A TRIP THAT WE CAN NEVER FORGET

MY EXPERIENCE AT UNITY

What seemed like forever came in an instant! UNITY 2008 was here. What others had said about UNITY was nothing that could possibly compare to what it really was. I met some of the best and brightest in the journalism field.

I went to many panel discussions and workshops that thought me a tremendous amount about topics. These are just a few: How to Deal With Your First Internships, AIDS Research and Violence In the Media.

Chicago was wonderful! It reminded of New York but not as intense. The people were friendly, and the food was GREAT! (That part is kind of important to me) The shopping was wonderful.

This UNITY trip also thought me many things about myself and the plans that I have for the upcoming year for UCABJ. For the first time ever I met people who were my "competition" and who inspired me at the same time.

-Alicia Gaynor
UCABJ President

UCABJ Represents!

UCABJers and other University of Cincinnati journalism students are featured in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences online bulletin this week. Way to go!

theroot.com's UNITY blog

UCABJ is back from Chicago and all is right with the world. Saw some old friends, met some new friends, went to some great sessions, had some good food...there isn't really anything else to say, is there? Oh, you can check out Geoffrey's theroot.com blog entries here.

UCABJer Blogs UNITY for theroot.com

Big ups go out to UCABJ Vice President Geoffrey Dobbins for being selected by the staff over at theroot.com to blog during the UNITY: Journalists of Color convention in Chicago next week. We aren't talking small potatoes here. For those of you who don't know, theroot.com is the brainchild of Harvard University professor and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and is backed by The Washington Post Company. Check back on July 22 when UCABJ takes Chicago by storm!

Congrats, Geoffrey!

—UCABJ Executive Board

The NAACP Has Landed

These droves of tourists and international media wandering around downtown Cincinnati can only mean one thing...

The NAACP kicked off their 99th annual national convention in the Queen City today, and naturally, the University of Cincinnati Association of Black Journalists is right in the middle of it all.

Alicia Gaynor (UCABJ president and college radio personality) and Elissa Sonnenberg (journalist, college professor, and UCABJ faculty adviser) are reporting live on conference events as volunteers for the media arm of the NAACP Convention. Check out their posts on the official NAACP Convention blog here.

Geoffrey Dobbins (vice president) and Terron Austin (UCABJ alum) will also be joining the fray in the next couple of days.

And that's not all...
Our favorite Cincinnati Enquirer business reporter, Keith Reed, blogged about"The NAACP's Guide to Cincinnati" for The Root, Henry Louis Gates Jr's daily online magazine. Catch Reed's post here.



~Geoffrey Dobbins
UCABJ, Vice President

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Before I launch into this opinion piece, I should explain that I don’t have cable.

Not that I think anyone is surprised by that. I’m a college student and a fledgling journalist, which makes me double-broke. It’s an occupational hazard. As one of the side effects of my limited TV options, I think I’ve been consuming a slightly healthier media diet. (I’m on track to lose more than15 intellectual pounds by September. My brain can fit into those jeans from high school again!)

But there are also downsides. I now realize too much of what I consume has been print and web, and too much of it has leaned to the left side of the political spectrum. It wasn’t until after the presidential primary season ended that I realized I hadn’t kept track of what was going on at CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. So hopefully you’ll understand that this really hadn’t come to my attention until after the primaries were decided. I’m pretty sure this isn’t a case of paternalistic gender roles leading me to view a woman more positively when she loses, as Gloria Steinam discusses here. At least, I’m pretty sure…

Anyway, the nominees had already been decided for both parties when I came across this video montage from the Women’s Media Center by way of Judith Miller’s New York Times blog.

(By the way, Miller had some pretty pointed comments about the recent film, "Sex and the City." I personally haven't seen it and don't have an opinion on it, so anybody that's angry about that can forward responses to her. I'm steering clear of that battle.)

I’d seen some disturbing instances of chauvinism passing for journalism here and there, but nothing like this. I’m far from an apologist for Hillary Clinton, but this clearly demonstrated how blatant sexism had been masquerading as political commentary lately.

“…nutcracker…”

“…looking haggard…”

“…you’re a knockout…”

“…nagging wives…”

My nonviolent, even-keeled nature gave way to disbelief and anger. I really wanted to punch Chris Matthews in the throat. And nothing says “good old boys’ club” quite like Mike Barnicle’s comment about Hillary “looking like everyone’s first wife standing outside a probate court.” Of course, Barnicle… “everyone” has a “first wife.” Though I can’t imagine why anyone would want to leave someone like him or Marc “men-are-allowing-women-to-take-over-the-world” Rudov …

How is it that serious media voices can get away with language like this without loud, public rebukes from journalists? If journalists are upset, I haven’t heard much about it.

In addition to outrageously flouting basic standards of respect or fairness, I see this stuff as a direct assault on all our mothers, sisters, classmates, significant others, coworkers and teachers. That makes it this African American male’s business. Injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere. Guys that care about feminism like me aren’t exactly being altruistic.

Something should be done about all this unseemly and socially irresponsible language. But students that beg for every freelance job they can get and watch the Daily Show on the internet usually don’t get to make decisions about stuff like that.

~Geoffrey Dobbins
UCABJ, Vice President