In this Qcitymetro.com file photo, WBTV education reporter Dedrick Russell, left, gives a tour of the station to student-journalists who were building a website (www.iknowsomebody.org) to assist teens who live in homes affected by substance abuse.
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You know him as the education reporter on WBTV, but Dedrick Russell also has undertaken a key role within the National Association of Black Journalists.

At the 36th annual NABJ convention in Philadelphia last week, Russell was elected director for Region III, a seven-state area that includes Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and both Carolinas. He’s also president of the Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists, an affiliate chapter.

Russell says he’s passionate about journalism and opening doors for others, especially journalists of color. That fits well within the NABJ charter. The national organization recently launched a campaign to highlight a lack of African American journalists assigned to host primetime news shows on the major networks and cable channels.

Closer to home, Russell has been working to make the Charlotte chapter more relevant for members and more accessible to the public.

Ironically, it was at the 2003 NABJ national convention in Dallas that Russell met his current boss and eventually landed a job at WBTV.

“That’s one reason I wanted to run for Region III,” he said. “I wanted to give back to NABJ, because NABJ got me to where I am today.”

During a recent chat with Qcitymetro, Russell talked about his new role as Region III director and about the importance of African Americans in the media. Here are some excerpts:

On his new Region III responsibilities…

“I will be responsible for the professional chapters and the student chapters to make sure they have all the resources that the need, to make sure that jobs are coming their way, to be their advocate.”

His biggest challenge…

“I guess the biggest challenge is to make sure that our people stay in their jobs. News organizations are downsizing, and people are doing more with less. A lot of people are uncertain if they are going to have a job tomorrow with the economy going the way it’s going. A lot of people are just throwing in the towel on journalism and going with something else. The biggest challenge is to make sure we talk with these companies to make sure they are promoting and giving journalists of color a chance.”

On the need for more blacks in key news positions…

“With African American journalist, there is a major concern about the lack of representation among the people who make the decisions… We at NABJ have to fight to make sure our people get into those decision-making positions. Also, the NABJ fight is to have a journalist of color on a primetime (network) show. We’re still missing when you turn on the tube. We’re talking about networks spots and CNN, all of those cable outlets. Every time there is an opportunity for a journalist of color to get in those positions, they always resort to an Elliott Spitzer (the disgraced former New York governor who briefly co-hosted a CNN political talk show) or a personality instead of a journalist. There are qualified journalists of color who can get the job done, so we have to make sure that the people who are making the decisions see those qualified people.”

On balancing work and NABJ responsibilities…

“Someone told me you have to work smart and not work hard, so in this position I’m going to work smart. I’m going to use all the 21st century technology to get the job done. You have Skype. So even though I represent seven states, I can be in those seven states -- they can see may face and I can see into those seven states -- without even leaving my house. I’m going to be relying on technology to make sure I keep the connection. And of course, there will be some travel. I’m going to work hard to make sure I’m doing all that I can.”

On the Charlotte chapter…

“We’re doing well. We’re growing. We’ve been in existence for like five or six years, so we’re trying to have more events that will peak interests. We’re opening it up to the community and having sessions on accessing the media. We’ve had the Summer Talk series, where we invited the county manager, the mayor and the chief of police. That’s never been done before. We’re in good shape right now, but we have much more work to do. I think we have a presence in Charlotte. I think more people know about us, and as different events come to Charlotte that’s going to put our name more in the spotlight.”

Plans for next year’s Democratic National Convention…

“I’ve talked to the NABJ executive director to make sure we can have a nice venue where we can invite all journalists of color who will be covering the DNC. We want to have a nice media reception for them.”

On the likelihood that Charlotte will one day host an NABJ national convention…

“That would be nice. It’s very competitive, but I think we have what it takes to host a national convention. We have all the amenities. It’s just a matter of getting the word out and making sure that NABJ knows about Charlotte. Now that I’m on the board of directors, they will have no other choice but to know about Charlotte, so maybe one day we can put in a bid to host the national convention."

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