Getting A Seat at the Table

As we move through the last week of July and trudge through the dog days of summer, it's worth remembering that the looming shadow just beyond the horizon, is our national reminder that football season is coming. Training camps began their annual commencement this past weekend, and a deluge of journalists will be there to report every touchdown, failed snap, and pick-six that takes place. One of those journalists is getting some much deserved shine.

Josina Anderson is a well respected journalist who has covered a multitude of sports over the years, but is probably best known for her NFL coverage. She's be stationed at training camps, given live reports from the field, and as black woman, has stood out in an industry that has long been dominated by men.

So that's why it was good to see her not in the field this time, or outside some training facility, but with a prominent seat (literally) during a recent discussion on Raiders QB Derek Carr. We don't often see women -- especially black women -- with seats at the table when discussing sports, so it was certainly refreshing to see this. Much props, Josina. See you on Sundays this fall.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:13269609

Remembering Komla Dumor

It's not often that the passing of a journalist elicits mourning among people across two continents, but the reaction to Komla Dumor's death speaks to the impact he had not just in the news industry, but on the people he covered as well.

From NPR.org

Komla Dumor passed away last month due to a heart attack. At the time of his death he had been the Africa business reporter for BBC Television in London, where he had worked since moving from Ghana in 2006. It was in Ghana that Komla won the 2003 Journalist of the Year Award.

Telling It Like It Is for More Than 40 Years

It was very sad news to hear last week that the man of the only afro-centric news show on network television, had passed away. Gil Noble had died of a stoke. He was 80-years-old.

Gil Noble is perhaps most well known for his 1-hour long television show "Like It Is," which aired locally on channel ABC 7 here in the New York area.