NABJ Awards Chapter Grants to Nine Professional and Student Chapters

Pictured left to right, the Boston Association of Black Journalists,  Carolina Association of Black Journalists, Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals, and The Triad Association of Black Journalists are among the chapters to receive NABJ Chapter Grant Awards.

Grant Awards Help Chapters Develop Programming and Conduct Local Outreach

College Park, MD (December 13, 2011)—Today the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) issued Chapter Grant Awards to nine professional and student chapters.

The NABJ Chapter Grant is a financial award in an amount up to $500 given to NABJ student and professional chapters, in good standing. The NABJ Board of Directors intends for the grants to help and encourage NABJ chapters to develop programming that will benefit their membership and to sustain the associations longstanding mission of local community outreach. 

"Chapters are the backbone of NABJ. Without strong chapters, we cannot have a strong national organization,” said NABJ President Greg Lee Jr. "We applaud these nine chapters for their hard work in continuing to make NABJ a great organization. We wish them well with their efforts to help their memberships as well as their local community.”

NABJ Chapter Grants are issued in winter and in spring. The next application deadline is February 15, 2012. For additional information, please visit the chapter grant award section of our website, here.

"The chapter grant committee is specifically looking for chapters that need assistance with professional journalism development, community-based journalism partnerships and chapter start-up funds,” said Sarah Glover, NABJ Council of Presidents Chair. "We salute the chapters that will be awarded this week, and we encourage more chapters to apply during our next round of grant awards.”

Congratulations to the following chapters:

Professional Chapters

Boston Association of Black Journalists

The grant will be used to cover the cost of the winter speaker series and student workshop. The goal of both is to rebuild membership base and raise visibility of the organization in the Boston community.

Columbus Association of Black Journalists

The grant will be used to renew the Jerry Revish High School Journalism Workshop, which will focus on news writing, photojournalism, graphics, editing, etc. Specifically, the grant funds will cover the cost of AP Style Guides for 20 students.

Jackson Association of Black Journalists

The grant will be used to convene a multimedia journalism workshop for college students on the third Saturday of each month from January until April. Workshop will offer a comprehensive overview of multimedia reporting and writing for broadcast and online platforms. The grant will fund program costs and supplies.

Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals

The grant would be used to cover the cost of a town hall entitled "Let’s Talk: The Media, Diverse Coverage, and You.” Specifically grant funds will cover the cost of panel experts, audio video equipment and food.

Triad Association of Black Journalists

The grant would be used to fund an interactive workshop that teaches college students and professional journalists the best way to harness social media tools for news gathering. Specifically, funds would cover the cost of food and honorariums.

Student Chapters

Carolina Association of Black Journalists

The grant will be used to sponsor a high school minority journalism workshop aimed at exposing students to the field of journalism. The daylong workshop would be held on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Specifically, the grant would fund meals and T-shirts for approximately 15 high school students and a dozen volunteers.

Jackson State University Chapter of NABJ

The grant will be used for a mobile journalism workshop. The group will hold four monthly workshops beginning in January, focusing on multimedia journalism. Specifically grant funds will be used to purchase Kodak zi8 flip cameras with external microphones.

University of Louisville

The grant would be used to fund a speaker series focusing on a documentary "Got Purpose.” Presentations, which are designed to refocus students on the need to play a larger role in their future, will have a chance to sit down with the documentary’s director/producer.  Specifically, grant funds would cover the cost of venue rentals, honorarium and food.

Winthrop University Association of Black Journalists

The grant would be used to fund a social mixer and networking session between students and career professionals. Past events have led to employment opportunities for student journalists.

###