by Kelvin Sherman

Recently, N.A.H.J., La Voz, and La L.U.C.H.A hosted journalist Sandra Guzman. Guzman is an Emmy Award-winning journalist with more than 10 years experience in broadcast, newspaper, and magazine journalism. She is the former editor-in-chief of Latina magazine, author of The New Latina’s Bible, and controversial former editor of the New York Post. Sandra is currently the editor-in-chief of her magazine, Heart and Soul; a magazine that talks about wellness for colored woman. She is also currently working on the HBO series: The Latino List.

     The lecture was amazing! Sandra talked about how she got her start in the world of journalism and how it takes persistence and going the extra mile to be successful in this competitive field. She also talked about the struggle of being a Latina in America and called for diversity in newsrooms across America. “ Minorities make up about 12% in news room . Not enough of us making decisions, so its up to us to get the story out there.” She applauded journalists who are getting out there in the news, whether they are Black, White, Latino, and .etc.

     At the conclusion of her lecture she answered several questions from the audience and one really stuck out to me. Someone asked what was her opinion about Geraldo Rivera’s comments on the Trayvon Martin case. “Geraldo Rivera’s comments shows how out of touch he is with today’s youth.” She alluded to afros in the 70’s and how they were stereotyped to be the look of rebellious Black people. She also called for justice in the case and for Trayvon Martin’s family. I had a question of my own and attempted to weasel out details of her pending lawsuit against News Corporations the “New York Post” and the paper’s editor-in-chief Col Allan for harassment as well as “unlawful employment practices and retaliation.”  She declined to give any details about it because its still ongoing, but instead she said the lesson is speak out against racism and agreed to come back to talk to me about it once it was over. I will definitely hold her to that!

by Candice Frank

I often hear my peers say: “It’s 2012, race doesn’t matter to people anymore.” Controversy about the recently released movie The Hunger Games says otherwise.

     The excitement for the release of The Hunger Games swept the nation in the past few weeks. The Hunger Games, a New York Times Best Seller by Suzanne Collins, was finally going to reach the big screen on March 23rd. I myself went with my friends to see the midnight premiere and loved it. I did not read the books, so I was interested in hearing the reviews of those who had done so. I was thoroughly disappointed to see some of the reviews of the fans.

      The Huffington Post reported: “Though the characters of Rue and Thresh were described in Suzanne Collins’ book as having “dark brown skin,” some viewers objected to the film casting black actors and tweeted complaints such as: “Awkward moment when Rue is some black girl and not the innocent blonde girl you picture,” and “Kk call me racist but when i found out rue was black her death wasn’t as sad #ihatemyself.” Other tweets stated that they would not support the movie once they found out that two of the characters were black.

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     Actress Amandla Stenberg, 13 (black and Danish heritage), plays the character ‘Rue’, and actor Dayo Okeniyi, 24 (Nigerian), plays the role of  ‘Thresh’. I follow Stenberg  on twitter and once I heard about the racist fans, I tweeted words of encouragement for her. I told her to ignore the negativity and complimented her on her performance in The Hunger Games and her phenomenal acting in Colombiana. I may never know if she read these, but I know I expressed myself in a positive way.

     Nothing in the negative tweets criticized the quality of the black actors’ performances or tried to justify how the color of their skin would hinder the performance. Are their performances automatically deemed inadequate because of the color of their skin? I am appalled at the audacity of these tweeters, but glad that it is another eye-opening situation for Americans to realize that race still and will always matter.

The fact that racism is not as blatant anymore has many people in denial.

     However, I and other minority students are forced to think about race everyday. Our abilities are overlooked and, like actors Stenberg and Okeniyi, we are constantly judged by our skin color.

     So yes: in 2012 people are still unwilling to look past race and look at the bigger picture. Therefore, it is important that institutions like Newhouse have committees like the Diversity Committee that push to educate people about diversity and have an appreciation for it instead of unnecessary neglect.

#embracediversity

by Alyssa Di Rienzo

     Ever wonder if discrimination happens behind the cameras of major productions? The American film industry severely discriminates against women, specifically behind the scenes. An egregious gender gap plagues the industry and diminishes the value of the work produced in Hollywood.  The film industry has and continues to be thoroughly male dominated.  The statistics are troubling:

• Last year, a mere 5% of films were directed by women.
• Only 7% of the top 250 grossing films of 2011 employed more than 6 women behind the scenes 
• Just one woman, in the history of the American film industry, has won an Oscar for Best Director
• No woman has ever been nominated for best cinematographyin the history of the Oscars.
  

  Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to ever receive the Oscar for Best Director

     As a TRF major, I am pleased to report that I have not noticed any gender disparities here at Newhouse.  The Television, Radio & Film major is full of talented individuals, both male and female.  The female students in my classes have achieved incredible accomplishments during their time here.

     I hope that one day the film industry will look more like Newhouse, with equal gender representation.  My peers at Newhouse have proven to me that females are extremely apt to be successful in the film industry.  In no way are women less qualified or capable of achievement in this industry.  I hope the female Newhouse graduates will be able to ignite change in the industry and to correct the unfair gender gap behind the scenes in Hollywood.

Here is a great video from 2010 that describes the situation, slightly dated with statistics and facts that are quite interesting: Celluloid Ceiling: Women Directors

by Candice Frank

     Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs’s presentation on race in the entertainment industry was a great step for the Newhouse Diversity initiative. As an accomplished actor, writer, director and producer, his perspective is valuable to any student that desires to make it in Hollywood. He had numerous “tweet-worthy” quotes that were tweeted with the hashtag #raceENTmedia. He also gave great advice that was simply beneficial to any student seeking to be successful in any career. He believes that his refusal to take ‘no’ for an answer brought him this far. I was intrigued by his interpretation of the word “no”: “To me, ‘no’ means ‘find another way’.”

As an African American student, I related his discussion about struggles with diversity in Hollywood to struggles with diversity in educational institutions. Hilton-Jacobs called Hollywood a racist business, but seemed optimistic about its ability to change. He said, ”The change should come from us.” I believe that Newhouse’s lack of diversity should be approached in the same way. We, as Newhouse students, should take responsibility and work towards becoming a more diverse yet unified student body. I believe that everyone is aware of the importance of diversity.

The challenge: implementing the change.

     Hilton-Jacobs discussed how blacks should not “diss other blacks in the media” because things are already difficult enough for blacks in entertainment. I would take this one step further in stating that races should not only support their own race in the industry, but other races as well. This is a step in implementing the change we are seeking.

#EmbraceDiversity

Newhouse Diversity is an ongoing initiative in our communications school that looks to embrace assets brought in by students and faculty from all over the globe. @NHDiversity is growing in various ways in order to become a tool for communicating news, presenting stories and events of interest from 
various diverse groups to the rest of the Newhouse community.

With the evolution of traditional media and the growth of social media platforms, we are more involved with a global community every day. Being able to have that global community in Newhouse with individuals from different backgrounds, gives everyone the chance to enrich their learning experiences and produce better professionals for the future. Learning about different cultures and ethnic issues will make us all grow professionally and personally.

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