UNITY Journalists
UNITY: Journalists for Diversity is an alliance of the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association,[1] the Native American Journalists Association. UNITY serves as the umbrella organization under which the groups hold a joint convention. UNITY conventions have been held in 1994 (Atlanta), 1999 (Seattle), 2004 (Washington, D.C.), 2008 (Chicago) and 2012 (Las Vegas).[2]
The first president of Unity was San Francisco Bay Area television journalist Lloyd LaCuesta. David Steinberg of the San Francisco Chronicle, a former president of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, is president.[3]
The four founding UNITY organizations were the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association and the Native American Journalists Association.
NABJ left UNITY in 2011 [4] and NLGJA joined later that year.[5] NAHJ withdrew from the alliance in October 2013.[6]
About UNITY: Journalists for Diversity, Inc.
Mission
UNITY: Journalists for Diversity is an organization dedicated to leadership in the following:
- Amplifying voices and uniting industry groups and leaders to create a more diverse media landscape
- Advocating fair and accurate news coverage about diversity, and
- Driving change with industry leaders to staff media organizations at all levels to reflect the nation's diversity.
Vision
The journalism industry has an obligation to deliver a complete, fair and representative picture of the communities and world in which we live. In order to achieve this, diversity in the newsroom and in coverage is fundamental.
We envision a nation in which newsrooms are inclusive and reflect the communities they cover, and where people of color hold positions of influence. To achieve this we will conduct research, convene people and advocate change by offering attainable solutions to the industry.
Goals
- To raise awareness and participation of the media industry in understanding the diverse cultures represented by the UNITY alliance members.
- To increase representation of people of color at all levels in the nation’s newsrooms.
- To increase and broaden news coverage focusing on people of color, and to dispel racial and ethnic stereotypes and myths.
- To become recognized as the principal national alliance of journalism professionals advocating for diversity and multiculturalism in the news media.
- To create a self-sustaining organization with a diversified financial base that complements, and does not compete with alliance partners.