Backlash ensues from Trump’s scheduled speech to the convention of Black journalists.
In response to the news that former President Donald Trump would be speaking at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago on Wednesday, there was an immediate backlash in the journalism community.
NABJ co-chair and Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah wrote on X, “To the journalists interviewing Trump, I wish them the best of luck. For everyone else, I’m looking forward to meeting and reconnecting with all of you in the Windy City.” She said that a “variety of factors” had an impact on her decision, and that she had not been consulted “in any way with the decision to platform Trump in such a format.”
Trump’s history both with the news media and Black people at large has come under scrutiny amid racist comments and positions.
In addition to broad attacks against the media — including decrying coverage he views as unfavorable as “fake news” and encouraging rallygoers to chant anti-media rhetoric — he has also specifically gone after Black women reporters.
As NABJ gives a platform to Trump, I would hope they ask him about the many times he attacked Black journalists like Yamiche Alcindor, April Ryan, and Don Lemon. But Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner is on the panel, and she has shown herself to be in the tank for Trump. pic.twitter.com/J5D7meLfWU
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 30, 2024
Commenters on NABJ’s X post announcing the panel—which will be chaired by Rachel Scott of ABC News, Harris Faulkner of Fox News, and Kadia Goba of Semafor—voiced their displeasure that Trump had been asked to speak at the distinguished journalistic convention.
Two-time NABJ award-winning journalist Carron Phillips commented on X, “Y’all just made the only safe haven that Black journalists have, potentially unsafe, all because y’all want to look’smarter than everybody else,’ when this is…idiotic at best.”
The 2023 NABJ journalist of the year, Jim Trotter, commented on the decision, saying, “It’s hard to put into words how terrible this is for @NABJ.”
The Grio’s April Ryan, a White House journalist that Trump had frequently targeted while in power, likewise voiced her displeasure with the