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March 2003 KCABJ Newsletter



From the President

Anita Parran
Anita K. Parran


Greetings! The Strategic Planning Retreat in January has garnered big payoffs! KCABJ has a clear road map of activities and events for 2003 that are being developed and WILL be implemented as planned.

Our biggest challenge now is member recruitment. March has been designated as the month to "hit 'em hard.'' We will strive to recruit new members and re-enlist former members. New member recruitment information kits have been developed, and current members will be asked to recruit just one person in their media organizations. Member packets will also be sent to former members in an effort to regain their participation.

The KCABJ kits contain information about our national organization and KCABJ details, goals, benefits and services. It includes an application form that's easy to complete. There's also an updated KCABJ brochure. When you receive your kit, you have only two options: either renew your membership, and/or recruit someone!

We need to stay connected in 2003, and you are vital to keeping that connection. KCABJ belongs to all of us, and I hope you will assist in this effort.

Stay connected!

--Anita K. Parran


KCABJ's Diversity Focus

A KCABJ committee will meet March 15 with members of the Newsroom Diversity Committee of The Kansas City Star to develop a plan for a May program on race relations during Time Out for Diversity Week.

KCABJ member Benita Y. Williams, who also co-chairs the newsroom diversity committee, will lead the meeting. It will be at 11 a.m. at the AARP office at 700 W. 47th St., Suite 110. KCABJ members decided at their February meeting to base the diversity program on the Mayor Kay Barnes' recent report on race. The program committee will discuss whether to include Hispanics, that group's population growth and the increasing role Latinos play in race relations in the Kansas City area and throughout the nation. Benita reported to KCABJ members that The Star diversity committee will handle the publicity on the May event.

KCABJ will be among the sponsors of a conference on white privilege at 8 a.m. March 8 at in Room 233 at the General Education Building of Johnson County Community College. Dr. Peggy McIntosh, associate director of the Wellesley College Centers for Research on Women, will be the key presenter. KCABJ Treasurer Lewis Diuguid also will be among the speakers. McIntosh is a national expert on the subject of white privilege.

KCABJ events

  • KCABJ has a place for its 1980s Party, scheduled for July 26. KCABJ member Glenn E. Rice reported that the party will be at Niecie's Lounge & Grill, 6201 Blue Parkway. KCABJ will put up $400 to secure the place on that date. It will be a fund-raising opportunity for KCABJ. Food will be provided.

  • Glenn also reported that Yvette Walker advised that KCABJ hold its continuing education program for journalists in October to piggyback on a jobs fair at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Yvette, assistant managing editor for staff development and multimedia at The Kansas City Star, said the fall date would enable KCABJ to get recruiters at the jobs fair to be among the presenters in Kansas City. She also recommended that the cost be $10 instead of $15.

  • KCABJ in March will be among the sponsors of a candidates forum for the April mayoral and city council elections. The primary was Feb. 25. The top two candidates in each race will have the opportunity to debate at the program. KCABJ will partner with the Black Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, SBC and the Kansas City Convention and Tourism Bureau to sponsor a candidates forum. Those wanting to attend should RSVP to A. Marie Young, executive director of the black chamber at (816) 474-9901. KCABJ Treasurer Lewis Diuguid will be the moderator.


    NABJ News

    Glenn Rice, who also is the treasurer for the National Association of Black Journalists, reported at the KCABJ meeting that so far three persons are vying for the presidency of NABJ. The election will take place at the NABJ convention Aug. 6-10 in Dallas. The candidates are Cheryl Smith, a broadcast journalist in Dallas; Mike Woolfolk, who is vice president of broadcast for NABJ; and Herb Lowe, a former NABJ secretary.

    Glenn, who has served two terms as NABJ treasurer and was a regional director and KCABJ president before that, said he will not seek election to an NABJ office. Term limits prevent him from running again for treasurer. Glenn was instrumental in turning around NABJ's finances to put the organization solidly in the black.

    People who are interested in running for national office must send a letter of intent to NABJ by Friday, May 2. Candidates must be full, associate or student members. The open seats are for president, vice president/print, vice president/broadcast, secretary, treasurer, parliamentarian or regional director. Associate members can seek office as associate member representatives. Student members can seek the student representative seat. For more information check out www.nabj.org/Elex03/index.html or call Sharon Stevens, elections committee chair, at (314) 444-5115.

    Glenn told KCABJ members he supports efforts to downsize the board of directors of NABJ. The 10 regional directors would shrink to five. The president-elect position would be dropped along with other changes. Glenn also favors tightening membership requirements for NABJ. "I think we're slowly forgetting about the 'J' in NABJ,'' he said.

    NABJ will try to increase its membership of about 3,000 by 10 percent in 2003 and boost membership revenue by 33 percent. Three regional conferences will take place this year. They will be March 6-9 in Tulsa, April 5 in Atlantic City and May 29-June 1 in Atlanta.

    The cost of the national convention will be the same as 2002, except for the one-day pass, for which the rate increases. There also will be a resurrection of the chapter member discount for the early bird rate. Look for information on the early bird special for the national convention to come out soon. KCABJ's membership of $20 a year is the lowest in the country.

    The deadline for the Salute to Excellence Awards entries and Special Honors nominations is Monday, March 3. There will be an Emerging Journalist Award for African-American print, broadcast and photojournalist nominees with fewer than five years experience in the industry, excluding internships.


    In Other News ...

  • Gerald Boyd, NABJ member and managing editor of The New York Times, told the American Society of Newspaper Editors that to retain black journalists editors must pay attention to quality-of-life issues. Attracting journalists of color requires special effort, Boyd said. Recruitment should start in high school.

  • The New York Times reported in February that Knight Ridder, which owns The Kansas City Star and about 30 other newspapers nationwide, is seeking cost-saving suggestions from its newspapers' managers. The goal is to achieve $100 million in cuts. One possibility is to cut corporate costs related to diversity initiatives.

  • Judith A. Burrell, Newspaper Association of America senior vice president of communications and publisher of Presstime, will pick up the management of NAA's Diversity Department beginning March 1. That follows the retirement of Toni F. Laws, senior vice president for diversity and the NAA Foundation.

  • The Associated Press reports that "MBC News: The Urban Voice'' will launch a 24-hour news channel aimed at black viewers possibly late this year or early in 2004. It will be modeled after CNN Headline News.

  • The Rev. Jesse Jackson said the pundits commenting on President Bush's State of the Union address did not include the voices of African-American and Hispanic commentators. "The viewpoints and experiences missing are those who will be most adversely impacted by President Bush's policies,'' Jackson said.

  • Al Neuharth, former Gannett CEO, in February told the Rochester Institute of Technology that newspapers will continue to lose their significance as long as they fail to interest young people and as long as they keep their staffs mostly white. The Rochester, N.Y., Democrat and Chronicle reported that the combined circulation of newspapers nationwide has dropped 12 percent to 55 million.


    Career Advancement

  • The IRTS Foundation offers a Minority Career Workshop on April 24-25 in New York City. For more information call Michelle Marsala at (212) 867-6650, ext. 303.

  • NABJ student members should apply for NABJ internships and scholarships. NABJ also offers students opportunities to attend the national convention and work on the student radio, online publication and television and radio projects. For more information call Gregory Lee at (301) 477-4181.

  • Investigative Reporters & Editors Inc. and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting has spots open for its Computer Assisted Reporting Boot Camp on March 23-28 at the University of Missouri-Columbia. For more information call David Herzog at (573) 822-2127 or check out www.ire.org/training/bootcamps.html.

  • A public relations Media Relations Boot Camp will take place April 24-25 in Atlanta, May 1-2 in Dallas, May 19-20 in San Francisco, June 12-13 in New York, June 19-20 in Washington, D.C., and June 26-27 in Chicago. It's sponsored by Lawrence Ragan Communication Inc. For more information call Kristen at (800) 493-4867 ext. 4205 or check out http://www2.ragan.com/html/main.isx?sub=25.

  • The Kansas City Star is offering a series of News Smarts workshops ranging from covering disabilities to diversity. For more information call Lewis Diuguid at (816) 234-4723.

  • The USC Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles will be the site of low-cost, high quality training to journalists wanting to sharpen their editing skills. "The Great Editor Escape'' will take place March 21-22. For more information call Becky Day at (908) 608-1596.

  • KSMO-WB62 is seeking an account executive. For more information write to jeskew@ksmo.sbgnet.com.

  • The University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism has an opening for a night news editor producing the Columbia Missourian. For more information contact Judy Bolch at bolchj@missouri.edu.

  • APME Leadership Development Workshops will be offered March 19-19 in Columbus, Ohio, May 8-9 in Albany, N.Y., May 30-31 in Baton Rouge, La., and Oct. 2-3 in San Jose, Calif. For more information contact Bobbi Bowman at (703) 453-1126.

  • Black Enterprise is seeking a writer/researcher. For more information write to careers@blackenterprise.com.

  • The Atlanta Journal is seeking a deputy director of photography. Call Lewis for more information.

  • The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is seeking a metro columnist and a science writer. For more information call Lewis.

  • The Metcalf Institute Environmental Reporting Fellowships is seeking applications for its 42-week program that will enable the two journalists selected to study marine and environmental science. For more information call Katharine McDuffie at (401) 874-6211.

  • The Hall Center for the Humanities is seeking nominations for the Byron Caldwell Smith Award given biennially to an individual who lives or is employed in Kansas and who has authored an outstanding book published in the 2001-2002 calendar year. For more information call (785) 864-4798.


    KC People

  • KCABJ President Anita K. Parran declared March to be KCABJ Membership Recruitment Month. Membership climbed to 23 in February with the additions of Ardua Harris, Robyn King, Steve Penn and Kara Edgerson. Anita's goal is to have membership grow to at least 50 by the end of the year.

  • KCAJ member Jenee' Osterheldt tapped 2002 KCABJ student workshop graduate Portia Turner to pose for a Sunday FYI fashion cover in February. Jenee' was the writer, Portia was in the pics.

  • Be sure to check out the billboard at Bruce Watkins Drive and Gregory Boulevard. Pictured in it is 1980s KCABJ student workshop graduate Barbara A. Washington. She is in the ad as a member of the Holliday law firm. Barbara also is a longtime member and supporter of KCABJ.

  • The December 2002 United Methodist Review Visions included an article on KCABJ member Morgan Neal. The newspaper congratulates Morgan for winning the 2002 KCABJ/Roy Wilkins Scholarship. Morgan is pictured in an accompanying picture getting a hug from KCABJ Vice President/Print Tanyanika Samuels during the November 2002 KCABJ awards program.










    2003 Kansas City Association of Black Journalists
    P.O. Box 32744, Kansas City, Mo. 64111

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