OPINION — This is a commentary piece by UNJ founder Marcus Hart, adapted from Friday’s UNJ LIVE broadcast. It reflects his view, clearly labeled as such.
At its Atlanta convention on August 17, the National Association of Black Journalists handed out a record five “Thumbs Down” awards — its mechanism for publicly calling out people and institutions it says have worked against its values of diversity, equity, fairness, and press freedom. One went to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, cited for what NABJ President Errin Haines called a “recurring public pattern of disparaging commentary directed at prominent Black women” — naming criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris, Representative Jasmine Crockett, and a public dispute with journalist Joy-Ann Reid.
Smith didn’t take it quietly. “This is the epitome of Christmas arriving early,” he wrote on X. “You had your turn, now mine is coming. And make no mistake… I’m coming.”
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NABJ has a real argument — say that first
Quiet, closed-door handling is exactly how powerful people avoid consequences for years. That’s not a made-up concern; that’s how it actually works, again and again. Any honest critique of NABJ’s decision has to start by conceding that point.
But the format guaranteed the worst outcome
A public “thumbs down” trophy, handed out at a convention, built to get applause in the room and headlines outside it, is the wrong tool for a legitimate professional disagreement between peers in the same field. Journalists, of all people, are supposed to know how to have this conversation the right way: through real journalism, a documented piece, or a direct conversation — not a novelty trophy that was always going to go viral and always going to start exactly the public feud it started.
If we as Black journalists want the world to take us seriously about advancing Black excellence, that starts with how we treat each other in public. What happened on that stage read like high school — frat-house behavior dressed up as an award ceremony.
This isn’t a defense of Stephen A.
It’s a critique of the format. NABJ had a legitimate concern and chose a tool that guaranteed the worst possible response instead of the accountability it actually wanted. Everybody lost that exchange — including the people the award was supposed to protect.
The same night we published this take, UNJ opened its own broadcast by correcting our own mistake, on air, first segment. That’s the standard we’re arguing for: accountability that starts with getting it right in public — even when it’s uncomfortable. Especially then.
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Urban News Journal is Milwaukee’s independent, Black-owned, veteran-owned news outlet. Disagree with this take? Email press@marcus-hart.com — pushback gets read on air. Subscribe free at urbannewsjournal.com.