Journalism professor Gene Burd has had a long relationship with the AEJMC.

He has given 85 presentations, was a founding charter member and has been the head of three divisions, all while writing a nearly endless number of papers for the organization over the last 40 years.

“This is my home, my organization,” Burd said of the AEJMC. “It’s a place that I’ve spent too long in.”

Thursday night the Urban Communication Foundation, in cooperation with the AEJMC, gave an award named in his honor. The accolade is given to a candidate who brings to the journalism world an understanding of urban issues and problems.

The foundation acknowledged San Francisco Chronicle writer John King as the first recipient of the Gene Burd Award for Urban Journalism and held a reception for him following the panel discussion about urban communication research.

King has sensitivity in his writing about issues in the urban environment, said Gary Gumpert, president of the foundation. This is the kind of work that may help foster dialogue with policy makers, he said.

King added that he was quite flattered – and a bit sheepish – to receive the award.

“I am aware of all the things I do and all the things I could do better,” he said. “And if someone wants to look past that, I won’t tell them any different.”

Burd, who has been a journalist and journalism educator for more than 50 years, teaches at the University of Texas at Austin and is a benefactor of the foundation.

“If it weren’t for him, we would not be where we are,” Gumpert said.

Burd donated $500,000 to establish the organization. He said it is reflective of his passion for urban communication, a phrase he uses to describe the discussion surrounding communication issues of people in urban areas.

Susan Drucker, the foundation’s treasurer and a professor from the School of Communication at Hofstra University, described the basis of the foundation as a diverse group of people from different industries who are all focused on the same urban issues. The foundation is a way to bring all of these people with different perspectives together, she said.

The issues often discussed include the impact of technology on community relations, the inhuman aspects of an auto-centric society and the abandonment of public space and its effect on the community.

It is especially important for journalists to understand these kinds of urban issues that affect a city’s culture, she said.

“Journalism can help … if it defines a problem and identifies it,” Drucker said, adding that these kinds of issues are rarely discussed in the field.

The foundation hopes the award and other developments sponsored by the organization will help to bring more dialogue about urban communication.

Burd and Gumpert said they want the $5,000 that comes with the award to encourage more researching and analyzing of urban issues and to attract younger writers to follow in the footsteps of writers such as King. Only a handful of newspapers still employ urban design writers, which is an effect of downsizing.

King agrees there aren’t as many urban designers left and says it’s a shame. He wants his writing to ultimately influence the outcome of decision making in the city.

“That’s the bigger picture,” he said, adding that he hopes little by little his points may start to hit home.