Diversity not a luxury

March 3, 2006

UNITY President's Message Mae Cheng

A diverse newsroom isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.

Similarly, media companies should view support of efforts to encourage and increase diversity in the newsroom as an essential line item in their operating budgets.

It’s painfully obvious that over the last year, practically every media company has had to tighten its budgets. However, one area that needs to continue to be nurtured is diversity.

I recently attended the NAHJ annual scholarship banquet in New York City. I make it a point to go every year with a packet of Kleenex because every year, I find myself welling in tears as one of the scholarship winners nervously steps up to the podium and talks about the impact the organization and its financial support has made on his or her life and in his or her future aspirations.

This year was no different, as a young student from City University of New York spoke about how she made it a point to pay for her own college tuition every year. Yet this year, she could not come up with all the funds she needed until NAHJ stepped in. Now she will be the first in her family to graduate from college.

The student spoke not only of the financial assistance she received from the organization but also of the mentors who she has learned from over the years. In that short five minute presentation, this young woman exemplified not only why organizations like NAHJ, AAJA, NABJ and NAJA exist but also why they need to continue to thrive.
   
With the new year, each of the alliance organizations is in the process of organizing their annual convention. These conventions offer an opportunity for working journalists and students to gather and learn in an environment that for some is the only setting where they feel at home. The alliance associations should be commended for taking the initiative to provide training to their members and working to ensure that voices from all walks of life are represented in the newsroom.
   
The conventions also play another important function. They are the major fundraising effort for the alliance associations. The success of these annual gatherings allows the associations to continue to operate.

For all these reasons, this is not the time to waver in our commitment to diversity. I invite you to join me by donating to the alliance association conventions, by attending them, and by supporting those who will be attending.
   
The alliance organizations’ convention schedule this year is as follows:
    - NAHJ, June 14-17 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
    - AAJA, June 21-24 in Honolulu, Hawaii
    - NAJA, Aug. 10-13 in Tulsa, Okla.
    - NABJ, Aug. 16-20 in Indianapolis, I

Mae Cheng
President, Board of Directors, and chair, Executive Committee
UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc.

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