A personal highlight for me last year was winning an award named for Robert G. McGruder, the guy who put me in my job as recruiter for the Free Press. (The photo I have tucked in here shows a commemorative brick I ordered for a Poynter walk project.)
You can read more about Bob here.
Now, it is time to seek nominees for this year's award. If you know someone who would fit the bill, please te;; the Freedom Forum's Jack Marsh. It's all right here:
Nominations
being accepted
for 2008
McGruder Diversity Leadership Awards
The Freedom Forum, in partnership
with the Associated Press Managing Editors and the American Society
of Newspaper Editors, is accepting nominations for the seventh annual
Robert G. McGruder Awards for Diversity Leadership.
Two awards are given annually:
one for newspapers with a circulation up to 75,000; one for newspapers
with more than 75,000 circulation.
The awards go to individuals,
newsrooms or teams of journalists who embody the spirit of McGruder,
a former executive editor of the Detroit Free Press and relentless
diversity champion. McGruder died of cancer in April 2002.
Jurors will be looking for
nominees who have made a significant contribution during a given year
or over a number of years toward furthering diversity in newspaper content
and in recruiting, developing and retaining journalists of color. The
deadline to make a
nomination is Aug. 1, 2008.
Announcement of the winners
will be made at the annual APME conference, Sept. 8-11, 2008, in Las
Vegas. The recognized honorees each receive $2,500 and a leadership
trophy.
Who is eligible? Individuals,
newsrooms or teams of journalists from U.S. daily newspapers are eligible.
A nominee's newspaper must participate in the American Society of Newspaper
Editors' annual employment census.
The awards recognize achievement
for the past 12 months or contributions over a number of years.
What are the criteria?
The Diversity Leadership Awards honor an individual, a newsroom or a
team of journalists for significant leadership in diversity through:
- Recruitment: by
providing opportunities for journalists of color to learn about news
careers and to enter the newspaper industry in internships and full-time
jobs.
- Development: by
offering opportunities for journalists of color to grow in their current
roles and to receive mentoring and training to advance to positions
of greater authority, responsibility or expertise.
- Retention: by ensuring
that journalists of color want to remain in the news industry by providing
an inclusive work environment that offers opportunities to contribute
and advance.
- Content: by reflecting
a diverse community accurately and in a way that demonstrates community
and industry leadership. The definition of diversity in content includes
ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religious
background, political bent and physical ability.
Nominations can be made by
individuals, newspapers, professional organizations, schools of journalism
and others.
Rules for entries: Send
a letter (of no more than three pages) outlining specific information
about the achievements and how they benefited the community, the industry
and journalists of color. The letter should include the name of the
person making the nomination and his/her signature and telephone number.
You may supplement an entry
with clips, but please send no more than four. Send copies no larger
than 11 by 17 inches.
Send material to: Jack Marsh, [email protected], Freedom Forum Diversity Institute,
555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Deadline: Materials
must be received in the Freedom Forum’s Washington office by Friday,
Aug. 1, 2008.
Nominations will be judged
by a committee that includes representatives of APME, ASNE, the Freedom
Forum and UNITY: Journalists of Color.