Subject: ITALIANS UNITE! Date: Tue, 1 Jul 1997 14:29:10 -0400 (EDT) From: PEPPINO54@aol.com To: joegreen@intercall.net |
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(Mr. Anastasio, Please post in anti-defamation link on your web page. Thanks, Joey Stella) Dear friends of FIERI, Once again, the media has taken a swipe at the Italian-American community. But this was no ordinary swipe, and certainly no ordinary news medium. The Chicago Tribune, one of the country’s most respected newspapers, let slip through its editorial safeguards an affront on our community so heinous that local Italian-Americans are up in arms. On May 7, the Tribune’s sardonic sports columnist Steve Rosenbloom put a photo of Rick Pitino, the highly-respected professional basketball coach, next to a photo of convicted murderer Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. Under the guise of humor, Rosenbloom paralleled the career move of Pitino to the actions of Gravano: Pitino’s caption read “Sold out Kentucky” while Gravano’s read “Ratted out John Gotti.” Further driving home the public’s already-tainted image of Italian Americans being associated with criminality, Rosenbloom’s actions test the boundaries of journalistic integrity. For this reason, Rosenbloom and the Tribune were taken to task by the Italian-American community. But when Chicago’s Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans (JCCIA) approached the Tribune demanding at least an apology, the community was snubbed once again. Not only did the Tribune’s editor, Howard Tyner, refuse to meet with community leaders, he funneled the complaints to his public editor, George Langford. In an interview with Paul Basile, the editor of the Chicago-based Italian-American newspaper Fra Noi, Langford had this to say: “After meeting with Mr. Tyner, it was determined that this did not require correction or retraction. We just did not view it as seriously, unfortunately, as some folks in the Italian community did.” Contending that the Italian-American community is being thin-skinned, the Tribune adamantly refuses to apologize, even though a formal apology was written to the black community less than a month ago, after a far less malicious item about Tiger Woods was printed. In Basile’s July article, he writes that the JCCIA’s president emeritus, Dominic Di Frisco, was particularly surprised at the slur, especially considering the ethnicity of the offender. “I’m shocked that someone whose name is Rosenbloom would dream of putting Rick Pitino on the same page as Gravano,” said Di Frisco. “The Jewish people have suffered horrendously as a result of bigotry, slander and guilt by association, and are usually extremely sensitive to ethnic bashing. I expected more sensitivity and care from the pen of a Jewish Writer.” JCCIA President Louis Rago also voiced his opinion in the article: “This is a prime example of the sort of insults we take every day. The Chicago Tribune would never have been so blatantly pompous and unresponsive with any other ethnic group, especially this month, when the Tribune is hyping its 150th anniversary as the ‘World’s Greatest Newspaper.’ The Italian-American community should be aware of the cavalier disregard that the Tribune has for us, and we should no longer stand for it.” Currently, Basile and Rago are mounting a campaign against the Tribune that includes a letter-writing campaign, a protest and possibly a financial boycott. Please help in our fight for justice. Direct all communications to Chicago Tribune Editor Howard Tyner, and mail to: Fra Noi Re: Tribune Campaign 261 N. York Rd. Elmhurst, IL 60126-2757 Mille Grazie! Joey Stella Director of Public Relations, FIERI-CHICAGO p.s. For those of you who feel uncomfortable writing letters, I’ve included a sample letter for your downloading pleasure. p.s.s. Please forward this to all friends and relatives who you think may want to help. p.s.s.s. Boston, this item should be of particular interest to you since Pitino is now the head coach of the Boston Celtics. Howard Tyner, Editor Chicago Tribune Dear Mr. Tyner, I found Chicago Tribune sports columnist Steve Rosenbloom’s May 7th comparison of highly-respected professional basketball coach Rick Pitino to the murderous gangster Sammy “The Bull” Gravano to be demeaning and offensive to the Italian-American community. I believe the Tribune needs not only to issue an immediate apology to the Italian-American community, but also to be more sensitive when dealing with issues of ethnicity in the future. Sincerely, |
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