Doris Truong, Deputy Director of the Maynard Institute’s Fire Up Training Program

Doris Truong is deputy director of the Maynard Institute’s Fire Up training program for journalism entrepreneurs. She is an inclusion expert and facilitator who led teaching and diversity strategies for the Poynter Institute.

She has two decades of daily news experience from The Washington Post and The Dallas Morning News. She served as national president of the Asian American Journalists Association, vice president of UNITY: Journalists for Diversity and a board member on the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

She was a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, researching ways journalists can mitigate their own unconscious bias. And she is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. Find her on most social platforms @doristruong.

Award honors the Maynard Institute’s impact

The Syracuse University Newhouse School of Public Communications announced March 12 plans to recognize the Maynard Institute with the Lorraine Branham Award during Newhouse School’s Mirror Awards ceremony in May.

Established in 2021, the award honors late Newhouse Dean Emerita Lorraine Branham, and recognizes a media organization that has worked to promote inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in the news.

Previous Branham Award recipients include ICT, the 19th News, MLK50 and Amplifier.

Lorraine Branham’s legacy, and ours

“Lorraine Branham was a 1977 graduate of the Summer Program for Minority Journalists, an early training initiative founded by a diverse group of journalists, including the late Robert C. Maynard,” said Evelyn Hsu, co-executive director of the Maynard Institute. “That program stood at the forefront of efforts to desegregate America’s newsrooms. We are deeply honored to receive an award bearing Lorraine’s name, and it will inspire our continued work.”

“Lorraine Branham’s legacy reminds us that expanding opportunity in journalism has always required intention—and courage,” said Martin G. Reynolds, Maynard Institute co-executive director. 

“At a time when some are questioning the value of that work, this recognition affirms that inclusive, representative journalism is foundational to a just, equitable, and informed society.

It also honors the most meaningful outcome of our mission—the journalists of color and those of diverse backgrounds at the center of our programs, alongside others we support to stay and thrive in this field. History will look back on this moment and remember who stood firm in their values—and we will be among them.”

“The Maynard Institute doesn’t just identify the problem—they develop the solutions,” the selection committee said. “Their commitment to building a more inclusive and representative media landscape has transformed journalism and set the standard for how organizations can champion equity and authentic storytelling.” 

About the Mirror Awards

Established by the Newhouse School in 2006, the Mirror Awards are the preeminent competition in the field of media industry reporting. Prizes are awarded in four juried categories, recognizing the reporters, editors and writers who hold a mirror to their own industry for the public’s benefit.

Dateline NBC host and NBC News journalist Lester Holt will receive The Fred Dressler Leadership Award at the 2026 Mirror Awards ceremony May 19 in New York City.

The Dressler Award is named after the late Fred Dressler, an influential figure in the cable broadcasting industry. The award honors individuals or organizations that have made distinct and consistent contributions to the public’s understanding of the media.

The arrests of journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon for reporting on a protest set a dangerous precedent for press freedom. Bearing witness is not a crime. Reporting at moments of civic tension — especially where government power and community response intersect — is core to journalism’s role in a democracy, and the First Amendment exists to protect precisely this work.

Through our Fault Lines® framework, we know the risk is not evenly shared. Journalists working at the intersections of race, immigration, power, and community — often independent or community-based reporters — are the first to feel the chilling effect when newsgathering is criminalized.

If they are pushed out, the voices and communities journalism has worked to include are pushed out too. We stand with the National Association of Black Journalists and the wider journalism community in condemning these arrests and calling for the protection of journalists’ constitutionally protected rights.