Freedom Forum, Vanderbilt University announce plans for new journalism diversity institute

Wanda Lloyd named executive director of institute.

11.13.00

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Wanda Lloyd

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Freedom Forum today unveiled plans for construction of The Freedom Forum Institute for Newsroom Diversity at Vanderbilt University.

The new $6 million facility will house the innovative training center for journalists of color, plus offices for The Freedom Forum administrative, financial and publications staff, who will relocate to Nashville from Arlington, Va. The institute's mission will be to help increase the number of journalists of color at work in America's newspaper newsrooms, one of The Freedom Forum's top priorities.

"We are delighted to expand significantly the successful partnership with Vanderbilt that began in 1993 with the creation of the First Amendment Center," said Charles L. Overby, chairman and chief executive officer of The Freedom Forum. "A more diverse press offers a more accurate reflection of our nation and means more complete and accurate reporting of our nation's news and issues. We believe this is a critical need in this new century, as American society becomes increasingly diverse. Newspaper newsrooms have not kept pace with this growth. We hope to help change that."

Overby also announced that Wanda Lloyd, managing editor of The Greenville (S.C.) News and a national leader in journalism diversity, will move to Nashville and become executive director of The Freedom Forum Institute for Newsroom Diversity.

Artist's rendering of Institute for Newsroom Diversity.

The Freedom Forum will build and fund the new $6 million, three-story, 32,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the First Amendment Center and Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies (VIPPS) on the Vanderbilt campus. Overby said the facility would be given to Vanderbilt when construction is completed, expected in the fall of 2001.

"Diversity is one of Vanderbilt's highest priorities, and we welcome the institute to our campus," said Vanderbilt Chancellor Gordon Gee. "The important work of the institute may well shape a new face in newsrooms across the country and greatly impact the issues that are covered in our society. We are proud of our relationship with The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center, which has added so much to the university. We will work hard to make certain that the institute feels at home on our campus."

The institute is expected to train about 80 journalists of color from non-traditional backgrounds for newsroom jobs every year.

"I look forward to the challenge of developing and launching this new institute that will make a difference in newsroom diversity for many years to come," Lloyd said.

Lloyd previously worked for 10 years at USA TODAY as managing editor/administration and senior editor. She joined the newspaper in 1986 as deputy managing editor/cover stories. Earlier in her career, she worked at the Providence Evening Bulletin,The Miami Herald, The Atlanta Journal and The Washington Post.

Lloyd has served as a Pulitzer Prize juror, and, in 1990, directed the landmark study "Muted Voices: Frustration and Fear in the Newsroom," a survey of black journalists and newsroom managers. Lloyd is a founder and past president of the National Association of Minority Media Executives and a former board member of the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund. She has written widely on leadership, newsroom diversity and journalism careers and has been a speaker and trainer on careers and media diversity.

The institute will be a one-of-a-kind facility that will involve daily newspapers from around the country. People of color of varied ages and backgrounds will be recruited for intensive 12-week training sessions, followed by guaranteed jobs and further training at newspapers. The institute will have a small number of full-time faculty, plus state-of-the-art classrooms. The curriculum will concentrate on basic journalism skills and will cover a full range of newsroom responsibilities. Honors seminars also will be offered to selected students of color from nearby colleges to expose them to newsroom work and encourage their interest in journalism careers. The institute also will offer educational programs designed to help newspapers retain journalists of color already on their staffs.

The building design incorporates architectural elements from the historic Peabody College president's home that currently houses the First Amendment Center and VIPPS. The window styles, cylindrical pediment at the corner of each building and columns, for example, echo the design of the original president's residence and help create visual continuity and a residential character for the structure.

The project team for the Institute includes the following companies from middle Tennessee: Commonwealth Development Group, project manager; Adkisson/Harrison & Associates, architects; Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon, engineers; and Doster Construction Co., contractor.