Convention encourages fair representation of Black people in the media

When I was a young reporter at a New Jersey newspaper, a small group of us in the newsroom were planning to attend a convention of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

A veteran white journalist, seeing and hearing our excitement over the upcoming convention, said to us, with a sincere but misguided hint of jealousy, “Why isn’t there a National Association of White Journalists? I feel left out.”

Without hesitating, I responded that there is such an association: Just look around the newsroom, which was over 90% white, typical of most newsrooms around the country, I said.

Some 30 years later, not much has changed.

Black Americans make up only 6% of reporting positions in U.S. newsrooms, according to a 2022 Pew Research survey of U.S. journalists. That’s well below the Black share of U.S. workers (11%) and half of the Black share of American adults (12%), according to the report.

With Black Americans underrepresented in telling the stories of Black communities, it’s no wonder that we feel media representation of us is sorely lacking.

Even though Black people represent the highest share of media consumers, Black individuals in the U.S. and abroad say they are often either misrepresented or underrepresented in the mainstream media, according to a Nielsen report published earlier this year.

This underscores a feeling among Black Americans who told the Pew Research Center early last year that portrayals of Black people are more negative than news about other racial and ethnic groups.

The mainstream news media, which continues to be controlled by white people, has historically covered people of color as a threat to society. So often, we have seen Black people depicted in the media as hooligans, thugs and criminals rather than as lawyers, doctors, artists, journalists, teachers, PTA members, church members or other members of society.

The mainstream media system, like the educational system, criminal legal system, political system and others, has constructed a racist narrative about Black people and other people of color that dehumanizes our communities in ways that support and promote white supremacy.

That’s a major reason why NABJ, the largest organization for journalists of color in the country, exists: to advocate on behalf of Black journalists and media professionals in the U.S. and worldwide. With more Black people represented in the mainstream news and other media to accurately and fairly tell our stories, there can be more accurate and fair coverage of Black and Brown people in society. This, in turn, can lead to more racial justice and equity.

At this week’s NABJ convention in Chicago from July 31 to Aug. 4, thousands of people will come together to continue working toward fair and accurate representation in media coverage across the U.S. and beyond.

Brad Bennett is the director of editorial services at the SPLC and an adjunct professor of journalism at Auburn University.

Picture at top: Attendees at the 2023 National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Birmingham, Alabama. (Credit: Courtesy of NABJ)