it that you think of is the role of a person like myself who are not necessarily communicating through those channels in advancing this dialogue and conversation>> does anybody wish to respond? >> we live in a wonderful age where everyone is a publisher everyone is a tv station, and everyone has the power to broadcast whatever they think with a little bit of bandwidth. keep on keeping on. we can't guarantee you an audience but you now have power that when i was your age, i cannot even trim of. >> when i went to school at ohio state my dream is to own a paper. you needed $2 million to buy a printing press and now item -- and now you can publish with a $100 device. i am pleased you could join us tonight. are you satisfied with that response?

>> april wants to respond as well. >> the wonderful students at howard university in telecom? >> i'm a sociology major. a journalism major. >> nonetheless and this is my personal opinion if you have a blog podcast, you have a role on social media and have a responsibility. you have a responsibility to tell the truth. as someone who has gone through howard university, you have a responsibility to tell the truth and get it out there accurately. there are so many people not telling the truth, not telling the story correctly, particularly, telling the story about our community that is not about our community. you have a responsibility. i challenge anyone out there who gets a blog, any kind of twitter page whatever, go out there and be responsible until the truth. find out the facts. everybody can be a journalist now, and that is a big problem.

there's a lot of responsibility in being a journalist. >> thank you, april. >> my name is caleb jackson, i'm 19 years old. we are group of teenagers who want to affect the world by giving back. >> i am brandon. i raised one of the $60,000 to raise a school in ethiopia. >> i am 18 years old. at age 16, 07 to purchase my first investment property and i been able to purchase one more since then through my company. >> i am 18 years old. >> i let a national youth movement in jamaica that motivates thousands of you throughout the country to get involved in their community. our question is, one that promote or images on media on youth leading their communities? does that make sense? >> i would like to touch on

something for two seconds. i know you were to give your answer, but i do want to make a statement. my problem -- our problem with the media, we're not all shooting basketballs and we're not all rapping and getting shot outside. our biggest problem is, when i'm around people like 12 to 13 or 14, and they're looking for new role models, they want to strive to be, it's not -- i'm sorry, it's not the president of the united states or the people that are economy today, and it is not because they don't want to be that person, it is because in their mind it is very esoteric. there are told through the media they can only be a basketball player, hip-hop, or a rapper or athlete. what we wanted to say was, we

need a platform. young entrepreneurship, young is this owners, and give -- young business owners and get our generation a new look on a brighter future. >> there are a couple of outlets already out there. some give more followers and get more play than others, but i think the root is doing a fantastic job of june that very thing. it is young people in tech, route 100, i think they do a great job. black enterprises to the same thing. i also think there is something that the et is doing -- b.e.t. is doing. it is a relatively new initiative. health image, and service. it is all about black men, young men, and also young men. what you all are doing in a real

way is a kind of content i think they're looking for to do that. that there is a ton of outlets out there that i think public and for that kind of content. i think you to realize what we're looking at some of the mainstream media outlets, often times, they're not getting as many viewers as some of the digital outlets are getting. what we used to look at -- i want to get a feature on cnn because of they show me, then i'm going to blow up. but the number of people watching heroes isn't the same number people watching world star hip hop. utilizing some of the outlets out there and creating partnerships with some of these digital folks, is a real way to get yourself in your story from the people that aren't going to see it at all if they're watching television. the very people you're talking about impacting, are not watching the networks you're talking about, were there not showing pictures of you the first place. stop looking to them to validate you, and begin to use the other outlets out there. >> but i have to ask you, what is your outreach?

have you been reaching out to those different people? did you specifically start with black media? who? >> whut, a few weeks ago. >> follow me. steve harvey running show, rickey smiley morning show, and yolanda adams. you have seven ashley syndicated shows. i have the only black morning news show in america targeting black shows. you have black newspapers and black magazines. there literally is a major infrastructure there. part of the deal is not to a story on us, it is also making us aware of exactly who you are as well, so when you bring that to the table, the nets were to help set story out as well. the onus is not always on us not covering it, but reaching out to nontraditional outlets to

get your story told as well. >> i think i think they did a publicist so they can put it out there. >> i got my own show and i want tom joyner. all have to do is give you an e-mail. i mean, just saying. and i don't have to ask anybody because it is my damn show. >> i just want to piggyback and concur with what roland said. a lot of the times you go and look at the media, which is one of the reasons why we exist is because we want to create that counter narrative. in our business section this past week, we showed a woman who got -- recently passed the national bar association. she was in america's next top model, she wasn't the next olympic athlete, but a lot of the times because we are overwhelmed as media outlets ourselves, the best thing you can do is put your information out there. chances are, if we have a story about young black man

entrepreneurs, we are going to do something with it because we want to create that counter narrative that there is more to being a young black successful man than having a ball or microphone. >> i can't speak for "the washington post" but i think they went as well. next question. i'm sorry. are we ready for the next question? please come on the side of the room -- please, on the side of the room. >> i'm a doctoral candidate at harvard university. my question is, why is it the mainstream media is letting police chiefs around the country off the hook? i am appalled they take the high road, but the thought there could be racist police officers or there could be a bias -- they need a history lesson. do we need them all to watch "selma"? the entire backup of racism and

injustice in america is local law enforcement and the black community. all of a sudden, when you bring the thought up, they are like, how could you dare think such a thing that my officers would treat a black person differently? that has been our history for 100 years. not the politicians, local law enforcement. why is it what you do interviews with them on national tv, no one says, remember the dogs? we let them get a platform to say, my guys will take the high road because we cap about the community. we don't remind them of history and how that lingers in our mind as a community. >> i don't want to defend police chiefs, but i do want to prevent stereotyping of every single police chief in america. there are thousands. they're not all races. they are not all killers. we have to figure out which ones are which. >> [indiscernible] >> from about this?

how about the fact i don't hear a lot of people who aren't in the media, and i'm not defending the media, but i don't hear a lot of folks who are not in the media connecting the current protests to the election of over 35 mayors less than 11 months. almost all of those mayors are going to select or supervise police chiefs. if we are going to be serious about how to we begin to train -- make these protest real, it is not just about a gangster reporter pointing his finger at a police chief and saying, "don't you believe in racism?" it is about, how do we ensure those elected are held accountable to choosing the kind of police chiefs that are about community policing, have a history of community policing, that understand it, that are shifting shum of the -- some of the dna departments from control to service.

because a lot of the conversations about the integrated methodology of policing in the u.s., and how do we begin a shift that. we don't shift it through interviews with police chiefs, we do it for holding accountable elected officials were going to choose police chiefs and what is the community saying they want us police chiefs to look like when they make that a primary factor in who they elect. you have less than 11 months when you have city will dish cities like chicago and columbus ohio and other cities that are going to be electing mayors who are for that very thing. that is not to say we shouldn't be accountable to asking her questions, it is to say if you want to see shifts, it is not just going to be from asking a police chief a question about racism. it is going to be about electing mayors and selecting police chiefs and safety directors who understand what 21st century policing needs to look like. >> the point about how we as

journalists oftentimes are trying to mediate the conversation, so certainly, yet ask the tough questions and other times there's a panel for you to make sure you let in the differing or disagreeing voices on this, but i think a lot of times you're not going to have someone who is to interview very keen on calling someone a racist simply because that ends the conversation. what you start running around accusations, people shut down. our job is to as his questions about what is next. it goes beyond that in her view of the police chief of the panel with the different people and the differently of -- differing opinions. it is, what he going to do about this law are the way grand jury's function, what is the next upside the protest and the marches in the sort of headline grabbing moment? sometimes media falls down. not asking that question and not

following up enough because we have moved on. books on "60 minutes" last night about the tamir and the police chief of cleveland, i recommend it highly. >> i would like to ask the panelists to comment on the fact with the case said new york, with the two cops that were shot, you had representatives of the police union, police department, trying to make the association of one man's actions , the man who killed the two cops, and the entire issue was about bad cops and cops that have done the things we know with the case in new york in the case in ferguson. that coverage has essentially silenced the debate and shifted it to something else. i was wondering if the panelists

could comment on that? >> look, his job is to defend his officers at all costs. ok? police union leaders, even when they know it was absolutely heinous and wrong, they're going to defend. that is what he is paid to do. he is not paid offer an objective viewpoint. the problem is when those of us in media or unwilling to challenge him when he comes on the air with his comments. are unwilling to say, wait a minute, in this particular case -- you notice he has not said much about the cops who shot the dude in the dark hallway. and the gun discharged. it's a little hard to defend that one, but he might try. so that is what you have here. it is understanding, look, i understand with summit's job is, but we also have a job as well

and it is our responsibility to also be aware of the various issues to note what questions to ask. i'm going to take right now, that is part of your problem. specially when you're watching television shows, a like you got the most well read folks asking questions. you are sitting at home going ask this. trust me, did nobody hand them a blue card with that question on it. that is one of the fundamental problems you have. there is an unwillingness to challenge folks because you understand what the game is. it goes back to, well, what if we don't get a book them again? if i come across too hard, someone may not want to come on the show. a press too hard, then they pulled back and then they pulled her purchase. you are sitting at home mad because it is not a real interview.

that is a fundamental problem we have in media, but also why you got to have other voices there that are willing to challenge. when i was doing a morning show, guests were saying, i will come on in all take questions from solid dad, but not from the panel. she was going to kick are behind anyway but they would say, i will not do the panel. they don't with someone coming out of the box who is not worried about whether or not i get another interview. all of those things happen. that is behind the scenes. you don't even realize that is happening because what the media does not want to show you is most folks in media absolutely crave and desire continued access. we're unwilling to challenge power because they might cut off our access and we crave the access. >> thank you. hazel and i made a command decision we were going to go until 8:00. we will go to a: 15 because the questions are so good in the answers to my mac complement --

may i compliment, for the responses. please, keep the questions as brief as possible. make them hard and brief. >> hello, everyone. i'm a producer at the department of defense recording video operations. my first question is about diversity. first, i want to thank you april, for asking president obama the state of black america, what he felt that was. if it wasn't for you, no one would have asked that in the room. previously when i worked in news, was one of the only black in the newsroom, and we were the only people asking to report on the stories. what do you feel is the most pressing barrier to diversity in the newsroom, and how can it be overcome? a second quick question, race coverage and national security. people recently notice the lack of coverage for boko haram as

well as the naacp bombing here in america, and compare it to the paris magazine attacks. do you feel that criticism is valid, and what are your thoughts? >> i want to speak to the issue of diversity when it comes to newsroom particularly, at the white house. thank you for that complement. i love to see people of color at the white house. unfortunately, that is a room that has been historically a white male dominated room. i don't know why, but that is been the case. >> [inaudible] [laughter] >> i just love myself some roland martin. seriously, during the clinton years, and this is the crazy thing, during the clinton years clinton was the "first black president." hazel, your member coming in there, there were more

african-americans that were there in the seat constantly. not moving around. george w. bush came and everybody left. obama came, all the black journalist came to the white house. they were so excited. they wanted to see the first black president. i was happy to see black reporters there, even if it wasn't mainstream, it was still a presence of black reporters there. the problem with the white house, there is an internal problem and an external problem. the external problem is, a lot of these networks want to higher -- hire what women with blond hair. in my telling the truth? that is the new trend now. well -- not -- anyway, there is a resurgence of it right now.

i am definitely not network material. i am deftly too old and another shade of beige. when you talk internally, the structure internally does not support people to come in -- people who have a seat in that room and workspace in that room. i have been blessed. i was sitting in the back of the room. i was sitting the second row from the back and i moved up. that room does not support you in your effort to cover the president of the united states. it is not easy in that room. it is not easy for someone -- i called the front row the million dollar row. it is not easy. athena works for cnn. i'm sure she talks to producers about things going on, but for me, and my issue is urban and black america. i asked questions about china --

i asked questions about anything but primarily, urban issues. when they come to me they know what is she going to ask? that room is not necessarily freely to any reporter. but when you're coming a behind the curve, it is rough. it is me. we took a picture in ebony -- what? we took a picture in ebony. >> "ebony" is a black magazine for those who don't know. >> it was a ton of people and that picture. you were in that picture. we don't know where -- a lot of them were reporters. >> paul wants to get in. >> african-americans are not underrepresented in the news media. they are underrepresented in the decision-making parts of the news media. there lots of black reporters and lots of hispanic reporters.

the diversity -- hold on. the diversity -- it is the number representative of the population. what is underrepresented, again, the people calling the shots. that is were the diversity -- >> that is the point roland made earlier that i agree with, but i do still think there's a lot of underrepresentation of minorities in general and the news media. i think a lot of people would agree. i do think it is important to note progress has been made. progress is being made. when i worked at cnn in new york, i don't think there were many other black women on my floor when osa segment producer. there are a few more. i think progress is being made. you have to keep having people wanting to be journalists. you have to have mentors are going to say, keep at it, keep trying. the mentors don't have to be black, but it is helpful if they are. the bottom line, the forces of the status quo are very

powerful. you have to constantly -- everyone who has an interest has to be costly paying attention to it. some of us are not in a hiring position. that doesn't mean we can't be in an encouraging position. the bottom line is the forces of the status quo are hard to beat back, but that is why have to keep going. it is not just minorities, but women as well. >> this is critically important. who remembers "the new york times" story from three or four years ago on all of the generals who are computers on the cable networks? -- contributors on the cable networks? there wasn't a single minority general on that list. again, i talked about kevin hart come access to resources hiring -- the exact same thing. under president george w. bush, they created afrikom.

that was a black general who was a four-star general who was the first commander on after, -- afrikom. that was one network showed that interviewed the general about military options against boko haram. me. you would think that somebody in the newsroom, somewhere in america someone would say, i wonder who might be in next bert on affairs -- an expert on affairs on that from the military viewpoint. not one call. not one. he was a commander. because you did not have somebody in the newsroom who knew kit ward existed. and so if you don't even have someone in an interview knows he exists, then you don't have anybody saying, we might want to call general kip board.

before he retired, and understand, i started every job with the understanding you're going to get fired anyway. [laughter] coming, -- y'all can look at the newsroom numbers. you can play it safe and get laid off and be mad, or you can do you, get laid off, and do what i was supposed to do while i was there. in the six years i was there, i went on to communicate jim walters and john kline, and i specifically said -- when kip was returned, i said, we need to higher kip is a computer. it is nuts to say the only black generally configured today is: powell. -- colin powell. that also goes to where you are because they have access to the pentagon.

if you don't have any minority general's letter now on air contributors -- my point is, it creates other hiring opportunities for the next folks coming in, that is what i mean when we get shut out those power positions, it has a trickle-down effect -- vertical and horizontal -- and it further creates more division and keeps us further away from these prime opportunities. the reality is, when gilbert becomes editor, would you have an african american who becomes editor -- hopefully, you have someone who knows who they are -- they are going to understand that they will be bringing more people into this mix to broaden this, and not worry about, well you don't have this particular pedigree. they know you have the skill set. that is why it matters and we are in leadership positions. when we are not in leadership

positions or we are the third level or fourth level and we're just simply staffers, basically, we are the help. >> let's take one more question from each side. then i would like my friend hazel to make a comment about a special group of students we have here. if it is ok with you, could you ask a question? if we could keep it short and the responses shortly to the point, we might get a next or in. >> i'm a sophomore broadcast journalism major at howard university. me and my friend are starting a campaign about going out into local d.c. high schools and making students, black students or minority students, more aware of being conscious of the situations happening. i feel everyone here is colleges and an aware, but people in our generation i feel like there is a break. we talked to students back home -- i grew up in st. louis.

i spoke to my friends who stayed in st. louis and really did not go to college and stuff, and we talked about other things other than the ferguson situation with them like other systematic racism like health care and situations like that, and they're not aware of that. so to change everything happening, do you have any tips to help us tell them that you can be executives, if you like to play but a claims, you can create the video game, making them aware they do have these opportunities yet though we are the generation that has all of these technologies instagram the social media outlets, and we just want to help them use it to the ability to be nothing like the help or anything like that. >> i think there's a challenge. what you're doing is fantastic. i think one of the misnomers is that we go talk at kids. we have to create relationships with young people. i started my media career doing social political commentary on a rap video show. there wasn't anybody doing that before then.

the ability to connect with the audience wasn't about, how can i create this list of things to talk at them about it was, how is there a back-and-forth relationship so that there is trust and consistency? so i think the first thing you have to do is create relationships. as you build relationships, you build trust. as you build trust, you build credibility. as you build credibility you can talk about anything. i knew what i was in was working, not because of ratings. i was entering wintering was streamed. some of you understand what that means and some of you don't. a dude rolled up on me and was like yo, man, i want to appreciate for talking about the nuclear option. i'm looking for the cameras. i can't believe this young dude is rolling up on me, talking about the nuclear option of the

supreme court. he was like, yo nobody ever talks to us about that kind of stuff and you came to us honest and me and my wife started looking it up. this was a young brother. at first i was irritated. i'm at the club, i'm not here to talk about politics. then i am buying a maturing because i need you to help me understand how this happened. it happened not because i was talking about certain issues but because we had created a relationship. create relationships with the young people you want to engage. as you listen to them and they listen to you, you begin to have conversation. they are a whole lot more aware than you think they are. it is really about listening to the things they care about, what they're concerned about, which gives you a bridge to start talking about issues within they may not know about. >> i am scared for 2016. the reason i'm scared for 2016 -- won't be anybody black running. follow me here.

if you look back to 2008, you sell folks you'd never seen in your life -- you saw folks you had never seen in your life. you saw hispanic intruders, he saw african-americans, you saw more women because you had then senator obama and then senator clinton running. after the 2009 election, we're back to business as usual. those folks disappear. it is something amazing when a 14-year-old or 15-year-old says, i never even thought about politics until i heard you talk about it. here is my fear. who is going to be talking about it in 2016? who is going to be talking about it the way for them to understand? who was going to be speaking to the issues that they deal with every day? not talking like you're from

d.c. or new york, but talking like you talking to folks who are -- that is a serious fear. and goes to the notice of racial -- bill bennett in 2008 actually said this, and you can pull the tape, he said, when obama won south carolina ash he said when reverend jackson won, it was black history. but obama winning is american history. i thought, did you just say that on-air? mind you, nobody else said a word. no one else was willing to check -- that is bill bennett, former secretary of education. i said, wait a minute, bill, do you know all the black folks who ran for county commissioner and share in 1984 and 1988? i began to walk the line. then he tried to come back and

re-say it again. i said, wait a minute. we don't know a little short like i in minnesota in this reverend jackson runs, because he was the state director when he ran for president in 1988. i went down this whole line of people who came through politics because of reverend jackson's run up. therefore, how dare you diminish histwo runs as being black history not american history. the point there is nobody is at the table willing to challenge him on it. imagine if that, ted gone unchecked. we talk about race in america. i am looking at who is going to be on those networks and what they are saying because the theory is we will go back to business as usual and having the same voices speaking about the electorate and not doing what gilbert said, looking at the numbers. we are more black, we're more

hispanic, so why is our television looking like it is touching 50? -- looking like it is 1950? >> when president obama was elected, we talk about the black reporters and hispanic reporters. did we do our jobs? one of the first question i asked a civil rights leader after president obama was elected was, what do we do now that we have a black president? he said, we must speak truth to power no matter what color power is. have lack of latino and other reporters held as president to the same level of account ability on race that we have others? speak into the mic. just as a reporter, just individually, what do inc.? >> what i think about the white house from the press briefing room, i think people are asking hard questions. able is asking hard questions,

hispanic journalists are asking hard questions. i think it is difficult to know, generally speaking if everyone is holding the proper people's fee to the fire, but when you who've away from the president you could just big a much more regular basis -- >> on the issue of race. >> i think not enough people are doing that, but i think certainly there are some people who are doing that. hazel talked about how she is lonely in their bring up this issue. >>she worked for urban radio network, but she asked about other issues as well. >> is not as if this white house has given us an amount of access -- i'm sorry. this white house has not given the same amount of access that previous white house has. what i'm saying by that is, -- >> [indiscernible] >> i'm talking about black press. i got an interview with the

president, so not saying it hasn't happened. i'm saying if you think about over the course of three years there is been, what, three interviews -- tv interviews the president has has done with president? >> i don't think that's right. >> there have been three. >> robin roberts has gone several. >> i'm talking about black press on tv. >> ok. >> that is not an indictment -- to answer your question, i think there have been fewer opportunities to have direct one on ones with the president, to give enough journalists the chance to ask certain questions. i think folks like april or doing an amazing job in the positions they are, but to her point, there aren't a lot of people where she is. >> that is what i'm saying. i am encouraging hazel, jeff roland come all the people -- it is easy to get into the white house press briefing, just call

the white house. when it comes down to katrina or ferguson, when it comes down to all of these issues that affect black america, it needs to be more reporters asking to generate test sometimes i will ask questions and sometimes the mainstream media will pick it up and follow up, but it takes follow-up questions to really make a difference. sometimes if it is just me, it is not going to be a follow-up. we need the continual pressure to ask the question if the store is going to be above the fold, make the a block of the evening news. if you're talking about media making a difference, it has to be continued pressure from the community, continuously, for us to really say, ok, this is something. that kind of thing gets attention and pressure from the media as well as those who effectuate change. >> we have three people standing. wewe each ask every question ? than the panelists can respond all three -- is it four?

ok four good questions, but please, make them brief. >> and from the church of scientology national affairs office and freedom magazine. i was hoping summit of you could maybe speak to where we go from here, and could the be summit in the media that could take the lead as to what we take this conversation? and who could that be and how good that kind of go through? >> let's get the other three questions. yes, sir. >> i work at elliott high middle school, computer applications teacher. we launched the first renewing tv program run solely by middle school kids. they are there. they are right there. we need -- [applause]

>> as we begin to wrap up because i have parents texting me now -- >> hazel has a nice thank you to your group of students. >> i understand and i really appreciate the invitation. but i need your help. we're running a kids campaign to interview the president. i have asked for support from congressman lewis and commerce one on the way from senator al franken. we conducted a broadcast on a march on washington, backstage at the kennedy center, and we've done our homework. we have interviewed so many prominent people. we're been featured on channel seven and "queen latifah" and "the washington post." >> you want your kids to interview the president?

>> absolutely. >> [indiscernible] >> we will pass it along. >> we are ready have a response and i'm sure that will follow through. >> [indiscernible] >> we got you. we got you. we got you. . >> my name is angela johnson. if there's a crisis on sunday or over the weekend in the media covers it, i'm guarantee that on monday, i have to go to work and explain that charles barkley, kanye west, they're not my leaders to my did not vote for them and they don't speak for me. so i am wondering, as far as pushback and getting decision-makers in the newsrooms and in media, how can we make that breakthrough to future prominent and experienced, well educated experts to a jurist the issues -- to address the issues? >> the last question and then the panel will respond. >> i'm here representing black

women for positive change. i am a teacher, a community leader. also, i want to take it back on roland, the unmanned -- we do have to seek our leaders. i'm a cochair of mental health leader. what i want to know, back in the summer, i was running -- my mother was running from bullets my great nephew two years old hiding. that sign, "black lives matter," they do matter but why is it that we as a community have to continue to run from bullets in our community and nothing is done about it? it just does not make any sense. so when you talk about lack lives matter, tell me how you're going to tell our youth -- i'm a

teacher. how do we get to these use to let them know? why do you want your mother to run from a bullet? my mother's house has been shot. in north carolina, bullets flying in the community all the time. nothing is being done about it. we have got to do better. we have got to. and it is not just about pulleys, it is about the diversity, the jobs, everything. we have got to do better. >> could i ask each of the panelists if they want to give a concluding remark in response to these last few questions? how would that be? we give everybody a chance for a final response, and in doing so, i want to thank you on behalf of hazel and me for your participation tonight and for the audience for their excellent participation. [applause] roland, you start and we will move this way. >> i will do with the question she asked, where do we go from here?

i think these media executives, calling them to the table to literally say, you are a leader, what exactly is your plan? that can be done with the national association of black journalists and hispanic journalists, the native american journalists, and asian-american journalists. from a network standpoint, again, no one is perfect, but when i look at what abc is doing and the kind of on-air hires that made -- i don't necessarily see behind the scenes, but in terms of producers or executive roles, that is what it requires. it literally requires challenging them -- this is what you should do as a community. the media loves to talk about transparency. we love to tell city officials and public copies to reveal their numbers. these media institutions have a public trust.

from a community standpoint, you should tell them, reveal your numbers. reveal your hiring numbers, but don't just stop there. reveal your supply diversity numbers. who you do business with. are you doing business with minority firms? broaden it beyond just who is writing stories. you should want to know who is writing stories, who the executives making decisions, and also, what are they doing on the business side because again, you can hire us to be reporters or to be executives, but if you're not spending money with black business or minority business and containing the exact same cycle of income inequality, as a committed to, that is what you should be doing to every television station and newspaper, national folks as well. if they take those are private numbers, we don't reveal it, then you say, i guess you don't really believe in transparency of you don't reveal your own stuff. >> thank you, roland. gilbert? >> for us, it is a local story.

we did, we investigate, we use open records ask weston's, we probe -- ask questions, we probe. that is where we go from here. what i've heard tonight and with a ramp that up, here are some of the people we have heard from before. we are talking to young people in our community, and we need to do more. we need to find out what they're doing. they are not the leaders we have been dealing with before. and that is a challenge for us. we're saying for you who are in this positions, step up and talk and tell us what to think and write in blog and some letters and do opinion pieces for us. because that is the only way we will service communities outside of your own, to hear what you are trying to say. >> i agree with that point that both of you made, and that is that, as roland put it earlier we have to cover events that are

happening. we cover campaigns that may be getting started so our role is a necessary going to be advocate for certain point of view, but to make sure that point of view gets heard. the action has to be happening for us to cover it. sort of like a conversation back and forth. when we talk about where we go from here, a customer earlier point which is, we have to keep asking the question about what is next and find out if there's something afoot that maybe can be covered of a local level that we can shine a light on. something has to be happening. it is not going to be a saying, go do this, and we cover it. in terms of making sure there are more voices talking about these issues, that is just the same old fight we have to keep fighting. we have to be the ones who can sometimes make the suggestion to bookers who may be busy or used to going to send person because we know that personal answer their phone and that person will be available and will speak in a way that is good soundbites. we as individuals can help by continuing to look for other

voices and push those other voices, but it is a steady situation. it is not something we're going to suddenly see change overnight. i'm great with the conversation. let's keep it going. >> i think when we talk about what is next we need to look at the business side of it. i think we need to begin bolstering with financial dollars, some of the outlets whether they are bloggers who have proven themselves credible -- there are some amazing bloggers. if we can bolster them financially to be able to amplify what they're doing, they conserve is the best practice to other young people out there that have the same kind of ability to blog, but don't see quality bloggers. i think the other piece around seeing more voices is, again begin to tap some communication firms that are ready have the ability to do this work, have people they represent, to do a better job of creating stables of voices and voices in key areas.

and sometimes if there are firms doing work around national security and armed services, then you can have them building stables of voices in those areas. same thing around education and electoral politics. the bookers will book ever is calling them the most or whoever is the most entertaining. it doesn't mean good, it just means, can you get on and make other people mad? or can you come on and talk from a vantage point that other people can't talk from? we have to understand because you are smart, that doesn't mean you're good for tv. we have to understand the difference between the people that are good for radio and the people good for print and people good for television. oftentimes, we get really, really smart people that are horrible to watch, and a mix of difficult to get the next person because you have a track record against summit he was bad for tv. we have to understand the science. we really do need to develop

these young people. how do we begin to identify storytellers? i think roland does a decent job. i try to do a decent -- i think most people on this panel do that. it if we can find ways to be telling scouts and identifying young people by getting them internships and opportunities giving them the ability to write pieces and do some research and a finding ways to support the things there are ready doing demanding to raise the bar of what they're doing, then i think we can create a feeder pool, if you will, of not just local papers and news outlets, but a hold of community of new media -- a holding community of new media to validate them by doing good work. >> over the last 18 years, i have found grace does matter. raise matters at the white house

level, the presidential level, at the highest level in this land and globally. but the problem is, does it make the news? no, that always. how do we make that change happen? you have to make the change. you have to get up and push for it. when i say that, in my research from my book that is outside right now -- shameless plug -- but i'm telling you -- >> [inaudible] >> i learned it from you roland. anyway seriously, what i found in this book, the most successful movements that came torac were thosee done with treasure consistency, and massive numbers of people. why don't things change? and this is just me observing from the highest level in the land. when people come to the white

house, they come because of a large group behind them pushing the issue. when you complain about the bullets, note you have the nra on the other side saying, no, no, we're not when a change things. how do you effectuate change? that is what we report on. i see the nra and i see you. where does the movement come? if you want more blacks in media, if you want more stories in media, it comes to you. you have to make the change. thank you. >> my wife is an educator. one of the people she is educated during her career has been teachers. one of the things she does is equity training. she tries to make teachers who are not from the minority community aware of their white privilege, so they can teach children who are not like them. i think would probably be a good idea if reporters had equity

training. [applause] to become aware of people who are not like them. listen, we can't be what we are not. we are all born a certain way and have certain experiences but we can become aware of the things we are not. and that is what we might be able to bring about through some kind of concerted effort at training ourselves. >> ok, finally, thank you for having me. i think the thing that we have done at "the american" for nearly 90 years is, not only do we report the stories and encourage through our reporting people to engage, but to inspire people. i think one of the things that drew me into the paper and the rich legacy of it, i saw people

who looked like me doing something that i wanted to do. i think that is just -- i mean, it is of extreme importance that we show our people, the people that look like us and make it attainable, it makes it real, it makes it an authentic dream for us to have. like, i never thought -- heather not been a stateless american heather not been any ot outlets, i 100% certain of would not be sitting here because i would not -- not only would i not have had the platform or opportunity, i would not have thought it to be real. that is one of the things. also, to keep telling the whole story. most of the people who saw the ferguson unrest outside of ferguson, all they saw was the violence, the looting, and there was so much -- there were only six days of violence. the people were protesting -- i was like no, i'm missing a protest. they are still at it.

the vast majority of the protest s have been peaceful. the fact we were out the telling of the peaceful protest, i did a say and encourage the people who may have thought to be violent to go ahead and be useful because they knew that a place for their story to be told as well. [applause] >> that is in german, at the beginning of the evening, just ladies and gentlemen, at the beginning of the evening, i said this would be a historic event. thanks to all of you, it truly has been. i gave the opening remarks and a like to call on hazel trice to get the concluding remarks. >> hasn't it been wonderful? let's get the panelists, my peers, a great thank you. i would like to issue a challenge to them as he and people would say turn it up. get it turned up in your newsrooms. in my saying it ok? turnt up?

get it turnt up in your newsroom's. everything we talked about, turn it up. so we can make an impact in this country. i know it sounds trite but afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. that is what we're here for. now, if you adjust indulge me another moment, we would be remiss if we would not acknowledge a few people in our audience. mr. clarence page from the chicago tribune. awesome. ms. joyce jones from b.e.t. there are so many in here. ray baker is somewhere in the audience. i would be remiss if i did not acknowledge my capital press club, ms. robin wilks is back there, tristan francis, derek kenney. so on behalf of the capital press club we want to thank

you. finally, we want to lift up these young people in the back from elliott hyde middle school, pressing to get a question from their president. we're going to help them get that question to their president. thank you. please, be sure when you go out the door that you purchase april's book. she is going to sign it. that you also sign up to become a member of the capital press club or the national press club. we are out there, too. we thank you so much for coming. leave your card if you want to be invited to future events. make sure we have your contact information, because we will be having more. thank you.

>> the house select committee on benghazi meets today to continue its investigation into the 2012 attack that killed ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. the state department officials and representatives from the cia are expected to testify. you can see a light at 10:30 a.m. eastern on c-span3. loretta lynch, president obama's nominee to be the next attorney general, heads to capitol hill wednesday for a confirmation hearing. we hear from her life wednesday at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3. thursday, the committee hears from other witnesses about the nomination of mr. lynch, live at 10:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. loretta lynch is the current u.s. attorney for the eastern district of new york. her current tenure started in

2010 but she critically held the position from 1999 to 2001. she is a graduate of harvard university and is 55 years old. >> "this sunday, neuroscientist dr. frances jensen on the recent discoveries about the teenage brain. >> they don't have their frontal lobes to actually reason, the cause-and-effect subsequences of actions are not very clear to them because their frontal lobes are not at the ready. they're not as readily accessibly does accessible. the connections cannot be made as quickly for split-second decision-making. all forget, a lot of the hormones are changing a lot in the body of the young men and women, and the brain hasn't seen these yet in life and to you had teenage years. -- until you hit teenagers. the brain is trying to respond to these new hormones rolling around, locking onto receptors

synapses of different types, so it is sort of trial and error. i think this contributes to this very roller coaster kind of experience that we watch as parents. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span "q&a." >> today on c-span "washington journal" is next. coming up and 45 minutes, congressman johnson of georgia member of the judiciary committee discusses his bill to change the process of investigating any death of a citizen resulting from a police shooting.

at 8:30, president and cofounder of the tea party patriots is here to discuss the influence of the tea party heading into the twice 60 presidential elections. ♪ host: rotating from activity here on capitol hill, but a house hearing on benghazi will still play -- take place today. president obama heading to saudi arabia not only to pay respects to the deceased king abdulla but this after a three-day trip to india. one of the representatives from the administrative -- administration will talk about trade policy. the wh