NABJ Names 2007 Hall of Fame Inductees, Special Honors Winners

NABJ Names 2007 Hall of Fame Inductees, Special Honors Winners

NYT's Baquet named 'Journalist of the Year', CNN's Shaw to receive Lifetime Achievement

WASHINGTON, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) will induct a renowned journalism educator, two broadcast pioneers and an accomplished media executive into the 2007 NABJ Hall of Fame, the association announced today.

At its spring meeting in Chicago, the NABJ Board of Directors voted to induct the following legends into the NABJ Hall of Fame this summer:

   -- Xernona Clayton-Brady: Trumpet Awards founder and broadcast pioneer who      served as one of the highest-ranking corporate executives at Turner      Broadcasting System over a span of 30 years. She began her television      career in 1967 and became the first black woman in the South to host a      daily prime-time talk show. In 1993, she created the Trumpet Awards to      honor exceptional African-Americans in arts, entertainment and public      service.   -- Merv Aubespin: Past president of NABJ from 1983-1985. He established      the organization's first national office and increased the visibility      of NABJ internationally. For 34 years, he worked as an artist, reporter      and editor at the The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky and has      served as an advisor to newspaper executives seeking to recruit and      retain journalists of color.  Thousands of professional and aspiring      journalists across the country affectionately refer to Aubespin as      "Uncle Merv" as he remains a popular mentor and lecturer.   -- John L. Dotson, Jr.: Former president and publisher of the Akron Beacon      Journal and co-founder of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for      Journalism Education. In 1994, under Dotson's leadership, the Beacon      Journal won a Pulitzer Gold Medal for Meritorious Public Service for      its coverage of race relations in the Akron community. The following      year, he was awarded the John S. Knight Gold Medal, Knight Ridder's      highest award for overall achievement. In 1993, NABJ presented Dotson      with the NABJ President's Award for his exemplary journalistic career.      He is a founder and former chairman of the Maynard Institute, an      organization that has provided journalism training for journalists of      color for more than 30 years.   -- Jim Vance: Co-anchor of the longest-running anchor team in our nation's      capital. Vance has worked for WRC-TV since 1969 and in 1972 became the      station's main anchor. Between 1976 and 1980, he co-anchored with Sue      Simmons, resulting in one of the first African American co-anchors of a      major market television station. Vance has won 15 Emmy Awards during      his 40-year career as a journalist.   

"These four living legends have had a significant impact on American journalism," said NABJ President Bryan Monroe, vice-president and editorial director of Ebony and Jet magazines in Chicago. "As black journalists, we have learned from them and been inspired by them."

The NABJ Board also awarded these distinguished journalists with Special Honors:

   -- Dean Baquet, Washington Bureau Chief, New York Times was named      Journalist of the Year. Baquet, one of the nation's top African      American newspaper executives, resigned as editor of the Los Angeles      Times in 2006 after refusing to layoff his editorial staff as ordered      by the paper's owners and publisher.   -- Bernard Shaw, former CNN correspondent and anchor is the recipient of      the NABJ Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1980, he joined CNN as one of      the first anchors for the network and was a leading anchor until his      retirement in 2000. Shaw is noted for his embedded news coverage as he      reported live from Baghdad at the onset of the Gulf War.    Other Special Honors winners include:    -- CNN, Best Practices Award   -- Black Entertainment Television, Thumbs Down Award   -- Glenn Proctor, Richmond Times Dispatch, Legacy Award   -- Mara Schiavocampo, New York-based freelance reporter, Emerging      Journalist of the Year   -- Linda Waller Shockley, Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, Community Service      Award   -- Eddie Cole, Jr., Tennessee State University, Student Journalist of the      Year Award   -- Robert Adams/Jim Highland, Western Kentucky University, Journalism      Educators of the Year Award   -- National Union of Somali Journalists, Percy Qoboza Foreign Journalist      Award   

Finalists for Chapter of the Year are the Washington Association of Black Journalists, NABJ Chicago, and the Association of Black Media Workers- Baltimore.

The Carolina Association of Black Journalists and the University of Georgia are finalists for Student Chapter of the Year.

Clayton-Brady, Aubespin, Dotson and Vance will be inducted during the NABJ Hall of Fame Awards at the 2007 NABJ Convention & Career Fair in Las Vegas on August 10. Winners of the other Special Honors categories will receive their awards throughout the convention.

Over 4,000 journalists from across the country are expected to attend the 32nd Annual Convention, August 8-12 at Bally's Hotel & Casino. The convention will feature the nation's largest journalism career fair along with specialized workshops, plenary sessions and professional development breakfasts for veteran and future journalists. For more information, please visit www.nabj.org.

NOTE: Members of the working press who will be covering the NABJ convention are required to obtain media credentials. As part of the process, reporters must submit a request for credentials on company letterhead signed by their supervisors. The letter must also include the specific days that the reporters will be covering the convention and the names and titles of all staff members who are requesting media credentials. A photo ID or press pass will be required for each person. For additional information on obtaining credentials, contact Kristin Palmer, NABJ Communications Manager at kpalmer@nabj.org.

An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation, with more than 4,000 members, and provides educational, career development and support to black journalists worldwide.

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Source: National Association of Black Journalists

CONTACT: Kristin Palmer, Communications Manager of NABJ,
+1-301-445-7100 Ext. 107, or kpalmer@nabj.org

Web site: http://www.nabj.org/

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