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Washington Association of Black Journalists to Host “Special Honors Gala”
Event to Recognize the Achievements of Notable Journalists and Communications Professionals
The Washington Association of Black Journalists (WABJ) today announced the winners of its first annual “Special Honors Awards.”
All awards will be presented at the Special Honors Gala, to be held at 6:00 pm Saturday, December 10, 2022. The Awards Gala, presented by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will be held at the Eaton DC, located at 1201 K Street NW. Tickets are available at wabjdc.org/specialhonors
The five journalists and communications professionals receiving awards were nominated by WABJ members and selected for their exemplary contributions to the journalism field and for positively impacting local and national communities.
“We are excited about this inaugural event, which showcases the contributions of our membership to the Washington region,” said WABJ President Khorri Atkinson. “Our esteemed honorees have done impactful work throughout their stellar careers worth celebrating and emulating.”
Information on the Special Honorees is below.
Adelle M. Banks – Lifetime Achievement
Adelle M. Banks is the projects editor and a national reporter for Religion News Service, covering topics including religion and race, the faith of African Americans, and partnerships between government and religious groups.
An award-winning journalist, Banks joined Religion News Service in 1995. She previously was the religion reporter at the Orlando Sentinel and a reporter at The Providence Journal and newspapers in the upstate New York communities of Syracuse and Binghamton.
Banks spearheaded RNS’ “Beyond the Most Segregated Hour” project, which won a 2021 Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council, and an RNS multimedia project on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington that won a 2014 Wilbur Award.
“I am tremendously honored to receive this recognition from the Washington Association of Black Journalists. Writing about religion and race has been a major focus of my career, so I particularly appreciate being recognized for my reporting related to the faith of African Americans and to Black history that often has ties to the realm of religion. In these times when journalism – and the world in general – is in crisis, it is fitting that organizations like WABJ take the time, energy, and funding to lift up work from journalists that can help people gain a better understanding of one another and grasp what has gone on before to hopefully lead to a brighter future.”
