http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-wed-unity-journalism-diversijul23,0,6285055.story
Some journalists gather in hope
In a time when many media organizations are slashing staffs and downsizing their publications, the Unity convention in Chicago gives minorities a chance to talk
By Susan Chandler
Chicago Tribune reporter
July 23, 2008
As 5,000 journalists of color arrive in Chicago for a quadrennial convention, the state of newsroom diversity is at the top of the agenda as usual. This year, however, the urgency is far greater.
The already thin ranks of minority journalists are being culled by layoffs and employee buyouts as news operations around the country shrink to accommodate a drop in advertising revenue. The fear is that minorities will bear a disproportionate share of the ongoing job losses because they are more heavily represented among the recently hired.
That would be a worrisome development to Karen Lincoln Michel, president of Unity, an alliance of professional groups representing black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American journalists.
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Aren't they all allegiance-pledging members of the Liberal Journalists Alliance?