Challenging Times for the Industry

January 3, 2005

UNITY President's Message Mae Cheng

This is undoubtedly one of the most challenging times for the journalism industry.

As newspapers struggle to maintain circulation and as television news broadcasts attempt to figure out how to straddle providing hard news while not losing viewers to the more entertainment-focused pseudo news programs, the very people who work to put out the newspapers and broadcasts are caught in the crossfire.

So as publishers, network executives and CEOs debate how to keep their newspapers and broadcast programs viable, UNITY’s voice and its role in the industry are becoming more important than ever before. UNITY is the organization that is up for the task.

We can’t allow the newspaper's need to downsize and the television news broadcast's needs to find new personalities overshadow the very important goal of making sure that the people who work in these newsrooms are every bit as diverse as the communities they cover. We can’t allow the industry’s need to cut costs overshadow the need to cover the rapidly diversifying country in a fair and accurate fashion, and through the economic downturns in the industry, we can’t allow journalists of color to be forgotten in promotions and hiring decisions when it comes to leadership and management roles in the newsroom.

Together, we did a great thing this past August, with thousands of us gathering to show our strength and our smarts. With the convention, UNITY once again became a force in the industry, and this force is only gaining momentum.

The UNITY board recently agreed to a strategic plan that has mapped out the goals the organization will be striving toward in the next few years.

The organization will not only seek greater diversity but greater diversity in management positions. UNITY will continue to weigh in on issues affecting our members, whether it deals with diversity and fair and accurate coverage or whether it deals with freedom of the press and media consolidation.

UNITY will seek a greater role in working with communities across the country to learn how we can better cover them and issues of importance to them as well as to educate them about how to ensure that news products better serve them.

The work ahead of us will be more challenging than ever before. As an organization, UNITY will have to stay on top of the rapidly changing developments in the industry, yet stay focused on our goals. But I know I speak for the rest of the UNITY board in expressing our enthusiasm to work towards those goals that have redefined the organization.

UNITY will not be silent for the next four years until the next convention. It is our promise that over the next four years, the organization will be stronger and more vocal than ever before.

Mae Cheng
President, Board of Directors, and chair, Executive Committee
UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc.

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