Veteran Journalist Ed Gordon visits AABJ
By Mychael Bond
"Pick your battles and have thick skin!" That's the advice award-winning journalist Edward Gordon gave when he met with Atlanta Association of Black Journalists on November 21st. Gordon was the guest newsmaker speaker at their general body meeting.
Mr. Gordon was very candid when he spoke about the qualities needed to be a good journalist. He advised the audience to always pick your battles in the newsroom, have thick skin, and don't enter the business unless you're prepared to be fired.
"Gordon is a news icon. Many of us have watched him for years on various networks" said Tenisha Abernathy, A.A.B.J. Vice President of Broadcast. "When we extended the invitation for him to speak, he happily obliged which shows his commitment to N.A.B.J.".
Gordon started his career in journalism in 1983, reporting and anchoring. Most recently he hosted News and Notes with Ed Gordon on National Public Radio and owns his own production company "Gordon Media Group". Recently Gordon started an initiative entitled "Daddy's Promise". Partnered with Disney in promotion of their new film "The Frog Princess", Gordon travels to different cities to host father and daughter activities.
"Daddy's Promise" intends to focus on the positive relationships within the black community. Gordon says he got the idea from his then 13-year-old daughter. After critically looking at the image of African American men Gordon wanted to highlight positive relationships between fathers and daughters, much like his.
"African American's must find a way to disprove the negative stereotypes that continue to follow our community, people should be able to see how multi-faceted we all are" said Sydney Robinson, a senior at Spelman College and membership chair of A.A.B.J. student consortium.
Towards the end of the meeting Gordon was probed with questions and concerns from Atlanta area journalists. Much of the discussion centered around the future of African Americans in journalism and the wave of "new" social media. Gordon made it clear that we have to support television that positively represents our community and be in positions of power in order to demand the change that we seek.
Mychael Bond is a member of the AABJ Student Consortium and a Spelman College Senior.