Friday, January 21, 2005

Freedom Forum Diversity Institute welcomes 7th class of journalism fellows

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Freedom Forum Diversity Institute will welcome its seventh class of journalism fellows Monday, Jan. 24. The 12-week training program at Vanderbilt University is designed for people of color who want to become journalists but have had little or no formal journalism training.

Among the 16 new Diversity Institute fellows are Terrance Dean, a former MTV production manager and motivational speaker and author; Laura Luxor, who taught in an elementary school and worked with a local Denver police task force on gangs; and Janar Stewart, a freelance photographer.

Upon completing the Diversity Institute program, Dean will become a reporter at the New York Sun, Luxor will become a reporter at a Scripps Howard newspaper and Stewart hopes to become a reporter and news photographer at the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune.

"These sixteen individuals will bring a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences to this class, our largest to date," said Charles L. Overby, chairman, chief executive officer and president of the Freedom Forum. "Their unique perspectives will add excitement and insight to the program, just as it will to the newsrooms they'll soon join."

Diversity Institute fellows are people seeking a mid-career change or recent college graduates who have had little or no formal training in newspaper journalism. Applicants are nominated by newspaper editors, generally in the applicant's hometown. Participating newspapers agree to hire the nominees as full-time journalists after they have completed the program.

The intensive course features lectures by institute staff and a range of professional journalists who serve as guest speakers and journalists-in-residence on a weekly basis. Fellows receive hands-on training in all aspects of print journalism — reporting, writing, editing, photography, ethics and other core values of journalism. They are exposed to a wide range of reporting experiences, initially covering mock situations and progressing to live assignments.

Some of the resulting news stories will be published at www.diversityinstitute.org, while others will appear in The Tennessean. The fellows also will work on project stories that will be submitted for publication in their sponsoring newspapers upon the fellows' graduation from the program.

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

• Bobbie Burks — Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer
• Terri Carter — Advocate Messenger, Danville, Ky.
• Terrance Dean — New York Sun
• Corey Johnson — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Lakendra Lewis — Corpus Christi Caller-Times
• Laura Luxor — Scripps Howard
• Wayne Ma — Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa
• Linda McKnight — The Gaston (N.C.) Gazette
• Leopoldo Miramon — Imperial Valley Press, El Centro, Calif.
• Ahmar Musti Khan — The Times, Shreveport, La.
• Sharon Narcisse — Daily American, Somerset, Penn.
• Elizabeth Roman — Telegram & Gazette, Worcester, Mass.
• Jacqueline Sanchez — Star-Herald, Scottsbluff, Neb.
• Christopher Sanders — Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser
• Janar Stewart — South Bend (Ind.) Tribune
• Hanna Tamrat — Oakland Tribune

Diversity Institute fellows are taught at the John Seigenthaler Center, a Freedom Forum facility on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. In addition to providing the training, the Freedom Forum gives participants housing and a small stipend during the program. Since the Diversity Institute opened in June 2002, 51 fellows have graduated the program.

"This class in many ways validates all of the previous classes," said Diversity Institute Executive Director Robbie Morganfield. "It shows that our program is yielding positive results and that editors are taking notice. It also shows that more editors are willing to explore an alternative means for achieving meaningful diversity in their newsrooms."

Morganfield is a veteran journalist with more than 20 years of newsroom and classroom experience. He joined the Diversity Institute in 2002. He has worked as an editor and reporter at the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, The Detroit News, the Houston Chronicle, the Tulsa (Okla.) Tribune and the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Sun-Sentinel. Morganfield also has taught journalism at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, where he was named outstanding faculty member; and at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, N.C., the University of Texas-Arlington, and at Texas Christian University-Fort Worth. He holds a master of divinity degree with special emphasis in practical theology and ethics from Texas Christian University; a master of arts in public affairs journalism, with minor studies in educational policy and leadership, from the Ohio State University -Columbus; and is a graduate of the University of Mississippi.

Dwight Cunningham recently became the Diversity Institute's instructor/training editor after leaving a position as science editor at The Denver Post. His career as a journalist has spanned more than 25 years and included stints as a reporter at metropolitan newspapers in several states and the District of Columbia. He received a National Headliners Award for coverage of a Ku Klux Klan-Nazi shootout in Greensboro, N.C., and served as a reporter in sub-Saharan Africa for The Washington Times. He also has served as a news editor, copy editor and assignment editor at various newspapers, managing editor, editor and publisher of various business publications and editor of The Washington Afro-American. He has taught journalism at Howard, Long Island, Wayne State and Jackson State universities, as well as the Editing Program for Minority Journalists. He holds a degree in journalism from the University of the District of Columbia.

For additional information about the seventh Diversity Institute class or general information about the Institute — including application information — visit the Diversity Institute Web site.

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.