National Newspaper Publishers Association brings top Black-Owned news organizations to Greater Fort Lauderdale
More than 150 Broward County high school and middle school journalism and communications students to attend conference’s New EducaTional Program
By Barney Bishop
GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) in conjunction with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) will welcome aspiring young journalists of Broward County to the NNPA Conference, from Wednesday, Jan. 25-28, 2017 at Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six.
A new addition to this year’s program is the Student Educational Program and Workshops series from 9 am to 2:00 pm on January 26, which will welcome more than 150 Broward County high school and middle school students of culturally diverse background. This in part is due to a co-sponsorship by the Broward Teachers Union.
Students from 30 Broward County schools will attend discussions led by experts in journalism and publishing covering contemporary issues including the role of the Black Press in civil rights, social justice issues and change, 21st century communication techniques, and the “Gen-Next” younger generation of family-owned media entrepreneurs. This new pro-gram is a result of a collaborative effort between the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB and the Broward County school systems to offer an innovative youth outreach program to expose journalism students to Black media, new curriculum and provide an indepth understanding and appreciation of the history of the Black press. Workshops will highlight the impact of the Black press on U.S. society historically and in contemporary issues, explore the impact of media on youth and encourage students to become effective and ethical news producers and enlightened news consumers.
In addition to the youth conference, the NNPA will hold a meeting with National Urban League Executives who will also return to Greater Fort Lauderdale for their annual conference in January. The organizations will discuss long-range strategies for Black community activism and set their national priorities for the coming year. Greater Fort Lauderdale has become a destination of choice for major Black organizations because of the destination’s ability to combine initiatives, host opportunities for partnerships and support local programs that create lasting impact. The NNPA previously held their conference in the destination four years ago.
“Here we have the Urban League, Broward County Schools, and the Black press working together to do more to change the lives of our youth and community,” said Albert Tucker, GFLCVB Vice President for Multicultural Business Development, “and, in the process, they are supporting a tremendous growth in touris
