DIVERSIT Y MAT TERS
Mentoring
Diverse
Journalists
By Eric Burse
Eric Burse is the former
Engagement Editor at The
Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky. Eric was the
2012 National Association
of Black Journalist Student
Journalist of the Year. He
can be reached at eric.
burse@gmail.com.
SET TO START HIS DREAM
JOB AS AN ENTERTAINMENT
REPORTER AT CNN,
JOURNALIST MICHAEL FEENEY
DIED SUDDENLY JAN. 31 IN NEW
JERSEY
O
ver the past two months, journalists
across the country fortunate
enough to know the late Michael
Feeney have faced a tough
challenge – mourning the sudden loss of
a talented, dedicated friend and writer
headed into the peak of his journalism
career. Feeney became sick just one week
before he was set to begin his dream job as
an entertainment reporter with CNN.
News of his death spread like a news story
itself, eliciting a trending status on Facebook, tweets and posts from New York City
Mayor Bill DeBlasio and several celebrities
he had interviewed. Even President Obama
sent his condolences from the White House.
Michael J. Feeney, 32 at the time of his
death, was a former reporter at the New
York Daily News, first on the night shift and
later covering Harlem and uptown Manhattan. He was named emerging journalist of
the year in 2010 by the National Association
of Black Journalists (NABJ). In 2011, he was
elected to serve as the group’s New York
Chapter president. He covered celebrities,
everyone from Drake to Jay-Z to Rihanna,
but he also covered many hard news events
like the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the unrest over the Freddie
Gray case in Baltimore.
Not only was Feeney dedicated to his
work, he was also dedicated to improving
diversity in American newsrooms. He was
also an advocate for young journalists,
dedicated to preparing and encouraging
them to enter the industry. Feeney
recognized that not only could he continue
to perfect his craft and elevate his career,
he could do the same for young journalists
rising up after him.
As president of the New York chapter of
the NABJ, Feeney ensured that events like
the eight-week “First Take” high school
journalism workshop was available for
young journalists eager to have their first
story published or record their first news
headlines. As a graduate of Delaware State
University, Feeney made to sure to visit his
alma mater for panel discussions and to
lend an extra set of eyes to edit students’
stories. He also personally mentored several
younger journalists, including myself, in
NABJ and in the New York area who knew
they one day wanted to “be like Mike.”
What was most sad about Feeney’s passing, I think, was the loss of exactly what he
fought so hard for during his short lifetime:
one less diverse journalist in America’s
newsrooms. So what better a way to honor
his life than mentoring more young, diverse
journalists to follow in his footsteps.