Content provided in partnership with
5 questions for: Herbert Lowe:z NABJ president
Ebony, Oct, 2004
MORE THAN 8,000 PEOPLE MET RECENTLY IN WASHINGTON, D.C., AT THE UNITY 2004 CONVENTION, the largest gathering of journalists in U.S. history. UNITY represented an alliance of Black, Asian, Hispanic and Native American journalists. The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) has 4,700 members and will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2005. Newsday reporter Herbert Lowe, a native of Camden, N.J., is NABJ's 15th president.
- Most Popular Articles in News
- The Ten Best Laptop bags
- Tata plans cheapest-ever car for Indian market
- GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD
- Corn is good for you; Corn is not only a tasty treat, but also a cereal that ...
- THE 50 BEST STYLISH HANDBAGS TO CARRY
- More »
1. How do you respond to criticism from conservatives that journalists applauded (or did not applaud) during President Bush's and Sen. John Kerry's speeches at UNITY 2004? It is my personal opinion that journalists on assignment should never applaud. And I cannot quarrel with purists who say journalists are never off duty. Only a few people who attended the Bush or Kerry forums at UNITY were on assignment. The vast majority were not, and thus able to laugh, clap or smirk as they wished. It's interesting that few pundits have raised this question in regards to the hundreds of journalists who laugh, applaud and socialize with politicians at the White House Press Correspondents' Association annual dinner and similar events.
2. Black journalists are still underrepresented in newsrooms overall. Why? It's very frustrating. Twenty years ago, several Black journalists covered the Rev. Jesse Jackson's momentous run for the White House. Today, fewer of us seem to be on the presidential campaigns. We don't get tapped for the most coveted beats--the ones involving our country's most pressing issues--because few newsroom managers give us a fair shot at these jobs. Media companies reflect Corporate America. They are owned by people who hire people like themselves, who in turn hire people like themselves, and so on. They send recruiters to our job fairs and they wear buttons lauding diversity. But when it comes to hiring and promoting, the results don't reflect the rhetoric. Is it willful? Seems so. Is it dishonesty? Seems so. No job opening should be filled unless at least one Black journalist is among the finalists. And every newsroom should have a percentage of Black journalists equal to the percentage of African Americans in its community.
3. What is NABJ's most important challenge today? To keep our members from leaving journalism. Too often our careers and salaries lag behind our White colleagues; consequently, many of us are leaving for jobs in public relations and academia. This is bad for journalism and for African-Americans. Media coverage of our communities will not be fair and accurate without our voices in the newsroom and our presence where news happens and opinions are shaped.
4. What is NABJ doing to meet this challenge? We seek to sensitize all media to the importance of workplace fairness regarding Black journalists and to intervene in those instances of obvious mistreatment and omission. To increase our numbers in management positions, NABJ has offered the industry groundbreaking lists of newspaper, broadcast and magazine managers who are ready to lead and succeed. We're expanding opportunities by offering year-round career development training (not just at our annual convention), international reporting fellowships and an online job bank. We also offer networking, camaraderie and mentoring, especially for those who are the Jackie Robinsons in otherwise all-White newsrooms. They very well might not survive without NABJ.
5. What is NABJ doing to help identify and prepare future Black journalists? We go into high schools and colleges to urge students to become journalists. Over the last 20 years, we've provided hundreds of aspiring journalists with internships, scholarships and mentoring. And our student members get real-life newsroom experience by working closely with seasoned journalists while producing daily newspaper, TV, radio and online news coverage at our conventions.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
