The annual National Association Of Black Journalists Convention is an event aimed at convening, connecting and empowering Black media professionals. However, the recent addition of Donald Trump to its speaker lineup is leading some onlookers to believe the move is the antithesis of the event’s mission. The conversation would be moderated by ABC News’s Rachel Scott, Fox News host Harris Faulkner and Kadia Goba Semafor, a politics reporter who covered Congress for Axios and BuzzFeed News. Journalists took to X to express their thoughts on the addition, with many vehemently opposing it, claiming the move was counterproductive. Other X users pointed out that NABJ is a non-partisan organization and have invited past Presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle to participate in the convention.
Many journalists have been further infuriated by how the Trump campaign have advertised the event. In a press release, the Trump Vance campaign claimed that “President Trump accomplished more for Black Americans than any other president in recent history.” “College students from Texas were literally crowd-sourcing to raise money to attend THIS NABJ conference because organizational budgets for Black and POC students were eliminated due to racist, anti-DEI legislation brought forth by this former President and his cronies,” Amber Sims, co-founder and executive director of the student-centered organization Young Leaders, Strong City, posted. “I’m truly disgusted to see Black journalists, especially young, unemployed and queer, who spent what little they had to go to a convention be reminded that @NAJB values clout over community,” Ernest Owens, a writer at large specializing in politics for Philadelphia Magazine’s G Philly and CEO of Ernest Media Empire, wrote on X. “It’s disappointing.”
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