Black Journalists Matter
posted by Je'Lesa Jefferson | December 5, 2018 | In Arts and Culture, NewsOn November 14, the Fayetteville State University chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists held its first official event: Black Journalists Matter. The panelists were from various backgrounds in communication sat down with FSU students to encourage and relay knowledge of their craft.
NABJ is a new organization here on campus. “NABJ is definitely a strong organization full of opportunity, and something that is worthwhile, and something that will be very beneficial to anybody. Anybody who is interested in photography, videography, art, or film should join because there are a lot of connections you can gain from it, even if you aren’t a journalist,” said NABJ President Bria Battle, a senior at Fayetteville State University.
“Our students need to see people that look like them that are in the positions they want to be in. This organization feeds that need,“ said NABJ Faculty Advisor Prof. Deirdre Hawkins.
The range of experience in communication that the panelists had spanned from 5 years to 20 years of experience. Panelists included Fayetteville State alumnus Fidel Benton, producer of the Toni and Terrance podcast. The hosts, Antonia “Toni” Williams and Terrance Poole, also were in attendance. The atmosphere was welcoming, and each panelist had something informative to tell the students here at FSU. They spoke about their humble beginnings and even how hard a story can be sometimes to cover.
“I share what I am watching. I share articles. I try to be as truthful as possible. I know a lot of times with these social justice issues pertaining to Black people these things are always getting suppressed, so I try my best not to suppress them. … Some people will be like: ‘Oh this might be controversial. Somebody is not gonna like this.’ But if it’s something for truth and Black people are being done wrong, I mean come on,” said Benton.
The Black Journalists Matter event brought light to the fact that Black people are needed in the industry.
“I believe it is important to have Black journalists in the industry because who else can write our narrative but ourselves. It’s an issue when other people are telling our story. Nobody can tell our story like we can, so we need to make sure we are writing our own narrative. … There are a lot of people putting together images and thoughts about us that are not always true. And people are thinking that it is true of the majority of the Black population. We’ve gotta step in, and we gotta defend ourselves, and we’ve gotta make sure we are telling the story that we want people to know,” said Battle.
Prof. Hawkins noted that the National Association of Black Journalists is important for many reasons: “In short, students will learn tactics to strengthen their craft. As they network with journalists and other gurus in the field, they’ll gain perspective on what to expect as they begin putting themselves out there both before and post-graduation.”
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