About

To reach the SDABJ, please e-mail us at thesdabj@gmail.com

History and Mission Statement

SDABJ History

The San Diego Association of Black Journalists (SDABJ) is the local chapter if the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). The San Diego Association of Black Journalists (SDABJ) is a 501(c) (3) organization. SDABJ was founded in 2000 by a small group of journalists and communications professionals, including Maria Hunt, Jerry McCormick, Ozzie Roberts, Gil Griffin, Bernie Jones, Samuel Autman, Lisa Lake, Booker Crenshaw and Kelly Williams. SDABJ has approximately twenty registered members working in print, broadcast, public relations and academia.

SDABJ MISSION STATEMENT

SDABJ advocates on behalf of African American journalists in San Diego. It is committed to strengthening ties among Black journalists; sensitizing all media to the importance of fairness in the workplace for Black journalists; and expanding job opportunities and recruiting activities for veteran, young and aspiring Black journalists, while providing continued professional development and training.

Our goals include increasing the number of Black journalists in management positions and encouraging Black journalists to become entrepreneurs. We work to foster an exemplary group of professionals that honors excellence and outstanding achievements by African American journalists, and outstanding achievement in the media industry as a whole, particularly when it comes to providing balanced coverage of the Black community and society at large. We work with high schools and colleges to identify and encourage Black students to become journalists and to diversify faculties and related curriculum. We are also committed to providing informational and training services to the general public. All fundraising efforts go towards academic scholarships and our student training programs such as “Pro for a Day”, a journalism boot camp where students are taught how to produce their own news stories on a variety of platform under the tutelage of professional journalists.