Black journalists from across West gather in Sacramento for regional conference
Black journalists from across the West will gather next weekend in Sacramento for the National Association of Black Journalists regional conference at UC Davis Aggie Square, 300 Aggie Square, 4480 Second Ave., Sacramento.
The theme: “Build. Bridge. Belong. Strengthening Black Media.”
The two-day conference kicks off at 4 p.m. Friday, April 24, at Aggie Square’s Assembly Hall with a “Community Town Hall: Media, Policing & Public Trust.”
The 90-minute forum, moderated by KCRA weekend anchor Cecil Hannibal, features former Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper and retired Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best in a discussion “about the relationship between media and police — and how it shapes public trust.”
The town hall is open to the public. Registration is required.
An opening reception will be at 7 p.m. Friday, April 24, at the Hilton Sacramento Arden West, 2200 Harvard St.
Kevin Frazier, host of television’s “Entertainment Tonight,” will deliver the keynote address. Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty and NABJ President Errin Haines will also speak.
The conference returns to Aggie Square’s Assembly Hall at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 25, with a full day of programming, including seminars on media serving underrepresented regions, opportunities and challenges facing Black sports journalists, and journalism in an emerging artificial intelligence landscape.
The national journalism association’s Region IV represents 13 western states including California. It is the first time the association’s Sacramento chapter has hosted a regional conference, said NABJ Sacramento President Brandi Cummings, a KCRA morning anchor.
The conference’s Sacramento debut is a milestone for a capital chapter that relaunched in 2023 and is part of a busy slate of events this year, including a Journalism Day set for September at Sacramento State and the chapter’s annual Black Media Table Talk in November at the University of the Pacific’s Sacramento campus in Oak Park.
Organizers described the weekend event as a rare opportunity for working journalists, students and media professionals to meet in the same room — participating in educational workshops, seminars for developing journalists and town hall-style discussions with local community leaders.
Cummings said she also sees the conference, with its gathering of journalists from across the western U.S., as an opportunity for media organizations to recruit and bring more diverse voices into their newsrooms.
The conference ends with a 6 p.m. closing ceremony at Assembly Hall where scholarships will be presented to high school and collegiate awardees.
An 8 p.m. closing reception follows at the Hilton Sacramento Arden West, featuring mistress of ceremonies, Melanie Townsend, morning anchor at Fox 40 (KTXL).
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