Freedom Forum, Vanderbilt University to Construct New Journalism Diversity Institute - training facility for minority journalists - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, Dec 7, 2000

NASHVILLE, TENN.

The Freedom Forum last month announced plans for construction of The Freedom Forum Institute for Newsroom Diversity at Vanderbilt University. The new $6 million facility will house the innovative training center for journalists of color. The institute's mission will be to help increase the number of journalists of color at work in America's newspaper newsrooms, one of The Freedom Forum's top priorities.

The Freedom Forum will build and fund the new $6 million, three-story, 32,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the First Amendment Center and Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies on the Vanderbilt campus. Construction is expected to be completed in the fall of 2001.

"A more diverse press offers a more accurate reflection of our nation and means more complete and accurate reporting on our nation's news and issues," says Charles L. Overby, chairman and CEO of The Freedom Forum. "We believe this is a critical need in this new century, as American society becomes increasingly diverse. Newspaper newsrooms have not kept pace with this growth. We hope to change that."

Wanda Lloyd, managing editor of The Greenville News in South Carolina and a national leader in journalism diversity, will become the executive director of the institute. Lloyd directed the landmark study Muted Voices: Frustration and Fear in the Newsroom, a survey of Black journalists and newsroom managers. She also is founder and past president of the National Association of Minority Media Executives and a former board member of the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund.