The Most Diverse Convention/The Least Diverse Coverage

The closing night of the DNC was historic beyond Barack Obama becoming the first (and a true) African-American to lead a major party's ticket.

Beyond, even, taking place forty-five years to the day after Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and 53 years to the day after 14 year old Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Money, Mississippi. In terms of delegates present, this was the most diverse convention of any major American political party. TAKE A LOOK AT THE BREAKDOWN. Across the board, by percentage, there were record numbers of Women, African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, Native American, GLBT and Delegates with Disabilities.

I can't wait to see all the diversifyin' that's gonna be going on at the RNC

In fact, the only dip in those represented at the 2008 DNC were among white males.

Except in the media.

This, this penultimate realization of what is truly meant by the phrase "We the People" was moderated almost exclusively in prime time by Wolf and Keith and Chris and Sean and Brian and Tom and on and on and other than Katie it resembled very much the group Frank Rich hectored when he wrote (irony not intended) "The Grand Old White Party Confronts Obama."

Now, I know many of these guys, I have worked with many of these guys, and I like many of these guys. They are good guys. My only problem is that there were just too many of these guys. Certainly there were the occasional people of color -- Eugene Robinson and Donna Brazile and Amy Holmes -- insightful and shrewd and effervescent respectfully -- among others (mostly at CNN). And all relegated to the sidekick roll; ambassadors brought round to "decode the language" if you will.

And there was Alex Castellanos representing, I guess, Hispanics (Again at CNN. Clearly it helped having Dick Parsons up top). But other than Alex and the diametrically opposed Rachel Maddow, "others" were woefully underrepresented.

As I've said before and will say again diversity is not something at which the media has been historically successful. And you got the feeling the media knew they weren't fielding a representative team. Not since Bill O'Reilly dined with Al Sharpton at Sylvia's have news people displayed such latent discomfort. Folks were testy, snippy and just plain bored on the run up to one the greatest nights in the history of our nation. It was as if decorum couldn't survive in the shadow of history.

Or, windbaggery a mile high just leads to moments of light-headedness.

But the RNC is around the corner. And while I don't believe the majority of the media will be (intentionally) more intellectually aligned with that crowd, I do believe the collective sigh of relief heard from the journos for having escaped with their "liberalism" intact will have nothing to do with the lowered elevation.

But, hey, only 45 years from "I Have a Dream" to "The American Promise." So, how many years could it possibly be from the Presidency to the anchor chair?

For more Huffington Post coverage of the Democratic National Convention, visit our Politics @ the DNC page and our Democratic Convention Big News Page

Comments

[EnuffsEnuffAlready]

In the leadup to Obama's speech, I drifted over to C-SPAN. A series of former Republicans....just plain folk, not bigwigs....spoke in order. A fellow named Barney Smith...a displaced Indiana factory worker...got maybe the biggest laugh of the evening when he said, "We need a president who puts Barney Smith before Smith Barney."

I raced back to CNN, Fox, and MSNBC to see the reaction of their talking heads. But I found that those blathering bloviators had ALL missed it, talking right over it. Obviously, they knew that Americans really wanted to hear their "windbaggery" (right on, John Ridley!) instead of the forceful reality of average Americans.

For the Repub convention, I'm 100 percent C-SPAN. I wanna hear the whole thing....not mostly the endless pontifications of talking heads mesmerized by the sound of their own voices.

[nyeemacw]

All I can say is "Right On" John! The same will hold true for the debates, not to say that the moderators they have selected are not good but again diversity is non-existent.

[Binx101]

Buteven inthe selection of 'color-people', that is to say, the assortment of ethnically diversepeople that are selected to supply color commentary - there is a huge casting debacle across the networks that waspurposely done to represent a super-diversity that in itself is just window dressing.

Howcan AmyHolmes be praising the insight of JohnMcCain a man who voted against MLK day each time or his recent objections tothenew GIBill? It is unconscionable that this bright younglady is anything but an anomaly. It's verymuchlike that Norwegian Sushi Chef. It's not typical.

So the castingcall wentout tofill allthe BradyBunch boxes, but theconversation and thecoverage is nauseating. Infact - the onlyperson that hasroutinely supplied contextual relevance tothecurrent politicalevents is ChrisMatthews; whom I had longago givenup on until the day he hammered a pathetic political radio talkster and career sycophant named KevinJames. Since that day - Matthews seems to have told the NBCilluninati to pound it.

The CNNshowsare verymuch like a terrarium .. theyhave theirown cycle of proposed situations and proposed guesses as how the proposed nominees would propose a solution. Diverse, indeed if you are talking about fashion statements - diverse representing America - not even remotely.

FOXNews which isn't evenremotely a newssource - hoists the dyspepsia of Hume- Krystoll as the colors of their Flagship. FredBarnes sings back up and they all practice their morning exercises which could possibly be - a group shoulder shrug while shoutin ... "What me worry ?!" while KarlRove beats out the next raciallycoded message.

Binx101
The Almost

[boogiewoman]

C-SPAN for me all week. MSM is not walking around with the average man or woman anymore. They live in a bubble.

[politicky]

"As I've said before and will say again diversity is not something at which the media has been historically successful."

Right. The country is getting it, which is why the Huff Po is so popular.

"So, how many years could it possibly be from the Presidency to the anchor chair?"

Good question. When talking about the mainstream media, it's always wise to consider where the advertising revenues come from. Who runs large corporations? Old white guys, right?

[3in1]

REV. JESSE JACKSON: Well, my concern even there is that we must speak -- each response really must be a broad message. Today, black America is in great pain. We are freer, but less equal. The most poverty since 1960. Chicago's 500,000 students, 85 percent of them are on food stamps or free lunches. Real poverty, number one in infant mortality, a seven-year shorter life expectancy.

Where was Senator obama? This is his state. Get me another harvard boy.

[Beve83]

agreed. I like how reporters/correspondents ask all the black people. "what does this moment mean to you", as if only black people share in Obama's historic triumph. I'd like for them to deliberately search for the white face in the crowd and ask them.

[breakingpoint]

I agree and I'll add there was even more bigotry no coverage at all of cops hitting protestors or all the third parties conventions surrounding this Huge Corporate Orgy called the DNC.

Have Americans stopped thinking?
Are they programmed to only watch a political version of American Idol?
I guess so.

It's a shame and as an American I am embarrassed.

[kellygrrrl]

CSpan is the only way to go!

[CBS]

MSNBC is pretty good on diversity

[bkbigfish]

I hate to break up the diversity slobberfest, but the facts are, 80 percent of the votes cast nation wide are from white folks. Maybe Obama should think about that next time he goes to the La Raza convention and drools all over them. Sorry, Dems....illegal aliens don't vote.

[gwpriester]

The DNC Convention was not even carried on local TV in New Mexico at least.

Fortunately, we get C-SPAN and were able to watch the entire convention with no talking heads telling us what we just heard, and no commercials placed in front of other less important speakers.

But what about those without cable?

All they got is a 15 second sound bite.

[Shaddup]

The MSM is just dead. Every time I see it, it's like some bizarre Monty Pythonish parody of the news. Seriously, these people really need to go out and get a look at the world. Walk a few blocks in a real city, anything. Oh well. Can't wait for the Grand Oil Party. They'll have a little section for all their people of color to sit in, and once every speech the networks will zoom in on them to make it look diverse. If I didn't laugh I'd cry.

[Indubio]

Well said and I agree completely. I didn't waste my time with the MSM last week. Aftertheir performance in 2000, I ceased paying any attention to the MSM.

[Mayoyo]

C-Span, baby....did not miss a thing.

[Indubio]

Unfortunately, C-Span doesn't come with basic cable andthat's what I pay for (I wouldn;t waste my money on the rest of what cable as to offer). The best (and only) alternative to the MSM was PBS.

[Oakknollfarm]

From an impact on the nation perspctive, it would be of benefit for you to direct some analysis of the diversity, or lack thereof, in the Federal Reserve. There are no African American, Latino, or Asian Governors and no African American or Latino presidents. No Fed Governor or Fed Bank President understands minority communities (other than Jewish, five of the six Governors are Jews and roughly half of the Bank Presidents are Jews). The Federal Reserve has more effect on our daily lives than almost any other entity. One does not even need to be an economist; Kevin Warsh, a Governor, has an MBA; however, he is the son-in-law of billionaire Ron Lauder. While an African American in the While House is groundbreaking, keep in mind what Ronald Reagan said when he asked if he was planning a second term: "what I'm contemplating is a position of more authority and power, chairman of the Federal Reserve"

[renatam]

Nothing will change until MSM is re-regulated and NEWS/Constitutionally PRESS FREEDOMS - the lifeblood of our Democracy -- is separated from for-profit contexts, where a race to the bottom and for cheaper has become the only standard. Diversity isn't a consideration -- at all -- in this realm. This is NYC, after all. Our ad-driven "Mad Men" culture remains the economic engine of this for-profit juggernaut -- and diversity doesn't sell on Madison Avenue -- the LEAST DIVERSE INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES, circa 2008.


It will be interesting to see how our NYC-based Advertising and Media Buying industries deal w/a President and First Lady Obama. I'll buy popcorn for that one -- and, thankfully as a Manhattan resident -- I will have a front row seat!

[renatam]

Ultimately, the NYC-based corporate for-profit media, controlled by Conservatives during the Reagan/Bush/Clinton-DLC eras, has been caught flafooted this year. It is not surprising they would find their ranks a reflection of THEIR zeitgeist vs. that of the American people. The aforementioned Presidents de-regulated MSM and FINANCE, unleashing a massively profitable explosion of opportunities for these Presidents, their families and a generation of surrogates -- Carville, Begala, Stephanopolous, Rupert Murdoch...and Wall Street, who funds their M&A activities-now permitted across the entire geographic spectrum w/out limits. Colin Powell's son racheted up to head the FCC, while he was Secretary of State and LYING America into a bogus war -- further loosened standards and criteria.

What we have is a MSM, context for our Constitutionally PRESS, that does NOT reflect the American people or its new zeitgeist. Quite the opposite. We have a MSM that reflects corporate values and profits as the ONLY standards. This means talking heads, gossip, blond bimbos and, instead of investigative journalism -- Wolf Blitzer, etc. READING what someone in some backrook wrote.