Diagnosis NABJ: a preliminary study of a post-civil rights organization

Crittenden, Letrell

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/72993 Copy

Description

Title

Diagnosis NABJ: a preliminary study of a post-civil rights organization

Author(s)

Crittenden, Letrell

Issue Date

2015-01-21

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Nerone, John

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Nerone, John

Committee Member(s)

• Berry, William E.
• Benson, Christopher
• Lang, Clarence E.

Department of Study

Inst of Communications Rsch

Discipline

Communications

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Journalism
• African Americans
• African American History
• National Association of Black Journalists

Abstract

This critical study interrogates the history of the National Association of Black Journalists, the nation’s oldest and largest advocacy organization for reporters of color. Founded in 1975, NABJ represents the quintessential post-Civil Rights organization, in that it was established following the end of the struggle for freedom rights. This piece argues that NABJ, like many other advocacy organizations, has succumbed to incorporation. Once a fierce critic of institutional racism inside and outside the newsroom, NABJ has slowly narrowed its advocacy focus to the issue of newsroom diversity. In doing so, NABJ has rendered itself useless to the larger black public sphere, serving only the needs of middle-class African Americans seeking jobs within the mainstream press. Moreover, as the organization has aged, NABJ has taken an increasing amount of money from the very news organizations it seeks to critique. Additionally, this study introduces a specific method of inquiry known as diagnostic journalism. Inspired in part by the television show, House MD, diagnostic journalism emphasizes historiography, participant observation and autoethnography in lieu of interviewing. This approach is taken, as a means of maintaining distance from the influence of various stakeholders within the early stages of research. Diagnostic journalism, as this study argues, represents an ideal preliminary method of inquiry, as it allows the researcher to gather expertise on a topic prior to the critical interviewing stage.

Graduation Semester

2014-12

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/72993

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2014 Letrell Crittenden

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