The Graduate School of Journalism's "Let's Do it Better" Workshop honored more than two dozen examples of outstanding newspaper and broadcast journalism during an annual workshop in June designed to improve the reporting on race and ethnicity. A special award for lifetime achievement and commitment to diversity went to Deborah Howell, editor, and Jonathan Tilove, reporter, of the Newhouse News Service Washington Bureau.

Now in its third year, the Ford Foundation-supported workshop featured presentations that included a DuPont-award winner, CNN's "Cry Freetown," two stories from The New York Times race series, winner of this year's national reporting Pulitzer Prize, and a portfolio of work from the L.A. Times.

The workshop, showcases the honored work in presentations for more than 20 editors, broadcast news managers and journalism educators who attend the event to learn how they can improve the portrayal of race and ethnicity in their news operations. To see a list of honorees click here.

"The 2000 census figures clearly indicate that immigration is changing the landscape of our nation," said Arlene Morgan, who became the program's director in August after a 31-year career at The Philadelphia Inquirer. "The work being honored certainly reflects those changes." Eight broadcast stations, nine newspapers and the Newhouse News Service Washington Bureau were selected from a field of more than 150 entries, all published or aired during the past two years.

Insight News Television Limited of London, producer of "Cry Freetown;" Deborah Howell, editor of the Newhouse News Service, and Jonathan Tilove, Newhouse national race reporter, were honored during the workshop with special citations for their long-standing leadership, commitment and courage on the coverage of race and ethnic issues.

In evaluating the coverage, Morgan said the "Let's Do It Better" Workshop collaborated in a new, joint-judging venture with the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida. "Keith Woods, who is a nationally-respected teacher on race coverage, ran a seminar at Poynter that engaged a cross-section of perspectives, age, genders and experiences," Morgan added. "We looked at about 30 finalists to come up with a criteria – voice, complexity, context and authenticity – that each piece has to meet to be judged outstanding."

Morgan said the news managers who make up the audience for the workshop were selected because "as gatekeepers for their newsrooms, they have the power to change the complexion of the newsroom and the coverage." Morgan applauded Newhouse's Deborah Howell for her steadfast commitment to diversity in an industry with "too few leaders". Of Howell, Morgan said, "[He] epitomizes the vision and can-do attitude we hope will be absorbed by the discussion of the excellent work this workshop advances."

In contrast to traditional newsroom diversity training programs, Morgan explained that the "Let's Do It Better" Workshop was designed to illustrate that positive role models, drawn from outstanding journalism practices, can take the fear out of reporting about race – one of the toughest and most sensitive topics the news media must tackle. "These stories show that, regardless of size and some very real risks that are involved in showing the ugliness of racial discrimination, good work triumphs," said Morgan.

Morgan said the "Let's Do It Better" program will be expanded beyond Columbia's walls during the next year, thanks to additional funding from the Ford Foundation. "Ford's support will allow us to tailor small seminars and one-day workshops to meet the needs of a variety of journalism organizations, including other journalism schools and professional organizations."

Morgan has enlisted a number of newspaper editors to work on a project to find the best practices in the recruiting, hiring, training and coverage of race for a booklet that will be published in collaboration with the Associated Press Managing Editors Association. She is also participating in a day-long regional conference on race for editors, broadcasters and journalism instructors at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

For more information on the program, contact Arlene Morgan, a special assistant to the dean at the Graduate School of Journalism at 212-854-5377.