The Final Call

Final Call wins Black Press awards

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Final Call editor Richard B Muhammad at 2018 Black Press conference where the newspaper won to significant awards.

During the June 28 Merit  Awards dinner and announcement of journalism contest results, part of “Celebrating 191 Years of Black Press in America: Sustaining, Engaging & Mobilizing Black Communities,” the Nation of Islam newspaper won a Third Place Award for Editorial Writing for a piece calling for combatting and ending sex trafficking and a First Place Feature Writing Award for a major story about the Feminization of Black Men written by Bryan Crawford, a Final Call contributing writer.

It was tough competition this year as the reigning Best Black Newspaper, The St. Louis American, was dethroned by the Miami Times. There were a number of different winners across over 20 categories, showing that the competition was stiff.

“We thank Allah for the win and for the support we receive, and we plan to stay in the fight. Support The Final Call, the more you do, the better we can become and the greater work we can do,” said Final Call editor in chief Richard B. Muhammad. “I’m very, very proud tonight,” he said.

Black publishers and journalists traveled from around the country to attend the Black publishers event June 26-30. It included workshops, luncheons, industry-related discussions and meetings and a salute to civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.

Conference sessions and social events were designed to foster networking and confront the challenges in the print industry and the future of NNPA, which represents over 200 Black newspapers.

NNPA chairman and Chicago Crusader and Gary Crusader publisher Dorothy R. Leavell led a panel discussion on “Black Press vs. Fake News.” Among panelists were civil rights Atty. Benjamin Crump; Sarah Glover, president, National Association of Black Journalists; and Julianne Malveaux, an economist and writer.

Ms. Leavell and NNPA President Benjamin Chavis led a National Town Hall Meeting on Educational Excellence. The convention’s host publisher was Brenda Andrews of the Norfolk-based New Journal & Guide.