The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), formerly the National Negro Publishers Association, is an association of

African American newspaper African-American newspapers (also known as the Black press or Black newspapers) are news publications in the United States serving African-American communities. Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm started the first African-American period ...

publishers from across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

History

The NNPA was founded in 1940 when John H. Sengstacke, of the ''

Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against J ...

'', organized a meeting with other African American publishers intended for "harmonizing our energies in a common purpose for the benefit of Negro journalism". In 1956, the trade association was renamed with the current moniker. Johnson meet National Newspaper Publishers Association

Johnson meet National Newspaper Publishers Association

"In 2000, the NNPA launched NNPA Media Services — a print and web advertising placement and press release distribution service." Since 2014, Dr. Benjamin Chavis has been the president and CEO of the organization.

Black Press USA

In 2001, NNPA created an electronic news service
Black Press USA
which enables newspapers to provide real-time news and information to its national constituency. In 2003, Larry Muhammad reported for ''NeimanReports'' that Black Press USA "is a project of the Black Press Institute and handled by XIGroup, a Web development firm co-owned by Joy Bramble, publisher of ''The Baltimore Times'', an NNPA member publication."

Membership

In the early 21st century, the NNPA is composed of more than 200

African American newspapers African-American newspapers (also known as the Black press or Black newspapers) are news publications in the United States serving African-American communities. Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm started the first African-American perio ...

in the

and the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

. They have a combined readership of 15 million.

References

External links

National Newspaper Publishers Association
web site
NNPA history
NNPA website
''The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords''
PBS
''The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords''
California Newsreel
Black Press History
short article on the NNPA website Newspaper associations Trade associations based in the United States African-American press American journalism organizations {{Journalism-stub