Hey, Osunsami’s Human Too
Can black journalists cover the Obama White House without bias? Many asked that question–perhaps, not out loud–after watching ABC reporter, Steve Osunsami’s reaction on election night, to Obama becoming the 44th POTUS.
Media watchdogs, like fellow classmate Rima Abdelkader, sniffed out Osunsami’s election night throat-spasm and Osunsami, likely reacting to criticism as well as praise, explained why he showed emotion on his ABC News blog:
For me, it wasn’t the political event that was moving, it was the human event: on Tuesday night, the whole world watched as Americans of all colors came together in such an historic way.
Was Obama’s victory–the country’s victory–an acceptable reason for journalists to break professional composure though? I tended to think it was not. I mean, it’s not like journalists covering election night were being thrown a curve ball.
Listen to Michel Martin’s NPR discussion with other prominent journalists about their emotions on election night. All, except Soledad O’Brien, reported that they struggled to “hold it in.” Point being: they at least thought it important not to show emotion on-air. And I wondered whether Osunsami had the same struggle or whether he regretted his show of emotion and if so, why? I didn’t expect Osunsami to publicly reveal himself again by answering those questions, however. (I was one of the folks who Facebook’d him after the near-cry… no response… read on for why I didn’t follow up)
On election night, I inwardly burned during every second of Osunsami’s near-cry. (you must understand, in general, I’m the passionate sort) I saw “the moment,” not as a beautiful display of the story’s human side; that role should’ve been played by the jubilant Morehouse students in the background. Rather, I interpreted the moment, then, as a journalist compromising his professional integrity–and as a television network lowering its standards for “the black guy.”
Osunsami, with ABC’s help, had opened the door for his credibility to be questioned as a journalist. The hidden “benefit” of being a black journalist though, is that your purported lack of bias will be attributed to your race as well. Lucky us.
Which brings me back to the ignorant question that kicked off this post: can black journalists cover the Obama White House without bias? By his own admission, journalist Jeff Winbush can’t–but later asks to be judged by his reporting first. I find that odd, as well as his justification of black groupie behavior because, erm, white journos are groupies, too.
I’m not going to answer the question that I posed. Ignorance deserves a challenge, not an answer–and I realized after some thought, that I too was guilty of needing the challenge.
For others, question your assumption that black people think however it is that you believe black people think. You’ll squeeze more truth from a situation if you think of the offending black journalist as a journalist, first.
For me, don’t justify ignorance by fearing its repercussions. Part of what infuriated me about Osunsami’s show of emotion was the belief that, “he’s ruining it for the rest of us”–us, being the significant minority of black journalists who struggle mightily to enter and remain in this profession. It would drive me insane if I hounded myself with the belief that others doubted the quality of my reporting because of my race. Really, that’s their problem. I shouldn’t make it mine.
That realization is why I didn’t pursue Osunsami beyond that Facebook ouverture. On election night, I too was guilty of looking at him as a black journalist, not as Steve Osunsami. But if I were viewing him primarily as a man, I’d have said, there’s nothing wrong with showing emotion at an extraordinary time. Journalists are human, too.
