Equal Justice Society » barbara ciara http://www.equaljusticesociety.org The Equal Justice Society is a national legal organization focused on restoring Constitutional safeguards against discrimination. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:50:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 NABJ Statement on Future of Journalism Senate Hearing http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/2009/05/nabj-statement-on-future-of-journalism-senate-hearing/ http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/2009/05/nabj-statement-on-future-of-journalism-senate-hearing/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 19:51:01 +0000 Keith Kamisugi http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/?p=738 Barbara Ciara, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, today issued this statement:

On Wednesday, a panel of digital and traditional journalism industry experts testified at a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and Internet Hearing on “The Future of Journalism” about the challenges and successes facing online news aggregators and newspapers today.

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) has worked on behalf of newspaper journalists for more than thirty years, yet many of our most talented members are rapidly becoming unemployed or leaving the profession out of necessity.

The intellectual property of journalists must be preserved, and NABJ supports any effort that seeks to afford news agencies a greater capacity to retain and compensate black investigative reporters, editors and other journalists while respecting the growth of digital journalism.

NABJ Board Member Charles Robinson, who attended the hearing, told Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) after the hearing that diversity needs to be a part of the overall discussion and a more diverse panel should be part of future discussions. Robinson also told the Senators that NABJ was available to help draft a diversity component of any future legislation affecting the newspaper industry.

The recently released 2009 ASNE newsroom diversity census is disconcerting for revealing that black journalists are losing their jobs at a greater rate than any other ethnic group, but it is especially disturbing that minority ownership or representation in newspapers was not a topic at Wednesday’s discussion.

Of the five panelists, there were no black representatives and only one minority. It is disgraceful that a discussion on Capitol Hill about the future of newspapers can happen without doing more to incorporate the perspectives of America’s increasingly diverse population.

NABJ will continue to work with news agencies, publishers, editors and others to promote diversity and affirm that our members are offered cutting edge training to keep them ahead of the curve.

At the same time, we call on our nation’s leaders to open their eyes to the communities that surround them and ensure that black media representatives have a seat at the table as new legislation is discussed.

]]> http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/2009/05/nabj-statement-on-future-of-journalism-senate-hearing/feed/ 0 Rafael Olmeda Elected President of UNITY: Journalists of Color http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/2008/10/rafael-olmeda-elected-president-of-unity-journalists-of-color/ http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/2008/10/rafael-olmeda-elected-president-of-unity-journalists-of-color/#comments Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:14:09 +0000 Keith Kamisugi http://raceandmedia.org/?p=100 Rafael Olmeda, immediate past president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), has been elected president of UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc.
 
Mr. Olmeda was chosen by UNITY’s board of directors at its fall board meeting last month. Barbara Ciara, president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) was elected vice-president, Michaela Saunders of the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) was elected secretary and Jeanne Mariani-Belding, president of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) was elected treasurer. Their two-year terms begin on January 1, 2009.
 
“I consider this an honor, and I’m fortunate to be part of such a talented leadership team,” said Mr. Olmeda. “I look forward to working with our alliance partners and the industry, even in these challenging times, to advance UNITY’s mission of increasing diversity and insisting on fair coverage of our people and issues.”
 
In addition to being the immediate past president of NAHJ, Mr. Olmeda has served on both the UNITY and NAHJ board of directors.  He is a senior writer at the Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale and an adjunct professor at Florida International University.  He previously worked as a reporter for the New York Daily News. 
 
“I am very happy to be turning over the leadership of UNITY to a committed and capable executive team, led by a strong president,” said Karen Lincoln Michel, outgoing UNITY president. “Rafael takes over the presidency at a critical time when UNITY must expand beyond the perception that it exists solely to hold a convention every four years. Rafael is the leader who will take us there.”

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