Speech, racism, Imus and where we go now
April 25, 2007 at 12:29 pm by Wayne GarciaFrom Eric Deggans, here is a very worthwhile discussion about speech and hate and our airwaves and responsibility:
[T]he explosion of discussion locally and nationally about race, gender and class in media following the Don Imus scandal inspired the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists and the Department of Journalism at the University of South Florida to schedule a town hall meeting to discuss the issue.
Scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, April 26, the town hall will take place at the Campus Activities Center at the University of South Florida, the corner of 6th Ave. South and 2nd St. South in St. Petersburg. Admission is free and all are invited to attend.
We are still asking area notables to join us for the discussion. But here are some of the people we’ve already lined up:
Bubba the Love Sponge, Sirius satellite radio
Charles Cherry, publisher, Florida Courier and co-owner, WTMP-AM
Ahmed Bedier, Council for American Islamic Relations
Jay Black, journalism ethics expert, University of South Florida
L.I.F.E., area spoken word artist
Birgit Van Houck, Community Tampa Bay
Deborah Hinds, WMNF-FM and Planet Soul.com
We’re asking you to do two things. First, spread the word about our effort — we need to work hard to let people know what we’re doing and get a huge crowd for a community discussion. Please feature this as a Public Service Announcement or notice in your media outlet if you can.
Secondly, we would love to have more panelists involved in our discussion, particularly from the radio industry. So feel free to email me back or call me at the number below if you are interested in sitting on our panel.
See you on Thursday! Spread the word!!
Eric Deggans
President, Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists
Chair, NABJ Media Monitoring Committee
TV/Media Critic, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times
