Black Newspaper Publishers Announce First 10 Papers for Online Project

Posted on June 6, 2001

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and United Parcel Service (UPS), partners in an initiative to develop a network of customized websites for African American newspapers, have identified the first 10 newspapers to go online this summer. The NNPA plans to roll out the sites and demonstrate their capabilities at its national convention June 13 - 17 at the Atlanta Hilton and Towers hotel in Atlanta.

Last month at a breakfast program in Washington, the NNPA, which represents more than 200 African-American newspapers across the country, unveiled plans to develop the sites for its member newspapers. The plan calls for 10 newspapers to go online immediately, and up to 50 online by the end of this summer, with the remaining 150 online by spring 2003.

UPS has committed the initial $125,000 necessary to bring the first 50 papers online. The BlackPressUSA Network is a project of the NNPA Foundation's Black Press Institute. The first 10 sites include the Amsterdam News, New York City; the Birmingham Times, Atlanta Voice, The Westside Gazette, Ft. Lauderale, Fla.; The Jacksonville Advocate, Jacksonville, Fla.; Windy City Word, Chicago; City News, Newark, N.J.; Baltimore Times, The Toledo Journal, Toledo, Ohio, and the Buckeye Review, Youngstown, Ohio.

Additional newspapers have been tapped to go online once the first 10 sites are launched. They include the Houston Defender, Oakland Post, Oakland, Calif.; Milwaukee Times Weekly, and the Afro American Newspaper, Baltimore.

Ben Jealous, executive director of the NNPA Foundation, said having the papers online broadens their ability to disseminate news about African Americans over the Internet. ``It also increases our online news publishing capabilities and helps us solidify our message,'' he said.

NNPA President John J. Oliver said with more than 200 news publications in more than 100 communities in 38 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, NNPA publications generate valuable information that cannot be found elsewhere.

Under the program, the XIGroup will construct and host the Black PressUSA Network website and develop a number of templates for use by NNPA member papers. Local papers will be able to customize their sites and develop content relevant to their communities. Papers within the network will able to share content with one another, in addition to receiving feeds from the NNPA and its news distribution services.