Coronavirus

During COVID Crisis, Black Press Functions on Budgets Spread Thin

Published

4 years ago

May 13, 2020

Starting in 1827, the Black Press has given voice to the issues impacting African Americans.

Now, 193 years later, approximately 200 Black newspapers, COVID-19 has been a menace like no other, threatening to silence the voice of the many African-American newspapers that were already fighting so hard to be heard.

Numerous Black Press publications are family-owned and operated with proprietors serving as second and third-generation publishers. Throughout the nation, they produce weekly print news and compete tirelessly with larger conglomerate-owned dailies for advertising dollars to stay afloat.

After pandemic worries increased and governors across the country enforced stay-at-home orders, print media, like most other businesses, became severely impacted. Advertisers pulled back on placements, brutally cutting the papers’ revenues.

U.S. Rep. Karen Bass of California has been pushing for Black and other ethnic-owned media to receive federal stimulus funding to prop up their operations during the coronavirus crisis.

“Many communities of color rely on their local newspapers or radio stations — oftentimes these outlets are in a language other than English — for information,” Bass wrote in a letter to the U.S. congressional leadership in April, advocating for African American and ethnic media. Bass, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, co-signed with chairs of the other ethnic caucuses: Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) Hispanic Caucus chair; Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM), Native American Caucus co-chair; Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Asian-Pacific Islander American Caucus chair.

“So many outlets across the U.S. are providing valuable information,” the letter continued.

According to marketing charts, a data research firm, African Americans makeup 13.4% of U.S. consumers but only receive 1.4% of advertising buys targeted toward media.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association said “Across the nation, the Black Press of America …has been financially negatively impacted across the board as a result of COVID-19 due to severe reductions in local, regional and national advertising dollars targeted toward Black America.

The abrupt decline in targeted revenue has forced publishers to look beyond the traditional ways of print news and standard website posting, and get creative with ways in which they can continue reporting while ensuring that the health of both their journalists and businesses aren’t compromised.

Larry Lee, the publisher of the Sacramento Observer, is one of 17 Black newspapers based in California. When shelter-in-place orders went into effect, Lee did not hesitate to make the safety and well-being of staff his foremost priority. When this became standard, they began visiting ways to stay connected to their readers.

Many of the Sacramento Observer’s distribution sites throughout the city have closed, impacting how readers are able to purchase copies of the newspaper. “We are [also] subscription-based, so we still mail out the paper through the postal service,” he said.

In addition to promoting subscriptions, Lee has found ways to increase engagement through things like the implementation of video discussions on the publication’s social media platforms.

In San Diego, Dr. John Warren, publisher of the San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper has seen no shrinkage in his 60-year-old business’s workload and revenue. When the stay-at-home orders were enforced, Warren immediately shifted newspaper deliveries to local food distribution sites, partnering with an organization that are servicing the community. Warren, like many publishers who offer digital subscriptions, selected to drop his website paywall to make accessing the newspaper online free.

Other publications have not been as fortunate. Brenda Andrews, the publisher of Norfolk Virginia’s New Journal and Guide, released a statement to her readers that she would be suspending publication until further notice.

“… As publisher, my greatest concerns at this time are for the health and safety of my staff and their families and for the economic viability of this business affected adversely by the global health crisis,” Andrews said. “We fully expect to rebound from this temporary setback and to resume serving our community that has supported us the last 120 years,” the statement concluded.

In the last two months, grants have been made available through funding sources like the Facebook Journalism Project COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund for U.S. local news organizations. The money has enabled them to continue serving communities during the coronavirus outbreak.

Chida Rebecca

Posts by Chida Rebecca

California Black Media

Gov. Newsom and Gov. DeSantis Go Head-to-Head in Nationally Televised Debate

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis. As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

Published

5 months ago

December 10, 2023

Oakland Post

The debate between Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gov. Ron DeSantis was moderated by Fox News personality Sean Hannity. California Black Media image.

By California Black Media

In an intense, 95-minute-plus televised faceoff between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Nov. 30, the men traded jabs and putdowns, defended their respective gubernatorial records, disagreed sharply on how to solve the country’s most pressing problems, and expressed clashing views on the performance of the Biden-Harris administration.

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis.

As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here,” Newsom said. “I’m here to tell the truth about the Biden-Harris record and also compare and contrast Ron DeSantis’ record and the Republican Party’s record” with that of California.

DeSantis blasted Newsom’s management of the COVID-19 crisis and criticized Newsom for prevalent crime, homelessness and deteriorating social conditions in California cities.

“You have the freedom to defecate in public in California,” DeSantis said. “You have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard. You have the freedom to create a homeless encampment under a freeway and even light it on fire. They’re not the freedoms our founding fathers envisioned.”

Newsom took a jab at DeSantis’ presidential candidacy, predicting that the Florida Governor would be endorsing GOP frontrunner Donald Trump soon.

“There’s one thing we have in common,” Newsom said. “Neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

BayCityNews

FDA Updates Approval of Pfizer Booster Vaccine for Children Under 5

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5. Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

Published

1 year ago

March 22, 2023

Oakland Post

As of December 2022, children age 4 and younger who have not been vaccinated receive the omicron variant-specific booster vaccine as the third dose in their primary vaccine series, following two doses of the original Pfizer vaccine.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5.

Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

However, children in that age range who completed their initial vaccination series before December 2022 only received three doses of the original Pfizer vaccine, and are less protected against more infectious variants of the virus as a result.

FDA officials updated the vaccine’s emergency use authorization Tuesday to allow those children who only received the original Pfizer COVID vaccine to receive one dose of the bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since they completed their initial series.

Other children under age 5 are not eligible for the booster, although everyone age 5 and up is eligible for a booster.

“Currently available data show that vaccination remains the best defense against severe disease, hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 across all age groups, and we encourage all eligible individuals to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Clinical data has found that both the original Pfizer vaccine and the booster vaccine that targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are safe for everyone aged 6 months and up and effective at preventing the worst outcomes of COVID infection, including serious illness and death.

COVID vaccines are available at primary care providers, retail pharmacies and some facilities operated by local health departments.

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Bay Area

COVID-19 Response Grant Program

The City of Union City will be issuing another round of its COVID-19 Response Grant Program. The program has distributed approximately $620,000 in grant funds and forgivable loans to the community to respond to the impacts of COVID-19 and will distribute another $322,000 through this latest round of funding. The City will utilize federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and CARES Act funds.

Published

1 year ago

March 21, 2023

Oakland Post

The City will be holding two informational/technical assistance meetings to support residents and businesses with their applications and respond to any questions. These meetings will be streamed via Zoom. See below for meeting information and Zoom meeting links.

Grants are available through the City’s Road to Recovery Small Business Assistance Program and the Residential Rental Assistance Program. The City began accepting applications on March 6, 2023, at 9 a.m. and will begin reviewing applications (up to 50 applications for each grant opportunity) submitted on or before March 30, 2023, at 5 p.m. The program information and the online application are available on the City’s website:

https://www.unioncity.org/548/COVID-19-Response-Grant-Program

Tuesday, March 14, 2023: 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

https://unioncity-org.zoom.us/j/89061570160

Wednesday, March 15, 2023: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

https://unioncity-org.zoom.us/j/81868680531