Page 8 The Skanner July 18, 2018
News
By Lauren Poteat (NNPA
Newswire Washington
Correspondent)
s Donald Trump’s
persistent
“fake
news”
rhetoric
continues to fester
in the media, Black pub-
lishers across the nation,
recently took charge of
the conversation, giving
way to a special forum
entitled “Black Press vs.
Fake News.”
The forum took place
during the National
Newspaper Publishers
Association’s (NNPA) an-
nual convention. Doro-
thy Leavell, the chairman
of NNPA and publisher
of the Chicago Crusad-
er, the Gary Crusader
and the Chicago Reader,
moderated the dialogue
about misinformation in
mainstream media.
“What do we do in this
age of fake news?” Leavell
said. “Our struggles and
our truths have been at
the forefront of battling
fake news throughout
history.”
Leavell continued: “In
1827, we battled the lie
that we were nothing
more than three-fifths of
a human, spearheaded
by the Freedom’s Jour-
nal, the nation’s first
Black-owned and oper-
ated newspaper, which
stepped in and showed
us different. In 1895, ac-
tivist Ida B. Wells, who
established the Memphis
Free Speech refuted the
fake news of her day —
concerning the mythical
rape of a White woman.”
Leavell
said
that,
throughout
history,
A
Black people have been
victimized by the prolif-
eration of fake news and
misinformation, includ-
ing some of our most
profound Black leaders
like Marcus Garvey, Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.,
leaders of the Black Pan-
ther Party and even to-
day’s Black Lives Matter.
“All these obstacles
are nothing new to us,”
Leavell said. “So, while
Donald Trump has been
credited for populariz-
ing the term ‘fake news’
we know this too is ‘fake
news.’”
Joining in on the dia-
logue, additional speak-
ers included Sarah Glov-
er, the president of the
National Association of
Black Journalists; Deb-
orah Gray-Young, the
managing partner of D.
Gray-Young, Inc. Con-
sulting; Dr. Julianne Mal-
veaux, an economist and
sociopolitical commenta-
tor; and A. Scott Bolden,
the managing partner of
the Washington, D.C., of-
fice of the global law firm
Reed Smith. The pan-
elists challenged Black
publishers and their
teams to not only report
real stories, but to also
report them right.
“I’m not so much con-
cerned about what is
being said, as I am with
what isn’t,” Malveaux
said. “We [Black people]
can define what news is…
For example, ‘45’ is run-
ning around bragging
about how low the Black
unemployment rate is,
but if you research the
statistics and labor mar-
ket correctly, you’ll see
FREDDIE ALLEN/AMG/NNPA
The Black Press Challenges Fake News at Annual Conference
Panelists discuss the affects of “fake news” on the Black community during the NNPA’s 2018 annual convention in Norfolk, Va.
that a large number of
Black people, have actu-
ally left the labor market
altogether.”
“
It’s time
we take a
page out
of Donald
Trump’s
book and
reinvigo-
rate our
bases
Malveaux continued:
“This is the real story
that needs to be told and
not 45’s ‘fake news.’ This
year alone over 150,000
Black women left the la-
bor market, which rep-
resent the stories that
nobody is telling.”
According to a report
by CNBC, nearly 70 per-
cent of all American
citizens are concerned
about “fake news” being
used as a weapon.
What’s more, in a re-
cent report by NBC, “fake
news” or just overall lies,
were shown to spread
faster on social media
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than the actual truth.
Examining the criti-
cal role of Black media,
which has long been the
beacon of light in the
Black community, along-
side the new age of tech-
nology, Deborah Gray-
Young, placed emphasis
on millennials and their
role in escaping the idea
of “fake news.”
“Black media is being
dismissed and not be-
ing regarded for its true
worth,” Gray-Young said.
“It’s time we take a page
out of Donald Trump’s
“
ence of the Black Press
on social media is so piv-
otal, Gray-Young added.
“Increase your SEO’s,
tell your own stories and
get plugged in,” Gray-
Young said.
Bolden said that in
America, right now, “we
don’t struggle with the
ideals of what is right
and what is wrong, but
what is the truth.”
Closing out the discus-
sion, Chairman Leavell
called on mainstream
media and the general
public to denounce the
What comes up in Google
searches are items with the
highest ratings, which is
what the public comes to
know to be the whole truth
book and reinvigorate
our bases. Then we need
to take a step back and
reestablish trust, par-
ticularly among young
people. We’re in a time
now, where millennials
are asking, ‘What’s the
source of true informa-
tion?’ That source is the
Black Press and we need
to do a better job explain-
ing that.”
Gray-Young continued:
“And don’t forget about
your social media. This
is what young people are
plugged into. It’s not just
about what’s happening
in the present moment
anymore. Every time
we report something we
are participating in the
documentation of histo-
ry, and what comes up
in Google searches are
items with the highest
ratings, which is what
the public comes to know
to be the whole truth.”
This is why the pres-
idea of “fake news” and
its message, while en-
couraging all Americans
to support the Black
Press.
“NNPA has served as
a vanguard and a hon-
est look into the lives
and struggles of Black
Americans for over for-
ty years,” Leavell said.
“The Black Press has
been around for over 191
years. To say that there is
no real news or report-
ing, just isn’t factual as
history shows us differ-
ent.
Leavell continued: “As
members of the Black
Press it is our job to be
that torch of insight and
lead other generations
on.”
Lauren Meredith Poteat
is a Washington Corre-
spondent for the NNPA
Newswire and BlackPres-
sUSA.com. You can follow
Lauren on Twitter @lau-
renmeredithp.
