Special Membership Meeting at 11 a.m. Saturday June 28

Members and friends of the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists: We're meeting at 11 a.m. this Saturday -- June 28 -- at a new spot: Papitos Cuban Cafe & Bar in Tampa.

This is a crucial meeting. We have moved the date from its traditional spot, the first Saturday of the month, because the first Saturday in July falls on July 4 weekend, and we really need as much attendance as possible.

We are sponsoring the final party of this year's NABJ convention as part of the larger UNITY gathering, which means we have a lot to accomplish. We have 1,000 goodie bags to fill, we need to pick up entertainers such as Eric Darius and DJ Ekin at the airport and get them to their rooms and the evening's festivities, we need to hand out raffle tickets at the party for a stay at the innisbrook resort and more.

We really need anyone who will be in Chicago and wants to help the local chapter to show for this meeting. It will probably be our last general membership meeting before everyone heads to Chicago for the July 26 party. I'd like to find out who will be in Chicago and who we can count on to help out. So if you can't make Saturday's meeting, please send an email with contact info and when you'll be around so we can get you involved.

Hope to see you there!

Papitos Cuban Cafe & Bar

5305 Ehrlich Road Tampa, FL 33625

(813) 849-7675 phone

Direction from St. Petersburg -- take I-275 into Tampa, take SR-60 W/CYPRESS ST. exit, EXIT 39B towards the Veterans Expressway, take the Veterans Expressway to Ext. 10 (Ehrlich Rd.) head east on Ehrlich Rd. to the address, which should be on the westbound side of the street. you can also take I-275 to Dale Mabry northbound, make a left at Ehrlich Rd. and head west to the restaurant.

Eric Deggans

President, Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists

Chair, NABJ Media Monitoring Committee

TV/Media Critic, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times

http://www.myspace.com/tbabj

(727) 893-8521

TBABJ Needs Volunteers for Chicago party!

Members and friends of the Tampa Bay Assoc. of Black Journalists:

Many of you know that the TBABJ, a local chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, will be hosting the national convention next year. As a result, we are responsible for helping to plan and execute the closing night party of this year's convention in Chicago, which also serves as the kickoff party for the 2009 get-together.

We have finalized many elements of the party. But we still need one thing badly: volunteers to help onsite.

We will need people to help stuff items into the 1,000 goody bags we will hand out at the party. We will also need some people to retrieve our entertainers from the airport and get them checked into their hotel rooms and also make sure they arrive at the party for their performances.

We will be handing out tickets to raffle off an outing at innisbrook resorts, so we will need people to do that. We will also need someone to design a flyer we hope to include with each registrant's packet onsite with details for the party.

In short, we need lots of volunteers. so, if you're attending this year's convention and are willing to devote some time to helping us out, please send an email soon, so i can start organizing folks into committees and we can get organized. We only have a few weeks left, and we need your help desperately.

Even if you think I know you're coming to Chicago, please email and let me know what's you'dl ike to work on. Thanks much!

Eric Deggans
President, Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists
Chair, NABJ Media Monitoring Committee
TV/Media Critic, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times
www.tbabj.com
(727) 893-8521

Membership Meeting at 11 a.m. Saturday in St. Petersburg

We're meeting at 11 a.m. Saturday (June 7) at a different spot: Kizmet cafe in St. Petersburg.

As usual, we have a lot going on. We need to complete plans for the kick off party to the 2009 convention, scheduled for July 26 in Chicago this year. We've got to decide about t-shirts and other merchandising we're putting together for the event.

We've just had a public forum on race, religion and media and are already developing plans for a forum in September or October on voting. And we have Griot Drum Awards coming up in November.

Here's the address: Kizmet 1101 1st Avenue NORTH, Saint Petersburg, FL 33705 (727) 821-1078.

Hoep to see you there!

Eric Deggans
President, Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists
Chair, NABJ Media Monitoring Committee
TV/Media Critic, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times
http://www.tbabj.com/
(727) 893-8521

TBABJ Forum Draws Crowd, Media Coverage

Here's a report from TBABJ president Eric Deggans on the group's May 29 public forum:

It easily could have degenerated into chaos.

On May 29, before a crowd of about 60 people at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, I led a discussion on how the media has covered race and religion that took a turn into a conflict about evangelist Bill Keller and some of his more incendiary comments about Islam.

Keller had agreed to appear at the forum, which was co-sponsored by the Council on American Islamic Relations, so he knew some criticsm was coming. But most of the attendees took visible umbrage at Keller's unwillingness to back away from statements such as Islam was a "1,400-year-old lie from the pits of hell" and calling the Prophet Mohammed a "murdering pedophile."

Keller says his words are backed by the bible. Other pastiors onstage, including Arthur Jones from Bible Based-Fellowship in Tama, disagreed. Jones and Keller also disagreed on the notion that black ministers may be held to more media scrutiny or pay a bigger price for controversial statements than white evangelicals. In fact, the only thing all those on our panel could really agree on, was that media outlets weren't covering any of this particularly well. See Keller's caustic assessment of the forum -- in which he says lynching was a "pretty accurate description" for how he was treated by the crowd -- on his own website here.

I was struck by how entrenched some perspectives were. Even after I noted how a study showed that white people judge racial progress by looking at how far we've come and black people judge racial progress by how far we need to go -- asking how we bridge that divide -- Jones and Keller proceeded to echo the same thoughts is slightly different ways.

Questioners from the crowd tended to talk about "the media" as if we were all one big ball of an organization, with little distinction between print, network TV, cable TV, talk radio and the Internet. But each platform works indifferent ways, presenting different challenges -- so how can one criticsm fit them all?

What also seemed obvious: while the public is hungry for a media structure which delivers "The truth," increasingly, there is no such thing in modern life. Particularly, regarding complex issues such as religious faith, race prejudice, Palestinian history, anti-American sentiment in the Middle East and the role of the Muslim faith in terrorism, there often is no definitive "truth."

There is, instead, a collection of reports from a variety of sources -- each with their own set of values, advantages and shortcomings. And, increasingly, it falls to the news consumer to be selective and wide-ranging in the news sources they regularly consume -- their media diet, as I've written about before -- to make sure they get a balanced view.

As is often the case, I left last night's forum excited by the conversation, but concerned because we rarely seem to move beyond this point. Here's hoping this time might be different.

Here's also some more coverage: WMNF-FM did a story, along with the St. Petersburg Times and area Fox affiliate, WTVT-Ch. 13.

I wish more of our own members had decided to watch this forum -- too often, we create these great opportunities for discussion for the community, but can't get any of our own members to take advantage...

TBABJ Joins With NAACP, CAIR and HRC for May 29 Public Forum

Free public forum at 7 p.m. May 29 in Tampa:

From the furor over Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s connection to presidential candidate Barack Obama to the controversy over the detention and prosecution of Muslim students from Tampa on charges of transporting explosives, issues of race and religion stand at the heart of the biggest media stories of this year.

So that people in the Tampa Bay area can speak out about the issue and directly address journalists who cover these issues, the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists has joined the Council on American Islamic Relations, the Tampa/Hillsborough Human Rights Council and the Hillsborough County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for a free public forum. Join us for discussion on:

RACE, RELIGION & MEDIA: ARE WE GETTING THE COVERAGE WE DESERVE?

The event will be held on Thursday May 29, 2008, 7 p.m. in the Student Services Auditorium at the Hillborough Community College’s Dale Mabry Campus, 4001 Tampa Bay Blvd., Tampa. Admission is free and all are invited to attend. Participants include:

*Arthur Jones, pastor, Bible Based Fellowship Church and friend of Rev. Wright
*Ahmed Bedier, civil rights activist, president Tampa/Hillsborough HRC
*Bill Keller, evangelist, LivePrayer.com
*Michelle Bearden, religion reporter, Tampa Tribune/WFLA-Ch. 8/TBO.com
*Otis Anthony, host, Sunday Forum, WMNF-FM
*Ken Irby, Visual journalism Group Leader & diversity director, Poynter Institute

The event will feature a discussion among the panel, moderated by TBABJ President Eric Deggans, TV/Media Critic for the St. Petersburg Times. The panel will also take questions from the audience.

TBABJ, founded in 1990, is a non-profit affiliate of the National Association of Black Journalists, representing dozens of journalists of color throughout the Florida Suncoast.

Established in 1994, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), grassroots civil rights and advocacy group. CAIR is America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, with regional offices nationwide and in Canada. The national headquarters is located on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.

First organized as a Tampa branch in 1917, the Hillsborough County Branch NAACP seeks to remove barriers of racial discrimination through normal democratic processes, informing legislatures of the importance of enacting laws securing civil rights and their executives of their statutory, administrative or inherent authority to end discrimination.

Contacts:
For the HRC, Ahmed Bedier, 813-731-9506, bedier@gmail.com.
For the TBABJ, Camille Spencer, 727-992-5203, camillecspencer@gmail.com.
For CAIR, Donnie Ali, 813-514-1414, dali@cair.com.
For the NAACP, Curtis Stokes, Curtis.Stokes@53.com.

TBABJ Membership Meeting at 11 a.m. May 10

TBABJ Members and friends:

Our next meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, May 10, at the Golden Corrall restaurant, 6942 WEST HILLSBOROUGH AVENUE 33634 (813)882-9805.

We usually meet on the first Saturday of each month, but I will be out of town Saturday, and I have lots of information to deliver about our ongoing projects. We'd love to see you atthe meeting because we have several intiatives under development, including:

1) Busch Gardens has come on board as a sponsor of the kickoff party for the 2009 national convention, which is wonderful news. We're hoping to get their help in getting people hyped for the trip to Tampa and we're confident their involvement will convince everyone a good time is waiting for them here in Tampa.

2) We have rescheduled our public forum for May 29, titled Race, Religion and Media: Are We Getting the Coverage We Deserve? The forum is a co-sponsorship with the Council for American Islamic Relations, the Hillsborough NAACP and the Human Rights Campaign and is scheduled for the Dale Mabry campus of Hillsborough Community College. Currently, panelists include A mentor of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Arthur Jones, local evangelist Bill Keller, former CAIR spokesman Ahmed Bedier and local activist/radio personality Otis Anthony. We're hoping for help getting to a couple more attention-getting panelists and finishing up details.

3) We're also finalizing details for a keynote speaker at our Griot Drum Awards, tentatively scheduled for November of this year. The decision to accept enries for the awards part of the event earlier this year helped, our entries went up a bit, and we're hoping to pull together a wonderful program. We also are still accepting applications for several $1,000 scholarships to be awarded during the banquet.

I'm hoping you'll join us Saturday and lend your sweat equity to our effort.

Here's directions: Obviously, in Tampa, you can just get on 580/Hillsborough Ave. from any major artery and drive west to Town N' Country.Take I-275 to Route 60 north to ext. 4: Hillsborough Ave. turn left (west) on hillsborough and look for the restaurant.

As always, call or email if you need to discuss anything beforehand.

Eric Deggans
President, Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists
Chair, NABJ Media Monitoring Committee
TV/Media Critic, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times
(727) 893-8521

TBABJ Now Accepting Applications for $1,000 Scholarship

It is with great pleasure that the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists announces its 2008 Scholarship Contest.

All high school and undergraduate students of color (African American, Hispanic, Asian, etc.) are eligible to apply for this contest. Deadline is Oct. 22, 2008. Applications must be postmarked by this date to be considered.

This year, we will award three $1,000 scholarships to deserving minority college students who are pursuing careers in journalism. Our desire is to empower young journalists of color to join the ranks of the working press.

In addition to the scholarship, our 2008 winners will receive student membership in the National Association of Black Journalists and TBABJ for one year.

Students currently enrolled in college or graduating high school seniors are encouraged to apply. Graduate students and previous grand prize winners are NOT eligible. Applicants MUST have a connection to the Tampa Bay area, which includes Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, among other communities in the region. We expect our winners to attend TBABJ’s annual awards banquet in the fall.

Completed application packets must be postmarked by Oct 22.

Questions? Contact Kevin Graham, TBABJ’s Scholarship Coordinator, at 813-226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com.

Feel free to print out the application below and send back:

2008 Student Scholarship Application

Deadline: Applications must be postmarked by Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008!

All materials become the property of TBABJ and will not be returned.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Last Name:_________________ Middle Initial:____ First Name:___________________

Permanent Address:_______________________________________________________

City:_________________________ State:________ Zip Code: ____________________

Permanent Phone Number:___________________ Personal E-mail:_________________

Present Address: __________________________________________________________

City:_________________________ State:________ Zip Code: ____________________

Present Phone Number:_____________________________________________________

Social Security Number:____________________ Are you a U.S. Citizen:___Yes ___No

If not, do you have legal documentation supporting your stay in the United States?______

School Classification for school year 2008-09 (i.e. freshman, sophomore, etc):_________

College or University:______________________________________________________
(High school seniors, please name your current school and the post-secondary institution you plan to attend.)

Projected Graduation Date (mm/yy):__________________________________________
II. Please consider the following topic in a 500-word essay:

Analyze the media’s coverage of a recent news story involving race, class or religion. Discuss how you would have covered the story.

Please enclose a photograph and five collated copies of the following:

► Completed Application

► Essay

► Resume

► Three to six examples of journalistic work (Broadcast journalists may submit a DVD but must note their role in each production, i.e. sound technician, lighting, writer, producer).

Please also include one sealed copy of the following:

► Official school transcript (Must be enclosed in an official school envelope and be stamped by your registrar’s or principal’s office).

► One to two letters of recommendation from faculty, employees or journalists familiar with your career goals.


Mail applications to:

Kevin Graham, Scholarship Coordinator
Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists
1000 N Ashley Drive, Suite 700
Tampa, FL 33602