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Updated:
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Posted: April 29, 2008 |
Contact:
NABJ Communications
(866) 479-NABJ
The Chauncey Bailey Project is Honored by Black Journalists’ group
Dozens of journalists’ work to uncover truth of a murder shows power of Fourth Estate
 WASHINGTON, D.C. April 29, 2009 -- The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) announced that its annual Community Service award will be given to The Chauncey Bailey Project for its outstanding investigative work that uncovered a conspiracy in the murder case of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey. The Chauncey Bailey Project will be honored at the organization’s Salute to Excellence Gala on August 8, in Tampa.
“Thomas Peele, Mary Fricker, Bob Butler and the whole team deserve the highest recognition for their unwillingness to accept the institutional denial of justice in this case,” said NABJ President Barbara Ciara. “The tragedy that enveloped a black journalist and community icon called for a deep commitment to uncover the truth, and these individuals made a selfless pledge to honor his memory.”
Chauncey Bailey was gunned down in 2007 while investigating the suspicious activities of Your Black Muslim Bakery. Though the bakery was a San Francisco Bay Area institution for almost 40 years, Bailey was investigating how the bakery had fallen on hard financial times and how its members became involved in fraud and violence.
“We uncovered evidence of conspiracy to kill Bailey that the police either discounted or ignored. Our reporting has led to two separate investigations, the resignation of the police chief and the suspension of the case's lead investigator” said NABJ Region VI Director Bob Butler, who is one of several dozen journalists involved in the project.
The investigative work of these journalists has already been praised by Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc., which donated technical assistance and recently honored the group’s “tenacious reporting” with its award for medium-sized newspapers.
Then-U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton called for justice at the 2007 NABJ Convention and Career Fair in Las Vegas. Funding from the Knight Foundation, NABJ and a host of others helped to make the project possible.
“Everyone had to check their ego at the door and realize that the collaboration was more important than individual glory,” said Butler, noting that competitive media outlets worked together and coordinated publication schedules to benefit the project as a whole.
“The Chauncey Bailey Project demonstrates the power of the fourth estate’s ultimate objective to serve the good of the community,” said Ciara. “This project shows that a sin against journalism is a sin against democracy and humanity, and will not be tolerated.”
CNN's T.J. Holmes will host the 2009 NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards Gala on August 8, 2009 as part of the NABJ Annual Convention and Career Fair in Tampa, Fla. The NABJ Convention is the largest gathering of minority journalists in the country.
Salute to Excellence recognizes journalism that best covered the black experience or addressed issues affecting the worldwide black community during 2008.
An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation, with more than 4,100 members, and provides educational, career development and support to black journalists worldwide.
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