Senior Vice President, Diversity/NAA Foundation
Newspaper Association of America
(Retired)
2003 Lawrence Young Breakthrough Award
When Toni Laws joined the Newspaper Association of America in the newly created role of senior vice president of diversity, charged with finding ways to increase minority representation at newspapers, many questioned what impact an industry outsider at a trade association could have on media companies.
Laws retired recently, and after 10 years her impact on the newspaper industry is clear. Despite the cool welcome she received initially, Laws seized the opportunity to make a difference. Her approach to diversity was innovative, grounded in business philosophies culled from her years in the corporate world.
“She really had an understanding of the need to ground social issues in business imperatives,” says Christine Wood, who worked with Laws at NAA.
With grace, humor and force of will, and following a vision and perspective that was far ahead of its time, Laws heralded a new era in diversity in thought, implementation and opportunities. Her legacy includes programs that have developed a critical mass of well-trained minority managers, poised to assume greater leadership responsibilities, as well as a ground-breaking initiative aimed at making diversity a core part of the industry’s revenue strategy.
One effort was the Train-The-Trainer program, which created a corps of diversity ambassadors at different newspapers. Laws’ vision was to have an appreciation of the value of differences permeate media companies.
The James K. Batten Leadership and Development program—also known as Breakthrough—pairs mid-level minority managers with senior executives to help the mid-level managers gain the insights needed to move up to the next level of management. “Toni took special care to match people that she felt could develop a rapport,” says MiChelle Duke, NAA’s manager for outreach diversity. “As a result, she not only nurtured a number of people’s careers, she also nurtured friendships.”
More than just a career-development program, Breakthrough has become a great retention tool. All but two of the individuals who have gone through the program remain in the industry. Including this year’s class, 69 mid-level managers have participated in this program.
The New Media Fellowship program, now in its sixth year, was created to give women and minority professionals a working knowledge of new media and its relevant applications in the newspaper industry. There have been more than 100 new media fellows.
But her most ambitious effort was GOLD, or Growth Opportunities by Leveraging Diversity, in which Laws set out to shift the industry’s view of diversity from a cost to a business opportunity. Launched in 1999, it helps newspapers identify and seize business opportunities in diverse markets.
GOLD has formally trained about 20 newspapers. Further, more than 100 newspapers have been involved in GOLD, through symposia, training and/or its online conferences. Wood, the director of GOLD, adds that people in radio and television call her frequently to ask about GOLD and to seek help with their diversity efforts.
One of the architects of GOLD was Lawrence Young, a senior editor with several Belo newspapers who served on GOLD’s advisory board. Tragically, he died last year of a heart attack at age 47. Like Laws, he considered it his personal mission to nurture and mentor minority newspaper professionals throughout his career.
This year, the NAMME board decided to add the Lawrence Young Breakthrough Award in memory of Young. The award is given to an individual who transforms the paradigm of diversity in the media.
Young once wrote of Laws: “Laws is an iconoclastic thinker who challenges others to move beyond conventional wisdom.”
Booker Izell, vice president of community affairs and diversity at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, agrees. He says: “From GOLD, to Breakthrough to Train-the-Trainer, Toni has helped position the news industry to be a leader in diversity.”