Former Amsterdam News VP takes the helm at New Jersey Urban News
By D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the AFRO
During the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s (NNPA) mid-winter conference, held earlier this year in January, six new publishers were approved as members of the historic organization, often referred to as “The Black Press.”
Credit: Courtesy photo
The newest members of the NNPA, attending their first national convention June 19 – 22 in Baltimore, and the publications they represent include: Dale Edwards, of the Cleveland American News, in Cleveland; David Mark Greaves, of Our Time Press, in Brooklyn; Cary Wheelous, of Hayti, in Durham, N.C.; Penda Howell, of the New Jersey Urban News, in Newark, N.J.; D. Etta Wilcoxon, publisher of The Renaissance Observer, in Detroit and James DuBose, publisher of In the Black Network, in Woodland Hills, Calif.
The Black Press and its legacy can be traced back to 1827, when Freedom’s Journal, America’s first Black-owned and operated periodical, began publication.
Others would soon follow in the footsteps of Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm, the founders of Freedom’s Journal, including Philip Alexander Bell, who printed the Colored America from 1837 – 1841; Frederick Douglass, who printed the The North Star from 1847 – 1860, and Daniel Rudd, who published the Ohio Times, founded in 1885. Rudd later expanded into the American Catholic Tribune – reportedly the first Black-owned national newspaper in America.
The NNPA, formerly the National Negro Publishers Association, was established in 1940 and took its current name in 1956. Since its founding, the NNPA has consistently served as the voice of the Black community and an incubator for news that makes history and impacts the country.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of the NNPA and a civil rights icon in his own right, proudly touts the legacy of the NNPA.
“We have shown the nation the struggle, sacrifice, progress and triumph of Black Americans and of America as a nation from the Black perspective,” he said in a statement. “The Black Press covers the progress of Black Americans and provides interpretation of the events involved in our progress. No other print or digital media serves in this role quite like the Black Press.”
New Jersey publisher returns to his roots
Penda Howell, publisher of New Jersey Urban News, is no stranger to the Black Press. Howell formerly served as the director of advertising for the Amsterdam News, where he worked for 18 years before leaving in 2021 as the newspaper’s vice president and chief revenue officer.
He remembers how he first began to shape what has evolved into New Jersey Urban News.
“In 2019, I was accepted as a Maynard 200 fellow in the entrepreneurial cohort and for my project, I was given the task to develop a concept that served a digital-only audience composed of readers who lived in a news desert,” said Howell. “In 2020, I formed the company and began playing around with different designs. The launch of NJ Urban News occurred the following year, in 2021, at which point it became a very personal, side project – one to which I was totally committed.”
Howell, a native of Paterson, N.J., currently resides in East Stroudsburg, Penn. with his wife Dorothy, CFO and COO of the publication. He said returning to his roots, where Black voices and stories of Black achievements are routinely ignored, served as a motivation for establishing his digital-only publication.
“It may have started as a project, but I soon realized that a platform which amplifies the voicers of underrepresented communities in New Jersey was sorely needed – one which also addressed the lack of comprehensive communication and focused journalism in New Jersey’s Black communities,” Howell said. “My goal, since our founding, has remained the same: to deliver inclusive, impactful news coverage that both informs and empowers our readers.”
Howell said without question, the Black Press and the message its publications disseminate are more relevant than ever before.
“Given the misinformation and polarization of information distributed by mainstream media, the relevance of the Black Press cannot be emphasized enough,” he said. “It’s vital that Black communities have news and information that can impact and edify their personal lives – information that assists readers to make better informed decisions for their families and themselves, and which encourages a commitment to civic engagement.”
“Black communities rely on the Black Press because they know they can trust us – we deliver news that is unbiased and community focused,” continued Howell. “We are local news at its best.”
The New Jersey publisher, 55, said his decision to join the NNPA was an easy one.
“NNPA is in my blood and after 18 years of service, I recognize the importance and relevance of the Black Press,” he said. “I come from a general marketing media background and before joining the Amsterdam News, I was part of the North Jersey Media Group, which is now Gannett, where I was first exposed to the strengths of the Black Press.”
Howell spoke on how Black Press changed his life so many years ago.
“It was apparent, even then, that the news and information that Black publications provided was the kind that was relevant, resourceful and impactful to me both personally and professionally,” he said. “I wanted to be a cog in that chain – one which added to their capacity. Joining the NNPA was an easy decision because there’s no other media trade organization in America that does it better.”
You can read and support New Jersey Urban News by visiting their website, www.njurbannews.com.
The post New Jersey native, Penda Howell, joins circle of NNPA publishers appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.
