Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, will detail “The State of the Black Press” as the keynote speaker at the annual State of the Black Press Luncheon in Washington, DC on Friday (March 17).
To view the event live, visit https://bit.ly/3Lutt3n.
The NNPA is the trade association of the 230-plus African-American-owned newspapers and media companies that comprise the Black Press of America.
The State of the Black Press Luncheon is part of the celebration of the 196th anniversary of the Black Press, which dates back to the founding of the “Freedom’s Journal” in New York on March 16, 1827.
Black Press Day annually is observed on March 16.
NNPA’s Black Press Week features events and activities aimed at promoting and empowering African-American journalism.
Dr. Chavis plans to highlight the role of Black newspapers in shaping public opinion and advocating for civil rights, and a call for continued support for Black media outlets.
Dr. Benjamin Talton, Director of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University, will also speak at the luncheon, discussing the Black Press Archive Digitization Project at Howard University. The project aims to digitize and preserve historical Black newspapers, making them accessible to researchers and the public.
Mississippi Congressman Bennie G. Thompson, who chaired the Jan. 6 Committee hearings, also is scheduled to speak.
The two-day event kicked off on Thursday, March 16, with the NNPA’s daily news show, Let It Be Known, hosting a mixer and broadcast from the Let It Be Known studios inside the NNPA’s national headquarters in the historic Thurgood Marshall Trust Center, located in Washington’s historic Shaw District.
Prior to the State of the Black Press Luncheon, the NNPA Board of Directors Meeting will be held at the National Press Club’s Zenger Meeting Room, from 8:30 am to 11 a.m.
