HILLARY'S 2016 DNC SPEECH REVEALS HER AGENDA (COMPETENT LEADERSHIP)

Sources: CNN, Bretibart, Youtube

HILLARY'S 2016 DNC SPEECH REVEALS COMPETENT LEADERSHIP:

HILLARY'S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH WASN'T BELLS & WHISTLES BUT IT MADE ME BELIEVE IN HER AGAIN.

***** How Hillary Clinton defined her historic moment

Story highlights

• Clinton offered a stark choice for the nation
• Clinton on Trump: 'A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons'

As Hillary Clinton playfully batted away an avalanche of balloons Thursday night, she appeared proud, happy and reconciled to her historic moment.

She had accepted the Democratic nomination with "humility, determination and boundless confidence in America's promise," taking her place as the first woman to lead a major presidential ticket on a night pulsating with emotion.

Her speech lacked the poetic sweep of the President Barack Obama's address Wednesday, but it was in keeping with someone who presents herself as a practical, dogged, policy-oriented striver who gets knocked down and then gets straight back up. 

The choice she defined for the nation in 2016 is stark: a "moment of reckoning."

The former first lady, senator and secretary of state set her sights on the White House and blasted Republican nominee Donald Trump, portraying him as a small man who got rich by stifling workers, who peddles fear and who lacks the temperament to be commander-in-chief.

She quickly reached out to disappointed Bernie Sanders voters at the end of a convention dedicated to healing the deep rift from their contentious primary race. With the Vermont senator watching from the arena, Clinton told his supporters: "I've heard you. Your cause is our cause."

President Barack Obama congratulated Clinton at the conclusion of her speech.

"Great speech," he tweeted. "She's tested. She's ready. She never quits. That's why Hillary should be our next @POTUS. (She'll get the Twitter handle, too)"

In the audience, Clinton supporters were moved to tears, including 16-year-old Victoria Sanchez.

"This is more than I ever could have imagined," she said. "I know that I have just lived history and I can follow in her footsteps. This changes my entire life." 

After a lifetime in a polarizing political spotlight that has left her with plenty of enemies and dented approval ratings, Clinton set out to prove to voters that she could be trusted. 

Dedicated fighter

She avoided any show of contrition for controversies like the one over the private email server she used for official business while secretary of state that has again provoked questions about her honesty and integrity among many voters. 

Instead, she presented herself as a dedicated and indefatigable fighter for children, the disabled, blue-collar workers, women and the poor, while promising a backbone of steel as she vowed to take out ISIS.

Throughout a speech punctuated by roars of applause and watched by a misty-eyed former President Bill Clinton, she repeatedly returned to attack Trump -- who laid out a much darker vision of America's future at his own convention last week.

"Don't let anyone tell you we don't have what it takes," Clinton said. "Most of all, don't believe anyone who says: 'I alone can fix it,' " a reference to a part of Trump's acceptance speech last week.

"Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart," she said. "Bonds of trust and respect are fraying. It truly is up to us. We have to decide whether we all will work together so we all can rise together."

Turning to national security, Clinton warned that a president has to make decisions about war and peace, life and death.

"Ask yourself: Do you really think Donald Trump has the temperament to be commander in chief? Donald Trump can't even handle the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign." 

She added: "A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons."

Trump hit back -- with a series of tweets.

"No one has worse judgement than Hillary Clinton - corruption and devastation follows her wherever she goes," he wrote. "Hillary's wars in the Middle East have unleashed destruction, terrorism and ISIS across the world."

Stephen Miller, Trump's senior policy adviser, blasted Clinton's speech as an "insulting collection of cliches and recycled rhetoric."

"She spent the evening talking down to the American people she's looked down on her whole life," he said.

Persuading Americans

But Clinton is working to persuade Americans that she understands their frustration and economic anxiety at a time when many of them still do not trust her. Her prime-time televised address is especially crucial because she has not so far generated the kind of passion among her supporters that Trump has garnered from his backers by channeling anger about the direction of the country.

She spoke of her wholesome middle class upbringing and said her family were builders of the American dream and not people "with their name on big buildings" -- another dig at Trump. 

Clinton took pains to reach out to white blue-collar workers, many of whom have been left behind by economic globalization and technological change and have been attracted by Trump's anti-elite message.

"Right now, an awful lot of people feel there is less and less respect for the work they do," she said, and admitted that politicians had not done a good enough job of showing they understand.

One of the major themes of the Democratic convention has been an attempt to reintroduce one of the most famous women in the world to the American people. And she admitted that if many Americans knew little of the woman behind the image, it may be her fault.

"The truth is, through all these years of public service, the 'service' part has always come easier to me than the 'public' part," Clinton said.

Clinton also indicated she understood the need to reassure Americans shaken by a violent summer at home and an epidemic of terror attacks in Europe and the US. While Clinton and Obama have argued that ISIS is on the run, the economy is on the upswing, and Americans are safer than they have been in years, they are struggling to counter the dark image that Trump has painted of a nation in decline, chaos and disorder that resonates with many voters.

National security threats

Amid charges by Republicans that the optimistic mood of the Democratic convention has ignored the threat from ISIS and terrorism, Clinton was specific about the global national security threats that loom -- though she didn't use the term Islamic terrorism as the GOP repeatedly has called for.

"Anyone reading the news can see the threats and turbulence we face," Clinton said. "From Baghdad to Kabul, to Nice to Paris and Brussels. From San Bernardino to Orlando, we're dealing with determined enemies who must be defeated. No wonder people are anxious and looking for reassurance -- looking for steady leadership."

Following a spate of killings by police of African-American youths and massacres of police officers, Clinton laid out a firm stance on gun control, vowing that America should not have a president in the "pocket" of the gun lobby.

"I'm not here to take away your guns," she said. "I just don't want you to be shot by someone who shouldn't have a gun in the first place."

Ahead of her speech, retired four star General John Allen, the former head of US and international forces in Afghanistan, delivered a powerful address in which he told delegates that Clinton would be "exactly the Commander-in-Chief America needs." 

'America will continue to lead'

"With her as our Commander-in-Chief, America will continue to lead this volatile world. We will oppose and resist tyranny and we will defeat evil. America will defeat ISIS and protect the homeland," said Allen, who was surrounded on stage by 37 military veterans.

Clinton delivered her speech at the end of a largely successful convention, which helped mend the party after her divisive primary against Sanders. The mood on the convention floor Thursday was festive and upbeat — in contrast to the discontent that festered on the opening night Monday when die-hard Sanders fans loudly make their disappointment known.

Samantha Herring of Walton County, Florida, was a Sanders supporter but has decided this week to work hard to elect Clinton.

"Is it hard? Yes. I loved Bernie, but that's why I have to vote for Hillary," said Herring, who made signs reading "He has my heart, but she has my vote."

OBAMA'S "PLEASE VOTE FOR HILLARY" SPEECH (WHITE MALE VOTERS)

OBAMA'S "PLEASE VOTE FOR HILLARY" SPEECH:

OBAMA RETURNS A FAVOR TO THE CLINTONS.

DEMOCRATS NEED WORKING CLASS WHITE MALE VOTERS.

DEMOCRATS NEED EVERY VOTE.

Sources: ABC News, WSJ, Washington Post, YouTube

^^^^^ FYI:

I did not apply for 2016 DNC Media Credentials. Had I applied I'm sure my application would have been approved just as it was approved in 2012 without any glitches.

~ Wednesday’s action in Philadelphia

The main event: President Barack Obama

Subplot: Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate

Scene-stealer? Vice President Joe Biden

September of 2012 at the DNC Convention in Charlotte, NC former US Pres Bill Clinton delivered a rousing, extremely persuasive speech to secure the incumbent Pres Barack Obama jr's re-election.

Of course it worked and now it's time for Pres Obama to return the favor.

Wednesday night (July 27, 2016) in PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania in the Wells Fargo Center, 10pm ET., 

Pres Barack Obama Jr will perform a daunting task of persuading registered American voters to believe in Hillary Rodham Clinton's second bid for the Oval Office.

While it's true Obama is a very gifted Orator, the question remains, can Obama sway worried American voters to put their confidence in a good woman with tons of Media baggage clinging to her personal and political reputation?

Hillary is well-qualified to lead the United States as President but her reputation has been all but ruined due to Scandals and NEGATIVE Media stories about her CHARACTER.

As it currently stands, 2016 Presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton share a 50-50% chance of winning the  Presidential election.

But Donald Trump has fewer skeletons in his closet.

Hillary is predicted to attract many BLACK voters, many LATINO voters, many Women voters,  many Bernie Sanders supporters, many college students and most members of the LGBT community.

However most WHITE MALE Working Class voters appear to have been all but abandoned by the Democrat party in this election.

But don't worry Democrats!

Hillary's GOP opponent Mr Trump has already laid claim to every WHITE Male Working Class voter the Democrats have tossed aside.

Stay tuned to very close, nail biting Election night results.

May the best 2016 Presidential nominee win!

Only then will we know if Pres Obama's "Please Vote For Hillary" was effective.

***** What the President Will Focus on in His DNC Speech

President Obama has been working on his speech for the Democratic National Conventionon Wednesday night for the past few weeks, including late into Monday night, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said at today’s White House briefing.

Wednesday also marks 12 years since Obama was introduced on the national stage in Boston, which he will reflect on, Schultz said.

“I think he will talk about what the country has accomplished together since then. What the grit, ingenuity and determination of the American people have achieved over the last eight years,” Schultz said. “Whether that's coming back from the brink of economic collapse to the longest stretch of private-sector job growth in the nation’s history, or whether that's changing the nation’s history, or whether that's changing the way the world views the United States for the better.”

President Obama has been working on his speech for the Democratic National Conventionon Wednesday night for the past few weeks, including late into Monday night, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said at today’s White House briefing.

Wednesday also marks 12 years since Obama was introduced on the national stage in Boston, which he will reflect on, Schultz said.

GENO'S STEAKHOUSE: A PHILLY FAVORITE

GENO'S STEAKHOUSE: A PHILLY FAVORITE

GENO'S WINS MY CHEESESTEAK CONTEST.

Sources: GENO'S, Youtube

After conducting my own Philly Cheesesteak contest of two local Cheesesteak Connoiseurs GENO'S and PAT'S,  I've concluded that GENO'S Cheesesteak sandwich wins hands down.

The bread was not too soft, not too hard, the meat was seasoned well and the provolone cheese was melted.

Although I enjoyed my recent visit to PAT'S, when I return to Philadelphia GENO'S gets my business.

1219 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147

DEMOCRATS TAKE PHILADELPHIA FOR HILLARY IN 2016

DEMOCRATS TAKE PHILADELPHIA FOR HILLARY CLINTON IN 2016:

I CAN'T IGNORE HILLARY'S LEADERSHIP ABILITIES.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, YouTube

DESPITE Political & Ideological differences, I still admire Hillary Clinton as a very Powerful woman.

Thus my reason for choosing to cover the 2016 DNC Convention in Philadelphia.

Congratulations!

***** Hillary Clinton to be Anointed Democratic Presidential Nominee in Philadelphia

Tuesday’s action in Philadelphia:

Main Event: Bill Clinton, former two-term president and husband of Hillary Clinton, addresses the convention.

Big Idea: Showing a softer side of Hillary Clinton

Convention Business: A roll-call vote of the states will formally anoint Mrs. Clinton as the party nominee.

The second day of the Democratic convention will test whether Bernie Sanders’s delegates have gotten the message that it’s not a good idea to disrupt the proceedings and boo every mention of Hillary Clinton’s name.

But it’s the candidate’s husband who will provide most of the day-two theater. Former President Bill Clinton is an accomplished speaker whom President Barack Obama once affectionately dubbed the “Secretary of Explaining Stuff.” His speech is a chance to prove anew he’s a legitimate campaign asset.

That point has seemed in doubt. While heading to his plane at the Phoenix airport last month, Mr. Clinton stopped and paid an impromptu visit to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, whose plane had just landed. Though ostensibly a social call, critics said it was wrong for the pair to meet when the Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server.

Voters haven’t seen or heard much from Mr. Clinton since that fateful tarmac encounter. Today they’ll get a close-up of the former president – and he needs to deliver. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll earlier this month showed that only 37% viewed him favorably, while 42% had a negative view of him. The Clinton campaign would like to see those numbers improve as the race barrels toward election day.

With the state-by-state roll-call vote, Mrs. Clinton will officially become her party’s nominee. That’s a milestone, but she still has plenty of work to do. Polls consistently show voters like her experience but haven’t particularly warmed to her as a person.

Various speakers today will try to address that vulnerability. They will talk about her work on behalf of children. Families of black shooting victims will likely mention the outreach they’ve gotten from Mrs. Clinton as they’ve coped with personal loss.

Can a four-day convention help persuade voters that Mrs. Clinton is a more empathetic figure than they might have guessed?

It’s no small feat. Aides to Mrs. Clinton have spent decades trying to make her a more likeable figure. They’ve put her on comedy shows and sat her down with late-night TV talk-show hosts. And yet, she is the most disliked Democratic nominee in recent history, polls show.

The convention is perhaps Mrs. Clinton’s last, best chance to make the case she’s worthy not just of respect, but of affection.

PHILLY CHEESESTEAK THROWDOWN IN PHILADELPHIA (LIVE ON LOCATION

PHILLY CHEESESTEAK THROWDOWN IN PHILADELPHIA (LIVE):

Sources:  VisitPhilly.com, Fox News, Youtube

While visiting Philadelphia this week for the DNC Convention (July 25-28) I decided to conduct my own "Philly Cheesesteak Throwdown".

Philly is famous for its Cheesesteaks from these three establishments: 

PAT'S

GENO'S

TONY LUKE'S

In fact no real Tourist leaves Philly without paying a visit to one of these Cheesesteak connoisseurs.

Today I taste tested a Cheesesteak with Onions & Provolone from PAT'S.

It was Delicious and worth every cent of my $10.

Tomorrow I will visit GENOS and end my experiment at TONY LUKE'S.

The results of my "Throwdown" will be recorded and uploaded after I taste test a sandwich from TONY LUKE'S.

1219 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147

1237 E Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19147

1801 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19122

HILLARY CLINTON MAKES HISTORY BUT CAN'T WIN WITHOUT OBAMA & SANDERS

HILLARY CLINTON MAKES HISTORY BUT CAN'T WIN WITHOUT HELP FROM OBAMA & SANDERS:

YOUNGER VOTERS WILL NOT SUPPORT HILLARY MINUS HELP FROM HER FRIENDS.

TRUMP & GOP LEADERS SHOULD BE SOMEWHAT NERVOUS.

OBAMA IS STILL A POLITICAL GENIUS ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL.

Sources: CNN, NBC, Jimmy Fallon Show, YouTube

****** Bernie Sanders vows to work with Hillary Clinton as Democrats move toward party unity

~ Story highlights

• Sanders met with Obama for the second time this primary season
• He also met with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid

Democrats took giant steps toward party unity Thursday as Bernie Sanders vowed to work together with Hillary Clinton to defeat Donald Trump in November and President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden formally endorsed Clinton for president. 

Sanders' decision to continue his White House bid even after Clinton became the party's presumptive presidential nominee has had Democrats on high alert as they seek to quickly change gears and take on Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Sanders' first explicit promise on Thursday to join forces with Clinton to take on the Republicans will help quell concerns among Democrats about divisions in the party.

Emerging from the White House after a meeting with Obama that lasted more than an hour, Sanders warned that a Trump presidency would be a "disaster" and that he would "work as hard as I can to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States."

"I look forward to meeting with (Clinton) in the near future to see how we can work together to defeat Donald Trump and to create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1%," Sanders told reporters.

The senator thanked both Obama and Biden for showing "impartiality" during the course of the Democratic campaign. 

"They said in the beginning that they would not put their thumb on the scales and they kept their word and I appreciate that very, very much," Sanders said. 

He added that he will monitor a "full counting of the votes" in California, where Clinton won the Democratic primary contest on Tuesday. The results will show "a much closer vote," Sanders predicted.

In a press briefing Thursday afternoon, White House spokesman Josh Earnest described the meeting as a "friendly conversation that was focused on the future," and said Obama congratulated Sanders on his "remarkable accomplishment" in the Democratic race. 

Shortly after the meeting, the White House released a video in which Obama enthusiastically backed Clinton and acknowledged the historic achievement of her becoming the first woman to win a major party's presidential nomination. He will join Clinton on the campaign trail for the first time next week in Wisconsin.

"I don't think there's ever been someone so qualified to hold this office," Obama said in the video of Clinton, whom he defeated eight years ago. 

He also thanked Sanders in the video for running an "incredible campaign" and for shining a spotlight on issues such as economic inequality and the influence of money in politics.

Sanders' high-profile meeting with Obama and his public remarks afterward come just days after Sanders declared that he intends to continue his 2016 campaign. At a rallyTuesday night, Sanders had declined to acknowledge that Clinton had secured the necessary delegates to win her party's nomination. He vowed to forge ahead to the District of Columbia's primary next week, and then on to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said their camp would would like to quickly mend fences and unify the party. 

"Nothing has been scheduled yet, but I think both sides want to make sure that it happens and happens soon," Podesta told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He added that they would "welcome" Sanders campaigning for Clinton. 

"If you go back to 2008 after it became clear that President Obama had won the pledged delegates and was going to be the nominee of the Democratic party, that's exactly what Hillary did," he said. "Even after that hard-fought campaign, she went out and endorsed him, asked that his name be put into the nomination by acclimation, she campaigned with him."

The Sanders-Obama meeting Thursday marked the two men's second White House sitdown this primary season and the fourth time they've spoken in the last month. White House officials hoped Obama could prod the Vermont senator toward eventually acting as a unifying figure for the Democratic Party.

In a taping of "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, Obama said he was hopeful that the party will "pull things together."

"The main role I'm going to be playing in this process is to remind the American people that this is a serious job," Obama said. "You know, this is not reality TV. I've seen the decisions that have to be made and the work that has to be done."

Since clinching her party's nomination, Clinton has stuck to a conciliatory tone when it comes to her rival.

In her victory speech in Brooklyn Tuesday night, Clinton congratulated Sanders for an "extraordinary campaign" and sought to reach out to his supporters. 

"Let there be no mistake: Sen. Sanders, his campaign, and the vigorous debate that we've had about how to raise incomes, reduce inequality, and increase upward mobility, have been very good for the Democratic Party and for America," Clinton said. 

Thursday helped shed light on Sanders'intentions and state of mind -- particularly the role he hopes to play in his party -- as the general election kicks off in earnest.

Sanders sat down in the afternoon with his longtime friend and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who has publicly said Sanders should "give up." Reid described the meeting to reporters afterward as a "good visit," and emphasized that Sanders has the good will of the Senate Democratic caucus. The Nevada senator said Sanders made no mention of changing the reality that Clinton is the party's presumptive nominee, and quipped that Sanders appears to have "accepted that."

Reid also echoed other Democratic leaders, saying, "I'm not pushing him to do anything."

Prior to that meeting, one source familiar with Reid's thinking said he believes Sanders can be helpful in Senate races, including in raising money, and is open to any number of ways to unite the party. 

Sanders also met with Biden late Thursday afternoon to discuss some of the issues central to his campaign, including income inequality, big money in politics and "the need to reform our politics," according to a statement from Biden's office. Later in the evening during a speech in Washington, Biden endorsed Clinton, saying "God willing," the former secretary of state would be the next president.

To cap off a whirlwind day of meetings, Sanders held an evening campaign rally in Southeast Washington. 

The senator delivered his usual stump speech, touching on issues of economic, social, racial and environmental justice. But his remarks also reflected on the arc of his unlikely campaign and what he and his supporters have achieved over the last year. 

The pundits had underestimated his political revolution, Sanders said. "Well, here we are -- it's mid-June, and we're still standing."

At the event, Sanders supporters acknowledged that the senator was unlikely to be the Democratic nominee for president. They expressed a mix of disappointment and pride -- and frustration with what they said was a lack of viable options. 

Sam Mbulaiteye, a researcher from Silver Spring, Maryland, said he was disappointed that Obama endorsed Clinton earlier in the day. 

"I think Bernie's message is closer to Obama's message in 2008 -- it's a message of change, hope and about the future," Mbulaiteye, 50, said. 

Mbulaiteye was undecided on whether to support Clinton or Trump in the general election. "In terms of being anti-establishment, Trump is closer to Bernie Sanders," he said.

Jenn Fendrick, a 32-year-old stay-at-home-mom from Fairfax, Virginia, lamented "the end of an era" and said she would vote for Clinton in November -- but "not enthusiastically."

This is "hopefully not the end of his movement, though," she said of Sanders. "He's definitely too old to run again."

THE ROLE OF BLACK MEDIA IN 2016 POLITICS (DIVERSITY & BLACK VOTERS)

THE ROLE OF BLACK MEDIA IN 2016 POLITICS:

WHERE ARE BLACK JOURNALISTS, BLOGGERS, VLOGGERS & COMMENTATORS?

IN 2008 OBAMA USED BLACK GRASSROOTS BLOGGERS TO HELP GARNER 97% OF THE BLACK VOTE.

As we approach the 2016 Presidential election I've noticed the lack of BLACK Journalists, BLACK Bloggers, BLACK Vloggers and BLACK Commentators in both Political parties.

Since it's not possible to be elected to the Oval Office minus the BLACK Majority vote, how do DEMOCRAT and REPUBLICAN Key Leaders expect to attract BLACK voters without utilizing BLACK Media Representatives?

In 2008 BARACK OBAMA utilized BLACK Grassroots Activists, BLACK Bloggers & BLACK Commentators to help garner 97% of the BLACK vote.

To help attract 2016 BLACK voters, there needs to be more Opportunities offered to BLACK Media Representatives from both major Political parties.

~ Media Diversity And The 2016 Election: How A Mostly White Press Corps Influences Campaign Coverage

As an African-American female journalist shadowing Republican presidential candidates during the 2012 election cycle, Juana Summers was, at times, the only person of color in the room. But nothing crystallized her minority status more than when one of her white male press corps colleagues asked for an interview, assuming the 27-year-old Missouri native was simply a black voter captivated by a candidate’s stump speech.

“That’s what I get for not always wearing my press credentials,” she said of her time out on the campaign trail as a full-time embedded reporter for Politico. “It’s funny, but also a little sad, too.”

Summers is an example of strides that some U.S. news outlets have taken to elevate reporters of color and women to the highly coveted politics beat, which has for decades been predominantly white and male. But even with significantly more female journalists on the 2016 campaign trail, true racial diversity among journalists covering federal, state and local politics has not been achieved, advocates said. 

Some have said this is explained by the reality that not enough rookie reporters of color are being groomed to take on national political beats.

“I don’t think it’s acceptable, in 2015 or 2016, for news organizations to say that we can’t find people of color to fill these jobs,” said Summers, who recently became the politics editor for Mashable in Washington, D.C. “It’s your fault, in my opinion.”

For more than a decade, the racial makeup of traditional media organizations has been stagnant, despite fast-growing Hispanic and Asian populations and the federal government's projection that the U.S. will become a majority-minority nation within 30 years. 

Newer digital publications also have struggled with and been criticized for the lack of diversity in their ranks.

Advocates have said media diversity matters most when candidates make statements about mass incarceration, immigration reform, the Black Lives Matter social justice movement and other topics in which race, economics and politics intersect. A more diverse group of journalists can ensure stories have needed context and that minority communities are more fairly represented, especially as voters weigh issues that can decide who wins the White House, advocates said.

Newsrooms Still Largely White

The percentage of racial minorities and women at newspapers remained “relatively steady” at 12 percent in 2014, according to the latest newsroom census from the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), a professional association that tracks newsroom diversity. That breaks down to 4.74 percent black, 4.19 percent Latino, 2.8 percent Asian-American and less than half of a percent Native American. There were approximately 32,900 full-time journalists at about 1,400 daily U.S. newspapers in 2014. Similar data for broadcast outlets was not available.

That means newsrooms increasingly don't reflect the nation's diverse makeup. 

The U.S. Census Bureau has said the country will be majority-minority by 2043. 

The nation's Hispanic and Asian populations climbed above 54 million and 19.4 million, respectively, in 2013 and 2012, according to the Pew Research Center. Their growth rates among the nation's more than 300 million residents outpaced the estimated rates for whites and blacks in subsequent years.

Politico, whose editorial staff of nearly 200 is approximately 8 percent nonwhite, recently found a bright spot in media diversity regarding the reporters assigned to cover Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. At least 18 national print, online, radio and TV outlets have female reporters covering Clinton, a big leap for media gender diversity, according to a Politico survey released this week. Several local outlets in the early voting primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire also have female reporters with Clinton, Politico reported.

In its report, Politico published a “class photo” of 18 mostly white female reporters. Two appear to be Asian-American women. It’s unclear how many are Latinas. None are African-American. The reporters pictured represented outlets including CNN, CBS News, the New York Times, the Washington Post and BuzzFeed.

Cameron Barr, national editor for the Washington Post, told International Business Times that the newspaper has 37 reporters and editors who regularly cover the campaigns. Seventeen are women, and five of the women are racial minorities. A recent newsroom census showed that 31 percent of the editorial staff at the Post is nonwhite.

“When we assign reporters of diverse backgrounds and experiences to the trail, we do a better job of seeing the candidates the way America sees them,” Barr said Tuesday.

CNN, CBS News and BuzzFeed did not respond to requests for information and comment about the racial makeup of their political news teams. The most recent broadcast diversity census completed by the National Association of Black Journalists in 2012 showed the editorial staffs of CNN and CBS News were, respectively, 15 percent and 14 percent nonwhite.

BuzzFeed this week released updated diversity data showing its newsroom is less white this year than it was in 2014. Approximately 27 percent of its editorial staff is nonwhite, up from 23 percent last year, according to the outlet. The New York Times declined comment for this story Tuesday but pointed to the latest ASNE survey that shows its newsroom is 19 percent nonwhite.

Integrating The Press Corps

Sonya Ross, an African-American journalist in Washington with more than 25 years covering state and national politics, has helped “integrate the press corps” more times than she’d like to count. In 1996, she covered President Bill Clinton’s re-election as an embedded reporter on the campaign bus for the Associated Press. She was among a few black or female reporters on the trail.

One day leading up the 1996 Democratic National Convention, Ross rode the train with Clinton's press corps and stopped in the Detroit area for a campaign rally. All the other members of the mostly white and male press corps were so focused on getting the best vantage point for the rally, that few noticed civil rights icon Rosa Parks had attended the event, said Ross, who spoke with Parks and filed a story for the AP.

"It was my perspective of being a woman, black and growing up in the South that allowed me to pick up on a story that few others saw," she said. "That's potentially what you miss as a news organization without a diverse staff."

Ross, who became the first African-American woman to sit on the executive board of the White House Correspondents' Association and is chairwoman of a national political journalism task force for black reporters and editors, said she wants to ensure more reporters of color follow in her footsteps.

“My concern was that the doors were shut behind me,” said Ross, who has also been involved with several diversity initiatives for the AP and other national outlets. “We’ve got to get more reporters into the pipeline.”

Black journalists in particular have covered politics for decades, many of them for African-American-owned newspapers that pioneered the “race beat” during the civil rights movement in the 1940s through the 1960s. Jack E. White Jr., a retired African-American journalist who covered national politics for Time magazine and the Washington Post in the 1960s and '70s, said only a handful of black journalists had covered national politics in the mainstream press.

Their ranks were increased by three critical national news events in 1972 that interested the mainstream press, said Paul Delaney, a retired New York Times reporter and editor, who is black and covered U.S. politics for a decade beginning in the 1960s. 

Newspapers sent African-American reporters to the National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana, the NAACP Convention in Detroit and the Democratic National Convention in Miami, where an unprecedented number of black delegates had gathered.

"There were not that many of us to cover anything before then," said Delaney, adding that numbers increased again during the Rev. Jesse Jackson's presidential campaigns in the 1980s.

More Enlightened Coverage

Before black and Latino journalists struggled to secure top positions in newsrooms, white women also faced challenges getting the best assignments from mostly white, male editors. 

Gender diversity on the campaign trail has been highlighted more than a few times, beginning with the 1972 book by Timothy Crouse, “The Boys on the Bus.” Beth Harpaz, a veteran former politics reporter for the AP, revisited the topic with her 2001 book, “The Girls in the Van,” after she covered Hillary Clinton’s race for the U.S. Senate in New York.

“It’s really hard to say definitively why gender diversity has increased on the campaign trail,” Harpaz said. Women made up about half of reporters on the trail with Clinton in 2000, but they seem slightly overrepresented in the former secretary of state’s 2016 campaign, Harpaz said.

“Diversity is something that most news organizations value,” she said. “In 2000, many thought they were making a choice that would lead to more enlightened coverage, simply because [Clinton] was a candidate putting an emphasis on issues that were important to women.”

But even after Barack Obama's historic election as the first black president in 2008 and with Latino candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz running for president this election season, newsrooms aren't assigning more blacks and Hispanics to cover the 2016 campaign.

Leaders of minority journalist organizations agree that white journalists are more than capable of accurately covering election issues relevant to nonwhite communities. 

But newsrooms still need to create opportunities for nonwhite journalists.

“There’s no reason for 100 percent of them to do the job 100 percent of the time,” said Russell Contreras, president of Unity: Journalists for Diversity, a national advocacy group for racial minority and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender reporters and editors.

“I believe right now the candidates are more diverse than the people that cover them,” he continued. 

“That, right there, needs to stop.” Part of the solution might be making sure rookie journalists of color are not pigeonholed to the crime and general assignment beats, which don’t always lead to national beats such as politics, he added.

Sarah Glover, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, said it would be “disappointing” if overall diversity on the trail reflected the status quo. “Newsrooms need to act quickly ... to encourage rich storytelling from various points of view,” Glover said.

Sources: International Business Times, NY Times, YouTube