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Senator Barack Obama to Speak at Journalists of Color Convention

CHICAGO, July 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama will speak Sunday, July 27 to attendees of UNITY '08, here for the quadrennial convention of UNITY Journalists of Color, Inc. Obama's speech will be the final event of a five-day conference that attracted nearly 7,000 journalists from across the country and will be televised live at 11 a.m. (CDT) from the Skyline Ballroom at McCormick Place West convention center.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080723/UNITYLOGO )

Obama's appearance will be his first public address after returning from his trip toEurope and theMiddle East. Only attendees of the UNITY convention and working press who received prior press credentials will be permitted to attend. There will be no media availability at the close of the program.

Obama will take questions from a panel of journalists moderated by Suzanne Malveaux, CNN anchor, and Romesh Ratnesar, world editor, TIME magazine. The panel of questioners include John Yang, White House correspondent, NBC News, representing the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA); Leonard Pitts, Jr., columnist, The Miami Herald, representing the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); Dianne Solis, senior writer, The Dallas Morning News, and representing the National Association of Hispanic Journalists; and Brian Bull, assistant news director, Wisconsin Public Radio, representing the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA).

UNITY also asked Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, to speak at the conference. The McCain campaign declined the invitation, citing scheduling conflicts.

UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. is a strategic alliance advocating news coverage about people of color, and aggressively challenging media organizations at all levels to reflect the nation's diversity. The UNITY convention has been held regularly since 1994.

This year's convention, titled "A New Journalism for a Changing World," from July 23-27, focused on how diversity concerns issues are impacted by current changes in the media industry. Other conference features included professional development workshops, a career expo, student journalism projects, media, and awards for outstanding works by journalists of color.

NOTE: Journalists desiring press credentials for Senator Obama's discussion should contact the UNITY press office at 312.617.9685 or 312.791.7015 by Saturday, July 26 before 1:00 p.m.

SOURCE UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc.

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