Founder Benjamin Briggs Herbert was quoted as telling a newspaper editor seeking his guidance, "The most important single thing you can do to make your paper successful is to help your community.

"[4] The National Newspaper Association was conceived in 1882 by Benjamin Briggs Herbert of Red Wing, Minnesota who published the Advance and the Republican.

[4] It was founded February 19, 1885, as the National Editorial Association (NEA) in New Orleans, Louisiana.

[1][5][6] The NEA's constitution was ratified after a meeting in 1886 and Benjamin Briggs Herbert was elected president of the organization.

[7][8] In 1891, Edwin William Stephens became the sixth president of National Editorial Association after a discussion at the organization's seventh annual convention.