By Deborah Howell
Sunday, July 9, 2006; B06

Two July 4 features on black children brought a complaint from reader Andre Barnett of Columbia, who felt that the articles promoted racial stereotypes.

Barnett complained about a front-page article on 10-year-old Justin Jenifer, a basketball prodigy already courted by high schools and athletic shoe companies, and about Word on the Street, a new and occasional Style feature that quoted six girls, aged 11 to 13, about the difference between the sound of fireworks and gunshots.

Barnett wrote: "I beseech you please, please no more stories about black boys and basketball. Eli Saslow's story about a 10-year-old boy's basketball talent is devoid of any point. His father should be ashamed for making basketball the center of this child's life.

"The world does not need another black male basketball player. We need teachers, doctors, business owners. Where are the stories about young black boys with entrepreneurial talent? Our children are presented in The Post as stereotypes and caricatures. Case in point, the mindless stupidity of Word on the Street."

The piece on Justin Jenifer is part of a series called "The Player Chase," examining youth basketball and how the lure of multimillion-dollar contracts has raised the stakes for young players, parents, coaches and backers, and changed the nature of kids' basketball.

Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, assistant managing editor for sports, was "stunned" to find heavy recruiting of 9- or 10-year-old kids. Given the prominence of blacks in basketball, and the demographics of Washington and Baltimore, it wasn't surprising that the piece would focus on an African American child. "Justin's name kept coming up" when he talked to youth basketball coaches, Saslow said, and he thought that diving deeply into one child's life would help avoid stereotypes.

Garcia-Ruiz said that "no one covers kids as newsmakers as often as Sports." Sports reporters "tread gingerly" in covering children. The Post doesn't have written rules about quoting and photographing children, but it has a history of strictness about getting written or spoken parental consent for either, several editors said. In fact, photos of children are unlikely to run without parental consent.

Saslow said the parents were "amenable" and wrote him afterward to tell him that they loved the article. The parents, especially the father, Howard Jenifer, were prominently featured in the piece. Saslow spent five days with Justin, his family and friends. "He's a great little kid -- cute, goofy, funny -- a pleasure to be around," Saslow said.

The story was fascinating and disturbing. There's something truly out of whack when 10-year-olds and their families are pressured with shoes, clothes and trips. That was enough to put the piece on the front page. But it also had a deeply human element that made you understand, if not agree with, the father's drive and love for his son and the mother's disquiet over the hoopla. Still, Ms. Barnett, that is no argument that The Post shouldn't also look for front-page stories about academically talented black children.

Word on the Street is almost all quotes. The one on July 4 began: "The subject [of fireworks and gunfire] comes up on the community listserv of one of those District neighborhoods labeled 'in transition.' We explored it with a group of girls on the basketball courts at 13th Street and Constitution Avenue NE."

Reporter Darragh Johnson came across the girls as she was walking down 13th Street talking to passers-by and looking for the right people to quote. "The conversation was already going on. I just showed up," she said.

Johnson asked: "With the Fourth of July coming up, how do you tell the difference between -- " and then an 11-year-old girl finished her sentence by saying " -- a gunshot and a firecracker?" Another 11-year-old then said: "We was just talking about that. Last night, they was just poppin' 'em and my sister said, What's the difference between gunshots and firecrackers? And I said, Wha'? A gunshot is a whole lot louder." Another girl talks about a contest outside her home to see which is loudest. The feature ends with one of the girls saying, "New Year's Eve, they'll shoot guns. Or if it's a birthday or something, they'll shoot and say, Rest in peace, Homie."

The girls' conversation took my breath away. Why seek out children that young to quote about gunshots and fireworks without more context? It left me feeling that the children were vulnerable and wondering if The Post should be quoting children that young when their parents or other adults aren't around.

Features Editor Ann Gerhart said Word on the Street intends "to drop in deeply on a moment, an issue, a fragment of the way we live now. It is verbatim, on the record, with names and gets people to share how they feel about something that matters -- an economically presented vivid discourse. We hoped to give a powerful voice to youngsters who are often voiceless and invisible."

In that context, the children's quotes succeeded in telling readers how normal it is for children in that neighborhood to hear gunfire. I talked to several black journalists at The Post; two initially winced at the dialect, but most found the quotes authentic, down-to-earth and not racist.

My reaction might have been less negative if there had been an introduction to readers about what Word on the Street is intended to be. Still, an article with more context would have asked the girls whether they were frightened by gunshots and told how many people had been killed or wounded by gunfire in their neighborhood and quoted adults who work with children there.

Johnson said, "If we made it a story, it wouldn't have had the raw power." She contacted each of the girls' parents, who gave their assent; some said that it was good for readers to hear what the children had to say.

One last comment: The Post's "Being a Black Man" series goes a long way toward reporting beyond stereotypes. The Justin Jenifer story could have been a part of that series as well.

Deborah Howell can be reached at 202-334-7582 or atombudsman@washpost.com.