UNITY Mourns the Loss of Tim Russert
McLean, VA, June 18, 2008 – UNITY mourns the loss of iconic newsman Tim Russert, who died unexpectedly at the age of 58 on Friday, June 13.
Russert was host of the long-running NBC political talk show Meet the Press, serving as moderator for 17 years. He also was a senior vice president with NBC and its Washington Bureau chief, and had been with the network since 1984. More »
UNITY Announces Move to Prime Time for Presidential
Candidates’ Forum at UNITY ‘08
Forum will be broadcast live on CNN
UNITY: Journalists of Color and CNN will broadcast live in prime time a historic discussion with the presumptive presidential nominees at the UNITY ’08 Convention in Chicago on July 24. More »
CONTINENTAL AIRLINES ANNOUNCES SPONSORSHIP OF UNITY ‘08 CONVENTION
McLEAN, VA, May 27, 2008 – Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) has announced its sponsorship of the UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc.’s UNITY ’08 Convention, held at McCormick Place West, July 23-27, 2008, in Chicago, Ill. More »
Robin Washington wins diversity award
Robin Washington, editorial page editor of Minnesota's Duluth News Tribune, is the first recipient of the Be'chol Lashon Media Award established to honor excellence in coverage of the ethnic and racial diversity of world Jewry, the award's sponsors announced on Wednesday. "The purpose is to give recognition to journalists and others covering the wide diversity of Jewish ethnicity. The award was presented in San Francisco at the annual Be'chol Lashon International Think Tank, the largest conference of Black, Latino, and mixed-race Jewish leaders in the world. It will be given annually." Washington is African American and Jewish.
UNITY AND UNAIDS TO OFFER REPORTING OPPORTUNITY
McLean, VA – UNITY: Journalists of Color and UNAIDS have teamed up to provide a unique reporting opportunity for members of UNITY’s partner organizations. On June 10, the United Nations will hold a two-day High Level Meeting on AIDS at the General Assembly in New York. Participants will include world leaders, heads of international organizations and civil society. The leaders will review progress towards implementing AIDS declarations made in 2001 and 2006 based on the report presented by the UN Secretary General, drawing data from 147 national reports. Click here for information on how to join this great opportunity!
UNITY ’08 Announces Core Team
for Converged Student Media Project
For the first time, UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. will feature a converged media training project for college students. More than 70 media professionals have been selected to run the intensive one-week project at the UNITY ’08 Convention in Chicago, July 23-27, 2008, and more can contribute their time and their skills to this exciting new project. For more information on how to sign up for that, keep reading. More
The Senate Stands Up Against Big Media
StopBigMedia
Thursday night, the Senate cast a near-unanimous vote to reverse the Federal Communication Commission's December 2007 decision to let media companies own both a major TV or radio station and a major daily newspaper in the same city. More »
AAJA Receives Media Champion Award
AAJA was a recipient of the Asian Community Mental Health Services 2008 Media Champion Award for "challenging misinformation and stereotypes in media coverage around the Virginia Tech tragedy and helping to present mental distress as a human and commonplace experience." The award is a testament to the efforts of AAJA's MediaWatch committee as well as hundreds of AAJA members who advocate for fair and accurate coverage of the AAPI communities in their respective newsrooms. ACMHS is located in Oakland, California. More »
NABJ to Establish Professional Scholarships for Laid-off Journalists
National Association of Black Journalists
In response to the large numbers of journalists of color cut from the nation's newsrooms in 2008, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) has established professional scholarships for members affected by the job cuts to attend the quadrennial UNITY: Journalists of Color Convention, July 23-27, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. More »
Diversity will Help Reporting
TheLeafChronicle.com
In journalism, people of color are still a minority. And, among journalists of color, those who are opinion writers are a minority within a minority. According to the American Society of Newspaper Editors' 2008 diversity index, Latinos, African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Native Americans collectively make up just 13.5 percent of newsrooms. More
Columnist Leonard Pitts named Journalist of the Year by Black Journalists group
National Association of Black Journalists
NABJ named Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. Journalist of the Year at its spring Board of Directors meeting in Atlanta. Pitts will join Chicago television reporter Harry Porterfield who will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the association's Salute to Excellence Gala, Saturday, July 26, in Chicago. More
Frank Sotomayor Speech at the National Press Club
National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Frank Sotomayor, associate director of USC Annenberg's Institute for Justice and Journalism, spoke at ceremonies Tuesday at the National Press Club in Washington as a stamp honoring Los Angeles Times journalist Ruben Salazar, killed in 1970, went on sale. More
Diverse newsrooms can transform our industry
The enormous financial pressures facing the news industry today have led too many to overlook an equally enormous opportunity for newsrooms to both support and advance diversity.
That opportunity lies in developing diverse leadership to help news companies adapt to changing communities and audiences, and UNITY: Journalists of Color urges the American Society of Newspaper Editors to refocus its diversity initiatives on the promotion and retention of journalists of color in management roles, including senior management.
Cronkite School Conducts UNITY Diversity Research
The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University will unveil two major journalism diversity projects at the UNITY: Journalists of Color convention in Chicago this summer. Both projects are funded by the McCormick Tribune Foundation. The work includes a Web-based clearinghouse for research on news diversity issues and a census of ethnicity of the Washington press corps. The Washington study is a follow up to a 2004 study conducted for UNITY by Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan when he was at the University of Maryland. More
NABJ Partners with CNN on Black in America HBCU Tour
CNN and the National Association of Black Journalists are offering African American students the opportunity to chronicle their experiences at historically black colleges and universities through the network’s Black in America series. More
GAO Report Confirms FCC Flying Blind on Media Diversity
The Government Accountability Office has released a report highlighting the dearth of female and minority-owned broadcast stations. The report, requested by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), found that the Federal Communications Commission lacks any "comprehensive data" on female and minority broadcast ownership. More
UNITY launches yearlong Challenge Fund IV
UNITY launches an effort to raise $75,000 to help individuals take a stand to promote diversity within the news industry, while promoting fair hiring and retention practices. More »
10,000 Expected at Next Year's UNITY Convention in Chicago
UNITY’s goal of increasing newsroom diversity and coverage is crucial, especially with consolidation and downsizing roiling the industry, leaders said. More »
UNITY's 2008 Chicago Convention Kickoff Reception
UNITY gears up for its fourth major convention, expected to draw thousands of journalists of color to Chicago.
» Click to view a slideshow!
