Monthly Archives: April 2009

A Burning House

By Ray Watkins | Published: April 20, 2009
African American communities are not the only ones that suffer from the slow death of journalism. Civic engagement in the larger American polity is withering too, and for the same reason. Newspapers are folding not because they are unprofitable, but because even after cutting actual journalism to the bone, they don't bring in the fifteen and twenty percent returns that the bubble economy has accustomed investors to. A well-run newspaper can consistently bring in a seven to nine percent annual return on investment, which in pre-bubble days was considered just fine. The very few newspaper corporations that remained family owned, or that went nonprofit are doing journalism as well as ever. Forty-some years ago, Dr. Martin Luther wondered aloud that...
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The (Academic) Right’s Not Done Yet

By Ray Watkins | Published: April 17, 2009
Virginia Tech has been receiving some unwelcome but necessary scrutiny of late over the emphasis its college of arts and humanities has been giving to a divisive issue: diversity. The Virginia Association of Scholars, the National Association of Scholars, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni all have voiced concerns about an apparent attempt to mau-mau professors into toeing an ideological line. Last year a memo from Tech's provost stressed the need for candidates seeking promotion or tenure to "do a better job of participating in and documenting their involvement in diversity initiatives" -- an effort, it said, that was "especially important for candidates seeking promotion to full professor." Draft guidelines for the...
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