Tuesday, January 06, 2004

Freedom Forum Diversity Institute graduates 4th class of journalism fellows

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The fourth class of six journalism fellows graduated Dec. 11 from the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute, a training program at Vanderbilt University designed for people of color who want to become journalists but have not had formal journalism training. After graduating from the program, fellows will join the staffs of their local sponsoring newspapers as full-time journalists.

“In less than two years we have sent 35 new people of color to work as professional journalists in the nation’s daily newspaper newsrooms,” said Wanda Lloyd, executive director of the Diversity Institute. “They are making awesome contributions to their newspapers and in their communities.”

Among the six Diversity Institute graduates are Julie DeHerrera, who after obtaining a bachelors degree in speech and hearing science from the University of Utah, discovered that her true passion is journalism. DeHerrera will join The Salt Lake Tribune in Salt Lake City, Utah, as a reporter; Peggy Ting Lim, who graduated in Asian Studies from Harvard University, hopes to connect her passion for people and social issues by becoming a reporter at The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune; and Christopher Fisher, who was recently promoted to county recorder in a title company in nearby Portland, Ore., will join the staff of the Statesman Journal in Salem, Ore. as a reporter.

Diversity Institute fellows are people seeking a mid-career change or recent college graduates who did not major in journalism. Applicants are nominated by newspaper editors, generally in the applicant’s hometown. Participating newspapers agree to hire their nominees as full-time journalists after they have completed the program, which consists of 12 weeks of hands-on training introducing the fellows to all aspects of print journalism –— reporting, writing, editing, visual journalism, media ethics and journalism history. This class brings the total number of Diversity Institute graduates to 35 since the program began in June 2002. The Diversity Institute plans to conduct three sessions in 2004: Jan. 25-April 16, June 7-Aug. 27 and Sept. 19-Dec. 9.

Diversity Institute fellows are taught at the John Seigenthaler Center, a Freedom Forum facility on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Participants are housed in campus apartments and receive a small stipend during the program. The Freedom Forum pays all expenses.

New graduates at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute and their sponsoring newspapers:

• Julie DeHerrera – The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Christopher Fisher – Statesman Journal, Salem, Ore.
• Peggy Ting Lim – The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune
• Lee Ann O’Neal – The Tennessean, Nashville, Tenn.
• Ailene Torres – Birmingham (Ala.) Post Herald
• Wanda Williams – The Herald-Mail Co., Hagerstown, Md.

For additional information about the fourth Diversity Institute class or general information about the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute, including application information, visit the Diversity Institute Web site (www.diversityinstitute.org).

The Freedom Forum, based in Arlington, Va., is a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people. The foundation focuses on three main priorities: the Newseum, First Amendment issues and diversity in U.S. daily newspaper newsrooms.