The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the national trade association of Black owned newspapers and media companies throughout the United States, has urgently requested that Congressman Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, provide the NNPA with copies of the 41,000 hours of security tape footage that was given to Fox News host Tucker Carlson regarding the January 6 Commission.

According to the organization, it is a matter of equal access to governmental information for the Black Press of America and specifically referencing the fact that Speaker McCarthy set the precedent by providing the 41,000 hours of footage to Fox News. The NNPA awaits a timely response to this request for equal access.

“The U.S. Constitution does not distinguish the freedoms of the press to just White press, mainstream press, or right-wing press. These freedoms are afforded to all media. The Black Press is a trusted voice in African American communities and should receive the same equity and access as all other press entities in the U.S.,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., president/CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), known as the Black Press.

The NNPA has made two requests, both of which have gone unanswered by Speaker McCarthy. In an interview on the NNPA’s live morning news program called Let It Be Known, Congressman Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chaired the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, said there’s no reason why Speaker McCarthy should not give the Black Press the same access he provided Fox News.

“We are looking forward to receiving a response, or at the very least a courtesy acknowledgment, from the Speaker,” said Karen Carter Richards, NNPA board chairman.

The NNPA is calling upon Speaker McCarthy to uphold the principles of equal access to government information and provide the 41,000 hours of security tape footage to the NNPA immediately.