NIEMAN REPORTS ISSAAC BAILEY The SuS n Newsw , Myrttlel Beae ch, S.S C.C nr_spring_2015_covers_spine.indd 1 6/22/15 10:49 AM Contributors The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University (page 18), a 2014 Nieman www.niemanreports.org Issac Bailey Fellow, is a metro columnist and senior writer for The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He was a 2011 recipient of a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism for stories about a child protection case. The state subsequently publisher revamped the way it handles such cases. Ann Marie Lipinski editor Susan Smith Richardson (page 26), James Geary a 2003 Nieman Fellow, is the editor and senior editor publisher of The Chicago Reporter, a Jan Gardner nonprofi t investigative news organization that focuses on race, poverty, and income researcher/reporter inequality in the city. She has worked Jonathan Seitz at The Texas Observer, the Chicago editorial assistants Tribune, and The Sacramento Bee. Eryn M. Carlson Tara W. Merrigan Zun Lee (page 26) is a self-taught Laura Mitchell photographer who picked up a camera design in 2009. His Father Figure series of Pentagram photographs is the basis for his book editorial offices “Father Figure: Exploring Alternate One Francis Avenue, Cambridge, Notions of Black Fatherhood,” published MA 02138-2098, 617-496-6308, in 2014. Images in the series have been [email protected] exhibited in Toronto and Paris. Copyright 2015 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Alicia W. Stewart (page 34), a 2015 Periodicals postage paid at Nieman Fellow, most recently was an Boston, Massachusetts and editor at CNN.com. She joined CNN additional entries in 2007 to launch Engage, a unit that identifi ed and incorporated under- subscriptions/business covered stories into network coverage, 617-496-6299, [email protected] and later was a senior producer for the Subscription $25 a year, “In America” documentary unit. $40 for two years; add $10 per year for foreign airmail. Eric Deggans (page 30) is NPR’s fi rst full-time Single copies $7.50. television critic and the author of “Race-Baiter: Back copies are available from How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide the Nieman offi ce. a Nation.” Before joining NPR in 2013, Deggans Please address all subscription worked at the Tampa Bay Times. correspondence to: One Francis Avenue, Adriana Gallardo and Betsy Cambridge, MA 02138-2098 O’Donovan (page 32), a 2013 and change of address information to: Nieman Fellow, work at the P.O. Box 4951, Manchester, NH 03108 Association of Independents in ISSN Number 0028-9817 Radio, based in Boston. Postmaster: Send address changes to Nieman Reports P.O. Box 4951, Rose Eveleth (page 8) is a writer and producer based in Manchester, NH 03108 Brooklyn. She’s written for Scientifi c American, The Atlantic, BBC Future, and others. Nieman Reports (USPS #430-650) John Dyer (page 14) is the deputy editor for Associated Reporters is published in March, June, Abroad. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe, The September, and December by Economist, Vice News, and elsewhere. the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, Helen Lewis (page 46) is deputy editor of The New Statesman One Francis Avenue, and is a contributor to The Guardian. She has written extensively Cambridge, MA 02138-2098 on video games, feminism, and online abuse. PRESS OPPOSITE: MICHAEL DWYER/ASSOCIATED nr_spring_2015.indd A 6/22/15 10:52 AM A demonstrator in Boston protests against police killings of black men on New Year’s Eve 2014 Contents Spring 2015 / Vol. 69 / No. 2 Features Departments storyboard cover From the Curator 2 Now You See It 8 By Ann Marie Lipinski Exploring the rise of live journalism Not So Black and White 18 Facing racism in the age of Obama By Rose Eveleth Live@Lippmann 4 By Issac Bailey ProPublica president Richard Tofel Solutions Journalism 14 Making Black Lives Matter 26 Focusing on what’s working Changing media portrayals Niemans@Work 6 By John Dyer By Susan Smith Richardson Showcasing photojournalism from around Stop Segregating Stories 30 the world, chronicling the battle over Make race part of the news mix same-sex marriage in Iowa, sharing stories By Eric Deggans of craft at NPR Sounds Right 32 nieman journalism lab The arrival of Public radio and the voices of America the Apple Watch By Adriana Gallardo & Betsy O’Donovan Something Up Your Sleeve 52 underscores the What the future of news might look like on Why Diversity Works 34 importance of smartwatches and who stands to benefi t customized news Solutions for inclusive newsrooms By Joshua Benton page 52 By Alicia W. Stewart Books 54 watchdog Excerpt from “Television Is the New Use It or Lose It 46 Television” Fresh questions about publishing hacked, By Michael Wolff stolen, or leaked documents By Helen Lewis Nieman Notes 56 Sounding 60 Gabe Bullard, NF ’15 cover portrait of issac bailey: Gary Knight nr_spring_2015.indd 1 6/22/15 10:55 AM From the Curator Risky, Important Conversations On issues of race and reporting, soul-searching by journalists is imperative South Carolina columnist Issac Bailey, right, writes forcefully about domestic social issues. In 2009, he called for then-governor Mark Sanford to resign over his extramarital aff air whom were worried about job security in Issac recalled a Poynter workshop on the face of recession layoff s that thinned the race where Keith Woods, now NPR’s vice ranks of minority journalists. president for diversity, cautioned against Given the perceived risks, we are espe- the “failures and festivals” approach char- “where are the women?”—last cially grateful to those who wrote and spoke acterizing much race coverage. “On an is- year’s cover story on the decline of women candidly for this issue, most importantly sue as complicated and important as race, in senior journalism roles—did not lack for Issac Bailey, columnist and senior writer soul-searching by journalists is imperative, sources. Women were overwhelmingly will- for The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, South the kind of soul-searching an arm’s length ing to talk candidly about their careers and Carolina. Issac was a 2014 Nieman Fellow approach simply doesn’t allow,” Issac ob- frustrations and eager to wrestle publicly and in our year together, other fellows and served. “I’m not talking about debates about with questions of gender bias in our news- Nieman staff came to know him as a coura- affi rmative action or who you eat dinner or rooms. Typical was this observation from geous voice on domestic social issues and lunch with; I’m talking about something longtime editor and journalism school dean a powerful narrator of his own story. Still, much deeper, which is scary, and risky.” Geneva Overholser: “Newsrooms are aller- I was not expecting the e-mail that arrived White managers, he added, faced a dif- gic to cultural conversations like this, but early spring, accompanied by a brief note: ferent challenge. “They’ve seen what hap- they really are essential. Folks have to quit “When you get time, take a look at this pens when a white person takes the risk to thinking of diversity as a wearisome duty and rough draft I’ve been working on.” speak openly and honestly about this issue start understanding it as a key to success.” The essay I opened was a sharply ob- …. The response is often hostile, with little There was another cultural conversa- served account of a black man reporting or no nuance and tends to shut conversa- tion we thought essential to journalism, in the age of Obama. “The shift in envi- tions down. That’s one of the reasons I’ve but it has been more diffi cult. Talking about ronment from pre- to post-Obama wasn’t publicly defended the likes of Bill O’Reilly, race and newsrooms proves complicated, subtle,” Issac wrote. “The messages I began Don Imus, and Rush Limbaugh in print, not even for people laboring on diversity issues. receiving from readers went almost over- because I agree with them or think they are When senior editor Jan Gardner enlisted night from respectfully, if bitingly, confron- insightful on this issue—I don’t—but be- industry leaders on diversity for help iden- tational … to overtly racist and demeaning.” cause I want there to be space for us to be tifying contributors for this issue, some said Even before Issac followed up with a re- able to publicly unpack this stuff together.” they were struggling to fi nd journalists will- quest to “let me know of places that might Issac landed where many of the women ing to talk openly. One cited a fear among be interested in things like this,” the answer from last year’s Nieman Reports did: eager minority journalists of damaging their re- was clear: Nieman Reports, where his essay to lead on the issue, but not alone. “For lationships with their editors. Another was is our cover story. the record: I believe managers, particular- turned down by fi ve journalists, some of I asked Issac why many journalists, ly white managers, have a duty to deal with whose job is speaking truth to power, still this publicly, in all its messy complexity, de- struggle with a vocabulary for talking about spite the risk. Those with the most power,” race. “I’ve been thinking about this for a he wrote, “have the most responsibility.” Why do journalists who while now, silently frustrated, but decided speak truth to power to fi nally do it after having an uncomfort- able discussion with someone I respect a still struggle with a great deal and realized that even that per- vocabulary for talking son’s view of my work in the Obama era had about race? changed,” Issac wrote me.