JANUARY 16, 2019

NEWS AND VIEWS

I DO DOUBT THAT CBS DID THIS PURPOSELY, BUT EVERY BUSINESS HAD BETTER BE PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS ISSUE, ESPECIALLY IN SUCH A VISIBLE SETTING AS TELEVISION NEWS.

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/naacp-cbs-news-2020-no-black-representation-1203108768/
NAACP Slams CBS News’ 2020 Team’s Lack of Black Representation (EXCLUSIVE)
By ELAINE LOW
JANUARY 15, 2019 12:23PM PT

The NAACP has slammed CBS News for not including any African-American journalists on its 2020 election coverage team.

CBS News came under fire over the weekend after an associate producer tweeted out an image of the news outlet’s 2020 team.

In a statement obtained exclusively by Variety, a spokesperson for the NAACP said CBS News’ lineup “proves the voting power and voices of Black America continue to be undervalued.”

Here is the full statement from the NAACP:

“CBS News’ decision to not include Black reporters on their 2020 Election news team further proves the voting power and voices of Black America continue to be undervalued. As the voting bloc that will most certainly determine the direction of this country in the upcoming election, it is vital any and all media outlets have a diverse newsroom, including individuals of color in decision making positions to speak to and address the issues and concerns directly impacting the Black community. Representation matters and the media needs our coverage on the issues to drive the discussion.”

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) issued a statement earlier Tuesday to say that it is “very disappointed in and disturbed about CBS News’ recent announcement showcasing new hires for coverage of the 2020 Presidential election.”

A CBS spokesperson said Sunday that the team was an “initial wave of what will be an outstanding and diverse group of journalists” that had been assigned to cover the election.

At least four journalists of color appear to be on the announced boots-on-the-ground team, including Musadiq Bidar, Alex Tin, Jack Turman, and Stephanie Ramirez.


SOME PEOPLE WILL SAY THIS IS TOO HARSH A SENTENCE, BUT MURDER IS A VERY SERIOUS CRIME, ESPECIALLY THESE “DRIVE BYS.” HOW CASUAL IT IS, AND THEN TO CLAIM HE DIDN’T DO IT AFTER FIRST CONFESSING STRIKES ME AS BEING THAT ABSENCE OF “GUILT” WHICH PEOPLE SHOULD BE FEELING AFTER SUCH AN ACTION. I THINK SOME YOUTHS ARE AWARE THAT THEY WILL “GET OFF EASILY” BECAUSE THEY ARE YOUNG, AND USE IT TO THEIR ADVANTAGE. IT REALLY IS WARRANTED “TO KEEP THIS PERSON OFF THE STREETS,” BUT DID HE DO IT? WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS IN THE CAR? IT DOESN’T SAY HERE WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM. IT ALSO DOESN’T SAY WHAT PHYSICAL EVIDENCE IF ANY THE POLICE HAD THAT WARD WAS THE KILLER.

WE HAVE LAWS WHICH SAY THAT FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION IS AN AMERICAN RIGHT, BUT ARRESTING GANG MEMBERS BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT THEY ARE IS SENSIBLE IN A WAY. IT JUST ISN’T FAIR. THE RULES OF TRIAL PROCEDURE ARE SO VERY IMPORTANT. THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE WRONGLY CONVICTED BOTHERS ME GREATLY. YOU MAY HAVE WATCHED A GREAT MOVIE FROM THE 1990S CALLED “IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER.” AN IRISHMAN IN DUBLIN WAS ARRESTED AND IMPRISONED FOR KILLING A RIVAL GANG MEMBER – THOSE WERE CATHOLIC/PROTESTANT GANGS. IT WAS INTENSELY MOVING AS A FILM.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46880497
Hadiya Pendleton: Gunman sentenced to 84 years for teen's death
15 January 2019

HADIYA PENDLETON/FACEBOOK
Image caption -- Hadiya, a band majorette, had performed for President Obama's inauguration a week before her killing

A gang member who killed 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton six years ago on the crime-plagued south side of Chicago has been sentenced to 84 years in prison.

At Monday's hearing, Micheail Ward, 24, denied he was the gunman who fired into the group of high school students, killing Hadiya and injuring two others.

Ward initially confessed during the lengthy investigation before recanting.

A week before she died, Hadiya had performed at President Barack Obama's second inauguration.

The teenager was shot and killed when Ward and co-defendant Kenneth Williams attacked her and her friends in a park, mistaking them for members of a rival gang, police said.

Both men had ties to a violent Chicago gang.

Ward and Williams, who drove the getaway car, were found guilty of murder by a Chicago jury in August. Williams' case was controversial, based on circumstantial evidence, US media report.

RELATED:
Two charged in Chicago teen's death
Funeral for teenage gun violence victim

Image copyrightCOOK COUNTY POLICE
Image caption -- Micheail Ward was 18 at the time of the shooting

Ward protested his guilty verdict on Monday, telling prosecutors: "All y'all had to do was sit down and really investigate this crime."

"Y'all would have seen what happened," he added, looking at Hadiya's parents in the courtroom. "She would know who killed her daughter for real."

Cook County Judge Nicholas Ford lambasted Ward for his lack of remorse, and for demonstrating "a complete absence of empathy".

"He placed blame on almost any source you can imagine, other than his own conduct," the judge said after Ward's statement.

Video of Ward's initial confession to investigators was key in the case against him - a confession the defence has said was coerced.

Ward, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, said he only attacked the group because Williams, then 20, threatened to kill him if he refused.

Williams has yet to be sentenced, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption -- Cleopatra Cowley, Hadiya's mother, holds a picture of her daughter while speaking at a gathering of gun violence victims

Cleopatra Cowley, Hadiya's mother, had urged the judge to give Ward the maximum sentence.

"Hadiya is serving a death sentence handed down by Micheail Ward, and all the family is doing life as a result," she told the court in her impact statement.

After his sentencing, Ms Cowley told reporters she thought 84 years, "basically a life sentence", befitted his crimes.

"Hadiya's lost her life and now he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars."

Ward's "life of crime built up to this situation", she added, and that it was "inevitable" he would one day commit a crime "this heinous".

Image copyrightSCOTT OLSON
Image caption -- Community members hold a candle light vigil at Harsh park to honor Hadiya Pendleton on February 1, 2013 in Chicago

In 2013, Hadiya's death became a symbol of gun violence in Chicago, sparking vigils and calls for gun control. The young band majorette was one of hundreds shot in the city that year.

Mr Obama used her death in a plea for an end to gun violence in his 2013 State of the Union address. Hadiya's parents both attended that address.

"Just three weeks ago, she was here, in Washington, with her classmates, performing for her country at my inauguration," Mr Obama said.

"And a week later, she was shot and killed in a Chicago park after school, just a mile away from my house."

Michelle Obama attended Hadiya's funeral and gave a graduation speech to her classmates at King College Prep High School in 2015.



THIS ARTICLE IS TROUBLING IN THAT IT IS A SIGN OF SOME GRIEVANCES WITHIN THE RANKS OF SANDERS’ TEAM, BUT I DON’T SEE THIS AS A HUGE CAUSE OF CONCERN, UNLESS IT IS VIEWED AS AN EFFORT TO DODGE THE SUBJECT ON BERNIE’S PART. THIS ARTICLE JUST MAKES ME ASK MORE QUESTIONS. WHY WAS THIS IMPORTANT MEETING WITH A SIZABLE GROUP OF COMPLAINANTS GIVEN ONLY AN HOUR BY THE SENATOR, THOUGH THE WHOLE MEETING LASTED MORE OR LESS ALL DAY? OF COURSE, HE PROBABLY HAD A SCHEDULE TO KEEP.

IT ISN’T SPECIFIC ON THE HOURS OF THE MEETING, BUT IT WAS DESCRIBED BY ONE WOMAN AS “EXHAUSTING.” DO THEY NEED SOME BREAKS? THERE WILL BE MORE OF THESE MEETINGS, SO HOPEFULLY THESE SAME MISTAKES WON'T OCCUR AGAIN. THE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS AND INVITATION LIST WERE ALSO NOT SATISFACTORY TO SEVERAL OF THE PARTICIPANTS, INDICATING A LACK OF ORGANIZATION WHICH ONE WOMAN SAID HAD BEEN THE CASE IN 2016 AS WELL. MAYBE SANDERS NEEDS TWO OR THREE STAFF MEMBERS WHOSE WHOLE TASK IS TO HANDLE COMMUNICATION AND COORDINATION, NOTIFICATION OF MEETINGS AND ACTIVITIES TO BE HELD OF ALL KINDS. THAT’S THE KIND OF TASK THAT OFFICE MANAGERS OFFICIATE OVER, AND DESIGNATE WHO WILL TAKE CARE OF WHAT. FREQUENT STAFF MEETINGS ARE HELPFUL FOR THE GROUP TO WORK AS A UNIT, BUT BUSINESSES USUALLY DO NOT HAVE A WEEKLY MEETING DAY JUST TO IDENTIFY AND IRON OUT PROBLEMS THAT ARE OCCURRING, WHICH IS A MISTAKE, I THINK.

AND I PERSONALLY WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LIST OF ALL THE COMPLAINTS, AGAINST WHOM, AND BY WHOM, THEIR SERIOUSNESS AND WHO HAS BEEN REPRIMANDED, ETC. I WONDER, ARE THESE INCIDENTS STILL CONTINUING TODAY? IF SO, MAYBE THEY NEED TO STEP BACK FROM IT ALL, DISCUSS THINGS THOROUGHLY BUT CALMLY, CORRECT THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE IF APPLICABLE, APOLOGIZE TO EACH OTHER AND START WORK AGAIN, BUT MORE SERIOUSLY THIS TIME. BERNIE HAS APOLOGIZED, BUT THE PEOPLE DOING THE HARASSMENT NEED TO DO THAT ALSO. THE ISSUE OF WOMEN BEING PAID LESS THAN MEN, THOUGH, THAT’S ILLEGAL AND SHOULDN’T BE OCCURRING.

IF BERNIE HAD A COMMUNICATIONS LINK TO HIS OFFICE THROUGH WHICH EMPLOYEES WHEREVER THEY ARE COULD GO ON LINE AND REGISTER COMPLAINTS AND OTHER PROBLEMS ON AN ONGOING BASIS, INSTEAD OF GOING BACK SOME THREE YEARS TO 2016 AS OCCURRED HERE. ABUSE, GROUP IDENTITY ISSUES AND RAMPANT MISTAKES SHOULD BE CAUGHT AND EMPLOYEE CORRECTIONS MADE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. A MAN WHO IS BEING “HANDY” WITH ONE PERSON – MALE OR FEMALE -- WILL PROBABLY DO THE SAME TO OTHERS, SO THEY COULD BE FIRED F A S T. ALSO, OFFICE PARTIES ARE NOTORIOUSLY EASY, THROUGH MY WORK EXPERIENCE, TO GET OUT OF HAND. FLIRTATIONS DO OCCUR IN VIRTUALLY ALL OFFICE ENVIRONMENTS, AND AT A PARTY THEY THEN RELAX TOO MUCH. ALCOHOL IS PART OF THE PROBLEM, TOO. SERVE GINGER ALE, COKE AND COFFEE, PERHAPS, AND DON'T ALLOW THE PARTY TO LAST TOO LONG. PARTIES THAT ARE NOT HELD AT NIGHT WOULD BE EASIER TO OBSERVE AND CONTROL. THAT'S A MATTER OF THE HUMAN ATTITUDE. DAYTIME IS FOR WORK, NIGHT IS FOR PLAY .... I'M SAYING THIS BECAUSE THE KISSING INCIDENT OCCURRED AT THIS KIND OF PARTY; THERE IS ENTIRELY TOO GREAT AN EXPECTATION OF BEING SERVED ALCOHOL THESE DAYS. PEOPLE DON’T HAVE TO BE “AN ALCOHOLIC” TO GET IN TROUBLE WITH IT. IT’S A POTENT DRUG. REMEMBER THAT OLD PHRASE, “CANDY IS DANDY, BUT LIQUOR IS QUICKER.” IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE IT’S SO TRUE.

EXCEPT FOR THE GROTESQUE KISSING INCIDENT, MOST OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN DESCRIBED SOUNDS SOMEWHAT TRIVIAL TO ME. OF COURSE, I HAVEN’T SEEN MUCH DETAIL AT ALL. I CAN’T HELP WONDERING, IS THERE JEALOUSY HERE KEEPING THE RANCOR ALIVE, AND GOSSIP GROUPS STIRRING THE POT? THAT’S WHAT IT RESEMBLES TO ME, BASED ON GROUPS THAT I’VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH. IS THERE AN OUTSIDE INFLUENCE INTRODUCING MORE DISCORD, AS THE RUSSIANS DID DURING THE 2016 ELECTION? IF SO, COULD IT BE COMING FROM THE CORPORATE DEMOCRATIC WING? THAT’S WHERE MOST OF THE BERNIE HATING IS, I THINK. ON THE ONE HAND, IT’S UNDERSTANDABLE. ON THE OTHER IT IS
W R O N G.

THESE PROBLEMS NEED TO BE DISSECTED AND SOLVED, BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO BE THE SOURCE OF SOME SERIOUS TROUBLE FOR SANDERS AND THE PROGRESSIVE AGENDA, BUT IT IS LESS IMPORTANT IN THE LONG RUN THAN THE GOALS OF HIS PRESIDENCY IN THIS TIME OF POLITICAL DANGER. TRUMP ISN’T JUST FUNNY OR DISGUSTING. HE IS DANGEROUS. THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT WE DO NEED FINANCIAL AND SOCIAL REFORM IN THIS COUNTRY. THAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, SO WE DEMOCRATS NEED TO OPERATE AT OUR BEST IN ALL WAYS.

IN THE MEANTIME, HOWEVER, NO GENDER-BASED DISCRIMINATION AT ALL SHOULD OCCUR, NOR ETHNIC/RACIAL MINORITY, GAY, LESBIAN OR TRANS ISSUE SHOULD BE HELD AGAINST ANYONE ON THE JOB UNLESS THERE IS SOME EVENT THAT INTERFERES WITH THE OFFICE WORKFLOW, OR IS REPREHENSIBLE IN ITS' OWN RIGHT. GENDER DISCRIMINATION WAS MENTIONED IN ONE OF THESE ARTICLES. IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF RUSHING AROUND RATHER THAN PAYING SUFFICIENT ATTENTION TO DETAILS, SEXUAL INFELICITIES CAN GO UNNOTICED BY THE MANAGEMENT; DISORGANIZATION MAY TAKE HOLD OF THE OPERATION RATHER THAN EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT; AND TEMPERS MAY FLARE. I HOPE ALL THIS WILL BE SMOOTHED OUT IN THE FUTURE.


SEE ALSO THE POLITICO ARTICLE BELOW.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/us/politics/bernie-sanders-discrimination-sexism.html
Sanders Meets With Former Staff Members, Seeking to Quell Anxiety Over Sexism
By Sydney Ember and Katie Benner
Jan. 16, 2019

PHOTOGRAPH -- Senator Bernie Sanders arriving for a committee hearing at the Capitol on Wednesday. He later met with former staff members from his 2016 presidential campaign who have complained of sexism and harassment.CreditCreditSarah Silbiger/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Senator Bernie Sanders met on Wednesday with former staff members who conveyed their dismay over the mistreatment of women during his 2016 campaign, in an effort to calm the unrest over sexism that is overshadowing his possible 2020 bid.

Mr. Sanders met with roughly two dozen former workers for about an hour in a conference room at a hotel near the Capitol. The meeting was convened in response to a recent letter sent by more than two dozen people who worked on Mr. Sanders’s 2016 campaign, asking to meet with the senator and his leadership team to discuss issues of harassment.

The senator did not make himself available for comment afterward, and some attendees said they preferred to keep the discussions private. One woman said she found the meeting exhausting but declined to elaborate. Some said their phones were collected before the sessions.

Jenny Yang, a human resources consultant hired by the Sanders team as a facilitator for the meeting, said in a phone interview that “people were there to hear and listen to each other.’’

She added that they were looking at the meeting as a “first step in a longer process to understanding the kinds of systems that can be put in place to address some of the challenges that we heard about.”

Among those close to Mr. Sanders who attended were Jeff Weaver, his 2016 campaign manager, and Ari Rabin-Havt, Mr. Sanders’s deputy chief of staff. There were also some people from his campaign arm, including Arianna Jones, a communications aide. Mr. Sanders’s wife, Jane Sanders, made a brief appearance.

Mr. Sanders skipped an important Senate vote on Russia sanctions to attend the meeting around noontime. He was the only senator not to appear as Republicans blocked a Democratic resolution to prevent the Trump administration from easing sanctions on a Russian oligarch. The measure, which required 60 votes to proceed, was defeated, 57 to 42, and his vote would not have affected the outcome.

There were some signs of trouble even before the meeting began. Some attendees were upset that the draft of the agenda did not directly address specific allegations of mistreatment of women, or say which top Sanders aides would attend. Several women said the travel logistics were poorly handled, with some saying they were not invited until 48 hours before the daylong meeting was scheduled to begin.

Still, the meeting was the most concrete attempt yet by Mr. Sanders and his advisers to calm unease among former workers and supporters after allegations emerged about mistreatment of women during his 2016 campaign. Reports in the past two weeks by The New York Times and Politico described accounts of harassment and discrimination of former staffers.

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Mr. Sanders has twice apologized publicly for the incidents — but only in response to media questions following detailed articles — and has promised to do better if he runs again. He is still weighing a 2020 bid, after finishing second to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race in 2016.

People close to Mr. Sanders have said three of his top advisers from 2016, including his campaign manager, either will not return or will serve in different roles in a future campaign.

A draft agenda included a discussion with 2016 campaign management and facilitators from Working IDEAL, a company that advises on workplace inclusion and diversity. One of the facilitators is Jenny Yang, a former chairwoman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Some of the women who have spoken out to reporters about pay disparities, harassment and other instances of discrimination said they were not a part of the planning process for the meeting and were not aware it was happening. Last Friday, concerned that there would be no meeting, some of those women told the Sanders office that they felt it would be unfair to be excluded should a meeting occur, according to emails reviewed by The Times.

On Monday, Mr. Sanders’s office told them it would be arranging travel for them to arrive in Washington by Wednesday. But the women said the office did not send them formal invitations or any details about what would be discussed.

Some of them scrambled to rearrange their schedules, but several women said they did not hear back from Mr. Sanders’s office after being asked for travel details. One of the women was Sarah Slamen, who was the state coordinator in Louisiana in 2016 and who told The Times that she quit Our Revolution, Mr. Sanders’s progressive organization, because of gender discrimination.

Ms. Slamen said she was eventually given a midnight flight back to Texas on Wednesday after the meeting. She declined, she said, because she is six and a half months pregnant. Though she said she would not attend and did not book a flight, she later received a confirmation email for a hotel in Washington.

She said the logistical mix-ups were reminiscent of a 2016 campaign that she and some other women said was chaotic and disorganized.

“That they botched this process is emblematic of their inability to run a meeting,” Ms. Slamen said.


POLITICO ON THE SANDERS STAFF MEETING

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/16/sanders-staffers-sexual-harassment-1105182
POLITICS

Sanders faces former staffers about sexual harassment on 2016 campaign
Facilitators said the meeting was only the first step in a process to improve campaign culture.

By HOLLY OTTERBEIN and ALEX THOMPSON 01/16/2019 12:41 PM EST Updated 01/16/2019 10:05 PM EST

Sen. Bernie Sanders met Wednesday with a group of former staffers who have raised concerns about allegations of sexual harassment and violence during his 2016 presidential campaign and have urged him to make reforms if he runs again next year.

The Vermont independent did not respond to a reporter’s questions as he entered the meeting through a private door at a hotel in Washington.

The former aides sought a meeting with Sanders to “discuss the issue of sexual violence and harassment on the 2016 campaign, for the purpose of planning to mitigate the issue in the upcoming presidential cycle,” according to a copy of a letter first reported by POLITICO. About 30 people were expected to attend.

Three people facilitated the meeting: Pamela Coukos, co-founder of Working IDEAL, a company that consults corporations and other organizations on workplace inclusion, fair pay and diversity; Jenny Yang, a Working IDEAL strategic partner and a former chairwoman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; and Rene Redwood, CEO of Redwood Enterprise, a professional advisory firm.

The facilitators said that Wednesday was only the first step in a process to create practical ways for improving the campaign’s culture. They said they planned to conduct more fact-finding with other people from the 2016 campaign, and hoped not only to create a blueprint for Sanders but also to produce something that can be shared publicly for all campaigns.

Last Thursday, Sanders apologized to women who said they were sexually harassed while working on his presidential campaign.

A campaign official said that among those at the meeting on Wednesday were Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ 2016 campaign manager; Caryn Compton, the senator’s chief of staff; deputy chief of staff Ari-Rabin Havt; Arianna Jones, a top communications aide; and Shannon Jackson, manager of Sanders’ 2018 Senate reelection campaign.

“It went as well as it could have,” said a person who was there but declined to comment further.

Before the meeting, some former employees said they had received invitations as late as Monday and faced other logistical difficulties.

Sanders wasn't made available after the meeting for questions from the media. Asked later about the meeting by a CNN reporter, Sanders said that it was “private” and that he would not talk about it.

The senator’s wife, Jane Sanders, also attended.