Stephen A. Smith Blasts NABJ Over 'Personal Hit Job' Award

Stephen A. Smith took to his ESPN platform on Monday to unload on the National Association of Black Journalists, calling their weekend award against him a "personal hit job" and accusing the organization of abandoning basic journalistic practice. The NABJ had presented Smith with a "Thumbs Down" award Saturday night at their gala in Atlanta, citing what they described as his pattern of disparaging prominent Black women across politics, sports, and media.

Smith's grievance was not merely about receiving the award itself. He framed it as a failure of professional standards. A journalism organization, he argued, should have contacted him before leveling such accusations in public. "This is a journalism organization that didn't engage in journalism when it came to critiquing me," he said during his show. "Disparaging Black women is a very incendiary thing to say. If you felt that adamant about it, how come I never got a call?" The ESPN host revealed he had reached out to NABJ President Errin Haines to discuss the matter, but said Haines declined a public conversation, instead requesting a private discussion first. Smith rejected that approach. "So you can go on a public platform, denigrate me, make these accusations against me without calling. But when I challenge you to come on here face to face and have a conversation with me, now we want a private conversation before. Nah, I will never speak to her because the deed is done."

Smith's criticism appeared focused on the NABJ's characterization of his commentary about figures like Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett. The award presentation stated that Smith had "established a recurring public pattern of disparaging commentary directed at prominent Black women across politics, sports, and media," and that such commentary "reinforces harmful narratives, undermines the fair and respectful representation of Black women in public discourse, and stands in direct conflict with NABJ's longstanding commitment to accurate, responsible, and inclusive portrayals of Black communities."

Yet Smith was careful to distinguish between his anger at specific board members and his relationship with the organization as a whole. He acknowledged owing his career to an NABJ job fair more than three decades earlier. "This is not about the NABJ. This is not an indictment against them," he said. "This is not something that should be held against aspiring journalists and those already in the business who aspire to rise higher. I'm always here. But those few board members who made this decision, it was wrong. It was grossly unfair. And more importantly, it was self-defeating."

The dispute drew commentary from conservative media observers. Curtis Houck, managing editor of the Media Research Center, told Fox News Digital that the award exemplified what he saw as a broader problem with journalism organizations. "This charade is further proof these so-called journalist trade groups are an absolute scam," he said, adding that Smith was "exactly right to eviscerate them." The NABJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Smith's response underscores a tension in contemporary media criticism: the question of whether public figures should be contacted before organizations level accusations against them, and whether private dialogue or public accountability should come first. Smith positioned himself as someone willing to engage in direct conversation, but only on equal terms—on air, where both parties could be heard simultaneously. The NABJ's preference for a private conversation first struck him as asymmetrical, a way to avoid the scrutiny he believed they deserved.