NAMIC To Shift Mickey Leland Award To Cable Show Breakfast

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NAMIC will move the presentation of its annual Mickey Leland Humanitarian Award to its annual Cable Show breakfast from the NAMIC Conference beginning in 2014, the network announced Wednesday.

The award, named after the late diversity activist and Texas Senator, will be awarded during NAMIC’s annual awards breakfast next April at the Cable Show in Los Angeles. Established by NAMIC in 1992, the award honors individuals and organizations affiliated with the communications industry that demonstrate a commitment to advancing the concerns of people of color.

Previous winners include MTV Networks; journalist/author Charlayne Hunter-Gault; BET founder Robert L. Johnson; former United States Ambassador Bill Richardson; Telemundo on-air personality Ana Maria Polo (pictured) and CNN journalists Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

“We want the impact of Mickey Leland to reach beyond cable diversity week to the entire cable industry at the nation’s largest trade show,” said NAMIC board of directors chairman Michael Armstrong.

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.