News Releases

Doug Mitchell honored at PRNDI

Doug Mitchell who represents UNITY: Journalists of Color on the RTNDA board, received the Leo C. Lee award at the Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI) annual conference held in Portland, OR last week.

The award honors distinguished contributions to public radio journalism, and was presented to Mitchell for his years of mentoring and encouraging young people of color to become public radio reporters and producers.

From 2002 until last December when cutbacks and layoffs put an end to the program, Mitchell ran the Next Generation Radio training program for National Public Radio. For 15 of his 21 years at NPR, he ran the network’s internship program as well.
PRNDI board member Amy Tardif announced Mitchell as the recipient at a banquet on Saturday evening. “As of February, 105 former NPR interns were employed by NPR or working in public radio,” Tardif said. “Twenty four Next Generation participants are also working in public radio.”

After receiving the award, Mitchell said his goal has always been to help people be prepared for the media jobs they want. “Loosely translated, the poet Antonio Machado once wrote, 'Traveler, there is no road.  You make the road by walking,' “ Mitchell said, “Training the next generation of media professionals will always be about making a road that is accessible to everyone."

Each year, PRNDI honors an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to public radio news.  The award is named in honor of its first recipient: Leo C. Lee, the founder of Western Public Radio, a San Francisco-based public radio training program.

Previous recipients include NPR newscaster Carl Kasell, This American Life host Ira Glass, and NPR special correspondent Susan Stamberg.