Speech

Session I

Naziyah Turner, "The Black Press's Evolving Role: From Corrective Journalism to Communal Survival and Advocacy"

According to Kim Gallon in her entry on the subject in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, ‘The term “Black Press” is an umbrella term that includes a diverse set of publications that include a small number of religious and mostly secular magazines and newspapers published by Black people in the United States from 1827 to the present.’ This research will explore the language used in the coverage of the black press’s response to the Ralph Northam Blackface Incident of February 2019 to understand the mission of the black press. Historically, the black press organized themselves around the goals that supported an integrated American society, currently the digital black press may emphasize black communal identity and survival over filling in the gaps of mainstream press.  Journalism and media scholar Joseph Jones maintains that “the practices of the Black press improve the processes of both, making American society more democratic and American journalism more meaningful, caring, and true,” suggesting that the Black Press maintains a political imperative of integration and the American vision of a more perfect union (307). This research will analyze if the mission of black press has completely shifted.

Student Major(s)/Minor: Africana Studies Major, Data Science Minor

Advisor: Dr. Terrell Taylor