Will there be a Unity '04? Too soon to tell

By Julie Y. Chen
The Unity News

Unity '99 doesn't end until tomorrow afternoon, and there is already talk of Unity '04.

But there is no official word on the next convention.

The first question is, will there be one?

"You know, I really don't know," said Unity Board President Catalina Camia, who is also president of the Asian American Journalists Association. "We're going to take a look at some of the strategic things that we need to do."

The Unity Board of Directors will meet this fall to discuss plans. Camia said the board has to decide on an agenda, a business plan and a structure for the organization and its future events.

Meanwhile, members of all four participating organizations are assessing this convention's successes and shortcomings.

"It's probably the best place for networking," said Janeane Anderson, a freshman at the University of Missouri at Columbia, who is starting early on the job search.

Others said there's room for improvement.

Luella N. Brien, a freshman at Little Big Horn College in Montana, said she felt that most of the activities are geared toward "people who have already graduated."

"There's not a lot of photo-related classes," said Bailey B. Franklin, associate photo editor for People En Espa-ol.

Russell Contreras, a reporter for alternative weekly Houston Press, noticed another weakness.

"There's a lot of dailies here but not a lot of alternative weeklies," Contreras said. "It is the obligation of Unity to reach out to alternative news weeklies."

But improving Unity as an organization will take more than tweaking at the logistics of upcoming conventions, some said.

Unity co-founders Juan Gonz‡lez and Will Sutton said the future of Unity lies in setting an agenda for the whole journalism industry, reaching beyond ethnic lines by including groups such as the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and the Society for Professional Journalists.

"Unity should take the lead to bring everyone together," said Gonz‡lez, a columnist at the Daily News in New York and a founding member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

"I want to make Unity stronger so that we can have a greater impact in the newsroom," said Sutton, deputy managing editor of the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Nancy Baca, vice president of the Unity Board and president of NAHJ, said Unity '99 succeeded in creating and tightening cohesiveness among members of the four groups.

"What we're continuing is some very positive relationships, and we hope to continue to build on that," Baca said.

Camia said she was particularly moved by the way members of all the organizations responded to her arrival at the convention's opening ceremony.

"I was making my way through the crowd," Camia said. "Several people said, 'Look, there's our president.' And they weren't Asian. Some were black, some were Native American, some were white journalists."

Kara Briggs, president of Native American Journalists Association and Unity secretary, said she was pleased with speakers who kept their promise to address the convention.

"I am impressed with Al Gore for honoring his word to appear and to answer questions," said Briggs, who also expressed appreciation for Bill Bradley's appearance.

However, she said the most serious disappointment of the week was the failure of invited guests who missed the opportunity to speak to minority journalists.

Still, Camia highlighted Unity's increasing power, as was evidenced by the surprise drop-in by Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., after a critical article in the Los Angeles Times.

"It made me realize how powerful the coalition is," Camia said, adding, "There is no mistaking that they changed their minds and they changed their schedules to come. We must be doing something right."

And some things wrong, others said.

NABJ President Vanessa Williams confirmed rumors that member turnout for this year's conference was low because of the West Coast location. Last year's NABJ convention in Chicago had close to 2,500 participants, she said, while only 1,700 members are at Unity '99.

"Most of our members are on the East Coast," said Williams, who hopes Unity will organize more local and regional activities to help chapter members get acquainted.

Robin Stone, deputy editor of Essence magazine, attributes the approximately 800-member difference to economics.

"Eighty-five percent of our members come from east of Chicago, and Seattle is a more expensive city," she said.

NABJ debated whether to boycott Unity '99 after Washington state voters approved Initiative 200, an anti-affirmative-action measure, in November. The debate may have influenced some members to boycott the convention privately.

The decrease in participation does have significance.

"Given the specialness of Unity -- that it's every five years -- it's significant that we're not here in greater numbers to honor that uniqueness," Stone said.