June journalism (and more) from Sharing America
“Anything racist happen lately?”
Our attention to the issues of implicit bias and bias training continued into June, with a fascinating look inside an actual training session from reporter Vanessa de la Torre. She learned of a Hartford coffee house that, after the Starbucks debacle and announcement of its training plans, decided to have its own training.
In Vanessa’s story, you’ll hear from the pair of trainers, the bosses and the employees.
(Above: One of the trainers talks to employees at Story and Soil in Hartford. Photo by Vanessa de la Torre, Connecticut Public Radio)
Also in June, reporter Erica Morrison showed how Portland’s racist past lives on in the paperwork related to people’s homes. Believe it or not, racially restrictive covenants remain on housing deeds in the community. A local real estate agent found one that read: “No Negros, Chinese, or Japanese shall own or occupy property in this neighborhood unless they are a worker or a servant.”
The mayor of Edwardsville, Illinois (in the St. Louis metro area) saw an old photo of himself come back to haunt him in June.
The Belleville News-Democrat published a photo it received of Mayor Hal Patton wearing a T-shirt, with a bandana on his head and dark makeup on his face.
As reporter Ashley Lisenby wrote, Patton said he believed the decade-old photo of him in blackface was an attempt to harm his chances to become a state senator. He was simply depicting a rapper for Halloween, he said.
There are plenty of venues for white women to talk about the issues that concern them, from #MeToo to the pay gap between genders. Reporter Michelle Tyrene Johnson wanted to give women a color their own platform, so she invited eight women to break bread and engage in real talk about the issues and challenges they face. The women live in the Kansas City area, but their experiences reflect their sisters all over the country. The conversation aired on a special episode of the show, “Central Standard” on KCUR.
As a group, the five-person Sharing America team took what some journalists might consider a dream “work vacation.” First, we flew to Washington to visit with colleagues from NPR’s Code Switch and other member stations. There were great conversations and training, including a morning of getting in touch with our best voices that involved yoga mats and balloons. We also got to have our work critiqued and learn a lot about how to make compelling, relevant radio.
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From there, we flew south to Orlando for the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference, where we attended a wide range of sessions designed to equip journalists with the tools we need to hold the powerful accountable and give voice to the voiceless. Vanessa also took part in a panel discussion titled “Investigating Bias: From Courts to the Classroom.”
Before we hit the road, members of the Sharing America team based in St. Louis had the opportunity to talk about the collaborative before an audience of about 60 die-hard public radio listeners. We shared examples of our work, the genesis of the project and our overall vision.
(Above: Reporter Ashley Lisenby introduces the Sharing America team on June 7, 2018. Photo: Jennifer Brake, St. Louis Public Radio)
