Congressman Bennie Thompson: NNPA Global Newsmaker of the Year

(Washington, D.C.) -- The State of the Black Press in America in 2023 is strong, resilient, and getting stronger day by day. Black Press Week culminated with National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., delivering the State of the Black Press before the trip to the West Wing.

Dr. Chavis delivered a searing message about where the Black Press stands as the institution celebrates its 196th year.

The March 17 luncheon at the National Press Club included remarks from Mississippi Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson, who highlighted the crucial need for a thriving Black Press and broke the kind of news sure to go viral.

Thompson, who deftly led the Congressional investigation into the January 6, 2021, insurrection, told the large Press Club gathering that he expects a federal special counsel to hand up indictments in the coming weeks.

“As for January 6, what you saw with your eyes is the absolute truth,” Thompson remarked. “Don’t believe [Fox Host] Tucker Carlson. Who are you going to believe, him or your lying eyes.”

Thompson reminisced about America’s history of settling political differences at the ballot box. “But lo and behold, that president [Donald Trump] convinced everybody that [he] would be President for life,” the congressman said.

“If it weren’t for the Black Press that kept raising the issue all along about how much of a fraud that person happened to be [the outcome may have been different].” Thompson continued:

“Most of you know there is a double standard in America. No person of color with [Trump’s] history could have run for dog catcher and got anything. It’s that double standard that you fight every week in your newspapers. “Our elected officials must be held accountable. Over the next few weeks, our work will be crystalized with some indictments, and we have shared a lot of our work with the special counsel that Tucker Carlson thought he had.

“A lot of those individuals are being called in under subpoena now and we will see what they tell the special counsel. Nobody is above the law, not even the President of the United States.

“What we saw after interviewing more than 1,000 people – the majority of whom identify with the Republican Party – we are convinced that whatever happened, happened because of one person. So, we are clear in our recommendation.”