Features:
Sincerely, Leaders of Color: We’re back and better than ever
Newsroom leaders: We want to hear what you’re *actually* going to do next year to help journalists of color thrive
We’ve so thrilled to share that Sincerely, Leaders of Color has been funded for 2022! (Photo by Soona Studios)
About this series: Sincerely, Leaders of Color is written for everyone in the journalism industry who cares about creating a more supportive environment for journalists of color to do their best work. Have a question for the team? Drop it here and watch for it in a future column. This column is proudly sponsored by the Executive Program and the Tow Knight Center at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and our guest writers budget is sponsored by The American Press Institute.
It’s official: we’re back.
We’ve been on hiatus for a spell. You may have noticed, and we wanted to be transparent about what happened, and what comes next.
When we first launched the idea for our column earlier this year, the kind folks at OpenNews graciously offered us not only a publishing home but also a runway of startup funding. When the funds ran out, we decided to stop publishing until we were able to secure more funding.
The kind of honesty and advice we aim to serve in this column is often given by folks from historically marginalized backgrounds, usually uncompensated. Our mission is to make journalism the kind of place we can thrive in, and the best way to show commitment is through action. This is why it was so important for us to seek funding to pay ourselves, and our guest contributors at a fair and equitable rate.
Today, we’re happy to announce that funding has officially been secured!
“We are thrilled to be able to support a project that aligns so well with our own mission: empowering a new, diverse generation of media leaders who are committed to driving change in the industry,” said Anita Zielina, Director of Strategic Initiatives at CUNY.
With the partnership of the Executive Program and the Tow Knight Center at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and The American Press Institute, we will be able to publish a special project in January and continue our biweekly columns featuring our thoughts and top-notch guest writers for the 2022 calendar year.
“Sincerely, Leaders of Color is essential reading for everyone trying to do their part to improve journalism and make the industry more inclusive. We are excited to be part of this series and especially to support and amplify the voice of guest columnists,” said Amy L. Kovac-Ashley, EVP and chief of news transformation at the American Press Institute.
We’re tired of predictions. Let’s talk about commitments and actions.
As we wind down a turbulent and difficult 2021, it’s a natural time to start thinking about what comes next in 2022. However, we’re tired of predictions and guesswork and want to see transparency and commitment applied to the year ahead. We’re ready to talk about what people are *actually* going to do next year to make their newsrooms better places for marginalized folks to thrive and succeed.
To that end, we’re opening our inbox for the next few days.
We’re looking for newsroom leaders (from all levels of leadership) to publicly commit to doing the heavy lifting in the new year:
- We want to know how you’re going to elevate and center journalists of color and their work.
- We want to know what plans you have to share power and influence with your staff and community.
- We want to know what you hope to accomplish in the next 12 months with regard to building a better workplace for people of color and others from historically marginalized backgrounds to do their best and most authentic work.
We’d especially like to feature you if your story aligns with:
- Being a leader who is about to step down
- A rising leader or executive
- Being in the product space
- Any other kind of leader who has a plan to share their power and influence
Like all guest writers for SLOC, these pieces will be compensated at $150 each, thanks to the support of our funders. We feel it is important to pay folks for their time, expertise and candor, especially since so much of this invisible work gets done by marginalized folks across the industry.
To raise your hand for the Commitments series, drop a note in our suggestions box! Let us know what you’re thinking. You don’t have to have your idea fully baked yet.
We’re glad to be back. And we hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Emma Carew Grovum and P. Kim Bui
Leaders of Color
Credits
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P. Kim Bui
P. Kim Bui is the director of product and audience innovation at the Arizona Republic. She’s focused her career on leading real-time news initiatives and creating storytelling forms for digital, print and broadcast companies catering to local, national and global audiences. Prior, she was editor-at-large for NowThis News, focusing on original, social reporting and breaking news. She was also deputy managing editor for reported.ly, a digital media startup specializing in social journalism. She’s been a speaker, trainer and teacher on leadership and digital journalism at universities, conferences and gatherings worldwide. She writes a newsletter for emerging leaders and managers, The Middles: themiddl.es
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Emma Carew Grovum
Emma Carew Grovum is a journalist and technologist in New York City. As the founder of Kimbap Media, she coaches and consults with newsrooms on key strategy areas including leadership, product thinking, and diversity/equity/inclusion.
