A Rift Divides Members of Journalism Groups

As the National Association of Black Journalists opens its annual conference in Philadelphia, a topic of conversation is likely to be its recent efforts to get more black anchors on prime-time news programs. But another issue may form a larger backdrop — the association’s decision to end its alliance with three other minority journalist groups after nearly 20 years.

The rift between NABJ and the Unity: Journalists of Color coalition comes as the number of minorities in newsrooms across the country has declined for the third consecutive year. When the association joined Unity in the early 1990s, its goal — along with the other members, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association and the Native American Journalists Association — was to make newsrooms and reporting more inclusive. The highlight of the alliance is the Unity: Journalists of Color conference, which brings the groups together every four years. This year, a debate erupted between board members from NABJ and Unity over how much revenue N.A.B.J. and other member organizations should receive as a result of the conference. NABJ members also questioned the need for Unity as a stand-alone organization and whether it was using its revenue to effectively support minority journalists. Unable to reach an agreement, NABJ withdrew from the 2012 Unity conference in April and announced last week that it would hold its own conference in New Orleans in June. That decision has left some NABJ members divided over how and why it was made and what they will do next year.