Colonel Sanders' handwritten recipe

[6souls]

Popeyes Story Sparks Newsroom Race Debate

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Rachel Barnhart (© 13WHAM-TV)

Rachel's Take

I was a little concerned tonight about the Popeye’s story.

Not because I don’t think it was a legitimate story. Customers called our newsroom wanting us to do the story about the chain running out of chicken after promoting a big special. They said the Lake Ave. location had long lines of cars.

When we went to the Lake Ave. Popeye’s, there were indeed long lines of cars. Some people took it in stride. Other people were downright angry. A few people made jokes.

The idea of people up in arms over chicken was pretty funny. I think saying the word “chicken” over and over again was funny, too. Some of the things the customers were saying were hilarious, especially the woman who said the store should have had a trailer out back filled with “chicken on ice.”

What concerned me about the story was the stereotype of black people liking fried chicken. Everyone in our story was black. We interviewed a dozen people. Even though the suburban Penfield location also ran out of chicken, and even though a whole lot of white people also like fried chicken, I was worried some viewers would think we were doing the story because of the stereotype. I was worried we were reinforcing or making fun of the stereotype.

I think the story was a story because it was a consumer issue, customers were upset, and some customers were even laughing. The conflict was just so – human. Would I have felt better about it if we talked to white people, too? Yes. Should we have gone to the Penfield store, too? Maybe. On the other hand, do we ever pause when our stories are filled with only white people? Not often - and that's sad.

I was comfortable with running the story. It accurately reflected what happened on Lake Ave. tonight. When I get upset at a business, I am the first person to express righteous outrage. That said, I wish I hadn’t put the story together at such a late hour, because I would have loved to make a bunch of calls to get more opinions on the stereotype issue.

The video of the story we ran is linked to this blog post. We took it down for a time as our newsroom debated this issue, but you probably need to watch it in order to have an opinion.

I'd really like to hear your thoughts. Be honest. Be thoughtful. Be respectful. Any hate language will be removed.

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Norma Holland (© 13WHAM-TV)

Norma's Take

Criticism is often leveled at 13WHAM that we do not feature Black people or other people of color in our stories unless they are criminals. As a person of color myself, I am sensitive to this.

So, you can imagine my thoughts when I saw our report last night about two local Popeye’s running out of chicken and the mayhem that ensued. My gut reaction was that the story--although a legitimate consumer complaint—seemed to reinforce a cultural stereotype about Black people and chicken. I know for a fact that no one on our staff meant for that to be the point of the story, but the fear that we would be accused of this sounded an alarm to me. It’s sad that I even had to worry about this.

The story was what it was: customers, who happened to be Black, expressing anger about a heavily advertised special that ran out. Our job as journalists is not to “whitewash (sorry, no pun intended)” the news. We aren’t here to manufacture, make up, or tamper with what exists so we ran the story. In hindsight, I’m glad we did. Race aside, it is a perfect consumer story…and consumers have a right to be angry.

However, the report sparked a discussion in our newsroom about the way we portray people of color. I have to admit, we tend to overlook the importance of being inclusive in some of our reporting. Gay, Lesbian, Hispanic, Senior, and Physically Disabled people have opinions on any number of topics, yet we tend to only interview them in relation to stories that affect their specific groups. What’s the sense in that?

This conversation is ongoing and I’m so proud that we are able to have it.

Popeyes Story Sparks Newsroom Race Debate - 13WHAM.com

[BerenTebogo]

They shoulda had a tractor trailer out back with chicken on ice. You know?

[Dimmauk]

I wonder what would happen if Jamba Juice ran out of boosts? White people would be going crazy!

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[quannum]

sugar, water, purple

[Anomander]

Meh, Jamba Juice is pretty terrible/way overpriced imo. Koolaid or gtfo

[thestalkmore]

Meh, Jamba Juice is pretty terrible/way overpriced imo. Koolaid or gtfo

You've obviously never had a Pink Star. DELICIOUS.

[Knightfell]

not one white person.......

Glad to see I wasn't the only person who thought this, damn, could they have tried to interview at least one non black person?

[gairaiden]

i don't see wtf is so great bout popeye's. we had one at the university i was at and it was terrible (had a sanitation rating of like a 87%).

bojangles has great fries indeed. anyone that hasn't eaten bojangles fries should find a bojangles and do so asap. bojangles fries + ice tea = great snack

[SamanosukeShiva]

asian's popeyes sells seafood so yummy <3

[Cow_k]

I should probably be shot for this, but with the reactions some of those people were having, I was half expecting someone to come out and say "Now what am I going to do with all this Watermelon?!"

[gairaiden]

watermelon o.O where?

this thread made me hungry for bojangles. ate bojangles for lunch yesterday and it was good ^^. i love me some damn bojangles fries

[Ghost_Wheel22]

Bojangles fries or...Animal-style fries from In-n-Out?

[Colenzo]

bojangles or gtfo

[Jodwahh]

innoutinnoutinnout

God I miss In n Out so much. I should see if i could get them to open a franchise in England.

[izembo]

bojangles fries > all

[shidobu]

not once has anybody mentioned Chicken Express <_< maybe im just biased cuz i usta work there

[Dimmauk]

not once has anybody mentioned Chicken Express <_< maybe im just biased cuz i usta work there

I think we did, when we were talking about tea flavored sugar water. I used to go to Chicken Express in Keller, Tx. A billion cheap ass chicken strips dipped in A-1 sauce is awesome.

[shidobu]

lol tea flavored sugar water is right. Shit had atleast a pound of sugar in 1 gallon. Mmmm good stuff