Crusader staff report
Black publishers from around the country spent three days last week in Chicago brainstorming and exchanging ideas aimed at reenergizing the Black Press.
Under the leadership of the new chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, Dorothy R. Leavell, Black publishers engaged in workshops and seminars designed to strengthen Black newspapers across the country in an age of declining revenue and an increasing number of online websites.
NNPA board members, NNPA Foundation members and five regional leaders gathered at the Hyatt Lodge on the McDonald’s campus in Oakbrook, IL, for the retreat.
The retreat occurs when new leadership assumes the helm at the NNPA. In June, Leavell was elected chairman of NNPA, which represents the nation’s 200 plus Black newspapers.
The highlight of the retreat came Friday August 18 during a “Dialogue with the Black Press.”
Moderated by attorney and activist Thomas Todd, the event brought together prominent local Black leaders, who spoke during a candid and fiery discussion on challenges Black newspapers are facing as racial tensions escalate under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr. spoke and pledged to write a syndicated column especially for Black newspapers.
NNPA’s executive leadership will utilize ideas from the retreat to boost the organization’s profile, editorial content and advertising revenues.
