Historical Black Press Foundation

The Historical Black Press Foundation is an organization that represents and is focused on the Black press. It was founded in 1999 to foster the dialogue between minority news organizations, executives and professionals and the mainstream media. Since 2000 the organization has published Black Press Magazine and operated BlackPress.org.
Overview
Members of the Historical Black Press Foundation trace the history of historically-African-American print media back to Freedom's Journal, founded in 1827. The Historical Black Press Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., communicates the history and accomplishments of the industry. It was founded in 1999, and reorganized in 2000.
The Historical Black Press Foundation is the largest organization representing and focusing on Black press, with ties to over 400 Black-owned newspapers and magazines. It fosters dialogue between the mainstream media and minority news organizations, executives and professionals by producing the Who's Who in Black Media directory, listing all of the nation's Black newspapers and magazines. BlackPress covers over 400 Black-owned newspapers and Black magazines and provides services to over 2,000 Black authors. The Historical Black Press Foundation seeks to "enhance the Black Press through technology".
Market research for the Historical Black Press Foundation included conducting in-person surveys about the number of people who read the BlackPress, subscribe to their local Black newspapers, and the number of people who said they would read more Black newspapers if their publications where placed online, since the majority of the people surveyed indicated that they regularly use the Internet to read news.
Publications
To help change the public image of the Black press, the organization publishes:
* Black Press Diversity Career
* Black Press Magazine
* Black Press Week.com,.net, .org (weekly email newsletter)
* Black Press Travel
* Black Press Yearbook: Who's Who in Black Media directory
Black Press Magazine
Black Press Magazine describes itself as “the official publication for media diversity,” providing: "Everything you need to know about African American or Black newspapers, Black magazines, Black publishers, Black authors and how to reach them."
Published monthly, Black Press Magazine article topics have included:
* "Tavis Smiley Fired by BET"
* "Moving Classified Ads to the Internet"
* "Chicago Defender Sale Finalized"
* "Inside the Urban Media Wars"
* "Media Hostages: Avoiding excessive media coverage in the DC Sniper Case"
Black Press Yearbook
The Black Press Yearbook: Who's Who in Black Media was first published by the Historical Black Press Foundation in March 2004. Under the headline "Black press directory fills hole", Editor & Publisher magazine acknowledged the yearbook as "the first effort in more than a decade to produce a comprehensive directory of black newspapers and news organizations". The foreword for the Black Press Yearbook was written by the then president of the National Association of Black Journalists. The directory also provides a timeline of the black press in America, as well as a section on "Movers and Shakers" that identifies organizations and journalists of all races who have contributed to newsroom diversity.
Black Press All Star Awards
Every September, the Historical Black Press Foundation produces the Black Press All Star Awards and Onsite Media Clinics. In September 2006, the Black Press inducted Gordon Parks and John H. Johnson into the Black Press Fallen Heroes Hall of Fame at the All Star Awards.

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