The Call Goes Online

KCABJ member Tracy Allen urged KCABJ members and everyone else to check out The Call of Kansas City at www.kccall.com. The area's oldest black newspaper went online in June. One of its leading stories is a series that Tracy authored headlined, ''Out of Focus: Numbers Indicate Little Has Changed For African Americans in Broadcast Journalism.'' Tracy writes that despite protests from civil rights organizations, blacks are losing air-time on television in entertainment programming, as journalists covering the news and in behind the scenes TV jobs. The first article ran in the June 21-27 edition of The Call. Other articles in the three-part series will run in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

Urban Student Journalism Workshop

The 2002 KCABJ Urban Student Journalism Workshop got started with the June 15 orientation at The Kansas City Star and then with classes beginning June 17 at Rockhurst University at Sedgwick Hall Room 308. The students enrolled are Katie Whitson, a senior in the fall at Shawnee Mission East High School; Krystle Scott, a senior in the fall at Grandview High School; Morgan Neal, a sophomore in the fall at Barstow School; Kara Edgerson, a senior in the fall at Ruskin High School; Myeisha Greene, a junior in the fall at Paseo Academy; Keana Jarvis, a senior in the fall at Raytown South High School; Portia Turner, a junior in the fall at Hogan Prep Academy; Lindsey Jamison, a 2002 graduate of Hickman Mills High School; Ferrin Caldwell, a sophomore in the fall at Hickman Mills High School; Keith Kelly, a sophomore in the fall at Blue Springs South High School; and Khaleelah Jacks, a 2002 graduate of Hickman Mills High School.

Newsmakers who provided the students with ''press conference'' experience were Kansas City School District Superintendent Bernard Taylor Jr.; Gwen Grant, president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City; John T. Hightower and Charles Swinton who talked about Sickle Cell Anemia; and Mark Zieman, editor of The Kansas City Star. Students had to ask questions and write stories based on information they got from the news conferences in addition to stories they were required to turn in from outside assignments.

KCABJ member Glenn Rice and KCABJ Vice President/Print Tanyanika Samuels did an exceptional job as co-coordinators of the first week of the workshop. Students on June 22 typed their stories into The Star's computer system. Everything went well, but more KCABJ members who work at The Star should have attended to help assist the students with getting their stories properly entered into the system. The Star annually has published the best of the students' stories in the KCABJ Journal, a workshop newspaper.

KCABJ Vice President/Broadcast Crystal Lumpkins takes over during the second week of the workshop, which will focus on broadcast journalism. Students have been assigned to area radio and television stations. They will do stories and produce their own TV newscast, which will be shown at the 11th Annual KCABJ Media Awards Program.

11th Annual Media Awards

KCABJ President Anita Parran has spruced up and mailed out the applications for the 11th Annual KCABJ Media Awards Program. It honors outstanding coverage of African Americans and other people of color in Greater Kansas City. Entries must have been published or broadcast in Greater Kansas City for the first time from July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2002. The deadline for entries is July 20. A new category of new media has been added to accommodate Internet publishing.

In addition to newspaper, magazine and broadcast entries, people can apply for KCABJ's community affairs award and media public service award. KCABJ also has its Thumbs Down Award, given to the media or persons in the media that have done the most to set back the image of people of color in the metropolitan area. Already, there are two entries for that dubious distinction. People in the community also are welcome and encouraged to submit entries for the Thumbs Down Award. For more information or an application contact Anita at (816) 822-0588 or Lewis Diuguid at (816) 234-4723.

No Membership Meeting in June

KCABJ President Anita Parran said the membership has its hands full with the student workshop. As a result, no membership meeting will take place in June. Look for the meeting notice for July. That will lead up to the NABJ convention at the end of that month.

One possible topic may be KCABJ's response to the letter it received from KCTV-5. The station responded to a strongly worded letter from KCABJ objecting to the demotion of Dee Griffin from the 6 and 10 p.m. weekday anchor position to the less visible weekend anchor job. Veteran newswoman Geri Gosa also was bumped from her weekday reporting assign to a weekend spot. Attend the July meeting and learn the details of this intense correspondence.

Opportunity Knocks