National Association of Black Journalists

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is an organization of African American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C. by 44 journalists, the NABJ's stated purpose is to provides quality programs and services to and advocates on behalf of black journalists.^[1]

The association's national office is on the main campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. The current president is Gregory Lee, Jr., senior assistant sports editor of The Boston Globe and the executive director is Maurice Foster. The NABJ states that it has a membership of 4,100 and is the largest organization of journalists of color in the United States.^[2] The organization was one of the four minority journalist member associations in the UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. until they seceded from the organization in the Spring of 2011.

The organization's annual Salute to Excellence Awards honors coverage of African American people and subjects. Awards given include Journalist of the Year, Emerging Journalist and Lifetime Achievement; past honorees have included Ed Bradley, Carole Simpson, Byron Pitts, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Bernard Shaw, and Michele Norris. NABJ also maintains the NABJ Hall of Fame, which is designed to honor black journalists.

Annual Convention and Career Fair

NABJ annually holds the nation's largest journalism convention and career fair each summer with plenary sessions and workshops for career and professional development.

Recent speakers have included former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Hillary Rodham Clinton then presidential candidate Barack Obama, and Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade. The convention features hundreds of recruiters and is among the best means of finding a journalism position in the industry.

The NABJ Career Fair encompasses the nations broadcast, print, and online media including recruiters from Gannett Corporation, NBC News, CNN, Bloomberg, Google, ESPN, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, and Tribune Company.

NABJ held its first convention in October 1976 at Texas Southern University, which at the time had recently established the second school of communications at an historically black college or university in the nation (the first was the School of Communications at Howard University.

Future locations of the NABJ Convention and Career Fair include San Diego, Cal.; Philadelphia, Pa.; New Orleans, La.; and Minneapolis, Minn.

Awards

During its Annual Convention and Career Fair, NABJ presents various awards at the annual Salute to Excellence Awards Gala.^[3]

Journalist of the Year

• 2011 – Jacqueline Charles (Miami Herald)^[3]

Legacy Award

• 2011 – Claire Smith (ESPN)^[3]

Scholarships

The organization also distributes more than $100,000 in scholarships to African-American college journalism students, places 14-16 students at paid internships and sponsors short courses for students at historically black colleges and universities.

Task Forces

• Arts & Entertainment Task Forces - members who cover arts and entertainment
• Associate Member's - part-time journalists, educators, marketing and public relations professionals
• Copy Editors - copy desk managers, news editors, design editors
• Digital Journalism - members on the cutting edge transforming the media landscape
• NABJ Founders - NABJ Founders, past presidents, and former national board members
• LGBT Taskforce - lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered members
• Sports Task Force - sports reporters, correspondents and analysts
• Visual Task Force - photojournalists, design/informational graphics
• Young Journalists - journalists in their first few years
• World Affairs - promotes world wide coverage of African/African-Americans

Founders

On December 12, 1975, 44 men and women gathered at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. (now the Marriott Wardman Park) to form the NABJ. The following are their names and where they worked at the time:^[4]

Norma Adams-Wade, Dallas Morning News Carole Bartel, CORE Magazine Edward Blackwell, Milwaukee Journal Reginald Bryant, Black Perspective on the News Maureen Bunyan, WTOP-TV (Washington, D.C.) Crispin Campbell, WNET-TV (New York) Charlie Cobb, WHUR (Washington, D.C.) Marilyn Darling, WHYY-TV (Wilmington, Delaware) Leon Dash, Washington Post Joe Davidson, Philadelphia Bulletin Allison J. Davis, WBZ-TV (Boston) Paul Delaney, The New York Times William Dilday, WLBT-TV (Jackson, Mississippi) Sandra Rosen Dillard, Denver Post Joel Dreyfuss, Washington Post Sam Ford, WCCO-TV (Minneapolis) David Gibson, Mutual Black Network Sandra Gilliam-Beale, WHIO-TV (Dayton, Ohio) Bob Greenlee, New Haven Register Martha Griffin, National Public Radio Derwood Hall, WSOC-TV (Charlotte, North Carolina) Bob Hayes, San Francisco Examiner

Toni Jones, Detroit Free Press Mal Johnson, Cox Broadcasting Vernon Jarrett, Chicago Tribune Claude Lewis, Philadelphia Bulletin H. Chuku Lee, Africa Journal Ltd. Sandra Dawson Long, News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware) Pluria Marshall, freelancer Acel Moore, Philadelphia Inquirer Luix Overbea, Christian Science Monitor Les Payne, Newsday Alex Poinsett, Ebony Claudia Polley, NBC News Richard Rambeau, Project Bait (Detroit) W. Curtis Riddle, Louisville Courier-Journal Max Robinson, WTOP-TV (Washington, D.C.) Charlotte Roy, Detroit Free Press Vince Sanders, National Black Network Chuck Stone, Philadelphia Daily News Jeannye Thornton, U.S. News & World Report Francis Ward, Los Angeles Times John C. White, Washington Star DeWayne Wickham, Baltimore Sun Paul Brock, Founding NABJ Executive Director

Presidents

Nineteen people have served as president of the National Association of Black Journalists:

Chuck Stone, 1975–1977 Vernon Jarrett, 1977–1979 Bob Reid, 1979–1981 Les Payne, 1981–1983 Merv Aubespin, 1983–1985 Al Fitzpatrick, 1985–1987 DeWayne Wickham, 1987–1989

Thomas Morgan III, 1989–1991 Sidmel Estes-Sumpter, 1991–1993 Dorothy Butler Gilliam, 1993–1995 Arthur Fennell, 1995–1997 Vanessa Williams, 1997–1999 William W. Sutton, Jr., 1999–2001 Condace Pressley, 2001–2003

Herbert Lowe, 2003–2005 Bryan Monroe, 2005–2007 Barbara Ciara, 2007–2009 Kathy Y. Times, 2009–2011 Gregory Lee, Jr. 2011-present

Notes

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ ^{a b c} Turner, Aprill (April 20, 2011). "NABJ Honors Pioneering Sports Journalist, ESPN’s Claire Smith with Annual Legacy Award". National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). http://www.nabj.org/news/63409/NABJ-Honors-Pioneering-Sports-Journalist-ESPNs-Claire-Smith-with-Annual-Legacy-Award.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-21. "[T]he association’s 36th Annual Convention and Career Fair in Philadelphia, PA, ... [was to be held on] Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011." 
4. ^ [3]

External links

• Official website