Determination 75: United Black Front v. Star Tribune
Ron Edwards appeared for the grievant. Tim McGuire, managing editor, Peg Meier, reporter, and Lou Gelfand, reader representative, appeared for the Star Tribune. About 20 visitors attended the hearing. Those speaking on behalf of the complaint were Mahmoud El-Kati, Carol Ann White, Dr. James T. Shelton, Jusef Mgeni, and Nellie Stone Johnson.
Background: In its Sunday variety section of May 22, 1988, the Star Tribune published an 8-page feature with 25 photographs on teenage pregnancy, told as the personal story of one teenager, Makela Scott, a 16-year-old Black girl attending a special public school program for pregnant adolescents. The United Black Front claims the article is unfair both to the young girl and to the Black community, and, indeed, promotes racial prejudice. The Star Tribune denies the claim and contends that the article is responsible journalism focusing needed public attention on a problem involving the whole community.
The article, entitled “Meet Makela Scott,” begins with Makela, on her 16th birthday and 5 months pregnant, attending PACE (Pregnant Adolescent Continuing Education). The article chronicles 21 months of Makela’s life, her pregnancy, her relationship with her mother and family members, her boyfriends, difficulties with school and work, the birth of her son, and the problems of money, housing, and raising a child alone. The story ends in the spring of 1988, the child, 15 months old, and Makela not going to her high school prom, which she had hoped to attend. Much of the story is told in Makela’s own words. The story’s dramatic impact is intensified by the photography.
The newspaper states that Makela was not chosen as the subject of the feature story because she was Black but because of all the girls in the PACE program (of whom 20-25 percent were White) she was best qualified. She had relatively good school attendance, had family support, was not involved with drugs or alcohol, was herself interested in the project, cared about becoming a good mother, and had the maturity to see the project through to its completion. Makela and her mother signed written permission forms for the story. There were no financial or other inducements. (The story itself notes that the reporter and photographer gave Makela modest gifts on special occasions.) It appears that Makela is not displeased with the article and neither she nor her mother is a party to this grievance. Makela is, however, concerned about the strong negative response the article generated in the Black community. She attended the hearing but did not speak.
This is, then, a third-party grievance brought by the United Black Front. Grievant claims that the article is exploitive, degrading, and insensitive; that it perpetuates racial stereotypes; that the article uses photographs which are insensitive to community values and demeaning and quotes Scott in demeaning “street dialect”; and that, by its overall unremitting focus on one young Black adolescent, the article fails to place the general problem of teenage pregnancy in an appropriate, community-wide context, with the consequence that, intentionally or not, the article is essentially racist. Grievant also faulted the newspaper for its failure to solicit and publish the viewpoints of Black experts who write about unwanted teen pregnancy, or of Black community leaders who work to change the social conditions which enable it.
Discussion: We do not think the article glorifies teenage pregnancy; on the contrary, it shows the heavy burden of an adolescent mother, so early in life and so unprepared, having to cope with the responsibilities of motherhood. Nor do we think the article seeks to perpetuate a racial stereotype. The article sets out the valid reasons mentioned above why Makela was chosen to tell her story, and these reasons are unrelated to race. Her story was intended to illustrate the problems of all low-income, teenage mothers of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Even so, we suppose there will be some readers who will choose to see the young mother in the newspaper story as typical of Black family life. Such readers, and one hopes they are a dwindling few, are being unfair to Makela Scott, a young woman who, like all of us, has both good and not-so-good qualities; and such stereotyping is seriously unfair and false to the Black community. But if there is any perpetuation of stereotype here, it is, we think, in the eye of the beholder, not in the newspaper article.
The major complaint about the article, as we see it, is that it is “insensitive” to the Black community, a “hurting experience” as Edwards put it. The Sunday the article was published, Dr. James Shelton, president of the St. Paul Chapter of the NAACP, received 63 telephone calls of complaint from outraged constituents. We undertake to discuss this complaint with a certain sense of inadequacy because we recognize in the word “insensitivity” an attempt of two cultures to understand each other.
To begin, it is agreed that teenage pregnancy, especially in a deprived socioeconomic setting, is a serious problem deserving media attention. Indeed, this feature story was apparently inspired by remarks of the mayor of Minneapolis calling attention to the seriousness of the problem. Moreover, it is not claimed that the article “Meet Makela Scott” is inaccurate; Makela’s story is reported correctly. As to quotes of Makela in the article, her speech patterns varied, sometimes in “street dialect,” sometimes not; but the reporter states this is how Makela speaks. The main basis for the complaint, as expressed to us at the hearing, is that the article lacks balance and sensitivity. It is contended that the unusual length of the article, accentuated by vivid photography in which no white person appears, focuses relentlessly on one young Black girl’s experience and, by telling no more, implies that there is no more to tell. Ultimately, claims the grievant, the article is one of unrelieved hopelessness which demeans the achievements and aspirations of the Black community.
The newspaper agrees that the article is shocking. It says it must be. But just as stories and photos of Bull Connor in Birmingham shocked the public conscience to civil rights and similar journalism awakened the public to the Vietnam War, so, too, contends the newspaper, people need to be shocked into an awareness of current serious social problems such as teenage pregnancy. Only if the problem is presented in direct, realistic, personal terms, says the paper, will public attention be gained, which is the first step to remedial action.
We find the article “Meet Makela Scott” to be responsible journalism. It is an achingly human story, well written, told in nonjudgmental terms. Some members of the Council find at least two of the photographs (of the mother’s bare abdomen and of the actual delivery) to be gratuitously dramatic, but we agree that the overall effect of the article is a powerful, realistic, very human portrayal of teenage pregnancy and motherhood. We commend the newspaper for what obviously was a major commitment of time and resources to an important subject.
Because the article tells a personal story in nonjudgmental terms, it should not be expected to offer the balance of other points of view which would only diffuse the impact the article seeks to obtain. The article is designed, rather, to raise questions, to make people think, not to provide answers. Treatment of the subject matter in this manner lies, we believe, within the editorial discretion of the newspaper.
There will and should be other occasions for the newspaper to report the good news in the Black community. We note some of the comments at the hearing by Star Tribune Managing Editor McGuire:
“This entire incident has caused us to reflect deeply on how we cover the Black community. While we have come to the conclusion that the Makela Scott story is one of which we can be very, very proud, we came to other conclusions about our overall approach to the Black community. We listened to complaints that we don’t present Blacks in a positive light often enough and that we don’t show Blacks just being average folks. We have raised consciousness among our staffers on that issue and have made some policy changes, such as urging our people to roam the minorities of our communities more to look for news and photo opportunities.”
There are, as speakers at the hearing eloquently pointed out, other stories to tell, stories of hope and achievement. And, as those speakers also observed, in a society where opportunity is not equally shared, the media, no less than other institutions, has an affirmative obligation to represent minority views. This means the perspectives of minority people should be made a part of the stories about their own cultures, and also of stories about the community we all share. Perhaps in the telling of these other stories, the entire community will begin to find answers to the many questions raised by “Meet Makela Scott.”
Grievance denied.
Concurring: Ashmore, Bednar, Chucker, Igoe, Larson, McDowall, Orwoll, Pennock, Simonett, Sundin, Swain, Tanick
Dissenting: Beaulieu, Warder - The Makela Scott article from a journalistic point of view was factual and informative, but it failed to give the complete story. I believe that the Makela Scott article was unfair, perpetuated old negative stereotypes and promoted racial disharmony. The story in the Star and Tribune was vividly presented with a series of poignant photos that focused on Makela and her pregnancy, but the article generated a strong negative response in the Black community. Black members of the community were offended. The author of the article should have given special emphasis to the fact that teenage pregnancy is a general concern, but seemed to say through photos that it was a Black problem. I was particularly concerned with the insensitivity of the newspaper in printing several photos such as the one with Makela giving birth to her son.
The Makela Scott story, because of the manner in which it was written, and because of the photos, perpetuated old myths, fostered negative feelings, and did irreparable harm in race relations. Stories of this type, with emphasis on Black youth, have far-reaching negative effects. This past summer the Japanese prime minister made racist comments publicly that U.S. Negroes have brought the overall intelligence and literacy rate of the United States down and that Negroes prefer to file for bankruptcy rather than pay their obligations. When confronted, the Japanese official apologized and stated that Japanese pick up their racial attitudes and stereotypes from the U.S. media. Stories such as the Makela Scott article, without a full explanation, can have far-reaching negative effects. The problem becomes most acute in those communities without Blacks.
The Makela Scott story, from the viewpoint of a community ethos, was unfair and insensitive in that it failed to underscore that the problem is not exclusively that of Black people. Not all Black youth have babies in their teen years, but that is the message conveyed to many people who only look at the negative aspect. The article as seen by Makela’s peers seems to tacitly promote teenage pregnancy by its glorification of the issue. The Star and Tribune needs to be more thorough in its investigation and promulgation of such stories as the Makela Scott article. The article - because of its omission of significant segments of the total problem - was unfair.
Tags: Star Tribune