Obama's White House Press Corps Fails To Reflect Diversity

The White, White House Press Corps
By: Sam Fulwood III
Reprinted From The Root

Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign boosted—no, it actually created—the careers of a whole cadre of black political reporters.

Barack Obama's historic capture of Oval Office? Well, not so much.

The reasons behind the white-out of the Obama campaign are varied and complex, ranging from the reduction of general political coverage by mainstream media to fewer experienced black political reporters to the persistence of racism in the doling out of coveted newsroom assignments.

A generation ago, as the peripatetic preacher crisscrossed the country to the chants of "Run, Jesse, Run!" black journalists—among them Gwen Ifill of The (Baltimore) Evening Sun, Julie Johnson of The (Baltimore) Sun and later The New York Times and ABC News, George Curry of the Chicago Tribune, Ron Smothers of The New York Times, Milton Coleman of The Washington Post, Kevin Merida of The Dallas Morning News and Kenneth Walker of ABC News—traveled along, reporting and interpreting the historic political campaign.

Nearly a quarter century later, Barack Obama made the same primary run, and it was not the symbolic stab at the White House that Jackson's represented; instead, the junior senator from Illinois took the prize and will become the nation's first black president.

But black journalists by and large weren't around to document the groundbreaking victory. A handful of black journalists popped in and out of the Obama campaign, notably Suzanne Malveaux of CNN, Ron Allen of NBC and William Douglas of McClatchy Newspapers. At the end of the campaign, the black faces most visible on the Obama plane belonged to reporters and photographers representing Ebony and Essence, magazines that don't traditionally cover politics.

The complexion of the media can be an important factor in defining the president and his policies. In fact, even as Obama's campaign operated with "no-drama" precision, some media miscues emerged, among them the Associated Press describing Obama as half-black.

Speaking at a recent journalism symposium conducted by the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, Jack White, who covered the 1984 Jackson campaign for Time magazine, noted the irony of Obama's taking office with relatively few black reporters assigned to cover his administration.

"We are going to integrate the Oval Office long before we integrate the media that covers the president," White said. "The job of interpreting this president to the world is too big and too important to be left just to white reporters and editors."

Political reporting is something of a boutique corner in most newsrooms, a space reserved for those deemed to be the best and the brightest. Political reporting was glamorized by Timothy Crouse's 1973 "The Boys on the Bus," a best-seller that revealed the techniques and antics of the reporters covering the 1972 presidential campaign. Of course, all the boys on that bus—the biggest names in the business—were all white.

The color of campaign coverage changed somewhat when Jackson announced his presidential aspirations. Run more like a civil rights crusade than a modern, efficient presidential campaign, the Jackson entourage was populated, at first, by skilled black reporters who had come into mainstream newsrooms a generation earlier to cover dangerous urban unrest, neglected minority concerns and a host of other issues that their white colleagues couldn't or wouldn't write about. By 1984 and the Jackson campaign, white-directed newsrooms had turned the page on those stories and many of the black reporters on the Jackson bus weren't covering politics for their news organizations.

Kevin Merida, now an associate editor of The Washington Post, recalled being reluctant to cover Jackson's fledgling campaign, fearing it would derail him from more coveted assignments as an investigative reporter. Now, he credits covering Jackson with boosting his career, which includes his recent publication of a photo-essay book on the Obama campaign.

"I guess I was like a lot of other black reporters who didn't want to cover Jackson," he said in a recent interview. "We didn't want to get pigeonholed, and we didn't anticipate the story becoming as big as it did."

The lure of political reporting stayed with Merida, unlike most of the other blacks reporters covering Jackson. Often, between presidential campaigns, he marveled at the dearth of black faces at political meetings and gatherings where white political writers cemented relationships with campaign operatives and grass-roots activists.

"Covering politics isn't always a glamorous job," he said. "It's a lot of rubber-chicken dinners and talking to a lot of county political hacks."

Squeezed by tighter budgets, fewer newspapers are springing for reporters—white or black—to indulge in such reporting. The number of black reporters who do cover full-bore politics has reverted to its pre-Jesse Jackson days.

White, now retired from Time and a regular contributor to The Root, recalled covering Jackson's 1984 and 1988 presidential runs, saying it was starkly different from the coverage he observed from the sidelines during the Obama campaign.

"I got the impression that black reporters didn't get as much of a bounce from [Obama's] campaign as you might expect," White said. "Maybe that's because Jackson was seen back then as the black people's candidate, who shocked the world by winning a couple primaries. Obama was seen as something more than a black candidate and that meant white editors wanted to put their best political team on him. And, of course, in their minds that meant white reporters."

Michael Calderone, a media writer for Politico.com, wrote recently that an Obama White House is likely to bring more black and minority reporters to Washington beats.He quoted Julie Mason, White House correspondent for The Examiner in Washington, as saying: "The number of African-American commentators on TV has gone through the roof and I think that'd be reflected in how [news organizations] cover the White House."

But others are more skeptical. Richard Prince, author of the online Journal-isms, reported recently that black political writers were "big-footed" off the Obama campaign plane by white reporters. He said in an interview that he sees no evidence of that changing after Obama takes office.

"Most news organizations are ignoring that [Obama] is black, just as they did for the most part during the campaign," Prince said. "Having black reporters on the White House beat is just not a priority, unless it can be measurably demonstrated that some special access or advantage can be gained by having a black reporter there."

What if Obama insisted on black reporters being among the press corps?

"That's not likely," Prince said. "He's not going to be that kind of president. Jesse might have been, but not Obama."

Sam Fulwood III is a regular contributor to The Root.

Your Black World: Barack Obama, and the Dark Cloud of Infallibility

By: Tolu Olorunda

Barack Obama, having been born to a Kenyan Father, must be accountable to Africans, Africa and its descendants. His life story seems to have gripped the hearts and minds of millions around the world, but a much darker cloud hovers around the man known to many - both Black and White - as the 'Change machine.' Whether Obama's fans and supporters muster up the courage to admit this fact or not, not much can be deducted from the reality that the Illinois Senator has numerously spat in the face of Africans, African Americans, South-Americans and Palestinians. If Sen. Obama is not pressured by the African-American Community into re-thinking his policies vis-a-vis Africa, Sen. Obama would, knowingly or unknowingly, incorporate the identity of what the grand-educator, Dr. John Henrik Clarke described as, "Brown Skin White Men." Africans in Africa have, for an extended period of time, experienced the phenomenon of dark-skinned presidents with Eurocentric interests and sensibilities. The only difference between what has been, and what might become, is the vehement disapproval and dissent from amongst the oppressed constituency which has historically set a precedent. Unfortunately, what many African-Americans are failing to realize, is that this moment in history would mark a rare occurrence in which a Black Man with a record of anti-African ideologies, gets elected president. This would inevitably further the already established rift between Africans and African-Americans -- as Africans would look over the horizon and see the perpetrator of oppression and repression in Africa as a Black man, courtesy of a 90% approval rating amongst the Black American Community. Obama knows this, but callously proceeds with his mythical call for inter-racial and inter-ethnic unity. He has chosen to walk a path that overwrites his African Ancestry. As a Son of Africa and America, Obama understood, more than most, that there comes a time when one must shed the cloak of double-play, and pick a side to fight for, and on behalf of. It is at this point, unequivocally clear, which side Obama is rooting for.

As the well-packaged NBA playoffs ad went, "There can only be one." It is virtually impossible for any sitting president to straddle the fence between good and evil. In the wildfire sport of American politics, it is imperative that one pick what team to play on. This reality became increasingly obvious, when Dennis Kucinich was openly refused podiums at 'Democratic' debates, in spite of the illegality involved. It also played out in the John Edwards campaign -- as many saw 2008 as his year and moment to finally clinch the Democratic Party presidential nomination after two unsuccessful attempts in the past. Little did John Edwards know, that running on a platform which strived to pick up where Dr. King left off vis-a-vis poverty, would automatically handicap any such political endeavors. Barack Obama, much to the oblivion of his fan base, has chosen to play the field for the most egregious lobbyists and serial-capitalists this nation - and really the world - has to offer. It will be a shame if the efforts of Margaret Kimberly, Glen Ford, Paul Street, Bruce Dixon and Adolf Reed Jr. fall short of the intended mark: resurrecting the millions of Obama zombies who clap and chant at his every word. His many supporters argue that Senator Obama's historic presidential bid is a lasting inspiration for young Black and Brown kids who have been relegated to hopelessness and despondency at the thought of being underrepresented - if at all represented - by the former and present presidents of their country. I respectfully disagree.

Black and Brown kids are not dumb or incapable of political analysis. They are well aware of the back-bending, tap-dancing and circus-clowning that Barack Obama has had to execute to make White folks feel comfortable enough to vote for him. They have witnessed his relentless extrication from "Black" and "Brown" and "Native-American"-specific issues, and his constant willingness to pursue and publicly tackle those "white only" subject-matters. They have heard his unforgivable remarks after the verdict in the Sean Bell case, and his condescending comments hurled at Black parents who are financially-disempowered and unable to provide nutritional meals for their kids, so therefore feed their kids the remnant from the previous night's fast-food snack (He used Popeyes as an example). They also witnessed his thundering remonstration against Black Men in his infamous "Father's Day Speech," in which he claimed that Black Men were somehow predisposed to sitting in the house and watching "SportsCenter all weekend long” -- notwithstanding the fact that in a previous interview, he admitted to “Monday Night Football” being his "favorite TV Show" and watching "a lot of SportsCenter — for better or worse.” Black and Brown kids are well informed about his unabashed endorsement of Africom -- a clear militarization, pulverization and westernization of African soil and oil. Black and Brown kids don't need CNN to decipher Obama's naiveté, and the exploitation of it by Washington Insiders and political-sophists (also known as strategists). They can also decode the science behind Rev. Jesse Jackson's vulgar but veracious condemnation of Obama's vicious disposal towards Black Americans, and the immediate and detectable difference in Obama's rhetoric afterwards. They view Rev. Jesse's conduct as a God-given right to forcefully push Sen. Obama in the direction of righteousness. Many Black and Brown kids are not inspired, but inhibited.

On August 1, in a campaign rally at St. Petersburg, Florida, something timely happened: Obama was, for the first time in a long time, doused with a dose of reality. Like the biblical tale of the 'three wise men' who overcame numerous hurdles in favor of fulfilling a prophetic mission, three young Black men from the Uhuru Movement - under the leadership of Chairman Omali Yeshitela - stood up, with great candor, and challenged Obama to a roll call of 'Black and African specific Issues.' One would imagine that the once-community-organizer would excel exceedingly well in a field he has occasionally boasted to have 'majored-in.' But what ensued for the next 5 minutes, could only be described as a singular coherent-line of "I think you are misinformed," and a marathon of stuttering that would make Moses blush. Barack Obama's concertgoers were being introduced to another side of him that they - quite obviously - weren't prepared to see. To shield their precious Obama from this unusual moment of embarrassment, his supporters drowned the cry, compassion and cause of Diop Olugbala - the lead protester - in emotional chants of "Yes We Can." The crowd's display was reminiscent of the very first episode of the animated political-show, "The Boondocks," in which the lead character, "Huey," at a Garden Party, spoke pejoratively and disparagingly of Ronald Reagan, Mel Gibson and White people in general -- much to the adoration and admiration of the nearly all-white listening audience. Explaining this phenomenon to his Granddad, he said, "They love me. These people aren't worried about us. They're not worried about anything. They're rich. No matter what happens, these people just keep applauding." Senator Obama, in a very disturbing way personifies this character -- as the man in their eyes, who can do no wrong. At the incipient of the Uhuru protest, one witnesses certain White members in the crowd, who leaped from their sit to silence the activists, and upon Obama's immediate censure of the heckling, their applause and chants only accelerated.

When the issue of the Green Party is raised and how Cynthia McKinney - with the assistance of Rosa Clemente - can be an exceptional asset in exerting progressive pressure upon Obama's candidacy, many - including Renowned poet, Amiri Baraka - deplore the very thought. But how else is Sen. Obama to answer the clarion call of the Black Community if no threat to his rigid fan base within that very community is established? With this reality, I'm compelled to believe that not only are the bulk of Obama's supporters unwilling to face the truth, but they have become de-synthesized to the crisis and potential failures that could erupt from his presidency -- based on the political platforms and proposals he has, thus far, tabled. The disciples of Barack Obama claim – with much delight – that one of the incentives of an Obama Presidency is the readiness of Barack Obama to be held accountable. This farce was, of course, drafted to convince progressives into perceiving the potential candidacy of Obama as a resource worth tapping into. Regrettably, if Barack Obama truly hopes to be held to the highest standard of accountability, he wouldn’t have failed the first preliminary test so easily. Regardless of the millions who demanded that Mr. Obama not support the FISA legislation he once denounced, Obama proceeded to cast a vote in support of retro-active immunity for the companies which knowingly abetted illegal and corrupt activities. This can’t possibly a good sign of what’s to come. Obamamites choose to disagree, but one thing remains indisputable and irrefutable: If ALL of Obama's supporter-base was, today, awoken from their slumber and sleep-walking, Cynthia McKinney would be the 44th President of the U.S., with Rosa Clemente as her V.P. For Obama's campaign managers, there seems to be a vested interest in keeping his supporters asleep.