Who We Are

Indianapolis is Indiana’s capital and the largest city in the Hoosier state with a population of nearly 900,000 people. It is the 12th largest city in the U.S. and the third largest in the Midwest – behind Chicago and Detroit. It’s a racially diverse city, one where African-Americans make up 28 percent of the overall population.

Yet news outlets in this culturally and racially rich community continue to struggle in the hiring, promotion and retention of African-American journalists and other media professionals. This disquieting fact is as real today as it was in 1991 when a small group of African-American reporters, editors, broadcast producers, photojournalists, media support personnel and students began to meet informally. They met in support of each other’s work and out of sheer necessity: No formal organized network of black journalists existed and the few who worked in Indy were scattered at different media outlets.

While the majority of black news gathers worked at The Indianapolis Recorder – the city’s African-American weekly newspaper – and WTLC AM/FM radio as reporters and radio personalities, black media at the city’s other daily newspapers, TV and radio stations were largely unknown to each other.

So, those early group get-togethers served as social gatherings. They were initially held at the Sunset Pub, which was owned by the former owner/operator of WCEI-TV Channel 32, Indy’s black-owned television station–a BET cable outlet.

From those social gatherings, a professional network, one that would assist and advocate for the hiring of more minority journalists, was quickly created. That small group incorporated legally as the Indianapolis Association of Black Journalists (IABJ) in 1991.