Ethnic Journalists Group Strengthens Alliances

 MCLEAN, VA - UNITY Journalists of Color, Inc., has established a new revenue-sharing plan for the 2012 convention and is committed to working on a new strategic plan to make their alliance stronger while also ensuring the sustainability of the organization's important mission.

The new revenue-sharing plan creates the potential for more revenue for each alliance partner: the Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Native American Journalists Association. It also provides revenue to fund UNITY at a sustainable, disciplined level.

"The alliance partners have been working hard on a new financial arrangement that would be fair to all. They've considered various proposals and counterproposals. There's no doubt that this board has paid close attention and has given this serious deliberation," UNITY President Joanna Hernandez said.

"As of now, UNITY's convention revenue has been capped at $750,000, with any excess that would have gone to UNITY to be divided proportionately among the alliance partners. With some belt-tightening, it allows UNITY to remain active between convention years and continue its core mission of advocating for a diverse news workforce and for fair coverage of communities of color."

UNITY recognizes that the changing media environment calls for a new strategic plan and is committed to adopting a plan by the fall. UNITY is committed to evolving with our alliance partners and the industry.

"I've been president for just three months, but I recognize the need for any 20-year-old organization to examine itself," Hernandez said. "A new strategic plan is long overdue. I am committed to change and fully support the alliance partners' efforts as we move forward."

More than ever, our four alliance partners need one another. The economic recovery is not complete, and our mission of diversity in news coverage and staffing has never been more important, as evidenced by the nation's rapid demographic changes that were reported in the 2010 U.S. Census.

The UNITY alliance partners of AAJA, NABJ, NAHJ and NAJA are excited to work together to be even more dynamic, and we look forward to a successful UNITY 2012 convention Aug. 1-4, 2012, in Las Vegas.

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 representing 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.