TBABJ Receives Community Service Awards

In recognition for our work in the community, TBABJ received two important awards this year from black-focused community groups.

On Oct. 13, the Top Ladies of Distinction, a nationally-known community services group, presented us with the community services award in Tampa during their national convention.

Just a few months earlier, the Sigma Pi Phi Gamma Omicron Boule on Feb. 10 presented TBABJ members with its 2007 Gamma Omicron Award for Excellence during a ceremony which included a rousing speech from Dr. Michael Eric Dyson at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Tampa.

Both of these awards are a testament to the hard work and dedication of all TBABJ members, who have helped us hold community forums, offer journalism workshops, mentor young journalists and distribute nearly $5,000 in scholarships to students of color who seek to study journalism.

Thanks to everyone who helped TBABJ earn these prestigious honors.

Griot Drum Awards 2006

How quickly things changed in a year. In the 12 months since we first resurrected the Griot Drum Awards in 2005, our news outlets changed shape and size, we lost and gained colleagues and the news cycle grew ever faster and more demanding.

But one thing that hasn’t changed, is the commitment of Tampa Bay area communicators to diversity in media. Once again, an amazing array of sponsors and volunteers came together to help us celebrate quality journalism and train the next generation of minority journalists.

Featuring a keynote speech by Rene Syler, then anchor of CBS' The Early Show (left)

, the banquet proved a watershed event for a chapter used to acheiving a lot.

In ancient Africa, the griot served as the keeper of history for each tribe before the dawn of written word, encapsulating the legacy of the community in his songs, stories or poems. So it seemed fitting that we invoke the spirit of the griot’s drum for our awards -- which continue a tradition TBABJ started over 10 years ago with its first incarnation of the contest.

Our goal: to create an evening that honors the benefits of quality coverage of people of color. It’s all part of the TBABJ’s mission, which since 1983 has centered on ensuring diversity in area media and accurate, balanced coverage of communities of color while serving as a resource for communicators.

MORE IMAGES VIEWABLE IN

PHOTO GALLERY

2006 Griot Drum Scholarship Winners

A May 2006 honor graduate of Henry B. Plant High School,

Shiva Threatts

(left)now pursues her dream of becoming a noted print journalist at Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga. At Plant High School, Threatts served as music editor for The Pep O’ Plan student newspaper. She is also a Key Scholar, a participant in the National Achievement Scholarship Program, an accomplished pianist and an intern at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

Jeanette Hordge

plans to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. A Tampa native, Hordge is a May graduate of Hillsborough High School. While in high school, Hordge juggled a rigorous academic schedule with volunteer and professional activities. She wrote a column for her school’s newspaper, served as host and producer of her own television show, The Diva J Way Teen Talk Show on Tampa Bay Community Network, and co-hosted a radio program on WMNF, 88.5 FM. Hordge attends Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Runner-up

Ryan Jeter

graduated from Freedom High School in May and is a freshman at Howard University. While at Freedom High, Jeter was a staff writer at The Revolution, the school’s newspaper. He won the 2006 Service Above Self Award from the Rotary of Tampa Bay and was named the 2006 Tampa Bay area Boys and Girls Club Student of the Year.