June 15, 2004

Contacts:
Melanie Hall
Finance and Administration Manager
UNITY
(703) 854-3585

Keith Kamisugi
Convention Communications
(415) 876-0589
keith@keithpr.com

UNITY 2004 to attract the nation’s journalists of color and feature industry’s largest media and career expo

U.N.’s Kofi Annan, President Bush and Senator John Kerry invited to address attendees

WASHINGTON , D.C. - – UNITY 2004, the world’s largest gathering of journalists of color, will be held Aug. 4-8 at the Washington Convention Center.

The convention is the signature event of UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. – an alliance representing the combined 7,000 members of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA).

UNITY 2004’s media and career expo will be the largest in the news industry. With more than 300 booths, the expo will provide opportunities for media organizations, non-media organizations, non-profits and government agencies with a forum to interact and recruit many of the nation’s most respected journalists. The expo will also showcase training opportunities in the career resource center, an authors’ carousel and press conferences.

In addition to the expo, several thousand journalists, students, corporate representatives, and political and community leaders will participate in an impressive array of sessions, workshops and student programs.

To engage the local community of Washington , D.C. , UNITY will hold a special Town Hall meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 3, that will be open to the public. The Town Hall, “The New Multicultural Dynamic In Entertainment,” will feature leading artists of color in music, film, television and publishing who will debate the fight for acceptance in the media, the effect of coverage on broader culture, how people of color in entertainment are portrayed in the news and whether or not the media “gets it.”

The panel will include entrepreneur and activist Russell Simmons, comedienne and actress Mo’nique, Canadian aboriginal actor and radio/news manager Gary Farmer, Cherokee actor/rap artist Litefoot and actress Sandra Oh. Additional panelists are being confirmed.

UNITY 2004 will be the third such gathering, with the first UNITY held in 1994 in Atlanta , and the second in Seattle in 1999.

“We intend for UNITY 2004 to once again be the largest gathering of journalists ever, where we will debate the most important issues facing journalism and journalists of color, and become agents of change to find solutions,” said Ernest R. Sotomayor, president of UNITY, and Long Island Editor for Newsday.com in New York. “As we convene in the nation’s capital, we’ve studied more exhaustively then ever the national press corps in Washington , to document its lack of diversity, and we’ll push media companies to better represent their communities.”

“We’ll examine why, in the face of a new round of consolidation, journalists of color and our communities will be hurt; we’ll present new research on the downward trend in representation by our members in radio and television newsrooms, and point toward solutions. UNITY will unveil its five-year strategic plan, and use this convention to launch new, stronger initiatives to meet our associations’ goals.”

UNITY has extended invitations to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, President George W. Bush and the presumptive Democratic nominee, U.S. Senator John F. Kerry, to address the convention attendees.

One of the highlights of the convention will be a conversation with Richard D. Parsons, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Time Warner. Parsons, the first African American CEO of a major media conglomerate, leads one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies, with businesses in film, interactive services, television, cable and publishing.

During the convention, each alliance association will hold its own awards and scholarship banquets featuring prominent speakers, and contribute selected programming ranging from new research studies to roundtables, daylong workshops to plenary sessions.

The convention will also offer a unique opportunity for nonprofits and other organizations to announce national news through press conferences open to the several thousand journalists and media professionals attending the convention.

Press conferences will be limited to 20 minutes each. Organizations interested in holding a press conference should contact Keith Kamisugi of the convention communications team by July 22 at keith@keithpr.com or at (800) 675-4157.

The corporate sponsors for the 2004 convention include: American Airlines, Belo Corporation, Bloomberg, CBS News, Coca-Cola Company, DaimlerChrysler, Freddie Mac, Gannett Company, General Motors, Knight Ridder, New York Times, PR Newswire, Time Warner, Toyota Motors, Tribune Company and Washington Post.

Advance registration for the convention at discount rates ends July 1and is available online at www.unityjournalists.org/DC2004. The Web site also includes information on how to register through postal mail and fax.

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About UNITY: Journalists of Color
UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. is a strategic alliance advocating news coverage about people of color, and aggressively challenging its organizations at all levels to reflect the nation’s diversity. UNITY, representing more than 10,000 journalists of color, is comprised of four national associations: Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association.

In addition to planning the largest regular gathering of journalists in the nation, UNITY develops programs and institutional relationships that promote its mission. For more information on UNITY, visit www.unityjournalists.org, email info@unityjournalists.org or call (703) 854-3585.