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Smith Elected President of TABJ |
WRAL-TV Anchor Reporter Ken Smith is the new President of the TABJ. |
CBC’ers recently started hearing “Good evening, Mr. President” in the newsroom, but not because of the Obama-Clinton-McCain-Huckabee battle. WRAL-TV Anchor/Reporter Ken Smith was recently elected President of the Triangle Association of Black Journalists (TABJ).
“I attended my first National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention back in 1989,” said Smith. “I was fresh out of college and green as grass. However, after that week of information, encouragement and networking from veteran journalists of color, I was forever inspired.”
He has been a member of the TABJ since he came to WRAL-TV in 1999. He has actively participated with the organization in various capacities over the years. In 2002, Smith was part of the planning group that hosted a National Association of Black Journalists regional convention. During that convention WRAL-TV hosted a meet and greet event which included a tour of the station, featuring our HD capabilities. WRAL-TV was the first high-definition TV news gathering operation in the country.
Elected in January, Smith will hold the post for one year.
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When I was in college, there weren’t too many TV journalists who looked like me. I accept the role of role model for that reason because I feel we should be in the business of training and encouraging young journalists.
–WRAL-TV Anchor/Reporter Ken Smith
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“My goal as President is to continue making TABJ relevant for young and experienced journalists, ‘said Smith. “To that end, TABJ during the weekend of February 22-24 partnered with the UNC affiliate chapter (CABJ) to host the Minority Journalism Workshop for high school students from all over the State. Also, in October, we’ll once again hold our annual Scholarship Gala. Last year our successful Gala was highlighted by Keynote speaker Nikki Giovanni, the noted author, poet and professor at Virginia Tech.”
Smith will head up the TABJ’s workshop for non-profit groups this summer. In that session, the TABJ hopes to share tips on how those groups can get media attention and coverage for their various events and projects.
“It will be a busy year but I’m looking forward to the challenge,” said Smith.
The TABJ is an organization of reporters, editors, photographers and other media professionals working in the Raleigh-Durham area. The organization works to provide support for black journalists and other media professionals as well as guiding and mentoring students and others who have an ambition to work in media careers. TABJ also serves as a resource for the members of the black community, to help them understand how the media work and monitors that media to ensure issues involving the minority community are covered fairly and accurately.
“I volunteer with TABJ because I feel it’s an obligation on my part to give back to a new generation of journalists of color,” said Smith. “When I was a pup reporter, someone reached for me and this is my way of reaching back and giving other journalists a hand.”
