Cutbacks Impact Urban Coverage

Friday, 07 August 2009 19:40

Abdur'Rahim Abdullah, 74 owner of the Max Modern Barber Shop in Tampa, Florida cuts 61 year old Thomas Smiths hair for his bi weekly appointment. (Bahiyjaui Allen/nabjconvention.org)

By Jazmund Walker, Summer Suleiman and Veronica Wells
nabjconvention.org

It isn’t hard to figure out that Abdur'Rahim Abdullah is a news junkie.

Inside his barbershop in Tampa's College Hill neighborhood, Abdullah has stacks of newspapers scattered around his business that he and his clients read every day.

Though he likes to stay informed, he doesn’t always appreciate the coverage newspapers provide regarding his community. And as media outlets struggle to stay afloat in a down economy, readers say they wonder how it will affect what they already consider as limited coverage in their neighborhoods.

“Our neighborhoods are the most neglected neighborhoods,” said Abudullah, who owns Max Modern Barbershop.

He is not alone.

Journalists say newsrooms have abandoned some city coverage because it is not popular with mainstream consumers. Members of these communities and some elected officials believe more must be done to insure that their neighborhoods are covered fairly.

In Abdullah's shop, Reginald Mosley sat back in a chair for his weekly haircut. He said the media only comes to his neighborhood to cover bad news rather than report stories about community rallies, volunteer programs and stories that focus on positive trends. He believes both sides need to be covered.

"The media can report positive stories but it doesn’t sell ... unless it’s something really big,” said Mosley, who works as a juvenile detention officer.

But not all agree with Mosley's perspective, feeling the media is balanced.

Ana Maria Mendez, a community relations manager at Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa, said she has no qualms with how the media covers stories in her community.

"I think the media is becoming more receptive," Mendez said. "We've got real-life stories to tell, people who have never struggled before and now they are struggling.

"We've really seen the media step it up and want to cover those types of stories," Mendez added.

Tampa City Council member Linda Saul-Sena said she has seen scenarios where the media has covered the community fairly, but she also acknowledged there are times when certain neighborhoods have been neglected.

"Locally, our coverage tends to focus on crime," Sena said. "You say 'murder' and everyone knows what you're talking about."

Journalists also see both sides of the issue.

"We're normally told what goes in the paper is what sells the paper," said Naomi Patton, a city hall reporter for the Detroit Free Press. "The papers now are becoming a lot smaller and we don't have space."

NABJ presidential candidate Angelo Henderson said the association can do a better job of teaching journalists to cover stories relevant to the inner city. He said more community forums are needed to teach journalists how media coverage in urban communities work.

Despite cuts in newsrooms, some journalists believe it is their responsibility to take on the task of making sure urban communities are covered fairly.

“It is the stories of young men and young women that are living lives that may be different from the suburbs.” said Ken Knight, an online community producer for The Tampa Tribune. “It is those types of stories that people want to read about.”

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By Jazmund Walker, Summer Suleiman and Veronica Wells

nabjconvention.org