Accepting Nominations for Inaugural CAABJ News Excellence Awards

The Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists (CAABJ) is pleased to announce our inaugural News Excellence Awards. Starting this year, we will acknowledge exceptional reporting on Charlotte’s African-American communities. As parliamentarian of the organization, I want to express my hope that you’ll be there. It’s going to be another terrific evening that you won’t want to miss.

But before that night, I hope you will take the time to nominate yourself or someone from your news organization. The awards competition is open to all media organizations and individuals involved in print, television, radio or online journalism. Submissions must cover the people or issues of the black (African-American, Caribbean, African or diaspora) community. Entries will be judged on content, creativity and relevance to the black community.

The deadline for entry is November 8, 2013. Winners will be honored at our Charlotte Observer-hosted year-end celebration in December.

We’ll also honor groundbreaking accomplishments with a Best Practices Award for the Charlotte media outlet doing the most to support diversity in media. I personally invite you to join us in upholding the best in Queen City journalism.

Looking forward to your nominations, and to seeing you at the awards reception,

Emiene Wright,
CAABJ Parliamentarian

Click here to submit your CAABJ News Excellence Awards nominations!

College Students Encouraged to Apply for 2013 CAABJ Scholarship

The Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists College Scholarship is designed to assist college students in their desire to achieve success in the journalism field. The 2013 scholarship will award $1,000 to a college student in the Charlotte-metro area who is pursuing a career in journalism or mass communications.

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

A full-time college student pursuing a journalism/communications degree.
Has at least a 3.0 grade point average.
A U.S. citizen or legal resident.
Resides in Charlotte area during school year.

The application process includes:

Completed application.
Essay (500 words on topic listed).
Official college transcript (sealed).
Two letters of recommendation (sealed), with one being from an instructor.

Applications must be postmarked by November 23, 2013. For complete details and to download the scholarship application, click here.

For questions or concerns, please e-mail CAABJ at info@caabj.org.

Your Access to Media Is Being Granted - Free Workshop Oct. 19 | Download Materials Post-Event

The Eighth Annual Secrets to Accessing the Media Workshop, presented by the Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists, takes place Saturday, October 19, 10 a.m. at Levine Museum of the New South. As always, the event is free and open to the public.

Meet the panelists who will be sharing their advice, tips, and expertise on how you can get your stories told in the media:

Mary C. Curtis | Multimedia Journalist/Contributor - Radio, TV and Print | @mcurtisnc3

Richard DeVayne | Reporter, WCNC-TV | @rdevaynewcnc

Jarvis Holliday | Freelance Writer/Blogger | @hollidayink

Ken Lemon | Reporter, WSOC-TV | @basicallyken

Emiene Wright | Copy Editor/Writer, Creative Loafing | @emienewrites

Moderated by Glenn Proctor | Founder/Training Director of REDDjobb, LLC | @reddjobb

 CAABJ President Ken Lemon addresses attendees at last year's workshop.
Photo by Jon Strayhorn/Media Arts Collective

Levine Museum of the New South is located at 200 E. 7th St. in Uptown Charlotte. Free parking is available at Seventh Street Station (bring your ticket into the museum to be validated).

If you plan to attend the workshop, please RSVP at info@caabj.org.


Post-Workshop

After attending the 2013 Secrets to Accessing the Media Workshop, please take a few minutes to fill out the evaluation form. Click here.

Materials from the workshop will be made available here after the event. So check back soon.