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Mae Cheng Elected UNITY President
Organization release, UNITY:
Journalists of Color, Inc.
ARLINGTON, Va. (November 23, 2004) - Mae Cheng, an editor at Newsday
and the outgoing president of the Asian American Journalists
Association, has been elected president of the UNITY: Journalists of
Color, Inc.
Cheng, assistant city editor for the newspaper’s New York City
edition, was selected Nov. 20 by the UNITY board of directors at its
Fall meeting held in New York City.
She succeeds Ernest R. Sotomayor, whose two-year term ends Dec. 31.
Sotomayor, Long Island Editor with Newsday.com in Melville, N.Y., who
did not seek re-election to the UNITY board of directors.
“Mae has demonstrated tremendous leadership as president of AAJA the
last two years by taking her association to record membership, and more
programming with more industry partners than ever before, making the
strongest possible case for improving journalism through greater
diversity,” said Sotomayor. “As UNITY moves beyond its third convention,
and prepares to implement long term plans, including its next convention
in 2008, the coalition could not have found anyone more qualified than
Mae for the top leadership role.”
Said Cheng, "I'm deeply honored to have been elected UNITY president.
Our current leadership has raised the energy of the organization as well
as the level of discussion throughout the industry on such key issues as
diversity in the newsroom, media consolidation, and fair and accurate
coverage in the media. I look forward to continuing that work and
continuing to make UNITY a preeminent organization of journalists."
The UNITY board also selected as vice president Bryan Monroe, assistant
vice president of news at Knight Ridder and vice president/print of the
National Association of Black Journalists. He succeeds Dallas Morning
News columnist Esther Wu, who was elected AAJA’s new president and takes
office January 1, 2005.
Named treasurer was Javier Aldape, publisher at Diario La Estrella, a
Spanish-language daily newspaper in Fort Worth, Texas. Aldape, former
treasurer of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, succeeds
Condace Pressley, assistant program director at WSB-AM in Atlanta.
Re-elected as board secretary was Matt Kelley, an investigative reporter
with The Associated Press in Washington, D.C., and a member of the
Native American Journalists Association.
Cheng will lead a 17-member board that sets policy for UNITY:
Journalists of Color, Inc., a strategic alliance of journalists of color
that advocates for positive change to advance their presence, growth and
leadership in the fast-changing global news industry. This alliance
includes the Asian American Journalists Association, National
Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic
Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association. The four
associations have grown to a combined membership of more than 9,500.
UNITY held its third convention in August in Washington, D.C, with
attendance of 8,100 – the largest convention of journalists in history.
The program included newsmaker appearances by President George W. Bush
and challenger Senator John F. Kerry.
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About UNITY: Journalists of Color
Representing 7,000 journalists of color, UNITY: Journalists of Color,
Inc. is a strategic alliance comprised of four national associations:
Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black
Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the
Native American Journalists Association. In addition to planning the
UNITY 2004 Convention – the largest regular gathering of journalists in
the nation – UNITY develops programs and institutional relationships
that promote year-round journalism advocacy and education, with a focus
on fairness and accuracy in news coverage and diversity in newsrooms.
For more information on UNITY, visit www.unityjournalists.org, email
info@unityjournalists.org
or call (703) 469-2100. |
