NABJ President Ken Lemon Announces Three Board of Directors Appointments for the 2024-2026 Term

National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) President Ken Lemon announced today the appointment of two new and one returning member to the Board of Directors for the 2024-2026 term. The appointments are effective immediately.

Steve Crocker, an anchor/reporter at WBRC 6 News in Birmingham, Alabama, will serve as the Board’s new Region III Director.

Lisa Armstrong, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, joins the Board as the new Academic Representative.

Angela Smith, a digital content manager at KWCH 12 Eyewitness News in Wichita, Kansas, has been reappointed to serve in her previous role as Region II Director.

“We are thrilled to welcome Steve and Lisa to the Board and to have Angela continue her service,” said Lemon. “Their leadership and commitment to our mission will be invaluable as we continue to support and advocate for Black journalists, media-related professionals, students, and educators across the country.”

About Steve Crocker

Crocker’s broadcasting career began at WCLK radio in Atlanta while attending Morehouse College, where he earned a B.A. in Mass Communications. After working as a producer and reporter at several radio stations in Atlanta in the late 80s, he moved to TV in 1990 as a news writer for CNN, working on stories such as the fall of the Soviet Union, the Los Angeles riots and the O.J. Simpson trial. On occasion, he also filled in as an anchor for CNN, Headline News, and CNN’s Airport channel.

In 1995, Crocker went to work as a reporter and morning anchor for KDFW-TV, the FOX station in Dallas. In 1998, he moved to WIS-TV in Columbia, South Carolina, to anchor the evening news. In 2003, Crocker joined the WBRC 6 News team and has been proud to be in Birmingham ever since.

About Lisa Armstrong

Armstrong is an award-winning journalist with credits in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Mother Jones, the Texas Tribune, and other outlets. She has reported from several countries, including Haiti, Kenya, Liberia, and the Philippines, and is currently reporting mainly on incarceration. She produced a documentary for CBS News about how subpar mental health care provided by for-profit companies led to an increase in suicides in state prisons, and directed a documentary about a young man who was incarcerated in an adult prison when he was 16. The film was featured in the Social Impact track at SXSW. Armstrong was a 2020-2021 Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow and 2019 United States Artists Fellow in Writing.

She is a professor at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and taught at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY for 12 years. She teaches journalism at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and has taught at the Folsom Women’s Facility and Central California Women’s Facility.

About Angela Smith

Smith is an accomplished journalist known for her commitment to diversity, equity, and excellence in media. With a career spanning over 18 years, she currently serves as the Digital Content Manager at KWCH 12 News. Her professional achievements include the Kim Setty Spirit of Excellence Award and recognition for the best website in the Wichita-Hutchinson DMA from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters (KAB). Her recent SHINE Award from Storytime Village further highlights her dedication to community involvement.

Smith has served as the NABJ Region II Director for the last two years, and she looks forward to continuing her service to the region and its chapters. She also serves as chair of the Childhood Hunger Initiative Power Pack program for the Beta Kappa Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She is a board member at Victory in the Valley, a cancer support organization based in Wichita, as well as ARISE, an internationally known ensemble that educates through historical storytelling and song.