FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Allison M. Stevens
(703) 854-3590
astevens@unityjournalists.org

UNITY MOURNS LOSS OF NANCY HICKS MAYNARD

McLean, Virginia – September 25, 2008 – UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. (UNITY) is saddened by the loss of Nancy Hicks Maynard, co-founder of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education (MIJE) and a leader in promoting newsroom diversity.  Ms. Hicks Maynard died at the age of 61 after a prolonged illness.

A graduate of Long Island University and Stanford Law School, Ms. Hicks Maynard began her career at the New York Post and later became among the first African American reporters at The New York Times.  After her marriage to Robert C. Maynard in 1975, they founded the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, which has become one of the leading centers for journalism education in the country.

“Nancy Hicks Maynard was a trailblazer, a champion for diversity in journalism and will be sorely missed in the industry,” said Karen Lincoln Michel, president of UNITY.  “Her legacy will live on through the Maynard Institute and her work will not be forgotten.”

Ms. Hicks Maynard and her late husband were pioneers in minority media ownership with their purchase of the Oakland Tribune in the early 1980s.  They owned the paper until Mr. Maynard’s death in 1993, at which point it was sold to the Alameda Newspaper Group.

Ms. Maynard is survived by three children, including Dori J. Maynard, the current president and chief executive officer of MIJE.

“Our thoughts are with Dori and the Maynard family, and all of our friends at MIJE,” said Michel.

###

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.