Sutton bests Stone in hot NABJ election

By Chris Kahn
The Unity News

Will Sutton, a deputy managing editor of The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., was elected president of the National Association of Black Journalists yesterday.

In the hotly contested election, Sutton beat Essence magazine deputy editor Robin Stone by a 552-436 vote. The vote ended months of campaigning in an election that raised great interest among NABJ members.

"I am invigorated by NABJ's endorsement,'' Sutton said last night. "I am excited about taking on this role as we move into the next century."

The first thing Sutton plans to do in his new position is to hit the membership on a grass-roots level and push to increase NABJ's numbers across the country.

Minutes after learning of her defeat, Stone said, "I wish Will Sutton the best of success, and I'll do my best to help him in any way I can."

In the race for vice president for print, Herb Lowe beat Rochelle Riley by a 492-458 vote. Condace Pressley won in an uncontested election for vice president for broadcast.

The final moments of the presidential campaign ended at 6 p.m. yesterday. "It's been tiring, I've been here all day," Sutton said.

NABJ election officials said 783 people voted by mail ahead of time, more than half of the total 1,230 votes cast.

The turnout was so heavy that coordinators had to use paper ballots because they ran out of the electronic ones.

Both candidates campaign hard for the post, and Stone tried to portray herself as an activist who was raising some important issues about the future of NABJ.

A deputy editor for Essence, Stone said earlier in the day that overcoming the stigma that she only represents the black media has been tough. When she announced her candidacy, Stone said people would tell her that they thought the NABJ president was supposed to represent the mainstream media.

Before the final tally, Stone said she would have been much more of a voice for blacks in newsrooms than Sutton. She advocated forming a special board to monitor problems in newsrooms. If there was a problem with minority recruitment, or if there was some internal conflict within a particular newsroom, her group would seek to moderate or try to settle the problem.

Before the final tally yesterday, Sutton took issue with that approach.

"It depends on what kind of advocacy you want," he said. "I wouldn't be in a position of telling the industry what to do as opposed to showing and telling by example."

While the NABJ elections were the most-watched, two other Unity associations voted in new leadership this week.

The Asian American Journalist Association filled two uncontested posts. Aki Soga of the Burlington Free Press in Vermont became vice president for print, and incumbent Janet Cho, metro reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, retained her seat as treasurer.

Elections for the Native American Journalist Association were scheduled for last night, and results were not available prior to The Unity News press time.

Seven candidates competed for four open positions on the NAJA board of directors. They were:

Joe Allen, editor of The Circle magazine in Minnesota; Jodie Rave; Dan Agent of the Santa Fe Institute of American Indian Arts Museum; Deenise Becenti of Navajo Culture Today; Jannan Khuri; Margo Reiter; and incumbent Ben Winton, now NAJA treasurer.

The board positions were the only positions open. The new board will decide the posts of president, vice president, secretary and treasurer at its first meeting tomorrow morning.

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists did not have elections during Unity '99. National board elections will be held next summer.

Elections for regional representatives are scheduled at the end of the month, said Joe Torres, NAHJ communications officer. Members will vote by mail.

Jason Begay also contributed to this report.