Also this issue: Fan-tastic For the past 20 years, a group of self-styled freedom fighters has been sneaking into the Vet. -Daryl Gale Exit the Unicorn Einhorn's conviction is a sweet victory for those he's haunted for 25 years. -Howard Altman Fear of God and Taxes -Mary F. Patel Behind the Green Door -Daniel Brook Can't Please Everybody The Inquirer's been accused of lots of things, but being too conservative may be a first. -D.B Dueling Dooling Newspaper Guild leaders differ on a new deal. -D.B "Rat" Infestation -D.B The Bell Curve City Paper's weekly gauge of Philly's Quality of Life

October 24-30, 2002

on media

Diverse Opinions

A Daily News award rankles critics.

by Deborah Bolling

While staffers and management at the Philadelphia Daily News are patting themselves on the back for snaring first place in diversity from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation’s 13th Annual Newspaper of the Year competition, organizers of an ongoing boycott against the paper are crying foul.

"I am amazed, shocked and unpleasantly surprised that such an award would be given by such a distinguished university," says A. Bruce Crawley, referring to the board of judges who voted on the award, comprised of faculty members from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

In August, Crawley and a consortium of Philly-based businesspeople staged a demonstration outside the offices of the DN. At issue, they said, was a cover story that depicted a mug shot compilation with 17 men of color, all described as murder fugitives. At the end of the rally, Crawley implored the African-American community to boycott the paper, accusing it of a long-standing practice of depicting people of color as pariahs.

Arlene Morgan, assistant dean at Columbia School of Journalism and a former long-time Inky editor, says that although her staff reviewed the materials and did the voting, she recused herself from the judging based on her prior relationship to area newspapers.

"People need to understand that it's not a month's worth of work, it's just an edition," Morgan says. For the contest, newspapers are asked to submit what they consider to be the best representations of their coverage from two editions from two pre-selected months.

"The individual stories may have deserved the award, but not necessarily the newspaper," Morgan says. "It's the luck of the draw. It's not saying the paper is at the top of the field in diversity, but based on that day and the competition in that category, they were justified in winning."

Daily News Managing Editor Ellen Foley says she believes the award was well-deserved.

"I don't think it was all that unusual that we won," she says. "Our mission is to cover the city of Philadelphia. It's a diverse city and our pages reflect the news of those people who live here.'

The Aug. 20, 2001, edition submitted by the DN was especially diverse. It sported a cover story about an African-American welfare-to-work mom, and included stories about Asians in South Philly, same-sex households and the X-Games.

But Crawley says that day's paper does not fairly reflect the tabloid's regular content.

"It's too bad the people at Columbia did not have the chance to review a fuller body of work," Crawley says. "If they had, I think they would have made another decision."