Excellence in Journalism 2012 Scholarships and Fellowships: Apply by June 11

Terry Harper Memorial Scholarships: Terry Harper passed away in 2009 after a two-year battle with brain cancer. In honor of Terry’s efforts to improve SPJ and the entire journalism community, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation set up a memorial fund following his death. With a generous outpouring of support, the Society can now proudly provide up to five scholarships to SPJ members to attend its annual convention. Applications due June 11, 2012.

Diversity Leadership Fellows Program: As we face the many challenges of an evolving industry, strengthening SPJ’s diversity efforts is more important than ever. The goal of the Diversity Leadership Fellows program, ultimately, is to increase the diversity participation of SPJ members within national committees and on the national board of directors. As part of the program, we bring fellowship recipients to the convention to begin a year-long immersion and education program. Applications due June 11, 2012.

Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment Award: From the generosity of the Lewis family, the award is given each year to a student SPJ member who has demonstrated outstanding service to the First Amendment through the field of journalism. The award assists a student with his/her attendance to SPJ's annual convention. Applications due June 11, 2012.

Check out SPJ's Diversity Committee Blog. Latest entries:

– Trayvon Martin Shooting Death: Evaluating and Improving Crime Reporting
– News Coverage of Native Americans: It’s all about context
– CNN’s Latest Race Study Prompts Timely Discussion
– Study: “Illegal Immigrant” Most Commonly Used Term In News Stories
– Jeremy Lin Story, ESPN Snafu Expose Latest Diversity Challenge for Journalists
– NYU story about NBA Player, Jeremy Lin gets hit with racist comments
– Forbes Under-30 Media List: No Latinos, No Blacks, and No Native Americans
– Story Idea: Mexican community celebrates on December 12
– Diversity Committee: George Daniels and Sandy Frost
– The SPJ Diversity Committee: Working towards equality and fairness in the media

The SPJ Rainbow Sourcebook features qualified experts on key news topics from populations historically underrepresented in the news: people of color, women, gays and lesbians, and people with disabilities.

Check out a selection of relevant diversity articles, presented in full, from the pages of Quill Magazine. For more than 100 years, Quill has been a respected and sought-after resource for journalists, industry leaders, students and educators on issues central to journalism.

Struggling to find ways to incorporate diversity across the journalism curriculum? Use "Get to the Source: A Teaching Plan" as a model for assignments and classroom exercises in diverse source development. Instructors may use the Rainbow Sourcebook to help journalism students sharpen their analytical skills and learn about source credibility, authority, perspective, and other related issues.

Browse this expanding collection of resources, presented by SPJ's Diversity Committee. Articles include how to cover poverty, how to turn unfamiliar territory into common ground, and what diversity really means to a working journalist.

Latest Edition: Immigration reporting: How to advance it and make it original

SPJ's Diversity Toolbox offers essays and links to resources that will help you broaden the perspectives and voices in your work. Journalists who want to improve their reporting will find valuable help throughout these areas of the site.

SPJ's Diversity committee compiled this report so that chapters can get a sense of what others are doing and borrow ideas. Most accomplished some interesting diversity work; many partnered with other organizations.

The Society of Professional Journalists passed a resolution urging members and fellow journalists to take steps against racial profiling in their coverage of the war on terrorism and to redouble their commitment to use language that is informative and not inflammatory, portray other cultures and religions fairly and seek truth through a variety of voices and perspectives.