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President's Message
 Anita K. Parran
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It's coming! It's coming!
"It'' is the 12th Annual KCABJ Media Awards Program! Again this year, we will honor our colleagues who have produced exceptional work. KCABJ also will present the "Thumbs Down Award'' to a media outlet/representative, celebrate the work of our urban journalism workshop students and present scholarships to the top graduates in the 2003 workshop class.
Our "Afternoon Delight'' awards festivities will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center, 3700 Blue Parkway. Again, the event is free and open to the public. Attendees will be treated to an assortment or desserts and beverages. We are asking for a monetary donation at the door, with the money going toward the 2004 scholarship awards.
In order to shore up our scholarship fund, we also will stage a Silent Auction -- a new addition to our event. All members are asked to make a contribution of some item that would appeal to our guests. If you know someone in another industry who could make a contribution, please make that contact. If you have a donation, just give me a holler by sending e-mail to akparran@swbell.net.
Another addition to the event is the establishment of the Lucile H. Bluford Scholarship, which will be presented to one of the top 2003 workshop graduates. Ms. Bluford, the late publisher of The Call of Kansas City, was a dynamic pioneer in the world of journalism and was a true role model for African Americans in the field.
Speaking of The Call, many heartfelt thanks to Tracy Allen, a reporter for the newspaper, for selecting KCABJ as the recipient of a cash award from Miller Brewing Co. Tracy was honored with the 2003 Messenger Award for Excellence in Journalism. She designated the cash award to KCABJ "on behalf of the late Lucile H. Bluford and The Call.'' We very much appreciate Tracy's generosity and certainly congratulate her for earning this coveted award.
I look forward to seeing you all at the awards program.
KCABJ Media Awards
KCABJ members decided at the September meeting to once again have a dessert treats for the KCABJ Media Awards program at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center, 3700 Blue Parkway. KCABJ President Anita J. Parran is coordinating the menu.
Judging on the media award entries is nearly complete. KCABJ members at the September meeting picked the four scholarship winners from among the 10 graduates of the KCABJ Urban Student Journalism Workshop at Rockhurst University. The names and the scholarships will be announced at the media awards program. Members also decided to institute a new annual scholarship award in honor of Lucile H. Bluford, editor and publisher of The Call. Ms. Bluford died on June 13 at age 91. The new scholarship boosts the total number of KCABJ scholarships from three to four. That first recipient of the new scholarship also will be announced with the other three at the awards ceremony.
The graduates of the workshop and their families will be honored along with media professionals, who will receive awards for their print, broadcast entries for the last year. Anita also will announce her pick for the KCABJ President's Award. Anita said she will be mailing formal invitations to people soon. KCABJ members are urged to be at the Watkins Center at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15 to help set things up for the program.
Students will receive copies of their broadcast news videotape, which will be shown during the program, and copies of the 2003 KCABJ Journal. KCABJ member Pamela Spencer has completed the copy editing of the stories and photographs. KCABJ Vice President/Print Tanyanika Samuels is reviewing the page proofs before the issue goes to press.
Donations will be sought at the door for the 2004 scholarships. Anita also is seeking items for a silent auction, which will serve as an additional fund-raiser for KCABJ scholarships for 2004. Anita asks that all donated items be given to her by Nov. 1. The next KCABJ meeting will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 25 at 700 W. 47th St., Suite 110.
Image Setback?
A North Carolina minister is upset over Rapper Nelly's new energy drink, Pimp Juice. A North Carolina minister is upset over Rapper Nelly's new energy drink, Pimp Juice.
The Rev. Paul Scott founder of the Messianic Afrikan Nation in Durham, N.C., said the product glorifies the pimp lifestyle.
Yahoo.com reported that Scott said in a recent e-mail: ``The black community is in danger, right now. As black men we should be building a nation of strong black leaders, not a nation of super-energized, drunk pimps.''
Nelly's company, Team Lunatics, says on its Web site that the energy drink can be mixed with vodka. Nelly named the energy drink after his hit song, "Pimp Juice.'' The song explains that the term, pimp, refers to whatever attribute a person might have that is viewed as attractive by the opposite sex.
 Lowe
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NABJ President Herbert Lowe said conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh's comments about NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb were irresponsible and inexcusable and called in Disney, the parent company of ABC and ESPN to dump Limbaugh.
"The sports network should go beyond its condemnation of the commentator and quickly separate itself from Limbaugh,'' Lowe said. Limbaugh resigned his spot with the network after the inflammatory remarks about the Philadelphia quarterback generated a storm of negative feedback.
``The sad part is, few people are surprised that Limbaugh made racially inflammatory remarks about McNabb,'' NABJ Vice President-Broadcast Barbara Ciara said. ``The larger question is why would ESPN make the decision to put him on the air in the first place.''
Tips About Writing
The summer 2003 issue of Children's Beat, A Journal of Media Coverage, offers some tips on writing short, provocative stories that readers will remember. They include using real action as the spine of a story. Journalists should aim to write a true short story.
Digression works in a story, and can be a writer's best friend. Use all of your senses to report a story, and then share that information with readers. Details count. Writers should also be narrators. An idea merits a thousand details. Think of less as more when writing. Stories are to be found everywhere. Stories cannot be exhausted, but readers can. Again, think short.
Jobs And More
The Baltimore Sun has an opening for a full-time editorial page writer. For more information contact Jean Thompson at (410) 332-6872.
KC People
KCABJ's membership inched to 47 with the additions of P. Lavada Starr and Eric L. Wesson.
KCABJ member Crystal Lumpkins reported at the September meeting that former KCABJ President Carlton Houston won an Emmy Award recently for his news coverage.
2003 KCABJ workshop graduate Ebony Burnside is the recipient of a James H. Hale Scholarship awarded by The Kansas City Star. Her father is Alvin Burnside, a machinist at The Star.
Look for KCABJ member Jenee' Osterheldt's column on nightlife in Kansas City. It will appear on the Web at www.kansascity.com and in the "Preview'' section on Fridays in The Kansas City Star. By the way, a graffiti artist produced the likeness of Jenee', which will run with her columns.
Please offer congratulations to KCABJ Secretary Kia Breaux and KCABJ member Heather Staggers. Each got married recently to some pretty lucky guys.
KCABJ Vice President/Print Tanyanika Samuels was toasted by her friends in September when she celebrated a birthday. The party was at Jazz-A Louisiana Kitchen.
KCABJ Vice President/Broadcast Joi Preciphs has returned to college to get her master's degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism. Joi is covering Jefferson City and her byline appears in the Columbia Missourian. Joi sends the following note of thanks to KCABJ members:
2003 Kansas City Association of Black Journalists
P.O. Box 32744, Kansas City, Mo. 64111