CHICAGO -The National Association of Black Journalist (NABJ) convention, which took place at the Hilton Chicago, featured a number of panels within the many conference rooms and halls of the large hotel. Black journalists from all over the country filled those rooms during the five-day annual conference. The majority of those Black journalists were female.
Pew Research Center data shows 46% of professional journalists in the United States are male. On Saturday, August 3, the panel, “Disappearing Act: Where have all the Black male journalists gone?” and the assembled panelists attempted to answer that question. The panel took place on the lower level of the hotel, which was virtually empty in comparison to all of the tables that were around during the much-anticipated job fair that ended a day earlier. Despite the quiet surroundings, the small room was full of Black men and women by the time of the 3 p.m. scheduled start.
Journalists Rod Carter, a broadcaster with NBC, Marlon Walker, a former reporter in Atlanta and currently a managing editor in charge of starting new newsrooms around the country for The Marshall Project, Leon Tucker, the DEI director with Gannett, and Palm Beach Post Executive Director Rick Christie were the panelists for that afternoon’s session. All Black men, all having their own journeys throughout journalism, took a moment to share their backgrounds before beginning what was a most anticipated panel. All four men remember teachers in middle school and high school recognizing their talents and encouraging them to pursue journalism. All four men also said those educators were white men and women. None of them said they had a Black male journalism influence early on. The good news is that they did in college and beyond. Three of the four men attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee and studied journalism.
“I stayed with [journalism] because I noticed that my community wasn’t as well informed as it should be,” Christie, the only panelist that did not attend Florida A&M, said. He says he doesn’t see many other Black male students at his alma mater, the University of Florida, when he goes back to speak to students at the journalism school.
“We need to be in the room,” Christie said. “The biggest impact to me is that we aren’t always in the room.”
All four men shared experiences with being one of the only Black men in newsrooms that they worked in. They talked about teachable moments that they all still see examples of in their current positions of leadership. Other topics of the discussion included paying reporters higher salaries to make for a more desirable career option and pitching Black-specific stories in your newsrooms, even if they are the only ones that are doing it.
On the lack of desirable salaries, Tucker said, “That is a huge problem in attracting talent of color.”
When speaking of ways to encourage very young Black males to get into journalism Christie said they should be encouraged to read, while Carter said veteran Black male journalists should keep going to schools to speak to students.
“We need to show up as opposed to just showing up on TV,” Carter said.
Walker suggested meetings like the one they were having in that room. Professional support groups and group chats to encourage Black male journalists thinking about leaving the business or who want to share their daily victories and losses.
“Be intentional about encouraging each other,” Walker said.
Among the journalists in the room that asked questions, a young man from Connecticut, an intern at a small newspaper, was able to ask the panelists if they had any idea how other young Black men like himself, he’s a rising college sophomore, can learn more about the journalism industry?
Walker simply answered, “We need to meet them where they are.”