Blacks often mis-defined in the mass media

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NABJWho is in charge of checking racial stereotyping in the mass media was the subject of the provocative workshop, “Gatekeepers – Who’s Responsible for African American Images In The Mass Media?”  – held at the 2014 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention & Career Fair in Boston.


Moderated by Tené Croom, President of Tené Croom Communications and co-chair of the NABJ Black Press Task Force along with panelists –

 

• Cloves Campbell, Chairman of National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)
• Richard Mohammad, Editor, Final Call
• Eric Deggans, Author – “Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation” and TV Critic, NPR
• Reggie Thomas, Director of Advertising, NAACP Crisis Magazine
• Reginald Jackson, President and Founder Olaleye Communications and Emeritus Professor of Communications at Simmons College
There was lively discussion among the panelists and audience as they explored how African Americans are often mis-defined by the mass media because of laziness, ignorance or a lack of interest.

Executives representing some of the oldest and most respected Black-owned media companies in the nation, as well as an academic, talked about how this practice of mass media racialism results in an erroneous and a potentially harmful impression of African Americans.

An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization for journalists of color in the nation, and provides career development as well as educational and other support to its members worldwide. For more information, visit www.nabj.org.