200 Black-Owned Newspapers Recently Met Together and This Happened!

NNPA Black newspaper meeting

More than 100 black newspaper owners comprise the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA). The organization was founded in 1940. It was originally called the National Negro Publishers Association. In 1956, the trade association was renamed the National Newspapers Publishers Association. Today, they consist of more than 200 black newspapers in the United States and the Virgin Islands and have a combined readership of 15 million.

The purpose

All 200 of them recently met in January 2016 in Miami, Florida at their annual Mid-Winter Conference. The purpose of the 3-day event was to to "enhance the business opportunities for members in light of changes in the publishing industry,” states NNPA president, Ben Chavis Jr. The conference included speakers and workshops designed to education and increase business opportunities for NNPA members.

The agenda including a board meeting, a board luncheon, a welcome reception, and various workshops and training session. Once session was called "Black Press 2.0 – Future of Black-Owned Newspapers and Media Organizations," and another was called "NNPA Opportunities for Print and Digital Engagement and Monetization Training".

Major highlights

One of the major highlights of the conference was the NNPA Foundation’s STEM Reach 2020 program. The program's goal is to increase the number of blacks and women in the STEM fields -- science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- by reaching out to students in grades K-12. The discussion was led by scientist, engineer and inventor, Thomas Mensah.

The National Newspaper Association is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The organization remains on the cutting edge of newspaper publishing, including digital media and fiber optics, and meets with its members regularly to share information vital to the growth of blacks in the newspaper publishing business.

The annual convention

Their next major event will be the 2016 NNPA Annual Convention to be held in Houston, Texas during the week of June 21-25. They will convene again to network and discuss new strategies and ideas.

For more details about this event and/or the NNPA, visit www.NNPA.org
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