Minorities Managing Minorities p.

By: Mark Fitzgerald

Black managers say the problems dealing with black
journalists and white journalists differ dramatically
WASHINGTON TELEVISION news director Gary Wordlaw calls it the "My Brother Trap."
My Brother, Wordlaw says, is a game that some black journalists run on their black managers.
"I have had to put out the word that I am not going to allow myself to be sucked into that trap called My Brother. You know: 'What's happening, my brother? Oh, I was only five minutes late, my brother. Oh, you'll let me slide on that, my brother,' " said Wordlaw, news director of WJLA-TV.
The My Brother syndrome is only one of the management complications that are emerging as increasing numbers of African-Americans move up the corporate ranks in news organizations, according to black managers.
"The dynamic young people who entered this business three decades ago have moved along to positions as frontline managers, editors and corporate executives," said Thomas H. Greer, a newspaper executive whose career symbolizes this African-American advancement.
"I think I am not exaggerating when I say [the black manager/black journalist issues] are truly special problems ? wholly different from the truly mountainous problems of black managers supervising white journalists," added Greer, vice president and senior editor of the Plain Dealer in Cleveland.
Greer and other black managers explored these issues at the recent National Association of Black Journalists convention in Houston during a session titled, "Minorities Managing Minorities."
Problems crop up from both African-American managers and their African-American charges, Greer said.
"Managers either expect black staffers to work harder than any other staffer or at the opposite pole they will lower their expectations ? almost assuming because they are black, they are not capable of the same level of achievement as other staffers," Greer said.
Indeed, while managers at the NABJ session declared unanimously that they would not set different standards for black and white journalists, at least one black manager confessed he did in a videotape produced by Louisville Courier-Journal deputy managing editor Rochelle Riley.
"Yeah, I usually expect more from an African-American," Curt Davis, a manager at KDFW-TV in Dallas, said. "I feel like we have so many barriers to advancement that, yeah, I do expect more," Davis added.
Wordlaw acknowledged similar feelings.
"If you ask me, do I have favoritism based on race ? the answer is absolutely not. But I do like overachievers," said Wordlaw, who began his management career on newspapers.
Black managers themselves often feel they are held to higher ? or different ? standards because of their race.
"One of the things I've had to deal with as an African-American woman is that sometimes when you are firm, you are considered a bitch. And sometimes if you are nice, you are considered incompetent," said Pearl Stewart, editor of the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune.
The key, argues Riley, is never "doing something to prove something."
"Don't compete to be H.N.I.C. rather than I.C. Just be fair," she said.
However, if African-American managers contribute to newsroom complications, so too do the black journalists they are supervising, several executives said.
"Sometimes black staffers do not show their black bosses the same kind of respect they show their white bosses," Greer said.
At the Tribune, Stewart said, black journalists do not expect special privileges, but the issue does arise occasionally when it comes to discipline.
"One of the things I have had to make clear is that I can be understanding, but I can also be firm and that applies to everyone," Stewart said.
A big problem, Stewart said, is that black journalists ? often justifiably ? tend to be suspicious of any manager.
"The people being managed have had huge problems with racism. They approach management ? whoever they are ? with something of a chip on their shoulders," she said.
"I can relate because I've been through those experiences myself," Stewart added.
Riley said she sees different management approaches being taken to white and black journalists.
"If people see a promising white journalist ? that person is a diamond in the rough, with promise and vitality," she said. "But if they see a black journalist ? that person is in need of remedial attention and mentors and tutors," Riley said.
Whatever the complications in managing black journalists, the black managers at the NABJ session were quick to note that African-Americans presented relatively fewer management problems than white journalists.
"As an African-American woman, the problems of managing white people are probably more difficult by yards and miles than the problem of managing black," Stewart said. "Because blacks are used to being managed by whites, but white men and women probably haven't had the experience of being managed by an African-American."