Republican side, McCain defeated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in a close race in the state that snuffed out his presidential hopes eight years ago. The Arizonan was gaining 33 percent of the vote to just under 30 percent for his closest rival.

"It just took us a while. That's all. Eight years is not a long time," McCain told the AP.

Appearing before supporters, Huckabee was a gracious loser, congratulating McCain for "running a civil and a good and a decent campaign."

Far from conceding defeat in the race, he added, "The process is far, far from over."

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was in a struggle for third place with about 16 percent, after saying he needed a strong showing to sustain his candidacy. Another Republican, California Rep. Duncan Hunter, dropped out even before the votes were tallied.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney cruised to victory earlier in the day in the little-contested Nevada caucuses. Final returns showed him with more than 50 percent support in a multi-candidate field.

"The irony here is that McCain takes South Carolina, solidifying the very conservative and evangelical vote eight years after losing badly to President Bush in 2000 in that same state," Groff said.

"Still, the South Carolina primary shows that McCain could be getting some sort of validation or nod from the Republican right, particularly in light of Huckabee's supposedly strong 'Christian' credentials," he added. "This obviously gives McCain serious momentum into Florida and some credibility with Southern "Bible Belt" states ... but he still has a long way to go before conservatives trust him."

For the Democrats, the Nevada results still spelled trouble for Obama, whose stunning victory in the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3 has been overshadowed amid evidence of his vulnerability among important demographic groups, especially white, working-class Democrats and women.

He tried to remedy that problem in Nevada, holding economic roundtables with women voters and bringing in his popular wife, Michelle, to campaign with him. But women outnumbered men among caucus-goers, and a sizable majority went with Clinton.

Obama is now under greater pressure to win South Carolina, while Clinton is mostly hoping to hold her own there. Both campaigns are also looking ahead to "mega Tuesday" Feb. 5, when more than 20 states hold contests.

Polls in South Carolina have shown black voters shifting to Obama despite their longtime loyalty to the Clintons and particularly to Bill Clinton, who was once nicknamed the first black president.

With her Nevada win, Clinton campaign officials say she will campaign hard this week in South Carolina and hope for a strong enough showing to pick up sizable number of the state's delegates.

"As the Democratic race moves to South Carolina and then Florida, women, African-Americans, and Hispanics may have an unprecedented role in selecting the Democratic party's nominee," Bernard said. "Until recently, African-Americans overwhelmingly supported Sen. Clinton. However, African-American support for her has shifted among black men and women to Sen. Obama since the Iowa caucuses just a few weeks ago."

"Weeks ago, conventional wisdom told us that whites would not vote for an African-American. Iowa dispelled that notion," she added. "Sen. Obama's experience in Illinois demonstrates that Hispanics, both black and white, will vote for an African-American as well. As a result, the role of these three voting blocs will only escalate as the presidential race moves forward."

Clinton visited Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem Sunday and is scheduled to attend a prayer service in South Carolina Monday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday before attending an NAACP rally at the state capitol and a nationally televised debate in Myrtle Beach.

"Obama's strong performance in Nevada certainly opens up momentum for South Carolina, Groff said. "There may be indications that the strong black support for Obama in Nevada underscored a black backlash against Sen. Clinton due to recent comments over race."

"The big question: Will that backlash hold into next week during the South Carolina Democratic primary?" Groff asked. "African-Americans have a very long memory."

Related Content:

Video: Our World with Black Enterprise with Michelle D. Bernard

Leading the Majority: Martin Luther King Jr.

info@iwf.org (Michelle D. Bernard) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:25:00 EST

IWF President and CEO Michelle D. Bernard joins RightTalk radio as a guest on Leading the Majority discussing Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and the importance of King's work.

Justice Talking: The Equal Rights Amendment

info@iwf.org (Michelle D. Bernard) — Mon, 28 May 2007 17:01:00 EDT

Michelle Bernard of the Independent Women's Forum and the Feminist Majority's Eleanor Smeal debate whether we need to pass a constitutional amendment that would ensure equal rights for women.