Hello Readers:
This summer, I attended a UNITY: Journalists of Color New U entrepreneur session designed to promote innovative thinkers in journalism, thanks to a Ford grant. I’m here to offer my support to Rose High Bear who is proposing a business idea to share stories about global warming. All four journalists organizations participated in an entrepreneur contest. Rose stepped up to represent the Native American Journalists Association.
If you check out the UNITY: Journalists of Color website you can watch Rose’s video pitch, as well as the other three candidates who are vying for a $5,000 prize. Rose is fourth in the order of presentations. After watching the video, viewers can vote for their favorite entrepreneur.
On Thursday, I spoke to journalism students at the University of Montana for a class led by UM journalism dean Peggy Kuhr and Jason Begay. I had students watch all the UNITY videos and then asked them to vote. Rose received the highest number of votes of the four New U NAJA participants. If you check out her video, you will see why. Please, review the UNITY, New U video pitches for yourself. And then vote. Voting ends Oct. 17, which is coming up quickly. Please share the this post with your friends. Anyone can vote. One winner from each organization — NAJA, NABJ, AAJA and NAHJ — will be selected through popular vote.
Let’s do what we can to give Rose the opportunity to work on a radio series where indigenous people in eight communities in the United States can share their stories about climate change.
Here’s the UNITY press release about the contest:
McLean, VA. — (October 5, 2010) – UNITY Journalists of Color, Inc.’s New U: News Entrepreneurs Working through UNITY (New U) project announced today that its participants had reached the voting stage of the competitive program. Pending an online vote by their peers from all four UNITY alliance associations (AAJA, NABJ, NAHJ and NAJA), four participants will each receive $5,000 in seed money for their business.
“Entrepreneurial journalism is the present and future, and it’s very exciting to see journalists of color learning the tools of the business side to achieve professional independence” said Barbara Ciara, UNITY President.
New U is a Ford Foundation-funded program for journalists of color who want to become entrepreneurs. In summer 2010, sixteen participants attended two-day “boot camps” to learn business skills and how to pitch their ideas to a group of mentors and guest financial experts. Pitches were video recorded, and starting today, UNITY asked members to vote (http://unityjournalists.org/NewU) for the best business concept. Voting will be allowed for two weeks. UNITY alliance partner membership while encouraged, is not required to vote.
“We felt like crowd-sourcing was the fairest way to choose a winner,” said Alli Joseph, program co-director. “Rather than judging the participants ourselves, we decided that their industry peers would ably choose the greatest idea.”
The New U project is intended to 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. “This is a ‘solutions-based’ project,” said Doug Mitchell, program co-director. “There is much to know and there are many people we’ve discovered who are eager to help from all corners to close the gap between who gets funded and who does not.”
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, representing more than 10,000 journalists of color, 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.
In addition to planning the largest regular gathering of journalists in the nation, UNITY develops programs and institutional relationships that promote its mission. For more information on UNITY, visit www.unityjournalists.org, email info@unityjournalists.org or call (703) 854-3585.
Contact:
Onica N. Makwakwa, Executive Director
UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc.
Tel: (703) 854-3594
executive@unityjournalists.org
Copyright © 1999 – 2010 • UNITY:Journalists of Color, Inc. • All Rights Reserved
7950 Jones Branch Drive • McLean, Va. 22107 | (703) 854-3585 | (703) 854-3586 fax | info@unityjournalists.org
Thanks for reading and voting!
Jodi Rave
