Sharon Rosenhause: A passion for diversity
10.10.06
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| Sharon Rosenhause |
At the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the efforts of Sharon Rosenhause, who won the McGruder Diversity Leadership Award in the over-75,000 circulation category, have helped increase the percentage of minority newsroom employees from 19% to more than 29%.
Managing Editor Rosenhause, who attends many conventions and events sponsored by minority journalists' organizations, "has created programs in the newsroom ranging from mentoring to specialized training for minorities who have demonstrated an ability to lead and assume additional responsibilities," Earl Maucker, Sun-Sentinel editor, wrote in his nomination.
Rosenhause's contributions have extended well beyond the Sun-Sentinel.
"Sharon's accomplishments at the Sun-Sentinel alone would justify her selection," said Saundra Keyes, a 2005 winner and professor at the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada-Reno. "But I know many judges felt, as I did, that this is also a lifetime achievement award. Sharon has been a newsroom leader in some of the most diverse communities in the country, and she has consistently worked to ensure that both her staffs and the coverage they produce reflect those communities."
Rosenhause has been chair of ASNE's Diversity Committee and a member of the advisory board of the Race and Diversity Workshop at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. She hosted an ASNE Diversity Leadership Institute and proposed and found funding for a Florida Society of Newspaper Editors' multimedia scholarship for diverse college students.
"Sharon's commitment to diversity and her goals as an editor have always been the same: to develop the best, most diverse staff possible, and to produce the best content possible, always reflecting the diversity of the community she covers," said David Zeeck, president of ASNE and executive editor of The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash. "To Sharon, it's never been solely about a diverse staff. To her, it's ultimately about diverse content and a commitment to excellence. "Her passion for diversity, her unfailing good humor and her unwillingness to accept less than the best are reflections of Bob McGruder's legacy: better newsrooms producing better journalism," Zeeck said.