Media Contact:
Allison M. Stevens
astevens@unityjournalists.org
703-854-3590

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Schurz Becomes Third Partner in UNITY “Ten by 2010” Initiative   

(CHICAGO – August 1, 2008) Momentum is building to increase the number of senior managers of color in the nation’s newsrooms with the announcement of a third media partner in the “Ten by 2010” initiative that was unveiled by UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. during the organization’s quadrennial national conference held July 23 – 27 in Chicago.

Schurz Communications has joined the Gannett Co. and The New York Times Company in the UNITY-developed project designed to obtain commitments from 10 media companies to select at least one high-potential manager of color and to provide that employee with an opportunity to compete for a promotion to a senior management position by midyear 2010. Participants will receive customized training and coaching to help prepare them for specific senior level positions.

“UNITY is pleased to welcome Schurz Communications to the ‘Ten by 2010’ project,” said UNITY President Karen Lincoln Michel. “The company’s presence in medium and small markets will help provide opportunities to managers of color in Schurz properties located across the country.”

Based in South Bend, Indiana, Schurz publishes 13 daily and seven weekly newspapers in small and medium markets with a combined circulation of 225,000. It also owns nine television stations, 13 radio stations and operates three others, two cable companies, a phone directory and a printing company.  The company has a presence in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Missouri, Michigan, Georgia, South Dakota, Kansas and Virginia.

Michel added that “Ten by 2010” is a collaborative initiative between participating news organizations, management development organizations and UNITY  to prepare managers of color working in America’s newsrooms for promotion to senior management. UNITY hopes to secure commitments from seven additional media organizations by the fall of 2008.
 
UNITY will advise and consult with participating news organizations to help them develop plans and goals for candidates, including outlining clear expectations of job performance and benchmarks. In exchange, UNITY will provide individual leadership development and coaching from management development programs. Each individual’s package will be designed to suit the needs of the news organizations with the skills their employee needs to be promoted to a higher level.

Participants will choose from among the management training programs offered by the following organizations:

• National Association of Multicultural Media Executives (NAMME)
• The Media Management Center at Northwestern University
• The Poynter Institute
• The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
• National Association of Black Journalists Media Institute
• National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation
• Radio-Television News Directors Foundation
• The Reinvention Institute (coaching only)

The program is also endorsed by the Newspaper Association of America, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, and the Radio-Television News Directors Association.

For more information, contact UNITY President Karen Lincoln Michel at kmichel@greenbay.gannett.com.

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.