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Contact: Laura Goode, Communications Director
lgoode@newamericamedia.org, 415-503-4170
MAJOR CORPORATIONS, ORGANIZATIONS AND UNIVERSITIES AGREE TO SPONSOR
NAM’S NATIONAL ETHNIC MEDIA EXPO & AWARDS IN ATLANTA
Convention Will Honor Outstanding Journalism, While Charting New Strategies for the Future
SAN FRANCISCO-
New America Media (NAM) announced today that major organizations and corporations are sponsors for their National Ethnic Media EXPO & Awards in Atlanta June 4-5. The convention will celebrate the role of ethnic newspapers in America, while working with the media outlets to develop strategies for surviving the economic downturn.
Sandy Close, NAM’s Executive Director, said that the convention’s major sponsors include Coca-Cola, Church’s Chicken, the 2010 U.S. Census, Comcast, CNN, and AARP.
In addition, Ms. Close said that leading journalism schools from around the country are also contributing, including University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, a co-sponsor of the event. The EXPO is also being supported by non-profit groups, foundations, the American Red Cross and small businesses.
“We have an extraordinary diversity of supporters who’ve come together to help make this event possible,” Ms. Close said. “That network extends from the philanthropic community in New York to the diplomatic corps in Atlanta, from the small business sector which represents 70 percent of the ethnic media’s ad base to major corporations like Coca-Cola and Church’s Chicken, and from national NGOs like AARP and the Red Cross to journalism schools and mainstream media organizations like CNN.”
Ms. Close invited other corporations, as well as non-profits and government agencies, to participate in the EXPO, which will be held at Atlanta Hyatt Regency.
She noted that NAM has been working with government agencies, health groups and disaster relief organizations to perfect a communications system, which would allow the ethnic media to transmit emergency alerts to ethnic communities across the country. In one of EXPO’s highlight events, the new technology will be unveiled. NAM has a network of more than 2,500 ethnic media outlets that are vital communications links to the communities they serve.
“In this information age, it’s crucial that emergency and consumer information be transmitted to ethnic communities, where residents may not read the daily newspapers or watch network television,” Ms. Close said. “Our EXPO will help open the eyes of government and corporate entities. Anyone needing to communicate to mass populations should attend our EXPO and lean how the ethnic media can help them achieve their communications objective whether it is to deliver health alerts, transmit emergency messages during a disaster or market new medicine or products.”
Ms. Close also praised the academic world for their contributions. For instance, the University of Georgia is assisting award winners and honorees by extending resources to help them attend the award ceremony at the Atlanta Hyatt Regency on Thursday, June 4. Clark Atlanta University will also assign students studying journalism to cover the event.
“Our desire was, first and foremost, to ensure that every NAM Award nominee would able to attend the ceremony and celebrate their work,” said Patricia Thomas, UGA’s Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism. “We’re glad to be teaming up with NAM to build our ethnic media network, and to support that network in these tough times.”
The EXPO will also feature a discussion of NAM’s groundbreaking poll of documented and undocumented immigrant women; a series of professional development seminars outlining best practices for working with the ethnic media sector; the release of a new poll on ethnic media usage; myriad opportunities for professional networking, and more.
To learn more, and to register, please visit http://expo.newamericamedia.org.
About NAM
New America Media is the country's first and largest national collaboration and advocate for more than 2500 ethnic news organizations. Over 51 million ethnic adults connect to each other, to home countries and to America through 3000+ ethnic media, the fastest growing sector of American journalism. Founded by the nonprofit Pacific News Service in 1996, NAM is headquartered in California with offices in New York and Washington D.C. NAM also partners with journalism schools to grow local associations of ethnic media around the nation. Our 2009 National Ethnic Media EXPO & Awards will honor excellence in ethnic media journalism, forge collective strategies to strengthen the sector, expand its role in risk communications, and improve government communications with its audiences.
Visit NAM's homepage for news and updates on our programs here.
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