Grant Expands Minority Journalists' Project
MCLEAN, VA -- UNITY Journalists of Color, Inc., has received a renewal grant from The Ford Foundation to continue implementing the New U: News Entrepreneurs Working through UNITY (New U) project. The foundation has made a two-year commitment to the project at $100,000 per year. This will enable the New U project to support the creative ideas of journalists of color who will participate in the 2.5-day "boot camp" scheduled forOctober 2011 in Las Vegas, Nev. In addition to offering training and one-on-one mentoring, the 2011 program will again include a competition for start-up funding to assist news entrepreneurs in realizing their ideas.
Changes to this year's program include an increase in participants from 16 to 20, which allows for an additional participant from each of the four UNITY alliance partner journalism associations (Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Native American Journalists Association). In addition, the winning entrepreneurs will be awarded higher seed money to help fund their business ideas; four news entrepreneurs were awarded $5,000 each in 2010. New U was founded in 2010 to help increase the number of innovative thinkers and product developers who are of color, providing them with a forum in which to develop and express innovative ideas. It is a project with tremendous energy, driven by committed volunteer mentors and speakers and motivated competitive applicants. "UNITY is pleased to work with its alliance partners to facilitate opportunities that advance innovation and job creation among journalists of color and ultimately contribute towards improving the state of minority media ownership," said Onica Makwakwa, UNITY executive director. New U will continue to be implemented out of UNITY's headquarters in collaboration with UNITY's alliance partners. Returning as program directors are Doug Mitchell, founder/creator and project manager of NPR's Next Generation Radio and an NABJ member, and Alli Joseph, a producer, former journalist, entrepreneur and an NAJA member. Mitchell and Joseph are also the program designers. "New U's pilot year was both a success and an opportunity to experience many teachable moments that helped us to improve the program for 2011, and we're excited to work with a new crop of bright, talented and driven journalists who see a different future for themselves as business people in charge of their own entrepreneurial destiny," Joseph said. Mitchell added: "We found journalists of color who aren't interested in being employees so much as wanting to own a company and hireemployees. This program puts them on that path." About UNITY: Journalists of Color
UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. is a strategic alliance advocating news coverage about people of color, and aggressively challenging its organizations at all levels to reflect the nation's diversity. UNITY is comprised of four national associations: Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association together with an outreach to more than 8,000 journalists of color, In addition to planning the largest regular gathering of journalists in the nation, UNITY develops programs and advocacy initiatives that promote its mission
