March 20, 2006

Contact:
Melanie Hall
Finance and Administration Manager
UNITY
(703) 854-3585
e-mail

UNITY Board Calls on Industry to Step Up Diversity
Efforts Amid Great Change and Uncertain Future

McLean, Va. – UNITY: Journalists of Color Inc., a strategic alliance representing more than 10,000 journalists of color, calls for media companies to broaden their efforts to increase diversity in these critical times facing the industry.

At its meeting this weekend in Chicago, the alliance’s 17-member board of directors discussed the impact of major industry developments on journalists of color and newsroom diversity. In particular, the board examined the business realities that led to the pending sale of Knight Ridder to the McClatchy Co., and how they underscore the need for more collaboration between the alliance and the shrinking number of media companies.

UNITY maintains that the public is best served with media that accurately and fairly represent the communities that they serve. As companies respond to business pressures, including reducing the number of newsroom jobs, it is imperative that the percentage of journalists of color increase, not decrease, in newsrooms across the country.

“Media companies should view support of efforts to encourage and increase newsroom diversity as an essential line item in their operating budgets,” said UNITY President Mae Cheng, regional editor at Newsday in Melville, N.Y. “Bottom line, the public interest requires they do so much more.”

UNITY advocates news coverage about people of color and challenges its organizations at all levels to reflect the nation’s diversity. The alliance is comprised of the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Native American Journalists Association.

In addition to planning the largest regular gathering of journalists in the nation – the next joint convention will be UNITY 2008 in Chicago – the alliance develops programs and institutional relationships that promote its mission. For more information on UNITY, visit www.unityjournalists.org, e-mail info@unityjournalists.org or call (703) 854-3585.

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About UNITY: Journalists of Color
UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. is a strategic alliance advocating news coverage about people of color, and aggressively challenging its organizations at all levels to reflect the nation’s diversity. UNITY, representing more than 10,000 journalists of color, is comprised of four national associations: Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association.

In addition to planning the largest regular gathering of journalists in the nation, UNITY develops programs and institutional relationships that promote its mission. For more information on UNITY, visit www.unityjournalists.org, email info@unityjournalists.org or call (703) 854-3585.