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From the President
 Anita K. Parran
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Though the NABJ convention is over, our work as a member chapter moves forward. Right now, KCABJ members can propose amendments to the NABJ Constitution. Amendments may be proposed by chapters, regions, boards of directors -- or by any full member of NABJ. Changes must be submitted in writing to the NABJ Parliamentarian at least six months prior to the annual national convention, which is scheduled for Aug. 6, 2003, in Dallas. Submissions will then go to the Constitutional/Board Operating Procedures Committee. Any agreed upon changes will go to a full vote at the NABJ convention.
I encourage each of you to review the NABJ Constitution and offer proposals as you deem appropriate. Any changes will affect the governance of the organization, so this is a golden opportunity to suggest changes that will benefit the whole. For a copy of the Constitution (or if you have any questions), contact Parlimentarian Sharyn L. Flanagan at sharynf@mindspring.com. She also be contacted at USA Today at (800) 872-3410.
On another note, you undoubtably heard about Geri Gosa's recent ''retirement'' at KCTV-5. Geri's leaving came on the heels of the demotion of KCABJ member Dee Griffin. KCABJ member Tracy Allen, a reporter at The Call, penned a banner, front-page story about Geri being forced out. The Kansas City Star reported that Geri ''retired.'' We have two conflicting slants on this most current episode of African Americans at this television station ... and many of us are curious about the differences in the information.
KCABJ has been monitoring the moves that KCTV-5 management has made over the last months, and I personally think we still don't have the complete story. I have had extensive chats with Tracy and know that she has been working diligently to report the facts as known. At this juncture, I am hoping that two things occur:
Be assured that KCABJ will remain vigilant in monitoring and seeking redress regarding black journalists in newsrooms in our community. Your support, now more than ever, is welcome and appreciated as we serve as gatekeepers and watchdogs for blacks in journalism. Courage!
Mark Your Calendars
The next meeting of KCABJ will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 at the AARP's office at 700 W. 47th St., Suite 110. Members will discuss the selection of this year's KCABJ scholarship winners. The 2002 KCABJ Thumbs Down Award also will be a hot topic as well as planning for the KCABJ Media Awards Ceremony at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov 16 at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center. A dessert bar will be a new alternative to a banquet at this year's fall program. People attending will be asked to make an unspecified donation. Other topics will likely include black journalists' employment stability at area television news stations.
Discussion also may include raising the annual dues for KCABJ members from $20. Dues have remained unchanged since 1981, when the organization was founded. KCABJ President Anita K. Parran learned at the NABJ council of President's meeting that the Kansas City chapter has the lowest dues among affiliates in the National Association of Black Journalists.
Geri Gosa Out At KCTV-5
KCTV-5 again makes headlines with KCABJ Lifetime Achievement Award winner Geri Gosa leaving the station after more than 29 years as a broadcaster. The Call reported in its Aug. 30-Sept. 5 edition that Gosa had to not only accept early retirement but "vacate the KCTV-5 premises within a 60-day period." Gosa was asked to leave earlier. The Kansas City Star reported in its Aug. 31 edition that Gosa said she was retiring from KCTV-5.
Her "retirement" follows controversial moves earlier this year by the station in demoting KCABJ member Dee Griffin from her weekday anchor position to a weekend anchor job and moving Gosa from a weekday general assignment reporting position to one that included weekends.
The moves are significant because they result in less racial diversity in reporting the news at the TV station. KCABJ President Anita K. Parran was quoted in both The Star and Call stories. She brought on the record KCABJ's correspondence earlier this year with KCTV-5 general manager Kirk Black expressing displeasure with the decisions to move Griffin and Gosa. KCABJ also sent a letter to Meredith Communications, which owns KCTV-5, but so far KCABJ has gotten no response.
Gosa in 1997 was honored by the Kansas City Association of Black Journalists with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Geri and Helen Gray, KCABJ member and religion editor at The Kansas City Star, have been the only two persons to receive that honor. Gosa is one of the most experienced broadcast journalists in the Kansas City area and has been called the area's the dean of female broadcast journalists because her time in the profession exceeds all others.
News From Elsewhere
"It is important for reporters to have access to communities that differ from their own,'' the article said. "But they must also have access to editors who can provide cultural perspective. Ethnic managers must be a part of every newsroom, and they must be allowed to have the final say on the shape of a story. One of the biggest failures in journalism today is the overruling of minority editors by white higher-ups who 'know better.' As newsroom leaders, ethnic journalists can bring new cultural experience to the newsroom and can provide context to reporting done by both minority reporters and their white counterparts.''
Looking For Good People
KC People
2002 Kansas City Association of Black Journalists
P.O. Box 32744, Kansas City, Mo. 64111