COMMEMORATIVE EDITION - 2016 CELEBRATING saluting NABJ making a world of difference CONGRATULATIONS40 ON 40 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM 2 | National Association of Black Journalists | nabj.org | Special Issue SPRING 2016 | Vol. 33, No. 1 Official Publication of the National Association of Black Journalists NABJ Staff EXECUTIVE CONSULTANT Drew Berry FINANCE MANAGER saluting Nathaniel Chambers MEMBERSHIP MANAGER Veronique Dodson PROGRAM MANAGER Scott Berry PROGRAM MANAGER Lisa Waldschmitt DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT JoAnne Lyons Wooten DEVELOPMENT CONCIERGE Heidi Stevens COMMUNICATIONS NABJ Aprill O. Turner making a world of difference STAFF ACCOUNTANT Sharon Odle NABJ Journal Staff PUBLISHER Sarah Glover EDITOR Marlon A. Walker table of contents MANAGING EDITOR Aprill O. Turner COPY EDITORS Viewing NABJ Benét J. Wilson Denise Clay History from CIRCULATION MANAGER Veronique Dodson Behind the Lens DESIGN AND LAYOUT 12 Sheldon Sneed Lisa Waldschmitt Kofi Myler PHOTOGRAPHY From the President 4 Jason Miccolo Johnson NABJ: A History 6 Contributors Sherlon Christie Greg Morrison The Newsroom of the Future 9 Wayne Dawkins Merdie Nzanga Michael Eaves Rochelle Riley Marissa Evans Brittany M. Sango Stuart Scott: Game Changer 15 Sarah Glover Vickie Thomas Deon Hampton Dorothy Tucker Michel du Cille: The Visualist 16 Tiamoyo Harris Marcus Vanderberg Roy S. Johnson Marlon A. Walker Our Esteemed NABJ Founders 18 CONGRATULATIONS ON 40 YEARS Dave Jordan Benét J. Wilson 40 Meta J. Mereday Remembering Sidmel 31 OF EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM Copyright 2016 The National Association of Black Journalists Special Issue | nabj.org | National Association of Black Journalists | 3 From the President NABJ BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT Sarah Glover NBC Owned Television Stations VICE PRESIDENT/PRINT Greetings NABJ Family! Marlon A. Walker Atlanta Journal-Constitution This commemorative NABJ Journal edition is a celebration of VICE PRESIDENT/DIGITAL our association that was 40 years in the making. As we reminisce Benét J. Wilson on the impact NABJ has had Aviation Queen LLC over four decades, we revel in the determination displayed by our 44 VICE PRESIDENT/BROADCAST founders on Dec. 12, 1975. Dorothy Tucker WBBM-TV It was a pleasure to honor those brave women and men in Washington, D.C., on SECRETARY our 40th anniversary date. We praise their Sherlon Christie advocacy and vision. And in doing so, we pick up Asbury Park Press the torch to further build NABJ into the future. In this issue, we celebrate the life of Sidmel Estes, NABJ’s first woman president. She was a TREASURER fearless advocate. Her untimely passing has left a void in our hearts, and reminds us how we far Greg Morrison we have yet to go to achieve equal opportunity in the media industry. We also remember the Bumper2BumperTV legacies of sports heroes Stuart Scott and Bryan Burwell, and honor the work of NABJ’s unofficial photographer Jason Miccolo Johnson. PARLIAMENTARIAN Dave Jordan This summer, NABJ will co-host a joint convention with the National Association of Hispanic WSPA-TV Journalists. The theme is #NABJNAHJ16: One Mission Driving Innovation. We’re working to put together the most dynamic journalism convention in 2016 and arguably the most significant DIRECTOR, REGION I gathering of journalists of color in years. Make plans to join us in Washington, D.C., from Aug. 3 to 7, along with the more than 4,000 expected attendees and partake in the cutting-edge Johann Calhoun programming. The Philadelphia Tribune The priorities of the 2015-17 NABJ Board of Directors are in motion -- develop year-round DIRECTOR, REGION II Media Institute programming, restore NABJ to fiscal stability and advocate on behalf of black Vickie Thomas journalists and for fair coverage of the black community. In addition, over the next two years, WWJ//CBS Radio members will see NABJ’s reach extend globally with fellowship and training opportunities beyond our borders. We will also turn the organization’s attention to coverage of black men and to DIRECTOR, REGION III expanded training and job opportunities for members. Gayle Hurd WPTF-AM/NC News Network Enjoy the pages of this special NABJ Journal. Many thanks to editor Marlon A. Walker and team for bringing our vibrant organization to life here in living color. DIRECTOR, REGION IV Marcus Vanderberg Yours in Service, Yahoo! Sports ACADEMIC REPRESENTATIVE Michelle Johnson Boston University MEDIA-RELATED REPRESENTATIVE Sarah Glover NABJ President Tanzi West-Barbour Policy Innovators for Education SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO: ADVERTISING ADDRESS ALL STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE National Association of Black INQUIRIES: CORRESPODENCE TO: Wilton Charles Jackson II Journalists Advertising Inquires: NABJ Journal Louisiana State University 1100 Knight Hall, Suite 3100 (301) 405-0248 1100 Knight Hall, Suite 3100 College Park, MD 20742 College Park, MD 20742 (301) 405-0248 4 | National Association of Black Journalists | nabj.org | Special Issue WWW.NABJNAHJ.COM Special Issue | nabj.org | National Association of Black Journalists | 5 NABJ: A History 40 Years in the Making By ROCHELLE RILEY journalists were covering. an economy that is unkind to newsrooms and where it is becoming increasingly difficult llis Allison Davis recalls vividly The late Chuck Stone, then a columnist for to meet NABJ’s triple missions: training new the afternoon of December the Philadelphia Daily News, chaired the meet- and veteran journalists, increasing diversity 12, 1975, when she and two ing, which - at one point - was beginning to and fighting for fair and balanced coverage friends, on their way to a party, drag on, Davis said. She found her voice and of American minority communities and the stopped by a meeting at Washington, D.C.’s cried out, “Mr. Chairman! Point of order!” African Diaspora. ShorehamA Hotel, in a ballroom down the hall She made her point, sat down and thought from meetings of the Black Elected Officials she was done. But Stone had other plans. The 40th anniversary arrived last year as a Conference. “Who are you?” he asked. “I said ‘My name is new NABJ board had to right a ship that had “My parents lived in Silver Spring, and I Allison Davis, WBZ-TV in Boston.’ ” publicly listed for three years. The organization went home to visit,” said Davis, now a retired “He said, ‘Ms. Davis, you are now our parlia- was the subject of national news stories about producer who worked at NBC and CBS. “Two mentarian.’ ” extravagant and questionable spending, and the friends at U.S. News and World Report invited new president and board, elected in Minne- me to an event. And I got dragged along to this That’s how NABJ was born. apolis in August, had to take drastic action to meeting beforehand. They said, ‘We need to do restore the organization’s financial health. this thing first.” And that is how Davis, then all of 22 years old, wrote NABJ’s first constitution. But restore they did. And President Sarah That thing was the first meeting of what In the ensuing 40 years, those founders and Glover affirmed NABJ’s status in a statement re- would become the National Association of other veteran journalists across the country leased after the Huffington Post intimated that Black Journalists, the largest minority train- developed member chapters who host regional NABJ might have to fold its tent – as if such a ing, support and watchdog organization in the conventions, media institutes and other train- thing could happen. world. Its nearly 3,000 members now meet in ing conferences in a lasting effort to ensure that convention centers nationwide. But that first American newsrooms have diverse staffs. “These are exciting times for NABJ,” she said. meeting was held in a ballroom at the Shore- “Over the past 40 years, founders and members ham during the convention that many of the Today, NABJ is at a crossroads as it balances have recalled how some have predicted the de- 6 | National Association of Black Journalists | nabj.org | Special Issue mise and questioned the relevance of our great first American civil rights movement. Lowery, who has focused his coverage on po- organization. Most of the time, it was ignorance lice mistreatment of black Americans, praised regarding how things work in the area of pro- To NABJ’s credit, its veterans now are those who helped nurture his talent. gramming, finances, advocacy and business. watching many former students report at the “… Who I am as a reporter and the stories I forefront of the nation’s top story. One, Wesley seek to tell are driven chiefly by lessons learned “Anyone who suggests that NABJ is close Lowery, a national correspondent for The and wisdom imparted while I’ve been sitting in to shutdown-mode obviously does not know Washington Post, was an NABJ baby. NABJ conference sessions and standing around our organization,” she said. “We are poised for the hotel bar, laughing late into the night another 40 years and beyond!” “I can’t imagine a more nurturing organiza- during a convention. For anyone who doesn’t tion for a young journalist than NABJ,” he said. understand just how vital NABJ has been, it Glover’s declaration was a welcome reassur- “When I first started attending conferences, I need only look to current journalists who all ance because NABJ’s presence, sadly, has never was 18 - young, naive and inexperienced. But I got their start with NABJ mentors.” been needed more than now. found myself surrounded by industry veterans Within the industry, broadcast stations and who pushed me to work harder and dream big- Indeed, NABJ’s crowning achievements, the newspapers are still reeling from belated atten- ger and by other motivated young people who notes in its sympony (to borrow a metaphor tion to a digital explosion that has moved jobs challenged me to keep up. from “Mr. Holland’s Opus) are the journalists to web operations and led many veterans to it has nurtured over four decades.