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Jan. 14, 2004
Contact: Toni F. Laws, Executive Director
NAMME
703-854-7178
tlaws@namme.org
Washington, D.C. -- The McCormick Tribune Foundation (MTF) and the National Association of Minority Media Executives (NAMME) announce the eight media executives selected as members of an exclusive brain trust designed to help the news media achieve its diversity goals.
Four print and four broadcast executives of color have been named McCormick Tribune Fellows for 2004. They will join the 49 previously selected fellows in producing annual reports to the news industry on diversity issues. The next Fellows report, "Making it Happen: The Power of One," will draw on the experiences of the fellows and those who have inspired them to explore how committed executives can move the diversity needle. It will be released in April. Previous reports ("Do We Check It At The Door?" and "What It Takes To Succeed") shed light on the experiences of minority executives, illuminating both what is the same -- and what is different -- for executives of color and their white counterparts.
The print executives selected are:
- Gisselle Acevedo-Franco, vice president, public affairs, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.;
- Dorothy M. Bland, president/publisher, Fort Collins Coloradoan, Ft. Collins, Colo.;
- Shirley Carswell, assistant managing editor/administration & planning, The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.;
- Michael D. Jung, director, national advertising, San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, Calif.
The broadcast executives selected are:
- Ramona Clay Alexander, vice president/general sales manager, WHBQ Fox 13, Memphis, Tenn.;
- Gordon Peppars, general sales manager, KTLA, Los Angeles, Calif.;
- Wendy Thompson, vice president/station group, WZDC-Telemundo 64, Washington, D.C.;
- Cam B. Trinh, chief financial officer/human resources director, KHWB-TV, Houston, Texas.
The McCormick Tribune Fellowship seeks to increase both the number and the impact of minority executives in media. Since its inception, more than 65 percent of the fellows have been promoted once, with 16.3 percent having been promoted twice.
In addition to producing the annual reports and serving as a diversity resource to the news industry, fellows attend the highest-level executive training programs offered at the Media Management Center (MMC) at Northwestern University and they work with mentors throughout their fellowship year. Broadcast fellows attend MMC's Management Development Seminar, which is a program of the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation, and print fellows attend MMC's Advanced Executive Program. While the fellowship officially lasts for one year, all fellows, from the first class to the current class, participate in the creation of the annual fellows report and in an annual retreat.
"The 2004 Fellows are a select group of media executives who have much to offer others in the news business," said Richard Behrenhausen, president and chief executive officer of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which created and funds the fellowship program.
"Each new class adds to the prestige and influence of this uniquely media specific 'think tank,'" says Toni F. Laws, executive director of the National Association of Minority Media Executives, which administers the program in partnership with MTF. "Through the fellowship program, a growing community of influential minority leaders is building which can provide unique and valuable insights into the challenges and rewards of achieving diversity."
The McCormick Tribune Foundation is one of the nation's largest charitable organizations. The foundation supports grantmaking in four areas, including supporting journalism and a free press in the Americas. The National Association of Minority Media Executives is an organization of media managers and executives of color working in newspapers, magazines, broadcast and new media. Its mission is to increase diversity in the senior ranks of the media industry and to serve as a resource to the industry on diversity issues.
For a copy of "Do We Check It At The Door?" and "What It Takes To Succeed," call the National Association of Minority Media Executives at (703) 288-6501, or send an email to gjasik@namme.org. To downloard both reports and for more information on the McCormick Tribune Fellowship, visit www.namme.org.