NABJ to host Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony January 26th in Washington, DC

Gwen Ifill, Johnathan Rodgers, and Pat Harvey amongst honorees

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 29, 2011 -The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) will induct five legendary journalists into its Hall of Fame, the organization's highest honor. The ceremony will be held on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at the Newseum in downtown Washington, DC. Proceeds of the gala benefit fellowship programs.

Annually, NABJ pays homage to legendary black journalists who have made outstanding contributions to the industry. Over the last 19 years, NABJ has inducted over 45 journalists into the esteemed Hall of Fame.

"These five giants in journalism have blazed trails so that black journalists today can have more freedom and professional opportunities," said NABJ President Gregory Lee. "We are proud to salute these worthy honorees."

The NABJ Hall of Fame inductees were named by Board of Directors earlier this year.

Meet our honorees:

GWEN IFILL

Gwen Ifill is moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week" and senior correspondent for the "PBS NewsHour."  She is also the best-selling author of "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama."

Gwen has received more than 20 honorary doctorates and currently serves on the boards of the News Literacy Project, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and she is a fellow with the American Academy of Sciences. A native of New York City, Gwen graduated from Simmons College in Boston.

PAT HARVEY

Pat Harvey, an award-winning broadcast journalist, was named co-anchor of CBS2s 5 and 11 pm broadcasts in April of 2010 . This comes after a 20 year run in primetime news on sister station KCAL9. For her 20th anniversary with the station and impressive body of work, the Los Angeles City Council and L.A. Board of Supervisors declared Oct. 30th, "Pat Harvey Day" by proclamation.

She is the recipient of two lifetime achievement awards. The first in 2004, when Harvey received the Joseph M. Quinn Lifetime Achievement award from the L.A. Press Club. In January of 2010, Pat was awarded the Golden Mike for Lifetime Achievement from the Radio and Television News Association. A sixteen-time Emmy award winner, Pat was awarded the Emmy for a multiple report on basketball great "Magic" Johnson a decade after he was diagnosed with HIV. In 2001, Harvey took home an Emmy award for a series of reports from East Africa on the AIDS epidemic and the brutal centuries-old practice of female genital mutilation.

RUTH ALLEN OLLISON

A media personality at heart, Ruth Allen Ollison dedicated much of her professional career to radio and television, showing renowned strengths in news reporting, anchoring and management.  Her expertise in media enhanced many markets including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Washington D.C. One of her favorite roles included starting up the news department at an NBC affiliate in Tyler, TX -- not far from her rural roots in the northeast Texas community of Piney.

After two decades in the broadcasting industry, Ollison sought to transform the conditions that she had covered for so long as a journalist. She landed in inner city Houston, where she bought a crack house in one of the most notorious areas of the city and started a ministry while earning a Master's Degree in Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Doctorate of Ministry (Spirituality and Transforming Community) from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. Still very much in the business of communication, Ollison uses her years of experience delivering the news of the day to deliver some good news.

 

JOHNATHAN RODGERS

After close to 50 years of service in the media business, TV One President and CEO Johnathan Rodgers retired in June.

Under his leadership, the network, which serves nearly 53 million adults has become recognized as the quality programming alternative for African-Americans.

Rodgers began his career as a journalist for Sports Illustrated then moving on to work for NBC and CBS. After moving into media management, Rodgers eventually became an Executive Producer at CBS News and later the President of the CBS Television Stations group.  In 1996, he joined the cable industry when he went to Discovery Communications as the President of the U.S. Networks group. He came to TV One in 2004.

WALLACE TERRY

(Posthumously) In 1967, Wallace Terry became deputy bureau chief for Time magazine in Saigon. His two years of Vietnam War reporting included coverage of the Tet offensive and scores of combat missions with American and South Vietnamese pilots. In addition to writing for USA TODAY and Parade magazine, Terry was an award-winning author, producer and public speaker. He died on May 29, 2003.

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An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C. NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation and provides educational, career development and support to black journalists worldwide.

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