Accomplishments cited in prestigious award include collaboration with AL DÍA News Media

Michael Days, editor of the Philadelphia Daily News, is one of the two the recipients of the 13th annual Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity Leadership, awarded by the Associated Press Media Editors in partnership with the American Society of News Editors.

"This year's McGruder recipients have diligently and relentlessly made diversity a key priority in their newsrooms even as so many other urgent priorities pull for attention,'' said APME President Debra Adams Simmons in a release. "We are proud to honor their work."

Days was acknowledged for making the Philadelphia Daily News "one of the most diverse newsrooms in the industry"  — 22 percent of the newspaper staff are minorities, according to APME, along with about half of the paper's readership. The release goes on to single out Days for fostering  "a sense of community partnership, making the Daily News a convener of conversations about President Barack Obama's 'My Brother's Keeper' initiative and public education. And, he brokered a collaboration with Al Dia, Philadelphia's Spanish-language newspaper, to publish World Cup soccer sections at the beginning and end of the games. Reporters, editors and designers from both papers worked together to create bilingual sections that were published in both papers."

AL DÍA News Media publisher Hernán Guaracao said, "We knew after his participation in the second of our panels on the representation of race, ethnicity and identity in the news media in the city that Michael had a commitment to diversity that dovetailed with our multicultural and multilingual approach. We were delighted to partner with him and his staff on producing two ground-breaking bilingual World Cup supplements this year, and feel that this award could not have been awarded to a better Philadelphia newsperson. We extend our heartiest congratulations."

The other APME awardee was The New Haven Register, which the release states has shown its commitment by making its "front pages now include black and Hispanic faces in all kinds of news stories."