July | "Podcasting in Color"

Join us Saturday, July 28 for our next meeting: “Podcasting in Color." We will be joined -- at the SAG/AFTRA Headquarteres (5757 Wilshire Blvd) -- by Shar Jossell, Kristina Lopez and Sam Sanders in a discussion about the ins and outs of podcasting and how the medium has become a home for marginalized voices. Our president Tre'vell Anderson will moderate. 

Entrance is free for NABJ-LA dues-paying members. Tickets are $5 for non-members.

Shar Jossell

Shar Jossell (@SharSaysSo) is a media personality, entertainment journalist, and pop culture guru. Aside from co-hosting the "Kiss and Tell Radio" podcast, she also hosts pop culture news rundowns on her 'Shar Says So' YouTube channel. Shar has been featured on Buzzfeed, TMZ, Us Weekly, and Love B. Scott. She also previously served as a panelist on AfterBuzz TV & Black Hollywood Live, quickly becoming one of their most sought after personalities.

Darian Arvin

Darian Arvin (@dariansymone) is a news curator and podcast host working on thoughtful and shareable ways to present news and information to people, through their phones and IRL. She has worked on multiple platforms of storytelling — TV, print and digital — for national news organizations NBC News, CBS, Yahoo News and HRDCV . Her most recent position was at BuzzFeed News as a News Curation Editor. Darian continues to produce her podcast "Am I Allowed To Like Anything?", a space she create to talk with people about their work, their lives, and the thing in culture they're actually loving right now.

Kristina Lopez

Kristina Lopez (@KristinaLopez) is the Associate Digital Producer of American Public Media podcasts like "The Hilarious World of Depression," "Brains On!," "Too Beautiful To Live" and more. She is also the co-creator and producer of "Plz Advise," an advice podcast hosted by TV writer and HelloGiggles co-founder Molly McAleer. Last year, Kristina presented at WNYC’s Werk It festival and was an AIR New Voice scholar. She has also worked as a digital producer for KABC-TV in Los Angeles and as a freelance journalist.

Sam Sanders

Sam Sanders (@samsanders) is a reporter and host of "It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders" at NPR. In the show, Sanders engages with journalists, actors, musicians and listeners to gain the kind of understanding about news and popular culture that can only be reached through conversation. Previously, as a key member of NPR's election unit, Sam covered the intersection of culture, pop culture and politics in the 2016 election, and embedded with the Bernie Sanders campaign for several months. He was also one of the original co-hosts of NPR's Politics Podcast, which launched in 2015.

June 2018 | “Images Of Black Men In Media”

Join us Saturday, June 2 for our next meeting: “Images of Black Men in Media.” As part of NABJ’s nation-wide Black Male Media Project which aims to help change the narrative around the lives and images of black men in the news and in society, we will be joined by a diverse panel of entertainment and media personalities including producer and CEO of Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures Byron Allen, “Queer Eye” host Karamo Brown, “Access” correspondent Scott Evans, actor and comedian Lil’ Rel Howery and “TMZ” producer Van Lathan. Our vice president, Jarrett Hill, will moderate.

Tickets are $5, with all proceeds going to our scholarship program. Tickets are free for NABJ-LA dues-paying members with discount code. Purchase tickets here.

Event Co-chairs: Robert Harrell and Jarrett Hill

Byron Allen is a comedian, producer, media mogul and philanthropist who founded his global media company, Entertainment Studios, in 1993. With the March 2018 purchase of The Weather Channel, Entertainment Studios now owns a total of eight 24-hour HD cable television networks and also produces, distributes and sells advertising for 41 broadcast and cable television programs, making Entertainment Studios one of the largest independent producers and distributors of television programming.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Entertainment Studios has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and Raleigh and is the first African American-owned studio producing and distributing wide-release motion pictures. In 2016, Entertainment Studios purchased TheGrio, a digital, video-centric news platform devoted to providing African-Americans with compelling stories and perspectives currently underrepresented in existing national news outlets. TheGrio features aggregated and original video packages, news articles, and blogs on topics that include breaking news, politics, health, business, and entertainment. The digital platform remains focused on curating engaging digital content and currently has more than 20 million annual visitors.

Karamo Brown is a dynamic talk and lifestyle television host. He can currently be seen as the Culture expert on the hit Netflix reboot, “Queer Eye.” Karamo serves a ‘life coach,” engaging the people he makes-over in important culturally relevant conversations that help them get to the core of understanding themselves so they can better relate to the world better around them. Karamo can also be seen on H2’s “Breaking Mysterious”, airing in Canada and the UK, and is also the host of MTV’s “Are You the One: Second Chances.”

Before television, Karamo graduated from Florida A&M University and worked as a licensed social worker for nearly a decade. He began his television career in 2004 as a housemate on the hit MTV reality series “The Real World”, becoming the first openly-gay African-American in the history of reality television.

Scott Evans is the West coast correspondent for Access Hollywood Online.

Scott first got involved in media in high school where he worked on the teen directed and produced, bi-weekly television show “360 Degrees” which aired on the MTV-2 affiliate in Indianapolis. There he’d learn the basics of video production and create memorable work on topics like teen homelessness, preparing for college and how to plan the perfect date. He then, for four seasons, served as the game host for the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. As the youngest to ever hold the position, at every home game and in front of thousands of basketball fans he developed a keen “think on your feet,” delivery style.

Scott went on to become The Face of My-Indy TV – the spokesperson for the network. While there he’d also serve as an entertainment reporter for the sister station WISH-TV 8, the local CBS affiliate, where he’d bring each newscast a fresh perspective and unique energy. It’d be those qualities that took him to Los Angles where he’d become the West-Coast Correspondent for One Minute News, a millennial news organization that produced quick personality driven bits on the biggest stories of the day. The bug for news would bite hard, and soon so did New York and Channel One News, the CBS partnered national news show that reaches 5 millions viewers daily. Serving as an anchor and reporter, Scott has interviewed people like the youngest Nobel Peace Prize Winner – Malala Yousafzai, to legendary Academy Award winning Director James Cameron and the iconic Grammy Award winning band The Jonas brothers.

Lil’ Rel Howery is an award-winning comedian, actor, writer and producer known for his role as TSA agent Rod Williams in the Oscar-winning instant classic “Get Out.”

Lil Rel starred in the critically-acclaimed NBC comedy series “The Carmichael Show,” appearing alongside Loretta Devine and David Alan Grier as star Jerrod Carmichael’s brother. He also executive produced, wrote and starred in the “gleefully absurd” weekly sketch comedy show “Friends of the People” on TruTV.

As Howery ascends in Hollywood, he is prepping for his lead role in the film “Uncle Drew” which is slated to hit theaters June 29 while guest-starring in HBO’s “Insecure.” He will also star in “Rel,” which Fox recently ordered to series; he serves as executive producer of the comedy.

Van Lathan is a screenwriter who is developing both independent film and television projects while also serving as a TMZ Entertainment Senior Producer. Previously, Van worked in broadcast as the host of The Red Pill podcast. He is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana before relocating to Los Angeles. Van is most recently known for his televised conversation with rapper Kanye West over difference of opinions in political views and slavery.

May 2018 | “More Than Search: Google Tools”

Join us Saturday, May 19 for our next meeting: “More Than Search: Google Tools.” We will be partnering with the Los Angeles chapter of the Assn. of LGBTQ Journalists for a workshop and training on the many tools Google has that media professionals can make use of including Advanced Search, Trends, Maps, Public Data Explorer and more. The training will be lead by Amara Aguilar, a member of the Society of Professional Journalists which has partnered with the Google News Initiative. Please bring your laptops!

For more information about SPJ’s partnership with Google, click here.

April 2018 | “Many Platforms, One Voice: Modern Freelance Journalism”

Join us Saturday, April 28 for our next meeting: “Many Platforms, One Voice: Modern Freelance Journalism.” In order to assist our freelancing members with landing more gigs and crafting better pitches, we will be joined by Variety Events Editor (and NABJ-LA boardmember) Mannie Holmes and freelance journalists Britni Danielle and Jaleesa Lashay. Our vice president, Jarrett Hill, will moderate.

Mannie Holmes is a native of Richmond, Virginia and a University of Virginia graduate. She later received her master’s degree in Broadcast & Digital Journalism from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, where she joined her first NABJ chapter. When Mannie isn’t glued to her computer or mobile device as Variety’s events editor, she enjoys being glued to her television with a large bowl of buttery popcorn and a glass of wine (Olivia Pope-style).

Britni Danielle is a writer and editor who is passionate about telling dope stories. She’s written extensively for both print and digital publications on a myriad of topics, including dating, feminism, race, parenting, and pop culture for ESSENCE, The Guardian, The Washington Post, espnW, Teen Vogue, and the Grio. When she isn’t writing, Britni is teaching new writers how to break into the industry through her online course, The Write Pitch.

Jaleesa Lashay has established herself as a true force within the film industry as an expert and on-air host. With a mission to engage in thought-provoking conversations, Jaleesa makes an effort to challenge the perceptions of women and multi-cultural audiences within the industry, most notably at the 24th annual SAG Awards, her question to actor Sterling K. Brown about the lack of opportunities given to black press resulted in significant social shares. A true rose from concrete, Jaleesa hails from the South Bronx and currently resides in Los Angeles, where she serves as a senior film correspondent and associate producer for BlackTree TV. In her spare time, she also serves as a contributor for xoNecole, an online platform for women of color. Jaleesa graduated from Spelman College.

February | "#RepresentationMatters: Beyond The Oscars"

Please join us Saturday, Feb. 17 for our next monthly meeting. In anticipation of the entertainment industry’s biggest night, we will discuss the Academy Award nominees nominees, Hollywood’s ongoing diversity and inclusion conversation and look to the future of storytelling. We will be joined by the Black List founder Franklin Leonard, LA Times film writer Jen Yamato and CAA motion picture agent Jelani Johnson. The meeting will take place at the SAG-AFTRA building at 11 a.m. It is free for dues-paying members and $5 for non-members. We look forward to see you.

Franklin Leonard (@FranklinLeonard) is the founder of the Black List, the yearly publication highlighting Hollywood’s most popular unproduced screenplays and the company birthed to continue its mission of identifying and celebrating great screenwriting. Over 325 Black List scripts have been produced as feature films earning more than 250 Academy Award nominations and 50 wins including four of the last nine Best Pictures and ten of the last twenty screenwriting Oscars. Franklin has worked in development at Universal Pictures and the production companies of Will Smith, Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella, and Leonardo DiCaprio. He has been a juror at the Sundance, Toronto and Guanajuato Film Festivals and for the PEN Center Literary Awards. He was also a delegate and speaker at the White House’s 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. Since 2010, he has been named one of Hollywood Reporter’s 35 Under 35, Black Enterprise magazine’s “40 Emerging Leaders for Our Future,” The Root’s 100 Most Influential African-Americans, Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” and was awarded the 2015 African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA)’s Special Achievement Award for career excellence. He is a member of the Associates Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Jen Yamato (@JenYamato) is a reporter and critic covering the entertainment industry for the Los Angeles Times. After starting her career as an editor at Rotten Tomatoes, she has written for The Daily Beast, Deadline Hollywood, Movieline and various film publications across the web. She has covered prestigious film festivals from Sundance to Cannes and pop culture events like Comic-Con, chased celebrities down red carpets and reported from the Oscars, and appeared as a guest on CNN, 20/20 and some of your favorite movie podcasts. She’s still waiting for Hollywood to apologize for “Ghost in the Shell” and is a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA).

Jelani Johnson is a motion picture agent at CAA, with clients such as Will Packer, A$AP Rocky, Melina Matsoukas, Cheo Coker, Jesse Williams, Gina Rodriguez, Mara Brock Akil and André Holland, among others. He began his career in entertainment as an intern at CAA and transitioned into talent management at the Santa Monica-based management company Generate. He subsequently co-founded The Mission Entertainment, a management and production company focused on diverse content creators, before returning back to CAA. Johnson received a bachelor’s degree in history and anthropology from Columbia University.

November | “Covering LGBTQ Communities (Better)”

Tre'vell Anderson

Please join us Saturday, Nov. 18 for our next monthly meeting: “Covering LGBTQ Communities (Better).” NABJ-LA President Tre’vell Anderson will lead a workshop aimed at equipping chapter members and other attendees with best practices regarding coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities. The meeting will take place at the SAG-AFTRA building at 11 a.m. This will be our final meeting of the year.

Tre’vell Anderson (@TrevellAnderson) is an award-winning entertainment reporter at the Los Angeles Times covering diversity in Hollywood with a focus on Black and Queer film. In addition to being president of NABJ-LA, he’s also the co-chair of NABJ’s LGBTQ Task Force and a member of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Assn.

View the presentation here

First Time in History, NABJ Re-Elects President to Second Term

Several of the 2017-19 NABJ Board of Directors and Executive Director Sharon Toomer at NABJ headquarters.

Sarah Glover, NBC’s social media pro, to lead the mighty NABJ through 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 27, 2017) — In a historic move, members of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) elected NBC Owned Television Station’s Sarah Glover to a second term as president in August during its annual convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. Elections Chair John Yearwood presented the certified elections results at the NABJ board meeting last weekend.

Glover is the first “NABJ Baby” (Student Projects ’95) to be elected president and now the first president to serve two terms.

“I’m humbled and honored to serve our beloved NABJ for two more years. I’m grateful for the support so many have shown the NABJ and the board under my tutelage,” said Glover. “I’m excited to continue my leadership. It’s a chance to help bolster NABJ to new heights and continue our transformation into a more sustainable association. I’m hyped. I’ve got my sleeves rolled up and I’m fast at work. Thank you for believing in me.”

The certified election results for the 2017 NABJ Election (candidate and vote totals) are as follows:
Sarah Glover, candidate for President: 417
Gayle Hurd, candidate for Vice President-Broadcast: 168
Dorothy Tucker, candidate for Vice President-Broadcast: 280
Cheryl Smith, candidate for Secretary: 411
Johann Calhoun, candidate for Region I Director: 145
Ken Lemon, candidate for Region III Director: 131
Kyra Azore, candidate for Student Representative: 66
Lawrence Malloy, candidate for Student Representative: 31

Glover is dedicating her second term of service to all 44 NABJ founders and the late Michael J. Feeney, former New York chapter president. Feeney, her mentee, she believes would have been a notable NABJ president had he not died suddenly in 2016.

NABJ Founder and Past President Dewayne Wickham applauded the election results.

“Sarah has shown strong, visionary leadership,” he said. “I am very proud of the steps she has taken to ensure NABJ’s future. Not only is she an exceptional journalist, excelling in the workplace; Sarah understands the industry and is raising the bar not only with NABJ.”

Touting zero-based budgeting, Glover said her first two years as president were spent erasing a two-year, six-figure deficit and providing accountability, while also laying the groundwork for innovative and industry-challenging programming. Both NABJ conventions in 2016 and 2017 set attendance records for the association.

Glover founded the NABJ Black Male Media Project, which launched nationwide thanks to the dynamic activation and collaboration of 21 NABJ chapters, all of whom hosted concurrent programming on June 10, 2017. Other notable accomplishments in her first term include: development and implementation of the NABJ Strategic Plan 2017-2020; eradicated deficit spending; led the board in its quest to expand NABJ investments with a $500,000 allocation; and co-founded the Poynter-NABJ Digital Leadership Academy. Her primary goals for her second term are to obtain a seven-figure, multi-year grant for NABJ, develop a new website and mobile app, expand the national office staff, further results-driven media advocacy and create a multifunctional jobs program.

A past two-term president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ) and former Chairwoman of the NABJ Council of Presidents; the organizing body of all presidents of chapter affiliates within the association, Glover is a five-term national board member. Always on the move, working for NABJ from her laptop and oftentimes on the train, she resides outside of Philadelphia and is based at 30 Rock in New York City, where she works on the NBCOTS national digital team, providing social strategy and coverage for NBC’s 12 owned TV stations. She earned a dual bachelor’s degree in Photojournalism and African American Studies from Syracuse University in 1996 and a master’s in Communication Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2007.

Former NABJ board member Cheryl Smith, a newspaper publisher-editor based in Dallas, Texas, was elected secretary and Dorothy Tucker, a reporter for CBS Chicago, was re-elected Vice President-Broadcast at the annual convention.

Tucker earned a bachelor’s in Radio, Television and Film from the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University in 1977. Born and raised in Chicago, Tucker has been on-air at the same station for more than three decades — a standout accomplishment in local television.

A native of Newark, New Jersey, Smith earned a bachelor’s in Journalism from Florida A&M University in 1980 and a master’s in Human Relations and Business from Amberton University in Dallas, Texas in 1986. Smith’s journalism fellowships have focused on health disparities, obesity and technology.

An award-winning reporter with the distinction of having won the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s coveted Messenger Award three times, Smith currently publishes Texas Metro News, I Messenger and Garland Journal.

Additionally, Johann Calhoun was re-elected Region I Director, Ken Lemon and Kyra E. Azore were elected Region III Director and student representative respectively. All will serve a two-year term on the board.

Calhoun is News and Special Projects Editor for The Philadelphia Tribune and an adjunct instructor at Temple University. He received a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications (Print) from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 2001 and a Graduate Certificate in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007.

Lemon is a reporter for WSOC-TV and an instructor for Carolina School of Broadcasting. A graduate of the University of North Carolina – Wilmington in 1992, he is a trained conflict resolution mediator and certified IRE watchdog reporter.
Azore, a junior broadcast journalism major with a Spanish minor, is currently studying at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

There was no candidate for the Vice President-Digital position. Region IV Director Marcus Vanderberg resigned for personal reasons, therefore, both positions were vacant. Glover has appointed Terry Collins, a senior reporter at CNET based in Oakland, to the Region IV Director position and the Vice President-Digital position is to be announced.

Returning NABJ board members include: Vice President-Print Marlon Walker, Treasurer Greg Morrison, Region II Director Vickie Thomas, Media-Related Representative Tanzi West Barbour and Academic Representative Michelle Johnson.

October | “Black & Undocumented: Immigration Is Our Issue, Too”

Zakaria (Zack) Mohamed and Edward Pilot

Please join us Saturday, Oct. 21 for our next monthly meeting: “Black & Undocumented: Immigration is Our Issue, Too.” We will be joined activist Zakaria Mohamed, of the Black Alliance for Justice Immigration (@bajitweet), and attorney Edward Pilot. The meeting will take place at the SAG-AFTRA building at 11 a.m. NABJ-LA Vice President Jerome Campbell will moderate.

Zakaria (Zack) Mohamed (@zmopdx) is a Somali-born movement strategist. At age five, Zack and his family fled their home country due to civil war, arriving in the U.S. as refugees. As BAJI’s Los Angeles organizer, Zack’s main areas of focus is to build a base and mobilize it to take actions that implicate black migrants. He has organized around racial justice, immigrant/refugee justice, LGBTQ Justice, economic justice and gender justice.

Edward Pilot (@edpilotlaw) is an attorney who has represented African people in immigration court for over two decades. Through his work, he has partnered with African churches and organizations to help people with DACA applications, naturalization and those seeking asylum.

September Meeting: “Who Has The Right To Tell Our Stories?”

Ana-Christina Ramón and Matthew A. Cherry

Please join us Saturday, Sept. 16 for our next monthly meeting: “Who Has The Right to Tell Our Stories?” We will be joined filmmaker Matthew A. Cherry and UCLA’s Ana-Christina Ramón. The meeting will take place at the SAG-AFTRA building at 11 a.m.

Matthew A. Cherry is a former NFL wide receiver turned filmmaker. His first feature film “The Last Fall,” starring Lance Gross, Nicole Beharie and Vanessa Bell Calloway, made its world premiere at SXSW Film Festival and received awards at the American Black Film Festival and Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival. Dubbed one of Paste Magazine’s “Directors to Watch” in 2016, his current project is titled “Hair Love,” an animated short film about an black father trying to do his daughter’s hair for the first time.

Ana-Christina Ramón is the Director of Research and Civic Engagement for the Office of the Dean of Social Sciences at UCLA. Formerly the assistant director of the school’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, she, along with professor Darnell Hunt, director of the Bunche Center, co-authors the center’s reports on diversity in Hollywood.

August Meeting: #NABJ17 Reflections

Please join us Saturday, August 19 for our next monthly meeting. We will be reflecting on the national convention in New Orleans as well as taking general chapter and organization feedback on ways we can better assist our members. The meeting will take place at the SAG-AFTRA building at 11 a.m. We look forward to seeing you.

We’re looking forward to seeing those of you who’ll be heading to NOLA next week. Check out some NABJ-LA involved panels here.