Learn More, Discuss Panel on Unconscious Bias and Media Coverage
Thank you to those UNITY convention participants who attended our panel today on unconscious bias and media coverage featuring panelists Carole Simpson, Eva Paterson, Jack Dovidio and Roosevelt Thomas. Please post comments here with your feedback on the panel, any questions and other thoughts. Read more
Panelists Announced for Obama Speech at UNITY
Sen. Barack Obama will speak tomorrow, Sunday, July 27 to attendees of UNITY ‘08, here for the quadrennial convention of UNITY Journalists of Color, Inc.
Obama’s speech will be the final event of a five-day conference that attracted nearly 7,000 journalists from across the country and will be televised live at 11 a.m. (CDT) from the Skyline Ballroom at McCormick Place West convention center. Read more
Who’s Blogging ’bout UNITY?
Below are some of the articles, blog posts about or mentioning UNITY (not in any chronological order). I’ll keep updating this thread whenever I have net access. Read more
Mobile Version of UNITY News Site
A great free service from MoFuse allows you to take the RSS of a site and create a slimmed down version for your mobile device. iPhone users see a customized version on their Safari browsers.
Here’s the mobile version of the UNITY News site (you need to enter the URL into your mobile browser):
http://unity08.mofuse.mobi
Save Equal Opportunity! Take Action Now!
Affirmative action is one tool to provide individuals with access to equal opportunities and to remedy the present day and historic effects of discrimination. Anti-affirmative action ballot initiatives were approved by voters in California (Proposition 209 in 1996), Washington State (Initiative 200 in 1998), and Michigan (Proposal 2 in 2006), and have significantly set back efforts to expand access to higher education, employment, and contracting for women and people of color.
Now opponents of affirmative action are seeking to end equal opportunity programs and policies in Colorado, Nebraska and Arizona. Such a ban would put numerous inclusive business programs at risk, and dismantle widely supported programs aimed to increase diversity in public education.
Nebraska, Colorado and Arizona need your help! Please help support local efforts to preserve equal opportunity by 1) contributing directly to ballot initiative opposition campaigns; 2) signing up to receive national e-updates on efforts to preserve equal opportunity, and 3) educating your friends and colleagues on the importance of standing up for equal opportunity. Please visit the following sites to learn more about and support local coalition efforts:
Colorado - http://www.coloradounity.org/
Nebraska - http://www.nebraskansunited.org/
Arizona - http://www.protectarizonafreedom.org/
To stay informed about efforts to counter anti-Equal Opportunity initiatives, visit the Americans for a Fair Chance Project’s website at www.fairchance.org. You can sign up there for the weekly newsletter Affirmative Action in the News.
For additional information, please contact:
Sara Jackson
EJS/Impact 209 National Affirmative Action Coordinator
Equal Justice Society
220 Sansome Street, Suite 1400
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 288-8717
sjackson@equaljusticesociety.org
Eva Paterson at UNITY Journalists of Color: Panel on Unconscious Bias and Media Coverage
EJS President Eva Paterson joins a distinguished panel of speakers on a panel during the UNITY ‘08 Convention, the nation’s largest gathering of journalists of color, taking place July 23-27 in Chicago. Nearly 10,000 journalists and media executives will meet to discuss timely issues affecting journalism and the media industry.
Uncovering Unconscious Bias to Improve Coverage of Race
Saturday, July 26, 2008
1:15 PM - 2:45 PM
McCormick Place West W176
- Carole Simpson, Anchor, World News Tonight Sunday, ABC News
- Melissa Cornick, Investigative Producer, Independent
- John Dovidio, Professor of Psychology, Yale University
- Roosevelt Thomas, President, The American Institute for Managing Diversity
- Eva Paterson, President, Equal Justice Society
Panel Description: Is your news executive aware that unconscious bias can affect political coverage, create faulty editorial decisions on a range of stories and hamper the career development of people of color who work in the newsrooms? Come hear about the theory of unconscious bias, a social science discipline that can help to modernize methods used by news organizations seeking to cover American race relations and related topics, such as: How much does the fate of the Presidential election hang on unconscious bias in the newsroom? Join veteran journalists, social psychologist and social justice experts in a lively discussion of both the theory of unconscious bias, and how reporters and editors can tap into research to inform and improve internal relationships, as well as news coverage.
