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Join us at UNITY 2004 this summer

Jeanne Mariani-Belding		O. Ricardo Pimentel
UNITY '04 Programming Co-Chairs

Come join us at UNITY 2004, Aug. 4 - 8 in Washington, D.C. and we promise to provide you with a slate of workshop, panels and events that will engage, enlighten and empower you to go places.

The UNITY Programming Committee will bring you some of the best minds and teachers in the industry and experts from across the country who are ready to help you develop your skills, forge new connections and learn how to make the most of your journalism career.

We will have dynamic plenary sessions. Plans are on track to have President Bush and the Democratic nominee address us as well as other powerful decision-makers.

We’re still deep in the planning stages. We’ve developed our programming tracks, and there are some that you’ll recognize from your respective conventions: television, radio, newspapers, magazines, photography, online/new media, management/career development and hot topics. We’ve added journalism education to the list, which reflects the need to inspire future journalists as well as reinvigorate seasoned ones; and convergence, which reflects an industry reality at many of our media companies.

On the committee are folks you already know for their sterling work on behalf of journalists of color. The co-chairs are Jeanne Mariani-Belding, Deputy Editor at the San Jose Mercury News and Ricardo Pimentel, former op-ed columnist for The Arizona Republic and newly named editorial page editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . Also on the committee are: Kara Briggs, reporter, the Oregonian in Portland; Bob Butler, reporter, KCBS Radio; Dianna Hunt, assistant government affairs editor, Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Marleen Ong, executive producer, M2 Productions; Cheryl Smith, Editor, The Dallas Weekly; and Norma Sosa, a PhD student at the University of North Carolina and a longtime journalist.

The goal -- from our opening reception to our closing ceremonies-- is to offer a convention that melds the interests that bind us but also includes topics specific to our diverse membership.

We promise to make it worth your while.

Stay tuned to the UNITY 2004 Web site for developments on the convention as they happen!