The Sports Journalism Institute’s co-director and co-founder Sandy Rosenbush has been awarded the Associated for Women in Sports Media’s 2012 Mary Garber Pioneer Award.

From AWSM’s website:

“I’m overwhelmed by this honor,” Rosenbush said. “AWSM has been such an important force in helping to diversify the sports media, and in showing that women belong not just in this industry but also in leadership roles in it.

“In truth, we still have a long way to go. But thanks in no small part to AWSM, we are well on our way, and growing stronger every day.”

Rosenbush has been an editor and writer for some of the world’s most prominent news outlets — The Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune, the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and currently ESPN, where she has been an event news editor since 2008.

But her passion for teaching has not only made Rosenbush unique among past winners, but has enriched the lives of other journalists along with those just starting out in the profession.

“It is a pleasure to award Sandy this honor,” said Amy Moritz, AWSM president. “In every step of her career she has been a pioneer, helping to set an example that so many women have admired and strived to emulate. Sandy has not just done her job well, however. She has actively worked to create more opportunities for women and minorities in the sports media industry and to train them to shine in their roles.”

While serving as the first woman president of the Associated Press Sports Editors, in 1993 she and Leon Carter, then-chair of the National Association of Black Journalists Sports Task Force, founded the Sports Journalism Institute, designed to add to the ranks of women and minorities in the industry.

With financial backing from the Freedom Forum at its inception, SJI continues to partner with APSE and NABJ, along with AWSM and the Asian American Journalists Association. In June, SJI will welcome its 20th class to journalism “boot camp” at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

“The award is well-deserved,” said Carter, executive editor of ESPN-New York and SJI co-director. “Sandy is a terrific leader and role model. She has devoted countless hours to the Sports Journalism Institute over the past 20 years to help improve diversity numbers in sports departments. SJI is still alive today because of her. She participates on every level of SJI — planning, scheduling, teaching, fund-raising, etc. Many women and African Americans owe a lot to her, including me. We are all better for the work she has done. “

Just a couple years removed from editing the student newspaper at her alma mater, the University of South Florida, Rosenbush was hired by the Washington Post’s George Solomon to work on the sports copy desk.

In her 10-year tenure there, Rosenbush advanced to deputy sports editor, working on a staff that included prominent writers Christine Brennan (2004 Pioneer winner), Sally Jenkins and Jane Leavy. She then left for the Paris-based International Herald Tribune, writing and editing sports for two years before being hired as the deputy sports editor at the New York Times.

In 1993, Rosenbush moved to Sports Illustrated as a senior editor. Over a 13-year career, she rose to assistant managing editor, making her mark as the Olympics editor and the editor in charge of SI Presents, producing special and commemorative publications. Rosenbush was also the startup editor for the groundbreaking and now-defunct SI for Women.

Rosenbush left Sports Illustrated in 2006 to become a New York City Teaching Fellow, teaching fulltime for two years in the city’s public school system, before returning to sports at ESPN, where she works with event crews covering mostly college football, basketball and pro tennis.

Rosenbush, who has lived in Brooklyn for nearly 20 years, is married to Rich Rosenbush, editor of the Daily Racing Form. They have three children, Katy, Kyle and Emma.

The Mary Garber Pioneer Award, AWSM’s highest honor, recognizes those who have paved the way and serve as role models for women in sports media. The award has been given annually since 1999 to those who have distinguished themselves in the field while reflecting and advancing the values and mission of AWSM.

It was renamed the Mary Garber Pioneer Award in 2006 to honor one of the industry’s original pioneers. Rosenbush will be honored during the Mary Garber Pioneer Award winner lunch at AWSM’s national convention. The 2012 Convention, held in conjunction with APSE, will be held from June 20-23 in Chicago.

The Sports Journalism Institute is set to welcome its 20th class this summer in Columbia, Mo. A group of seven men and four women (seven African-Americans, two Asian-Americans and two Latinos) make up the Class of 2012, which will be in residence at the University of Missouri School of Journalism from June 1-9, after which students will move on to internships around the country.

The work experience that awaits the Class of 2012 is as diverse as the class, with interns placed at APSE-member newspapers, ESPN.com, MLB.com and the Wall Street Journal. And while the WSJ will be hosting its first SJI intern, the Houston Chronicle will be hosting its 20th—yes, the Chronicle has been part of the SJI family since Day 1. This year, the paper is one of two (The Virginian Pilot is the other) that will host an intern chosen through APSE’s partnership with Scripps Howard, which provides students with a stipend that pays their summer expenses.

Another first this year is the institute conducting its boot camp at Missouri. SJI’s first few classes were in residence at universities (beginning with Norfolk State in 1993), after which the institute moved its boot camp to hotels where APSE conventions were held. Then, in 2006, SJI began a partnership with the Poynter Institute that saw SJI hold its classes in St. Petersburg, Fla. with teaching assistance from Poynter faculty (led by Kenny Irby) and editorial help and guidance from the Jack Sheppard and his staff at the St. Petersburg Times.

Last year, however, SJI and Missouri began a partnership in which SJI students will work out of the Missouri print and digital newsroom for their boot camp, and the university will nominate a Missouri Scholar to the institute each year. The first student chosen was senior Gary Cotton, who will be an intern at MLB.com.

“I spoke with Gary and I know he was excited to get this opportunity,” said Greg Bowers, associate professor at Missouri. “He also understands that this could be a continuing opportunity for minority students at the J-School and I think he’s proud to be the first one through this new door.

“Gary and I are both looking forward to June, when SJI gets to Missouri. ”

Once again, SJI thanks its partners at the Asian-American Journalists Association (which selects one member of the class each year), the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (which promotes our program in email newsletters to student members educators nationwide) and the National Association of Black Journalists (whose President is Gregory Lee Jr. a 1994 SJI alum, and which faithfully promotes and works with SJI).

As SJI prepares to turn 20, we thank our funders and partners (old and new), including APSE, the Chicago Tribune Foundation, ESPN, MLB.com, the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism and the Poynter Institute. With their help, we’ve added roughly 250 women and minorities to the staffs of the nation’s sports media.

Ros Dumlao of Illinois is the 2012 Association of Women in Sports Media Scholar and Jack Wang of California at Berkeley is the AAJA scholar, both chosen through SJI’s partnerships with those organizations.

The Class of 2012

• Mariah Baylor, Hampton University, junior, Virginian Pilot
• Nick Creegan, University of Albany, junior, ESPN.com
• Gary Cotton, University of Missouri, senior, MLB.com
• Ros Dumlao, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, senior, Denver Post
• Maya Jones, Xavier University of Louisiana, senior, Detroit News
• Olivia Lewis, Hampton University, junior, Houston Chronicle
• Craig Malveaux, Loyola University of New Orleans, senior, Minneapolis Star Tribune
• Antonio Morales, San Diego State University, senior, MLB.com
• Antonio Olivero, Syracuse University, senior, Wall Street Journal
• Jack Wang, University of California at Berkeley, senior Salt Lake Tribune
• RJ Young, University of Oklahoma, senior, Oklahoman

The Emmy was awarded for “Outstanding Live Sports Special.”

Greg Lee was elected NABJ president Friday, defeating Deirdre Childress and Charles Robinson.

Lee, who will take the reins from Kathy Y. Times, received 294 votes in Friday’s election. Childress trailed Lee with 168 votes, followed by Robinson who tallied 50 votes.

“I feel very overwhelmed, very privileged and I value everything because NABJ members recognize me,” Lee said after hearing he was elected president.

Lee, who at age 37 becomes the youngest president of the organization, said during a news conference that he was “honored” to be elected as NABJ’s 19th president.

“I’m so very honored and humbled by this awesome responsibility that I have and with my team for the next two years,” he said.

Lee, senior assistant sports editor at the Boston Globe, said his next course of business is to begin planning the 2012 convention in New Orleans and to fill NABJ’s three empty board seats.

Shortly after, Childress posted on her Facebook page that the election results were announced. “I lost the election, but UNITY lives on. I am proud to embrace people of all races.”

She later posted, “And the NABJ president will have to honor the people’s will.”

Childress told an NABJ TV reporter that she thought there were voting irregularities and she plans to call for a recount. She later told the reporter “[expletive] NABJ.”

After hearing the news, Robinson wished Lee well.

“It’s been a great process, challenging each others’ ideas, but we’re all great friends and whoever leads this organization will need the support of everyone,” he said.

Robinson said, “NABJ will survive” and “we should not settle for mediocrity; we should build exceptional journalists, people who are leaders in the newsroom, people who dare to dream.”

Earlier Friday, the candidates were making their last push, handing out literature, shaking hands and urging members to vote before polls closed at 5 p.m.

During his campaign, Lee told the membership he was a good fit because he possessed the ability to challenge NABJ to stay in constant motion through leadership development, meeting membership needs and honoring NABJ’s founding principles.

Lee acknowledged that he will have plenty of challenges ahead as president. In addition to planning the New Orleans convention, Lee will have to work with the executive director and the board to find ways to boost membership and steer NABJ on a progressive path as the industry continues to evolve.

“We have a lot of work to be done and everyone knows based on my past that I work hard for you,” Lee said during a news conference. “I’ll continue to do so, so that you can get the best services possible and make sure that I fight on your behalf with jobs in the industry — but not only jobs but opportunities to become managers and to run newsroom.”

Lee, NABJ’s 19th president and first sports journalist, will also have to deal with NABJ’s decision to withdraw from UNITY: Journalists of Color. It will be up to Lee to lead discussions about reunification with the alliance.

Turnout in this election was low compared with the 2008 election in Tampa, Fla. There were about 515 total votes Friday, according to NABJ election officials. In Tampa, 1,326 votes were cast.

NABJ has 3,500 members with an estimated 2,500 attending the Philadelphia convention.

“I have been a member since 1983,” said NABJ member Kelly Williams. “There are always people who will be disappointed when their favorite candidate doesn’t win. This organization needs strong leaders. The fact that so many seasoned journalists want to lead is something we should all be proud of.”

NABJ TV reporter Modupe Idowu contributed to this story. This story was originally published by NABJ’s student-run convention newspaper, The Monitor.

2011 SJI Bulletin

Anthony Witrado

Anthony Witrado observed 5-month-old Makayla Davidson for some time while watching Montrell Davidson play football at Bay View High School in Milwaukee.

The young prep sports reporter was writing a story on Davidson, the 17-year-old team captain on the school’s football team and father to Makayla, in 2007.

Witrado was profiling Davidson and three other members of the team who were also teenage fathers.

The story, which focused on the players’ lives as they juggle school, sports and fatherhood, was featured on the front page as the centerpiece of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“(The story) definitely was fulfilling because it showed I could really go through with (a big project),” Witrado said. “I’ve had my hand in it since the beginning, and it really felt like it was mine.”

Witrado, 29, a 2002 graduate of the Sports Journalism Institute, is now a national baseball columnist for the Sporting News and attributes hard work, dedication and surprisingly, apprehension, which he said served as motivation for him.

“The same fear I had at the (SJI) when I was around nine other students, I still have that today, and it’s a constant motivator for me,” he said. “It constantly progresses, but that fear never leaves you, at least for me.”

The Fresno State graduate said the SJI helped him overcome the intimidation factor and building the necessary confidence to be successful.

The road to the Sporting News, the so-called “Bible of Baseball,” has been a long one, starting with The Fresno Bee as an 18-year-old.

Witrado went on to the SJI as a sophomore. He was the youngest member of the class at age 19.

Melody Gutierrez, who was in Witrado’s SJI class, said Witrado set the tone for the group.

“What stood out about him is that he was one of the first that picked up on everything that they were teaching. He was a clear reader among our group,” said Gutierrez, who now works as an education reporter at the Sacramento Bee.

As part of the SJI program, Witrado interned at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He worked at a weekly publication upon returning to Fresno, Calif. He then returned to the Fresno Bee.

Witrado said one of the most important people he met coming out of the SJI was Garry D. Howard, who then was assistant managing editor/sports at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Howard hired Witrado to write for the Journal Sentinel after college and was impressed by the quality of work he produced, which included the story on the parent football players.

When Howard decided to leave Milwaukee for the Sporting News as its editor-in-chief, one of his first hires was Witrado.

“He’s very approachable, and he’s generally a really nice person. He’s a great reporter, and if you add that to the combination of his talent as a writer, then you have somebody who has no limits,” Howard said. “ It’s been a wonderful relationship that I hope lasts forever.”

Julie Engebrecht, local news director at the Cincinnati Enquirer and one of Witrado’s editors at SJI in 2002, remembers Witrado as naturally curious and a hard worker who was very open to feedback from editors.

The new Sports Journalism Institute logo which was designed by University of Missouri senior Ashley Cummins.

Throughout its 18 years of placing women and minority journalists in sports departments across the country, the Sports Journalism Institute has been without a logo to identify its unique mission.

So as SJI prepares for the 2012 relocation of its 10-day crash course to the Missouri School of Journalism, it only seemed fitting that a brand-new visual come along for the ride, courtesy of a Missouri student.

Designed by Mizzou senior Ashley Cummins, the new logo features the SJI acronym in blue serif typeface atop a white circular background, as well as SJI’s motto, “Helping women and minority journalists into newsrooms since 1993.”

Cummins had her design chosen as SJI’s new visual by winning a competition held in a Missouri School of Journalism advanced magazine design class, beating out 17 other students in the process. The contest was open to all students in the class. The students submitted multiple designs, and SJI officers made the final selection after the field was cut to 40 by a class vote.

“I was very surprised to win, actually,” said Cummins, a magazine design major who also works as a page designer for the Missourian and the music department designer for Vox. “I’m very proud to go from 360 logos, the whole class, down to them picking mine. It’s very exciting to be able to win.”

Greg Bowers, associate professor at Missouri and sports editor at the Missourian, approached Sandy Rosenbush, co-founder and co-director of SJI, with the idea of establishing a contest for a logo. Cummins’ winning design, he said, will help facilitate recognition of the SJI program.

“A logo is really helpful as a brand,” Bowers said. That is you, that is your organization … I was surprised [SJI] didn’t have one already. I think this is sort of the first manifestation of Missouri and SJI working together, and I think it could end up being a really good partnership.”

Cummins altered the winning logo throughout the competition, switching the colors, changing the font and adding SJI’s full name to create the final product.

“I wanted something that was sophisticated, because the Sports Journalism Institute is a necessity for newsrooms, and I strongly believe in diversity,” she said. “As a woman … I know being in the newsroom is definitely a challenge, and I’ve definitely experienced that before. … To say I’ve been a part of that even though I haven’t participated in the program, that I’m helping assist with it, I’m very proud to do that.”

Read the University of Missouri’s story on SJI’s new logo here.

SJI will return to a college campus in 2012 at the University of Missouri at Columbia.

Courtesy of the University of Missouri

Columbia, Mo. (Feb. 21, 2011) — The Sports Journalism Institute will bring its 10-day crash course in sports journalism to the Missouri School of Journalism beginning in June 2012.
“I’ve known about the work of SJI for years, and the prospect of working more closely with the program is exciting,” said Greg Bowers, associate professor at the School. “The fact that this can provide additional opportunities for Missouri journalism students makes it a natural partnership.”
SJI is a program that has helped diversify sports departments across the country since 1993. Each year, the Institute selects a class of 10-12 minority and female journalists based on academic achievement, demonstrated interest in sports journalism as a career and excellence on a required essay.
During the 10-day crash course, the students are taught in classes that range from ethics to photo editing to how to keep a running score to copy editing. The students will receive instruction from working professionals in multi-media sports journalism, plus faculty from the School. The Institute will be based in the newsroom of the Columbia Missourian. The students also will produce a publication that will be distributed to sports editors across the country. Greg Lee of the Boston Globe, an alumnus of SJI’s Class of 1994, serves as the publication’s editor.
After the course, students will be assigned to paid internships in news organizations. Upon successful completion of the program, students returning to college will receive a $500 scholarship.
Under the hosting partnership, a Missouri journalism student, selected by faculty, will receive a spot in the class each year.
“This partnership with Missouri represents a return to SJI’s roots of conducting our boot camps in a university setting. In 1993, our first class came together at Norfolk State and in the nearly two decades since, we’ve come to realize that there’s no better place for teaching and learning than a campus environment,” said Sandy Rosenbush of ESPN, a co-director and co-founder of SJI.
“This will be a terrific partnership between SJI and Missouri, said Leon Carter, executive editor ofESPNNewYork.com and a co-founder and co-director of SJI. “Diversity remains very important in the newsrooms and Missouri will help SJI continue its mission.”
The Sports Journalism Institute works with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM). Grants and/or support are provided by longtime partner APSE, the Chicago Tribune Foundation, the Poynter Institute, ESPN, Investors Savings Bank Foundation, and private contributors.

ESPN's Sandy Rosensbush, ESPN New York editor Leon Carter and the Boston Globe's Gregory Lee will lead SJI boot campus in a college setting.

SJI says thank you to the Poynter Institute.

The Sports Journalism Institute got its start on a college campus.
SJI’s first class assembled on the campus of Norfolk State in 1993, where co-founder Leon Carter was teaching while on a sabbatical from Newsday. For the next two summers, classes were also conducted at universities–at Kansas in 1994 then Clark Atlanta in 1995.

In 1996, the institute began doing its classes at the site of Associated Press Sports Editors conventions. (APSE and NABJ were SJI’s first partners and remain vital to the program.) But hotel ballrooms and “boot camps” are not always the best fit, and as costs rose for wiring newsrooms in hotels, SJI and the Poynter Institute teamed up.

Since 2006, Poynter’s professionally renowned staff has helped SJI prepare students for newsrooms nationwide and special thanks go to Poynter for its expertise and to our friend Kenny Irby, without whose help the partnership with Poynter would never have been forged.

The SJI-Missouri partnership got a ringing endorsement from Phil Kaplan, APSE’s president, who said: “APSE’s commitment to diversity starts with SJI. There’s no program like it that helps develop and offer a springboard to women and minority journalists to become the next great sports reporters and leaders in newsrooms.”

And now, special thanks go to Greg Bowers, whose ideas about a partnership to give SJI students a home in the famed Misssouri newsroom and add a Misssouri student to SJI’s annual rainbow coalition of students got things rolling for the 2012 move.

“SJI returning to its campus roots is great for sports journalism education during this era in this industry’s history,” said Greg Lee, a member of the 1994 SJI class that studied at Kansas and now the editor of the student-produced publications at the institute. “We are proud that Missouri shares ideals for a more diverse and inclusive workforce.”

From left: SJI alumni Jon Abrams, Shannon Owens, Greg Lee and Julian Benbow at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., for the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Check out our SJI alumni who were in Orlando for the Eastern Conference Finals last year.