From left: Malik Singleton, Nigel Duara, Britney Tabor, Sandra Gonzalez, Sherri Williams, Tony Hernandez.

The idea to establish a program for fellows to learn about the inner workings of SPJ through an immersion into teaching of the Society’s missions, culture and operations came to fruition seven years ago in a Las Vegas hotel that no longer exists. The Diversity Leadership Fellows Program would be an educational process starting at the beginning of the  SPJ national convention.  Selected fellows, who would be involved in many aspects of the conference, would receive complimentary registration and paid travel for the event.

Today, unlike the Vegas hotel where the first group of fellows met, the DLFP still exists.

Why?

SPJ has made it clear that diversity is part of its core mission and values, which is why SPJ’s Sigma Delta Chi Foundation continues to fund the successful program. To that extent, the diversity committee has spent the past several weeks working with Lauren Rochester, SPJ’s awards coordinator, and Chris Vachon, SPJ’s associate executive director,  in selecting participants for the 2012 Diversity Leadership Fellows Program.

We are excited about the six newest fellows, and the awesome list of mentors who have volunteered to work with the fellows.  This year’s fellows include: 

• Nigel Duara, The Associated Press, Oregon/S.W. Washington Chapter, SPJ
• Malik Singleton, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, Deadline Club Chapter, SPJ
• Sandra Gonzalez, Freelance Digital Journalist, New Orleans Chapter, SPJ
• Sherri Williams, Adjunct Faculty, Syracuse University, Freelance Writer, Former Board Member of the Central Ohio Chapter, SPJ
•  Tony Hernandez, Northwest Arkansas Times, Northwest Arkansas Pro Chapter, SPJ
• Britney Tabor, Denton Record-Chronicle, Fort Worth Chapter, SPJ

Bonnie Newman Davis

SPJ Diversity Committee Chair – 2011-2012

ABC News is starting a fellowship program aimed at preparing up-and-coming journalists for television news.  The news network plans to choose participants from a variety of different  racial, ethnic, socio-economic and geographic backgrounds. Each fellow will work closely with an experienced ABC News mentor.

I have high hopes for this fellowship.  Kudos to ABC News for making an effort to find fellows from diverse backgrounds.

The chosen fellows will be offered:

• Rotation among several ABC News departments and broadcasts.
• Development of editorial, news gathering and production skills.
• Work closely with assigned news mentor at ABC.

ABC News President Ben Sherwood says the network is committed in recruiting, developing, empowering and promoting the industry’s future leaders.  The news network hopes to start this program on July 2, 2012.

What you need to qualify:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Solid writing skills
• Shooting and video editing experience
• Minimum two years experience
• Proficient in Spanish is preferred

Fellows will be employees of ABC News for one year.  For more information: ABC Fellowship.

Rebecca Aguilar is an Emmy award winning freelance reporter based in Dallas, TX.  She’s a board member with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and SPJ Fort Worth Chapter. She’s also the vice chair of the SPJ Diversity Committee.

This comes via Heather Porter, SPJ’s professional development coordinator:

On Saturday, February 20, SPJ teamed up with Community Media Workshop in Chicago to host training for journalists from the area’s ethnic publications. The Audio/Images for the Web session, part of SPJ’s Newsroom Training Program, offered beginning level hands-on training on how to record, import and edit audio files for use on the Web. Nineteen journalists from publications such as Hoy, Asian Broadcasting Network, CBS News, Reflegos bilingual newspaper, La Raza Newspaper and The Arab Horizon Newspaper attended. Victoria Lim, a reporter for Bright House Sports Network, served as the trainer.

“I have done training and been to the same kind of training that (Lim) did, and I thought she was excellent on the topic and wonderful as a communicator, listener and someone who carried through with enthusiasm and support,” Steve Franklin from Community Media Workshop said. “And the folks I talked to thought it was a wonderfully helpful session and plan to follow up.” For more information on the Society of Professional Journalists’ Newsroom Training Program, click here.