The PD is racist?

We can't get any kind of agreement on this thread.

 

Given the PD is pissing off both sides of the diversity argument, they must be doing something right.

And Pluto is a must-read for me, even 10 years after I left the state. I think it's sour grapes to be bitching about his hiring. I don't care what the makeup of your staff. If you have the chance to hire the most popular columnist in the state, it's a no-brainer. You jump all over that.

 

But does anyone definitely know: The guy who sued, was he right or wrong about past PD sports hires? At least at the time.

 

As for your second point, it seems as if a lot of black sports writers have been getting some pretty good, high-level jobs recently at ESPN.com, Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post and the Boston Globe.
ESPN hired Bryant, J.A. Adande, Jeff Chidiha
SI lost Jeff Chidiha to ESPN....replaced him with another black man -- Jim Trotter...SI also hired another black man from Damon Hack that replaces another black man Nunyo DeMasio.
The Boston Globe lone exception....in replacing Borges with Spears, though the Globe only had one black reporter.


I am not trying to start any race war or anything like that. I just want people to look at things from another lens since most in the biz has only looked at one side of the lens and lived on the other side of the lens. That's all I ask.

 

I'll agree with that.

 

Fuck that, you're both wrong.

 

DC - First some props. You're arguing your point of view well. Very rational, logical. Doesn't always happen in racial debates, from either side. I agree with a lot of what you say. Actually, most of what you say.

But let me ask you this: is it possible that the black writers Cleveland would have hired already have better jobs? You just mentioned a bunch of them. Chidiha, Adande, Smith. . .I'll throw some more out there: Whitlock, Hill, Holley.

Because there are so few blacks in this business, those with the skill set it takes to be a lead columnist in Cleveland already have better jobs than lead columnist in Cleveland. Because everyone would love to hire a minority. And because there are so few in this business, the best ones get snatched up right away. It's like a fantasy draft. Once the run on quarterbacks start, you better get yours before they're all gone. And if not, you're Cleveland, forced to pick between hiring Terry Pluto or a 28-year-old writer without a lick of column-writing experience just because of the color of his or her skin.

I'll ask another question: by your logic, shouldn't Cleveland have hired a female columnist over Pluto as well? Sure, most fans of sports sections are males. But maybe it's an untapped audience. I'd argue that the difference in perspective between the average black male writer and the average white male writer is much less than the difference between the average male writer and the average female writer.

Just some food for thought.

 

Holley, given his tOSU pedigree, actually would be a great hire for the P-D. Don't see him leaving Boston sports radio anytime soon, though; he's found his niche there.

 

Daemon

Thanks for the props. I like the other thoughts you have presented.

But the way this business is, there is not a pool of black columnists because they have not been given a chance. I look at people in the biz like David Aldridge, Branson Wright, Percy Allen, Deron Snyders' of the world that should get a chance at writing a column at a major daily.

I would also love to see more women and other minority groups get a shot a column writing. This is not just about blacks get the chance.

I would not argue taking a chance on a 28 year minority for a major sports columnist position. But when you see a paper like Orlando - then Baltimore hire a 28 something white guy with no beat experience and getting his first column at a big paper....it frustrates all minority sports reporters who have a goal in becoming a sports columnist.

The system is soooo flawed that the pool of potential minority candidates will never be cultivated. This industry is a cease pool. The biggest papers will steal the proven commodity minorities --the Adande's the Smith's, the Chihida's instead of giving folks like the Wrights, The Michael Lee's. The Allen's, Paul Gutierrez's, the Joseph Duarte's, Ashley Fox's of the world a chance to grow the pool.

 

DC - Maese doesn't just frustrate minority sports reporters who aspire to be columnists. He frustrates ALL sports reporters who aspire to be columnists. But dude's an anomaly. You throw Maese out there, I'll throw Hill and Brewer out there. Brew was around the same age when he got his first column.

Hey, I agree with you: A varied perspective is sorely needed in many markets around the country. It always puzzles me why a newspaper would employ two columnists who share the same background, viewpoints and writing style.

Here's what I've found, though. Most editors are going to hire one type of columnist. Even if that editor decides he has to hire a minority, he's going to hire a minority who comes as close to fitting the mold of his ideal columnist. So instead of Terry Pluto, you get the black, or hispanic, or female version of Terry Pluto. And, really, doesn't that defeat the purpose?

Seems to me, the people who are doing the hiring are the ones who need a little more diversity, both in color of skin and composition of mindset.

Once that happens, progress flows downward.

 

Well at least Hill covered a major beat when she was at the Freep. I am not sure about Brewer..But at least Hill paid some dues....What did Maese do?

But your points are well taken.

I am just hate when people say things like well I see some black people recently got high quality jobs... but when there are 7 black people get high quality jobs for every 28 white people get, i dont see the same outrage... the APSE numbers speak for themselves! Let it go!

 

Actually if you mean that out of 35 jobs, 28 go to whites and seven go to blacks, then that is more than the breakdown of the national population, since about 13 or 15 percent of the country is black.
Of course, if I was Hispanic (Latino?) I'd be really pissed.