National Association of Black Journalists
2003 Region 2 Conference

By Rob Williams

Media professionals and students from four states converged on the Atlantic City Sheraton Hotel April 5 for the National Association of Black Journalists Region II Conference.

The event, titled "Empowering Journalists for the Future," drew more than 200 journalists and other media professionals from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Participants from the Washington, D.C. area, Delaware, New England, the South, the Midwest and California also were on hand.

Participants attended 12 workshops featuring panelists in and out of the news industry who talked about a range of topics, including media coverage of athletes, the world of radio, exploring fellowship opportunities, how executive media managers deal with various issues of media management and making the transition to management positions.

One participant said the latter event was informative for anyone at any point of their career. "The management panel had a much broader focus than I expected," said Diane McClure, a Montclair, N.J., resident who works at The Star-Ledger as a paginator. "The panelists offered advice to people at any stage of their career whether they wanted to become a manager or wanted to expand their job.

McClure's experience reflected many of the comments and accolades conference organizers received, according to GSABJ president Rachelle Christie.

"The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many calling it the best regional they had ever attended," said Christie. "In retrospect, I feel like we did a respectable job. I'm just glad there were no major problems and everyone was happy."

Glover said volunteers began planning for the region last year, a challenging task for many because of hectic work schedules.

"I would be lying if I said it was easy," Glover said. "We all work full-time 40-plus hours a week at our jobs, and sneak conference time around work responsibilities and home life. I can honestly say the majority of the conference was produced between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. in the morning."

The conference was highlighted with a a keynote speech by Dori Maynard,
president and chief executive officer of Robert C. Maynard Institute for
Journalism Education, a California-based organization named after her father.

Maynard, who took her position as CEO in November, criticized the news
industry for not meeting its objective to increase the presence of black journalists in the last decade, and urged young journalists to push for promotions and start shaping what types of stories they wanted to write.

CN8 news anchor Arthur Fennell received the Region II Vanguard Award for his service to NABJ as a former president and regional director, and his actions with his private foundation.