Panelists, recruiters and attendees, network and discuss changes in the industry among other media professionals at the Hilton Chicago, Thursday, August 1, 2024, at the 2024 National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago. CHICAGO — A day after Donald Trump’s contentious interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference, the organization was back to business as usual.
Fred Sweets, a contributing editor at The St. Louis American and a former Associated Press photographer, said Thursday that the Republican ex-president’s interview raised an age-old question for the group’s membership: “Are we Black first, or are we journalists?” Harris, the first Black woman and person of Asian descent to serve as vice president, did not attend. She is expected to appear in person or virtually at an NABJ event later this year.
“I think Donald Trump came here with no intention to speak to Black America. I think he saw this as an opportunity to gin up his base,” said Wickham, 78, who is a founder of the organization as well as the former founding dean of the School of Global Journalism & Communication at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
“Of course we should allow presidential candidates to come and be scrutinized, because not only is it an opportunity for the journalists, but it is also an opportunity for the candidate to explain themselves and why we should vote for or vote against them,” he said.