CONTACT:
Contact: Guy T. Baehr, chair, Awards & Honors Committee, (732) 932-7500 ext. 8024 or gbaehr@scils.rutgers.edu

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Society of Professional Journalists is seeking nominees for a new award designed to honor collaborative public service journalism by ethnic and mainstream media working together to explore and expose an issue of importance to immigrant or ethnic communities in the United States.

“At a time when almost one in five households in the United States speaks a language other than English at home and racial and ethnic minorities represent a growing percentage of the population, insightful and in-depth reporting on the issues facing immigrant and ethnic communities – including African American and Native American communities – is more important than ever,” said Guy T. Baehr, chair of the Society’s Awards and Honors Committee.

The SPJ New America award is unusual in that it will reward collaborative journalistic efforts by journalists working for both ethnic and mainstream media rather than work produced by just one or the other.

“We’re seeing more and more instances in which mainstream and ethnic media organizations combine forces in creative ways to bring to public attention significant issues facing immigrant and ethnic communities and the larger society, and it’s a trend we’d like to recognize and encourage with this award,” said Baehr.

The deadline for entries is March 1, 2005.

Detailed information and entry forms are available online at SPJ’s Web site, www.spj.org, or by contacting SPJ National Headquarters at (317) 927-8000 or, by e-mail, at awards@spj.org.

The SPJ New America Award winner will be announced on June 9 at the First National Expo of Ethnic Media being held in New York City at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, sponsored by New California Media and the Independent Press Association. (Visit http://expo.ncmonline.com/news/ for more information on the Expo.)

The SPJ New America award will be formally presented on July 8, 2005, during SPJ’s annual Sigma Delta Chi journalism awards banquet at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. 

Baehr said the New America Award was authorized by the Society’s national board of directors based on a joint recommendation by its Awards & Honors Committee and Diversity Committee, which is chaired by Sally Lehrman, an independent journalist based in Montara, Calif.

Nominations for the award are being sought from eligible news organizations and journalists themselves as well as community organizations and interested individuals. Nominations must specify at least two nominees, at least one from the mainstream media and at least one from the ethnic or immigrant media. Nominees can be either journalism organizations – including newspapers, magazines, television stations, radio station, news services or online media – or individual journalists.

Judging will be done by members of the Society of Professional Journalists with assistance from New California Media, the Independent Press Association and the Ethnic Media Project of the Journalism Resources Institute at Rutgers University.

The Society of Professional Journalists works to improve and protect journalism. SPJ is dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior. Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, and based in Indianapolis, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed public, works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists, and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.

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