National Press Club Partners with UNITY: Journalists of Color to Interview U.S. Presidential Aspirant Al Sharpton

4/2/2003

From: Melinda Cooke of the National Press Club, 202-662-7516; E-mail: mcooke@press.org Jesse Rafael Borges of UNITY: Journalists of Color, 703-469-2100; E-mail: info@unityjournalists.org

News Advisory:

-- National Press Club Partners with UNITY: Journalists of Color to Interview U.S. Presidential Aspirant Al Sharpton -- A Discussion on Race, Ethnicity & Federal Policy in the 21st Century

On Friday, April 11, the National Press Club will partner with the UNITY: Journalists of Color Mentor Program to hold a luncheon as well as an interview with the Reverend Al Sharpton, President of the National Action Network. The forum, which will begin with lunch at 12:30 pm and conclude with an interview, from 1 to 2 p.m., is entitled, American Dream or American Dilemma? A Discussion on Race, Ethnicity & Federal Policy in the 21st Century.

Both the luncheon and the interview will take place in the Ballroom of the National Press Club (located on the thirteenth floor of the National Press Building - 529 14th Street, NW at the corner of 14th and F Street, next to the J.W. Marriott Hotel). Advance reservations should be made by telephoning (202) 662-7501. The cost of this luncheon event is $16 for National Press Club members, $28 for their guests and $35 for general admission.

During the interview, Reverend Sharpton will be asked to answer specific questions regarding his views on domestic federal policies (e.g., health, education, housing, economics/employment, civil rights) as they relate to people of color throughout the United States. The forum will be led by three young journalists from the UNITY Mentor Program: Glenn Jones, weekend anchor, WBBH-TV, Fort Meyers, Florida (who will serve as moderator); Royale Da, general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor, KBJR-News 6, Duluth, Minnesota; and Elisa Ung, staff writer, Philadelphia Inquirer.

Sharpton, who has been highly critical of both the Republican and Democratic Parties for failing to address issues that negatively affect working class Americans, has made the reasoning behind his presidential campaign clear: "I am running for president to finally put the issues concerning most Americans on to the front burner." While not necessarily endorsing the Reverend's candidacy, many Americans agree with Sharpton in regard to the importance of the issues on which he has chosen to focus.

Join us on April 11th for an event that is certain to be both provocative and pertinent to a cross section of the U.S. population. In the words of National Press Club President Tammy Lytle, "this lunch gives us the opportunity to hear from a potential presidential candidate on one of the most pressing issues facing our country in coming years: the role of race and ethnicity in public policy."

As UNITY President Ernest R. Sotomayor points out, "study after study shows that people of color still lag far behind when it comes to receiving health benefits, discrimination is still a major problem when it comes to home buying and lending, and the courts are filling with cases that challenge some of civil rights gains that have been made over the decades."

Equally as important, Sotomayor notes that given the enormous demographic changes that have taken place in the United States in recent decades, "a discussion on Race, Ethnicity and Federal Policy is as relevant today as it has ever been in this country."

Members of the media who plan to cover the event are requested to register in advance (E-mail name, media affiliation, and contact information to admin@unityjournalists.org).

About the UNITY Mentor Program The UNITY Mentor Program is the nation's premiere multicultural journalism program of its kind. Through it's geographically and racially diverse (Asian American, Black, Hispanic and Native American) membership, the program not only seeks to train a new generation of journalists, but also bring greater diversity and cross-cultural understanding to newsrooms, while strengthening long-term professional mentoring relationships between young and experienced journalists of color. The Mentor Program, which is administered by Dr. Jesse R. Borges, is generously funded by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

About UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc., which represents 7,000 media professionals of color, is a strategic, national alliance comprised of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), and Native American Journalists Association (NAJA). UNITY's goals are twofold: planning the largest regular gathering of journalists in the nation (the UNITY 2004 Convention to be held August 4 - 8 in Washington, DC), and developing programs and institutional relationships that promote year-round journalism advocacy and education, with a focus on fairness and accuracy in news coverage as well as diversity in America's newsrooms

The National Press Club, founded in 1908, has close to 4,400 members in Washington and worldwide. Widely known for its Speakers Luncheon Series, televised by C-SPAN and carried by National Public Radio, the NPC also is Washington's most frequently used venue for news conferences. The NPC conducts an aggressive program of professional education for journalists, funds scholarships for minority journalism students, and operates the nation's only non-academic research library for journalists.

To learn more about the National Press Club, please visit our Web site at http://press.org or call (202) 662-7500.