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Recognizing Sarah Glover for her historic tenure as the 21st President of the National Association of Black Journalists.
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WHEREAS, Founded in 1975, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is the largest organization for journalists of color in the United States. NABJ’s roots began in the City of Brotherly Love with the birth of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, its founding chapter, in 1973. NABJ has numerous Philadelphia founders, such as Chuck Stone (also NABJ’s first president), Acel Moore, Claude Lewis, Sandra Dawson Long Weaver, and Joe Davidson. NABJ is committed to alerting media outlets of the importance of fairness in the workplace for Black journalists, as well as advocating for fairness in the coverage of communities of color. In pursuing its salutary mission, NABJ also serves to strengthen ties between and grow solidarity among Black journalists across the nation; and
WHEREAS, Every two years, NABJ elects a president to promote and facilitate these goals, choosing from among the best and brightest journalists across the nation. In 2015, Sarah Glover was elected to serve as NABJ’s 21st President as her career, which spans more than two decades, has evolved from award-winning photojournalist to digital journalist; and
WHEREAS, Glover is intricately tied to the Philadelphia Area, as a resident of Greater Philadelphia and with stints working for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and NBC10 Philadelphia. While at the Daily News, Glover led the video team on the “Tainted Justice” series, which would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize. She currently works as the manager of social media strategy at NBC Owned Television Stations based out of 30 Rock in New York City. She also serves on the advisory boards of The Press Forward and the Power Shift, both nonprofit organizations created to address #MeToo and equity issues in the media industry; and
WHEREAS, As President of NABJ, Glover has raised the Organization’s profile and led it to an international resurgence. Among her most prominent achievements is the formation of the NABJ Black Male Media Project. Created to examine how Black men are portrayed in the media and to support Black men working in journalism, the program has served more than 1,000 Black men to date. Glover is a champion for equal opportunity and works to ensure underrepresented communities have a voice; and
WHEREAS, Glover made headlines for her work with the Associated Press to update the AP Stylebook’s definition of “boy,” a critical update designed to encourage limited use of the term when describing Black men. She has also been celebrated for her calls to examine the overuse of mug shots of Black male suspects, which serves to perpetuate a negative narrative on Black men; and
WHEREAS, NABJ has soared under the Glover Administration, with an industry-recognized strategic plan, a record increase in national convention attendance, fiscal success four years running, a renewed focus on international engagement with the NABJ Reporting Mission to China, and a new emphasis on technology through the first-ever NABJ Tech Trek to Silicon Valley. NABJ’s advocacy for increased representation in the executive news ranks has garnered national media coverage and the support of the NAACP, Color of Change, and the Congressional Black Caucus; and
WHEREAS, Recognizing her many accomplishments as President, Glover’s peers elected her to a second term in 2017, making her the first two-term President in the Organization’s history. She is also the first “NABJ Baby,” or NABJ student projects participant to later run the Organization, and the first digital journalist, strategist and social media expert to be elected President. While her leadership as President ends in 2019, Glover and NABJ continue to work tirelessly to advocate for diversity, inclusion and equity within media companies, as well as for fair and accurate coverage of communities of color nationwide every day; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby recognize Sarah Glover for her historic tenure as President of the National Association of Black Journalists.
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