Black women create safe space for rising journalists

By Leah Clark

In an industry where diversity is lacking, one group is working to create a space for Black women to find mentorship and sisterhood. 

On Friday, five Black women in newsroom leadership shared their experience climbing the ranks of the journalism world at the 2024 NABJ convention in Chicago. The panel discussion “Black Women Rule: Sisters in Print and Digital” brought newsroom leaders and early-career journalists together. It is part of a bigger mission by a collective of Black female newsroom leaders called Black Girl Masthead. 

Created in 2020, the collective originated from a conversation between New York Times Deputy Managing Editor Monica Drake and Washington Post Managing Editor Krissah Thompson. 

“Really from the first conversation, I realized that even though we were in different newsrooms, different cities, the same thing was happening,” Thompson said. “Our industry is evolving in some ways. We have very similar experiences, so we started this duo.”

The duo eventually hosted a dinner for several Black female newsroom leaders during last year’s NABJ convention in Birmingham, Alabama, and Black Girl Masthead was born. The collective grew from that dinner to hosting monthly meetings, slowly increasing their numbers. 

“We have a lot of work to do, but we’re just so happy,” said Newsday Managing Editor Rochell Bishop Sleets, a member of the collective. “At this NABJ, we were able to do this panel, our launch to the world,” 

Sleets, Thompson and Drake were joined on the panel by The 19th News Editor-at-large Errin Haines and ProPublica Managing Editor Ginger Thompson. The women gave advice on overcoming obstacles that prevent more Black women from entering leadership roles.  

Friday’s panelists are part of the small number of Black female newsroom leaders. Data from Pew Research Center shows only 6% of news directors are Black.

Black Girl Masthead is looking to establish itself as an official organization soon, according to Sleets. The collective will provide office hours for early-career journalists and journalists re-entering the workforce.

For Chaleisa Butler, who is early in her journalism career, the advice of the panelists gave her hope for her future.

“It gave me a visual to see that we can do this,” Butler said. “This is our space. Make room for us. Black women are here to stay in journalism. We are making our mark in journalism.”