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The Robert G. McGruder Luncheon, Distinguished Guest Lecture and Awards Presentation

Robert G. McGruder

DiveRSiTy

“Please know that I stand for diversity ... I represent the African-Americans, Latinos, Arab-Americans, Asians, Native Americans, gays and lesbians, women and all the others we must see represented in our business offices, newsrooms and our newspapers.”

Diversity at Kent State University and in the School of Journalism and Mass CommunicationTo be truly successful in its mission, Kent State University must reflect an ever-changing world. It must be a true community, embracing many cultures, nationalities and ideas. At Kent State, student learning benefits from an ever more pluralistic educational community, just as the community as a whole thrives on the diversity it enjoys. The School of Journalism and Mass Communication is committed to providing a climate that encourages inclusiveness to all students, faculty and staff, and attempts to provide diversity across the curriculum by exposing students to a broad spectrum of voices and views.

Robert G. McGruder, ‘63Robert G. “Bob” McGruder was a trail-blazing Kent State journalist who listed a number of “firsts” on his resume: first black editor of the Daily Kent Stater and first black reporter at The Plain Dealer both in 1963; first black president of the Associated Press Managing Editors group in 1995; and first black executive editor at the Detroit Free Press in 1996. He died in April 2002 at the age of 60, but his legacy continues. In addition to a scholarship in his name at Kent State, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication created the Robert G. McGruder Distinguished Lecture and Award program.

The Robert G. McGruder Distinguished Guest Lecture and AwardThe award and lecture series serves as a reminder of the commitment Robert G. McGruder had for diversity. By honoring today’s media leaders who display the same fervent commitment, the award and lecture series also seeks to be an inspiration to students and media professionals. The school takes as guidelines for the award these words from McGruder, “Please know that I stand for diversity … I represent the African-Americans, Latinos, Arab-Americans, Asians, Native Americans, gays and lesbians, women and all the others we must see represented in our business offices, newsrooms and our newspapers.”

stand for

Sponsored by the Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Division of Diversity, equity and inclusion. Excellence in ActionKent State University, Kent State and KSU are registered trademarks and may not be used without permission. | 11-0848

Kent State University is committed to attaining excellence through the recruitment and retention of a diverse student body and workforce.

2012– Debra Adams Simmons, Editor, The Plain Dealer 2011– Caesar Andrews, Journalist and Educator2010– Richard Prince, Columnist, Richard Prince’s Journal-isms, Maynard Institute of Journalism Education2008 – Dr. Jannette Dates, Dean, John H. Johnson School of Communications at Howard University2007 – Michelle Singletary, Columnist, The Washington Post

PReviOUS ROBeRT G. MCGRUDeR AwARD winneRS :

2006 – Leonard Pitts, Jr., Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, Miami Herald2005 – Albert e. Fitzpatrick, Assistant vice president, Akron Beacon Journal2004 – David Lawrence, Jr., Former publisher, Miami Herald2003 – Gregory Moore, Editor, Denver Post

A CeLeBRATiOn OF DiveRSiTy in THe MeDiA

The Robert G. McGruder Diversity Lecture and Award Presentation

Russ Mitchell is the 2013 recipient of the Robert G. McGruder Distinguished Guest Lecture Award.

Russ Mitchell is the Managing Editor Evening News and lead anchor of the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts on WKYC-TV Channel 3 News (NBC) in Cleveland. Prior to joining the station in January, 2012 he was the weekend anchor of the CBS Evening News and host of the Saturday edition of The Early Show.

Mitchell was born in St. Louis and graduated from the University of Missouri, and began his professional career at KMBC in Kansas City. Larger markets and bigger stations soon followed, then a move to New York as the co-anchor of the overnight CBS News broadcast, Up to the Minute. In 1993 he was named a correspondent for Eye-to-Eye with Connie Chung. In 1995, Mitchell was assigned to the CBS Washington bureau. In July of 1997, Mitchell was named co-anchor of CBS News Saturday Morning and traveled extensively as a reporter for the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and 48 Hours. He covered the war in Bosnia, went to the Democratic Republic of Congo and interviewed then President Laurent Kabila, reported from Cuba, India, Indonesia and The Marshall Islands.

Mr. Mitchell was on the anchor desk with Dan Rather on September 11, 2001 and reported from Ground Zero and other parts of Manhattan on the days and weeks that followed. Most recently, he anchored the live CBS Special Report coverage of the capture and death of Osama Bin Laden on May 1, 2011.

Russ has been honored with multiple local and national Emmys Awards. He has received the National Association of Black Journalists Award, the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for his coverage of the Elian Gonzales story, the New York Association of Black Journalists Award for Best Documentary, and the Press Club of St. Louis 18th Annual Media Person of the Year Award.

Perhaps not as well-known, but equally important to Mitchell is the 2007 Missouri Honor Medal. He received it for Distinguished Service in Journalism from The University of Missouri School of Journalism, his alma mater. He also returns there every summer to help with a journalism workshop for high school students, a workshop he attended in 1977.

Russ is married to Karina Mitchell, a freelance contributor of entertainment reports to CBS. Mrs. Mitchell was also a producer for CBS Newspath. She and Russ have four children.

Betty Lin-Fisher is the recipient of the Diversity in Media Distinguished Leadership Award. Betty Lin-Fisher is an 18-year veteran of the Beacon Journal and has worked as a copy editor, metro reporter and assistant metro editor. For the last 12 years, she has been the consumer reporter and columnist and a general business reporter.

She covers consumer issues as well as several business beats, including retail, grocery stores, utilities and banks.

Betty’s work has earned her state awards for human interest writing, business writing, consumer reporter, breaking news and column writing. The Beacon’s American Dream/Reclaim the Dream Series in 2009, which looked at the challenges of the Middle Class and in which Betty offered practical ways readers could work on their finances, earned several state and national honors. They include the 2009 Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism winner, and placements in the National Headliner Awards for Journalistic Innovation and Scripps Howard National Journalism Awards Public Service Reporting.

Betty also won 2009 Society of Business Editors and Writers Best in Business Projects for her Reclaim the Dream series.

More recently, she has garnered accolades from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Cleveland Press Club.

She began her career interning for the Philadelphia Inquirer for two summers and one summer at The Wichita Eagle. She wrote for the Pioneer Press weekly newspapers in the suburbs of Chicago while in high school and during college, wrote for both The Daily Iowan and The Iowa City Press-Citizen.

A Chicago native, Betty graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Journalism and Environmental Studies. She lives in the Akron, Ohio area with her husband and two children.