The 2001 KCABJ Urban Student Journalism Workshop got off with a great start with the 11 students, their parents and KCABJ members being among more than 50 people at the mandatory orientation June 17 at The Kansas City Star.

KCABJ Vice President/Broadcast Natalie Moultrie has set an ambitious schedule for the students in the second week of the program. That is different from past years when the print part of the program was the most strenuous for the high school and college students. The broadcast week was a time to coast.

Natalie explained to the students that they will be doing broadcast stories, working with professional cameramen who are donating their time and putting together their own newscast at one of the TV stations.

KCABJ Vice President/Print Erica Wood was called away unexpectedly. But KCABJ member and NABJ Treasurer Glenn Rice stepped up to complete the print part of the program. The students will be responsible for stories generated from four ``press conferences'' during class. Real newsmakers have agreed to meet with the students. Ken Bacchus, an attorney involved with bringing light rail to Kansas City, was to talk with the students June 18 at Rockhurst University. Different this year will be a session that Glenn will conduct with KCABJ Treasurer Lewis Diuguid on how the students should structure a story on the news conference. That should give them a clear idea of how they should put together their stories for the rest of the print week.

The second presenter will be Missouri Rep. Carson Ross, a Blue Springs Republican. On June 20 he was to talk with the students about racial profiling.

That same day, the students were to hear from Wanda F. Taylor, regional marketing manager at Union Station. She was to hold a press conference on the things happening at the station that are appealing to Kansas Citians of all colors and why reaching out to minority markets is important.

Marge Williams, superintendent of the Hickman Mills School District, was to speak with the students on June 21 in press conference on her experiences as the first black superintendent in the suburban district and what lies ahead in education.

As in past years, the students were to have three stories to do from assignments outside of class in addition to those from the news conferences. They were to tour The Kansas City Star, on June 22, attend an afternoon news meeting and type their stories into the newspaper's computer system the next day.

The students picked for the workshop are Levell Council of Central High School, Rachael Soto, of North Kansas City High School, Katie J. Jekel, who will be a freshman at the University of Missouri-Columbia, RaKeisha Brown, of Sumner Academy, Shantoyia Jones of Center High School, Marantha Deanna Wall of Shawnee Mission North High School, Jonathan Amerison of Center High School, Dion K. Williams of Hickman Mills High School, Jamie Sturgis of Duran High School of Duran, Miss., Ashley Wilson of Blue Valley High School, Keichanda Dees of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and Janae Franklin of Pleasant Lea Junior High School. KCABJ President Benita Y. Williams told the students and parents at the orientation that the students' newspaper, which The Star annually publishes and their stories would be honored during the 20th anniversary celebration for KCABJ, which will take place Nov. 17 at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center. That's the date of the banquet for the 10th Annual KCABJ Media Awards. All of the students will be honored with media professionals receiving awards, but KCABJ also will name the scholarship recipients picked from the top students in the 2001 workshop.

Applications for the 10th Annual KCABJ Media awards were mailed to KCABJ members and area media companies in June. Expectations are high that this will be the best program ever bringing in a diverse set of entries in newspapers, magazines, radio, television and advertising.

Last year will be tough to beat. More entries were received then than ever before. The deadline is July 20, 2001, for work published or broadcast between July 1, 2000, and June 30, 2001. The program awards the best in enterprise journalism about African-Americans and other people of color.

The applications are on the World Wide Web at www.kcabj.org. All entries will become property of the Black Archives of Mid-America Inc., where KCABJ is building a Media Resource Center chronicling the life and issues of people of color in the 20th and 21st century.

KCABJ also gives out a Thumbs Down Award to the media or persons in the media who have done the most to set back the image of African-Americans or other people of color. So far this year KCABJ has received several nominations for the award in both print and broadcast.

The media nationwide have been rocked this year with a number of layoff notices. The latest include the Tribune Co., which in June said it would reduce its work force about 6 percent through job cuts and buyouts. The company cited advertising slumps for the cuts of more than 1,500 jobs.

The Associated Press reported that most of the cuts would be in the publishing group where revenues plunged 11 percent in May compared with a year ago.

But the employment reductions follow Knight Ridder, the nation's second largest newspaper publisher, announcing this year that it was laying off staff because of ad revenue shrinkage. Knight Ridder owns The Kansas City Star, which is cutting 125 jobs.

KCTV, Channel 5 also announced in June that it was offering its employees an early retirement program.

The concern is the cuts are could weaken already anemic efforts by the print and broadcast media to increase the hiring and promotion of African-American and other journalists of color. The newspaper industry was sharply criticized earlier this year after the American Society of Newspaper Editors's annual survey found that the number of minority journalists dropped for the first time since 1978. The decline was from 11.85 percent to 11.65 percent last year.

ASNE in 1978 had set a goal for the year 2000 to have the percentage of journalists of color equal the percentage of minorities in the population. The object was to improve the coverage of communities of color. Minorities held about 4 percent of the professional jobs in newsrooms throughout America in 1978 compared with about 17 percent persons of color in the population. But by 2000 minorities in the population jumped to about 30 percent. ASNE pushed its goal to 2025. But this year's downward trend, job cuts in the industry and the rapid growth of the minority population threaten even that far-off goal.

Black journalists attending the August jobs fair at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Orlando, Fla., may face recruiters who are taking names and numbers along with applicants' valuable packets but offering little hope that a call with a job offer will come any time soon. The same thing happened during the NABJ conventions in the early 1990s during the last recession.

The pre-registration cost for the NABJ convention bumped up to $250 after June 1 for full members. It's $275 for associate members. The convention offers black journalists a venue for continuing education, jobs and networking. But it also is the organization's big money-maker for the year. The association benefits from people renewing their national and local memberships and attending the national convention. It will take place Aug. 22-26 at the Disney World Dolphin Hotel. Call Lewis Diuguid at (816) 234-4723 for more information on the convention or hotel information. The Dolphin Hotel rooms cost $165 a night. The Disney Yacht and Beach Club Resort costs $185 a night. United Airlines and US Airways are the official airlines for the 26th Annual NABJ convention.

Elections also will be held during the convention. Herb Lowe is running for NABJ president. He is being challenged by Condace Pressley. It's a two-year post. He would replace Will Sutton. For more information click on www.herblowe.com or www.condacepressley.com.

Mike Woolfork is running for vice president/broadcast. Brian Monroe is running for vice president/print. Sharyn Flanagan is running for NABJ parliamentarian.

The Kansas City Globe reported in June that NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said the nation's oldest civil rights organization might have to take stronger actions to push television networks toward greater diversity.

That would include economic sanctions. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People signed an agree with the networks a year ago for an increase in diversity but was concerned that more progress had not been made. Mfume noted a recent study of the 2000-2001 seasons by the advocacy group, Children Now, which showed that all of the major networks remain predominantly white. The NAACP since 1999 has called attention to the color void on television. It remains committed to the goals of the networks hiring more minorities in front of the cameras and behind the scenes at TV stations. It also is pressing for more contracts with minority vendors and professional services. Options for action include a sustained economic boycott and asking the Federal Communications Commission and Congress to impose a rule that would make the networks increase minority programming. Stay tuned.

The Globe also reported in June that according to a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher, many single, broadcast journalists would like to be married, but their jobs get in the way. Vernon Stone, professor emeritus of journalism, surveyed 2,195 news professionals at commercial TV and radio stations and found that 45 percent of the news staff in television and 49 percent in radio are single. Fifty-two percent of the unmarried TV news workers and 46 percent of those in radio said their jobs caused problems in their personal lives -- often in romantic relationships. Job moves can hamper relationships. Stone's mail survey found that on average TV journalists move to another city every three years, and those in radio spend only 2.5 years in any one town. The odd, unpredictable hours associated with the business also make Cupid's aim less certain.

KC People

KCABJ's membership inched up by one with the inclusion of D'Wayn N. Hines. She also made KCABJ history by pulling the membership application off the KCABJ Web site and mailing it with her check to the KCABJ post office box. Technology pays off big for D'Wayn and KCABJ.

If you drive westbound on Interstate 70 from Independence you won't be able to miss a huge billboard, featuring Jason Whitlock, a sports columnist with The Kansas City Star. But instead of him being featured as one of The Star's stars, Jason is bigger than life for his KCMO-AM sports talk radio program.

Keep watching for e-mail notices on the next KCABJ meeting.