CLEVELAND — Errin Haines, editor-at-large for The 19th News organization and frequent television commentator, was elected president of the National Association of Black Journalists on Friday over incumbent Ken Lemon, a reporter at WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dion Rabouin, market editor at Axios and author of the Axios Markets newsletter. Haines will serve a term of two years.
In thanking her supporters and election opponents at NABJ’s convention in Cleveland, Haines made reference to the fact that NABJ, an advocacy organization, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
“Fifty years ago, 44 Black journalists came together in a Washington hotel room and took a risk for the sake of truth, and took a risk for the sake of representation and injustice,” Haines said in a meeting room at the Huntington Convention Center, where the results were announced.
“They stood up in an industry that too often sought to erase us and insisted that we belong here, that our voices matter and that our stories matter. That courage built the foundation that I stand on today.”
Haines also made reference to the ongoing assault on journalism outlets that the administration views as leftist — an assault that has diminished public news outlets and squeezed corporate support of nonprofit news organizations.
“The attacks on Black journalism, on the truth, and on our democracy make it clear that our next 50 years must be just as courageous, just as relentless, and just as visionary as our first,” she said.
Haines had 530 votes compared to 309 votes for Lemon and 92 for Rabouin, Lynn Norment, chair of the group’s Elections Committee and longtime writer and editor at Ebony, told organization members.
NABJ advocates for greater numbers of Black journalists in newsrooms, fair and equitable news coverage, and mentoring of young journalists. It is headquartered in College Park, Maryland, and, with 4,400 members, is the largest organization representing journalists of color in the United States. NABJ is the owner of Black News & Views.
Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig contributed to this piece.
“
