WASHINGTON,
May 25, 2011 - The
National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) announced today the finalists
for its 2011 Salute to Excellence Awards. The competition honors work from
print, television, radio, online, photojournalism, and public relations.
Winners will be announced Saturday, August 6, 2011 at a gala celebration during
NABJ's 36th Annual Convention and Career Fair in Philadelphia, the largest
gathering of minority journalists in the country.
"In this historic year, journalists
treated issues of race and black America with heightened importance," said
NABJ President Kathy Y. Times. "From stories on devastation in Haiti, the
unemployment and economic crisis, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and so
on; the stories and the field of candidates were incredible." Entries were judged on content,
creativity, innovation, use of the medium and relevance to the black ,
community. Hosts for this year’s gala will be reporter
and analyst for The Tom Joyner Morning Show
Jacque Reid, and co-host of the Insider, Kevin Frazier.
"We're extremely excited and proud of
this year's finalists for our national media awards," said Ray Metoyer,
National Salute to Excellence Awards Chair. "It was a challenge to select
finalists from all of the exemplary work submitted by journalists from across
the country, but this difficult task of choosing the best is a testament to the
abundance of talent we have in our profession and organization." This year NABJ is honored to bestow its
Journalist of the Year Award to Miami Herald’s
Caribbean Correspondent Jacqueline Charles for her coverage of the on-going
crisis in Haiti as it charts a new course since the devastating earthquake in
January 2010.
NABJ is
also pleased to award NABJ Founder and
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Acel Moore with the organizations Lifetime
Achievement Award for his amazing impact on American journalism for more than
50 years.
Other top
honorees include ESPN’s Claire Smith for the Legacy Award; SRB Communications’
Sheila Brooks for the Pat Tobin Media Professional; Virginia Commonwealth
University’s Bonnie Newman Davis for Educator of the Year, Newsday's Kimberley A. Martin for Emerging Journalist of the Year, and University of Southern California's Ashley Michelle Williams for Student Journalist of the Year.
NABJ's 36th Annual Convention and Career
Fair will take place Aug. 3-7, 2011 in Philadelphia. The Salute to Excellence
Awards Gala is the only awards program that honors
exemplary coverage of African/African-American people or issues exclusively.
Over 50 awards will be presented to writers, columnists, producers, reporters,
photojournalists and editors for their exemplary work.
For additional information, registration,
and ticket sales please visit us at www.nabj.org.
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Click on the links to view the finalists: