Noted Anti-Racist Inky Publisher Accused Of Racism!

Racially rabid Lisa Hughes

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net

Don't look now but that noted anti-racism crusader, Lisa Hughes, publisher and CEO of The Philadelphia Inquirer, has just been publicly accused of -- gasp, shriek -- racism!

Hughes, as you remember, is the rabid ideologue who branded her own newspaper as racist for having published a headline in 2020 that said, "Buildings Matter, Too."

That headline, according to Hughes, committed the "grievous and unpardonable offense" of offending a group of corrupt Marxist grifters known as Black Lives Matter.

That allegedly racist headline prompted Hughes to declare that henceforth, the Inquirer would become a crusading "anti-racist" newspaper.

Hughes gained more notoriety as a deranged lunatic when she began publishing the "More Perfect Union" series. This dubious endeavor, financed with a $1.3 million grant from the gullible Lenfest Institute for Journalism, is in the process of indicting every major institution in town for the sin of systemic racism, dating back centuries, starting, of course, with The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Yesterday, however, a newly created rainbow coalition of minority journalists issued a manifesto that publicly demanded an immediate sit-down with Hughes and Inquirer Editor Gabriel Escobar for not living up to their previously stated diversity goals. And if Hughes and Escobar don't bow to their demands, the coalition threatened to launch a nasty PR campaign that would allegedly expose Hughes and Escobar for being a couple of racist hypocrites!

This upcoming clash not only will provide the rest of us with more entertainment, but it's also a chance to witness the Shakespearian spectacle of Hughes being hoisted with her own petard.

The most recent racial troubles at the Inquirer appear to have been instigated by Ernest Owens, a black and openly gay firebrand who's made a successful career out of being a racial provocateur.

Owens previously inspired Tom McGrath, the former editor-in- chief of Philly mag, to voluntarily resign because he realized he was guilty of the sin of being a "middle-aged white guy." Owens then became Philly mag's first black and openly gay editor-at-large.

Now that's what I call racial progress, Ernest Owens style!

In his latest campaign, Owens, as President of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, has joined forces with the Philadelphia chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, and the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, to create a new advocacy group known as J.A.W.N.. as in the Journalism Accountability Watchdog Network. 

And the new coalition has targeted the Inky for failing to live up to a bunch of promises to further diversify the newsroom at that supposedly already-diversified publication: 

These failures have led to the loss of multiple journalists of color within the newsroom over the last year, and as a result there are now zero Black male reporters at the paper outside of the sports desk. 

This means we are missing out on important perspectives to cover critical topics like public safety, housing, education, the LGBTQIA+ community, food insecurity, poverty and Black culture within Philadelphia.

Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

But that's not what Ernest Owens and friends believe. Only minority reporters, they say, can cover minorities and minority issues. And in their open letter to the Inquirer, the new rainbow coalition flexed its muscles by issuing demands:

We stand united in our individual and collective attempts to work with the Inquirer to address these failures and demand a meeting with you to determine our next steps in remedying this and to discuss other grievances our organizations and our communities have previously raised with you.

As diversity devotees, the new coalition relied on a Temple study that held up a racial ruler to the Inky's news columns, and found the paper wanting:

Some of the most disheartening revelations from Temple’s 118-page diversity report found that Inquirer stories cover Black people only 26.4% of the time (compared to 58.8% of the time for white people). Of those stories about Black people, 53% are about sports. 

The Temple study also conducted a census of the racial makeup of newsroom and found more disturbing news:

The report at the time also revealed that only 13.6% of Inquirer staff is Black (compared to 77.3% white), with co-chairs of the audit stating that “the Inquirer tends to cover white people the most” and “white reporters tend to write about white people even more.”

This led the Owens-led rainbow coalition to declare a public emergency:

Now the Inquirer has zero (0%) Black male news reporters of a staff that is predominantly white covering a majority-BIPOC city. There are no Black male reporters outside of sports — none in features, none in breaking news, none in investigations, none in business, none in health, and none on the new communities desk. 

The rainbow coalition then issued an ominous threat: 

The time for airing our grievances and waiting for the Inquirer to make glacial-moving DEI [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] changes has now neared its end.

We demand that the powers that be at the Inquirer immediately initiate good-faith, consistent and transparent communications with J.A.W.N. We demand dedicated meetings with Lisa Hughes, Gabe Escobar, the paper’s leadership and the board of directors.

Hughes and Escobar, who are of course busy because they're under siege, did not respond to a request for comment. They're just hoping that Jesse Jackson doesn't come to town.

Accompanying their demand for access, Owens and friends actually threatened to drive our beloved paper of record into extinction:

 If the paper fails to fulfill this demand, J.A.W.N. will initiate a public campaign against the Inquirer. As part of this campaign, we will let the public know that the paper of record has continued to fail to live up to its anti-racist PR mantra, and that its coverage continues to harm, divide and build distrust among the communities of color it so clearly needs if it plans to survive in Philadelphia.

Holy Diversity Crisis!

This, of course, is a breaking story of major importance as fearless diversity warriors take on pandering anti-racist newspaper execs now hiding under their desks.

Meanwhile, don't be surprised if this dust-up ends with the historic appointment of a new Inky editor-at-large named . . . Ernest Owens!

UPDATE: Lisa Hughes speaks!

In an email today to her comrades, er colleagues, Inquirer Publisher & CEO Lisa Hughes decried the "incredibly misleading," "incredibly disheartening" and totally "unwarranted attack" by JAWN on the Inquirer's unshakable commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Hughes, who, according to sources, still lives in New York City, also pledged to fight back against the Ernest Owens-led attackers:

Although there are voices outside of our organization looking to downplay and disregard the hard work that goes on each and every day at The Inquirer, we know better. We will not be discouraged, and we will not give in to their demands, threats, and belittlement.

Hughes's speech, sadly all of which we don't have the space to print here, drew immediate comparisons to the opening monologue by the late actor George C. Scott in the classic movie Patton.

Hughes vs. Owens.

The diversity death match is on!