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2001 Off To Fast Start
KCABJ members elected officers for 2001 primarily sticking with the 2000 "dream team" slate. Benita Y. Williams, a Northland Bureau courts reporter for The Kansas City Star, was elected president for a second term in an unopposed slate. Benita also had stepped up in 1999 to become president, completing the unexpired term of Christi Gipson, who resigned the post when she left journalism. Erica Wood, an East Jackson County Bureau reporter for The Star, was elected to a second term as vice president/print. Natalie Moultrie, morning news anchor for KMBC-TV, Channel 9 was elected vice president/broadcast, having completed an unexpired term last year after Byron Buckner suddenly resigned, citing family commitments. Joi L. Preciphs, a free-lance writer and Yale University graduate, was elected secretary. Crystal Lumpkins decided not to seek a second term. Lewis Diuguid, vice president for community resources at The Star was returned for a seventh term as KCABJ treasurer.
Under Benita's leadership, members established a list of things they want to accomplish for 2001, and people were appointed to committees to ensure that the work would be done. Topping the new year agenda were the urban student workshop set for June 17-29 at Rockhurst University and the KCABJ's 20th Anniversary Celebration and 10th Annual Media Awards Banquet, which will take place Nov. 17. The membership also decided to continue a practice of taking part in a national newspaper diversity week, which will occur in April.
"I've heard a lot of great ideas,'' Benita said. ``But the ideas are going to take a lot of planning."
Goals for the organization include increasing not only the number of paid members in KCABJ but also membership participation, trying to get a tax exempt status set for KCABJ, obtaining another NABJ grant for the urban journalism workshop, exploring liability insurance for workshop coverage and events, assembling a mailing list for the organization, establishing a membership directory, offering professional development workshops to members and partnering with other organizations for various community events.
Members were appointed to different committees based on their past involvement or willingness to step into something new. The committees and their members include:
Others' involvement certainly will be welcome. Those who want to pitch in are urged to contact Benita Williams at (816) 234-5908. Members decided not to take on another Hip-Hop Forum, even though the event was extremely successful last year following a controversial column by Kansas City Star sportswriter Jason Whitlock. Members also decided that in the interest of time to drop the Black History Month film festival and plans for a media access workshop.
Members learned that financially, KCABJ has never been in better shape. The organization ended 2000 with a net gain that was 28.742 percent above 1999's total. Wise investment decisions, paid memberships being above 1999 and cost containment efforts led to the stellar financial standing.
Benita told members that the National Association of Black Journalists was having financial troubles and so were some of the member chapters. As a result, NABJ is trying to assess the membership and financial status of its chapters.
''We are a small group, but we're doing really well compared to several larger chapters,'' Benita said. NABJ is requiring chapters to turn in an audit and report on several other factors. Benita said KCABJ was among the few chapters that completed the paperwork last year and received praise from NABJ for being on time and thorough.
Members were told that the NABJ regional convention this year would take place April 27-29 in Detroit. The national convention will run from Aug. 20-26 in Orlando, Fla., at Disney World. LaVelle Neal III, former KCABJ secretary and now sportswriter for the Minnapolis Star-Tribune, dropped into the KCABJ meeting and said hotel rooms during the NABJ convention in Orlando were running $165 a night.
Another tentative date for KCABJ that was set was Dec. 18, 2001, for the annual holiday party.
Getting Wired
The KCABJ Newsletter starting this year will be available to members on the Internet. The Web version will save the organization postage just as meeting notices in 2000 were sent via e-mail to save postage. Look for information on that innovation soon. Paid members who do not have Internet access will continue to receive the newsletter in the mail.
Mark Your Calendars
The next Kansas City Association of Black Journalists meeting will take place at 11 a.m. Feb. 10 at the Peach Tree Restaurant at Eastwood Trafficway and Interstate 435. The agenda will include reports by the committees and discussion of the student workshop.
Opportunity Knockin'
ABC News is looking for a radio anchor/reporter to work in New York City, a radio national correspondent for its Urban Network reporting on issues of importance to the African-American community and a radio writer/editor based in New York. For more information contact Kate O'Brian, general manager, radio programming, ABC News at 125 West End Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10023.
KCABJ members are invited to participate in the 4th Annual Classic Black -- KC's Grand Finale Black History Month Celebration. It will take place Feb. 23-24. The main event will be the Classic Black Gala on Saturday, Feb. 24 at the Scottish Rite Temple. For more information contact Art & Soul at www.kcsoul.com or call (816) 965-7697.
The National Society of Newspaper Columnists has mailed out its contest entry forms. They include newspaper columns, online columns and the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award. Those who are interested can contact Lewis Diuguid at (816) 234-4723. The deadline for the contest is Feb. 1.
The Black Alumni Network Newsletter reports that a 25-year history of NABJ video is available for local chapters. It was produced by Dennis James Knowles. For more information call (216) 664-2883 or e-mail Knowles at DJK@aol.com.
The Arlington (Texas) Morning News is seeking a copy editor. For more information call Lewis. The Nieman Fellowships for Journalists at Harvard University are now open to those who are interested in applying. The application deadline is Jan. 31, 2001. For more information call (617) 495-2237 or check out the Web site at nieman@harvard.edu. It is among the news industry's most prestigious fellowships.
The Contra Costa Times in the San Francisco Bay Area is seeking an assistant metro editor, religious/ethics reporter and editor-paginator. For more information contact Bob Nishizaki, assistant managing editor/news, at bnishizaki@cctimes.com.
The Florida Times-Union is seeking an assistant features editor, general assignment reporter, legal affairs reporter, NFL beat writer, retail reporter, sports copy editor/designer and sportswriter. For more information call Lewis.
The West County Times in the San Francisco Bay Area is seeking an assistant city editor. For more information contact Kathy Edwards at kedwards@cctimes.com.
Applications are available for the Walter V. Shipley Best Essay Award on Diversity. It comes with a $10,000 prize. The 5,000-word essays have to send a message and tell a dramatic story. Topics may concern bigotry, racism, conflicts in generation, culture, educational background, work-life balance, sexual orientation, disability as well as instances of genuine coming together celebrating racial, ethnic and cultural identity within the context of the many cultures of the world. The deadline is Feb. 28, 2001. The entry fee is $20. For more information call (412) 688-0304. Winning entries will be published. The contest is sponsored by the Chase Manhattan Bank.
Below are some civil rights experts whose names and numbers you might want to add to your files: Wade Henderson, executive director Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (202) 466- 3311; Penda Hair, co-director Advancement Project (202) 728-9557; Marisa Demeo, regional counsel Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (202) 293-2828; Karen Narasaki, executive director National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (202) 296-2300 ext. 13; Barbara Arnwine, executive director Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (202) 662- 8600; and Jeff Wice, coordinator State Legislative Policy Institute, (202) 494-7991.
KC People
Membership in KCABJ has inched up to 14 for the first month of the New Year. Paid members are Benita Williams, Erica Wood, Joi Preciphs, Lewis Diuguid, J.W. Edwards, Olivia Dorsey, Melanie Coffee, Dr. Janice Ellis, Joy Sewing, Malecia El-Amin, Tameka Robinson, Yvette Walker, Jeanene Dunn and Sadie Jo Smokey. The newsletter will only go to paid members.
Be sure to catch Delores M. Jones-Morris' live remote broadcasts on K107.3-FM from 11 to 2 p.m. Saturdays at the Southtown Superstore.
KCABJ member Malecia El-Amin, copy editor/paginator at The Kansas City Star, was honored in January at the newspaper with a Stars on Grand Award for her work in putting together the 2000 KCABJ Journal, which included students' stories from the summer urban journalism workshop at Rockhurst University. Patricia Hardin was similarly honored by The Star in 1999 for her extra efforts to help bring young people into the newspaper industry.
Larry Olmstead, The Miami Herald's managing editor for the last four years, has been named assistant vice president/news for Knight Ridder, the parent company of The Herald and The Kansas City Star.
Kia Breaux, who left the Kansas City Associated Press office to work in the AP office in Roanoke, Va., is returning to the AP office in Kansas City, where she will be the night supervisor.
In addition, Brandon Ferguson has joined the Kansas City AP office. They will be working with KCABJ member Melanie Coffee. The AP office here has never had that many African- Americans working there at one time. Congratulations to Melanie for her work last year in furthering the interest at the AP bureau in diversity!
Don't forget the Feb. 10 KCABJ meeting at the Peach Tree Restaurant. Also, be sure to pay your dues for 2001. Membership still only costs $20. It has remained unchanged since 1981 when the organization began.
2000 Kansas City Association of Black Journalists
P.O. Box 32744, Kansas City, Mo. 64111