Covering communities of color

Natalie Moore and Richard Steele of WBEZ and Phil Ponce of WTTW discussed what it really takes to cover communities of color on Jan. 28, as part of Northeastern Illinois University's 14th Annual African, African American, Native American, Caribbean and the Americas Heritage Conference.

"A few years ago WBEZ realized that it needed to better reflect coverage of Chicago and they started this initiative of bureaus," Moore said, who is part of the Englewood bureau.  She has pretty much free reign over what stories are covered and is able to use that opportunity to show that there is more to the south side than just violence and crime.  "One thing that happens in mainstream media, I often felt constricted in writing about people instead of for people. And there is a difference," Moore said.

Another aspect of covering communities of color was presented by Phil Ponce of WTTW.  "When you're a journalist of color, first and foremost, you really have to be a good journalist," Ponce said, "because as a person of color I think that, as with so many different professions, you better be good at what you do. And not only do you have to be good at what you do, you almost have to be a little better."

Ponce also added that a journalist also has to have credibility no matter what the story may be, and if they have that credibility with the audience, then that journalist is in a good position to represent the people they are covering.

"You always want to cover stories involving communities of color objectively because audiences, just like all of you, are really sensitive to nuances," said Ponce. This is because if the audience feels that the journalist is biased then their credibility goes down.

"Be good at what you do, report objectively and just because you are black, Latino/a or whatever, you are not an expert and you have to be humble," said Ponce, when he gave advice to other journalists of color at the panel discussion.

Richard Steele, also from WBEZ, had a different beginning because he didn't come into the business of communication looking at journalism as a goal.

"I came in on the music end but I always had an interest in politics, arts, science and lots of other things," said Steele. He also talked about how he has been involved in his own community and that if things come up he is looked to as a source. 

However, because he is so close to his community in the south side, many problems come up regarding conflicts of interest.

"One of the dilemmas for me was knowing everybody in my community, and everybody knows me. When things come up that are political, people call me," said Steele. An example he talked about was a potential assignment for him regarding speaking with Minister Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam.  He decided to not take the assignment because he wanted to remain credible in what he did, since he had relationships with some people in the Nation of Islam as friends and associates.

"It would be a bad idea for me to have him on and don't ask all the questions that need to be asked," said Steele.

Overall, the one thing all the journalists had in common was that they saw their backgrounds as an additional qualification for their profession. 

"See it [your background] as a plus, but don't let it define you," Ponce said.