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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Senator Barack Obama to Speak at Journalists of Color Convention

CHICAGO – Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama will speak Sunday, July 27 to attendees of UNITY ’08, here for the quadrennial convention of UNITY Journalists of Color, Inc. Obama’s speech will be the final event of five-day conference that attracted nearly 7,000 journalists from across the country and will be televised live at 11 a.m. (CDT) from the Skyline Ballroom at McCormick Place West convention center.

Obama’s appearance will be his first public address after returning from his trip to Europe and the Middle East. Only attendees of the UNITY convention and working press who received prior press credentials will be permitted to attend.  There will be no media availability at the close of the program.

Obama will take questions from a panel of journalists moderated by Suzanne Malveaux, CNN anchor, and Romesh Ratnesar, world editor, TIME magazine. The panel of questioners include John Yang, White House correspondent, NBC News, representing the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA); Leonard Pitts, Jr., columnist, The Miami Herald, representing the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); Dianne Solis, senior writer, The Dallas Morning News, and representing the National Association of Hispanic Journalists; and Brian Bull, assistant20news director, Wisconsin Public Radio, representing the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA).

UNITY also asked Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, to speak at the conference. The McCain campaign declined the invitation, citing scheduling conflicts.

UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. is a strategic alliance advocating news coverage about people of color, and aggressively challenging media organizations at all levels to reflect the nation’s diversity. The UNITY convention has been held regularly since 1994.

This year’s convention, titled “A New Journalism for a Changing World,” from July 23-27, focused on how diversity concerns issues are impacted by current changes in the media industry. Other conference features included professional development workshops, a career expo, student journalism projects, media, and awards for outstanding works by journalists of color.

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About UNITY ’08 Convention
Nearly 6,000 attendees are registered for the UNITY: Journalists of Color quadrennial convention from July 23-27 at McCormick Place West in Chicago. Titled “A New Journalism for a Changing World,” the five-day convention includes working journalists discussing diversity in the middle of a rapidly evolving news industry, plus dozens of student journalism projects including a newspaper and online newscast, a student training campus at Columbia College Chicago, a Career Expo, author appearances, awards galas recognizing journalism leaders and special evening events.
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.

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.