WASHINGTON, D.C. —Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will host a Capitol Hill press conference with leaders of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP) tomorrow, Friday, March 11, 2016, at 9:30 a.m., at the House Triangle (SE corner of U.S. Capitol). Norton will be joined by Denise Rolark-Barnes, Chairman of the NNPA Board and a publisher for the Washington Informer; Martha Montoya, President of NAHA’s Executive Board and a publisher at El Mundo – Washington State; and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, President and CEO of NNPA. NNPA and NAHP have a combined total reach of over 43 million readers per week across the United States. Given that the federal government is the largest advertiser in the U.S., Norton will ask the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) to issue a report on advertising contracting and subcontracting with African American- and Hispanic American-owned newspapers and media companies at certain critical federal agencies.
“I am proud to join the formation for the first time of a historic alliance of African American and Hispanic publishers,” Norton said. “It is a special pleasure to host this press conference at a time when NNPA’s Chair is Denise Rolark-Barnes, publisher for the Washington Informer, who is a proud native Washingtonian. I am grateful as well for the NNPA and NAHP endorsement of full voting rights and statehood for the District of Columbia. Today, as African Americans and Hispanic Americans are being recognized for their ascending proportion of our population, our press insists that both U.S. parties must pay more attention to our issues. We are pleased to have in Washington the press that speaks most authentically for us and amplifies our collective voices.”