Slipping Backwards: The Loss of Two Journalists of Color at the Chicago Sun-Times Reflects the Growing Whitewashing of the News
Teresa Puente's bad day started when she learned that Deborah Douglas, her colleague on the Chicago Sun-Times' editorial board, and the last African-American voice on the board, had been laid off. Her day got worse when she found out that Douglas wasn't the only one to get the boot; Puente herself was out too.
With that, the five-person board was down to three, all of them white, purporting to speak for a city of almost three million, 60 percent of them people of color.
Why the cuts? Because the Sun-Times has found itself caught in the slow and painful drip-drip-drip of a newspaper on life support. It laid off 20% of its newsroom in January. It got kicked off the New York Stock Exchange in June because its stock value had fallen below a dollar (that value is now less than a dime). In the name of "innovation" it has redesigned itself so many times it's hard to recognize one month to the next. Lately, the largest item on the cover has been for a promotional sweepstakes. It's become one of those papers.
LinkHere
With that, the five-person board was down to three, all of them white, purporting to speak for a city of almost three million, 60 percent of them people of color.
Why the cuts? Because the Sun-Times has found itself caught in the slow and painful drip-drip-drip of a newspaper on life support. It laid off 20% of its newsroom in January. It got kicked off the New York Stock Exchange in June because its stock value had fallen below a dollar (that value is now less than a dime). In the name of "innovation" it has redesigned itself so many times it's hard to recognize one month to the next. Lately, the largest item on the cover has been for a promotional sweepstakes. It's become one of those papers.
LinkHere
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 11:59 PM
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