Black Press Kicks Off Black History Month cont.

from page 1 the power that the publications hold and the need to capitalize on the $1.6 trillion Black spending power.

“This was by far the most impactful and rewarding Mid-Winter Conferences that I have attended,” Kenneth Miller, owner of Inglewood Today. “Each training session was presented with depth and weight that translated into bottom-line business results. We finally allowed for young people to have a platform that displayed the future of the NNPA, information from the tech community was outstanding, and the honoring of Dr. Ben Chavis with a much-deserved Life-Time Achievement Award made for a timeless experience.”

With the power of 230 regional and local newspapers with more than 22 million readers per week, the Mid-Winter Conference attracted corporate support from several major corporations including: Google News Initiative, Reynolds, AARP, Hyundai, Diageo, Nissan, Wells Fargo, API, Zillow, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Pfizer, Reynolds and General Motors.

Speakers presented works shops on: How to Monetize Your Online Presence, Enticing Generation Z and Millennials in Digital Revenue Strategies, and Google Tools for Newsrooms. All sessions had one common theme of how to creatively work together and maximize efforts with limited staff and resources.

Dallas-area papers reresented were: Dallas Examiner, Gar- land Journal, I Messenger and Texas Metro News.

National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) President Dorothy Tucker, who had committed early in her first term that she would visit with publishers and work on bettering relationships, pointed out several efforts during her administration where attention has focused on the Black Press.

In addition to awarding more than $250,000 to members of the Black Press, under her administration both the president and executive director, as well as other board members have attended NNPA conferences and program. Also several NNPA members have been the recipients of awards, served on the national board and chaired committees and Tucker said there’s more to come, including engaging students and younger journalists, which the Chairwoman was pleased to hear.

“One of my favorite moments from the Mid-Winter Conference was the information we all attained from the Gen Z and Millennial panel,” added Carter-Richards, who is serving her second-term as Chair of the NNPA Board. “To be able to work directly with these younger minds who are digital natives is an amazing opportunity. They talked about innovating the wheel rather than re-inventing it, and that is the energy that we need to continue pushing this network forward.”

A major highlight of the conference was a star-studded awards dinner gala celebrating the 10 years of service by Dr.

Benjamin F. Chavis to the NNPA as its President and CEO. In addition to celebrating his 75th birthday, the civil rights activist, author, received the Lifetime Achievement Award, for work that included serving as: youth coordinator and SCLC assistant to Martin Luther King Jr., former Executive Director and CEO of the NAACP, the National Director of the March, the Founder and CEO of the National African American Leadership Summit (NAALS), CEO and Co-Chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, which he co-founded with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.

The NNPA 2023 Annual National Convention will be held June 29-July 1 at the JW Marriott in Nashville, TN.