Amani Ali & Nadia Gedeon
The 2009 Colorado Association of Black Journalists (CABJ) Annual Media Awards and Scholarship Banquet is now history, but the keyword, uttered many times throughout the event, was “transition to the internet.”
Keynote speaker, Greg Moore, editor of the Denver Post, the 2009 CABJ-Bertha Lynn Legacy Award winner, as well as the Keven McNeal Grace Under Fire Award winner, noted that journalism needs to be inclusive, relevant, and fair. Moore said the profession and its business model were under threat, the mold has been broken and it was time for journalists to reinvent themselves during such times.
Speaking in metaphors, Moore cautioned that “desperation can be invigorating” because now journalists can make efforts to “do more with less.”
Some of the phrases he used to drive home his message and the problems the newspaper industry especially, faces today were as follows:
Mold already broken
More cuts probably in the offing
More vigorous and more rigorous
Challenging and more fascinating
Opinion seems to trump facts
Lack of civility in discussions
We are in the verification business
Truth and authority still matter
What should journalists do now?
Moore cautioned journalists to properly source stories and for these stories to be accurate and balanced.
“I think important journalism costs money,” he said.
The event also saw the introduction of Nadia Gedeon, Nightside Assignment Editor at KUSA 9-News as the new president of CABJ. Gedeon takes over from Amani Ali, executive producer at 850 KOA News Radio, who has been president for the last 10 years.
The event was sponsored by Kaiser Permanente and Miller Coors and held at the Denver Marriott City.
