What’s a Black journalists’ convention for? Trump’s appearance at NABJ raises questions

Source: Nieman Lab

“Across the board, in all contexts in journalism, there needs to be an emphasis to make sure that you’re not creating harm to journalists.”

By Laura Hazard Owen

 

Last week at the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention in Chicago, in front of an audience of predominantly Black journalists, Donald Trump implied Kamala Harris isn’t really Black, repeatedly chastised the panel’s Black women moderators, and suggested he’d consider immunity for the police officers who killed Sonya Massey in her Illinois home last month.1

Trump’s NABJ appearance (here’s th video e video) made national news and drew long lines inside the conference hotel.

NABJ has long faced questions over its mission. (It’s definitely not the only journalism organization struggling to define exactly what it’s for — see my colleague Sarah Scire’s reporting last year on SPJ’s “dire situation.”) Back in 2014, Letrell Crittenden, now the director of inclusion and audience growth at the American Press Institute, wrote his dissertation on NABJ’s history.

There has been “a great deal of dissension over how and for whom NABJ would operate” ever since its founding meeting on December 12, 1975, Crittenden wrote. Different groups hoped NABJ would be, variously, “a professional organization dedicated to the interest of individuals interested in journalism careers,” an “exclusive organization geared toward networking among select individuals and social function,” or a group that would “lobby for justice within the media, and use whatever means necessary to challenge institutional racism within majority-white newsrooms.”

At NABJ, “you connect with people that you will have bonds and friendships with for the rest of your life, you meet mentors, and you get, on occasion, training that will benefit your entire career,” Crittenden told me over the phone last week. “It really is, in many ways, a family reunion–type atmosphere.” For many attendees who bought conference tickets with the expectation of that family reunion atmosphere, Trump was an unwelcome addition. “At a time when NABJ members should have been engaging in fellowship with their peers and mentors,” Shamira Ibrahim wrote in The Guardian last week, “they were instead forced to extend professionalism to a hostile guest who peddled racist ideas.”

“In that packed ballroom were hundreds of seasoned Black journalists eager to ask tough questions that focused on the Black community. But we saw no alternative but to sit in silence that could easily be taken for respect, not protest, not boo, not challenge,” Karen Attiah, who stepped down as co-chair of the convention in objection to Trump’s appearance, wrote in The Washington Post last week. “I heard too many people say that if they shouted the truth, they might, at worst, lose their jobs or at best attract attention from security.” She added that “none of the moderators represented Black-owned, independent or Black local media outlets.”

Aaron Wright, a recent college grad with a newly minted journalism degree, wrote for Chicago’s The Triibe about how he asked for attendance to the 2024 NABJ Convention as his graduation gift. “NABJ was billed to me and other young professionals as a place to celebrate the joys and pains of Black journalism, as a place to see how connected and united our community is, and a place to further deepen connections,” he wrote.

 

In a statement, NABJ noted:

Black female journalists have been increasingly under attack, and we believe it is important to celebrate and honor the talent of all of our members. We’d like to especially extend our gratitude to the panel of Black female journalists who asked direct questions to the former president on Wednesday and pressed him to give our members, viewers, and other journalists answers to questions about his policies on addressing the needs and concerns of Black Americans.

We are appreciative of ABC’s Rachel Scott, Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, and Semafor’s Kadia Goba for their hard work, expertise, and professionalism during the Q&A.

“Trump’s appearance pushed NABJ to face tension between its status as a journalism organization and an advocate for fair treatment of Black journalists and, by extension, Black people,” NPR’s Eric Deggans wrote last week:

As I saw criticism build over Trump’s visit, I wondered if NABJ wasn’t like a scrappy dog who finally caught a passing car — after years of GOP candidates declining invitations, finally one of the most divisive Republicans in modern politics was accepted. And the consequences of hosting him — particularly when Harris would not appear at the convention — loomed large.

But in the end, NABJ also landed at the top of the news cycle at a time when — as announced by the group during its opening ceremony — the convention drew the largest number of attendees in its history, over 4,000.

Yes, many supporters felt, as I did initially, that the appearance was a train wreck. But NABJ also showed the world three Black female journalists questioning Trump on some of his most provocative statements on race, with telling answers.

In a world where any publicity can be good publicity, that just might be enough.

In his current role at API, part of what Crittenden focuses on is helping newsrooms create inclusive atmospheres that ensure all journalists can do their best work. Some of the same work might need to apply to journalism conferences as well. “I would say across the board, in all contexts in journalism, there needs to be an emphasis to make sure that you’re not creating harm to journalists,” he said. “That’s why I often encourage newsrooms to speak with their employees on a regular basis to get a sense of what their needs are and what the concerns are — and to really start to set up things that are much more collaborative in nature, in terms of professional development, in terms of creating psychological safe space. It is very difficult to navigate this field as an African American, and particularly as an African American woman. That’s something I think all newsrooms, or all entities that serve journalists, need to consider.”