AAJA members selected for mentoring in the business of journalism
By Elwin Green
Diversity Institute Fellow
08.10.04
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The Asian American Journalists Association and The New York Times initiated
a pilot mentoring program during the UNITY conference by pairing three Times
employees with three AAJA members interested in the business side of journalism.
Dennis Stern, vice president of human resources for the Times, said
the mentoring program is based on one started among Times’ employees
in 1999. “Our one regret is that we didn’t start it 10 years before,” he said.
The three AAJA participants will be mentored for one year, and Stern said he
hopes the new program is so successful that it will be expanded in coming years.
On Wednesday, Times’ trainer Gary Proctor helped prepare participants
for their new relationships.
The pilot program with the Times is not AAJA’s first venture into mentoring.
Its Executive Leadership Program helps mid-career Asian-American journalists
define career goals. In the program, journalists whose goals include management
have been able to apply for mentoring.
The first class had five mentor-protégé pairs. The current class, which started
in March, has four. Again, the executive mentoring requires a one-year commitment.
Wednesday, those mentors and protégés met for a mid-year evaluation.
Mae Cheng, president of AAJA and a reporter at Newsday, is a protégé
partnered with Diane McFarlin, publisher of the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune
and former president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Cheng said that she and McFarlin have so much in common that they would have
become friends even if they had met at random.
“It’s nice to bounce things off someone with a lot more experience who is
completely on your side and who has no ulterior motives — someone who is focused
on you,” Cheng said.
Cheng and McFarlin maintain their relationship by speaking by phone at least
once a month, with additional phone calls and e-mails as needed. “She’s extremely
responsive,” Cheng said.
Cheng had experience as a mentor, but this is her first time as a protégé.
“Lots of people have gotten through their careers because they’ve had an unofficial
mentor, someone who took an interest in them,” Stern said.
But he noted that not everyone finds a mentor on his or her own. “The real
beauty of a formal program is, when you sign up for a program, you’re going
to get a mentor.”
Related
UNITY 2004 coverage by Diversity Institute reporters
Summer fellows file dispatches from Washington, D.C., where more than 7,000 journalists of color are attending convention workshops, speeches, receptions.
08.05.04
