Communities might rely on local black newspapers for local content, but as with all local newspapers, “declining advertising revenue is a problem for every African American newspaper examined” (Pew State of the Media 2013). Yet, some of the best local black journalism that news consumers miss are published by independent news publishers like Colorlines and The Root, and journalists like Ta-Nehisi Coates. For example, when Colorlines publishes an article related to Boston police, do locals in Boston, who may be directly impacted by the article content, read it? They probably don’t know Colorlines exists. Nationally focused publications are digested based on topical interest, not local interest. There is currently no way for Boston readers to know about Colorlines’ Boston articles in real time unless they already subscribe to Colorlines or the articles are syndicated through local Boston news media channels.

BLCK News parses black news reporting from curated media sources by city, and syndicates these stories directly to local readers across 100 cities. A Colorlines story related to Brooklyn is syndicated through the @BLCKBrooklyn Twitter feed and its accompanying BLCKBrooklyn website:

In addition, BLCK News curates the non-traditional news media — the local bloggers, nonprofits, civic groups, academics, and community leaders who can analyze and expose local news and events affecting the black community with an authority and sensibility that is complementary to traditional media. The result is a comprehensive local news platform that engages the black community as a news resource and a community bulletin board, with no advertising or subscription barriers to detract from the consumption experience.

Curated contributors to BLCK News at the 100-city level

• Influential national writers like Ta-Nehisi Coates, list
• Black newspapers, list
• Local journalists and bloggers writing about the black experience
• Civic and community groups serving black neighborhoods
• Civil liberties and human rights organizations
• Nonprofits income inequality and homelessness
• Political and election reform groups
• Women’s support organizations
• Economic development agencies
• Black artists
• Black owned business

Growing BLCK News

BLCK News is a collaboration with the AAN Foundation (“AAN”), founded in 2003 to support diversity by promoting the recruitment, training, and hiring of minorities at alternative newsweeklies, and The Breaking News Network (“BNN”), the largest community media network devoted to the community good spanning over 400 cities globally. Over the last five years, The BNN has cultivated a loyal follower base of 700,000 who appreciate curation of the best media and blog feeds in 400 cities, presented in a noncommercial format that generates good will. In addition, the BNN has nurtured a unique media program that provides media access of its social media feeds to over 8,000 community newsmakers, comprised of journalists, thinkers, civic and arts organizations, and good causes, across its 400 city feeds.

BLCK News will adopt the same methodologies used by the BNN to syndicate news feeds and support collaborative media access. There are two methods to syndicating breaking news. First, BLCK News curates RSS feeds of local bloggers, indie news publishers, nonprofits, civic groups, academics, enterprises in each city, instantly syndicating their articles upon publication. Second, BLCK News authorizes media access to community newsmakers, many of whom are already among the 8,000 authorized on the BNN, so they can post news and events in its city news feeds.

BLCK News will be a news network separate but complementary to The Breaking News Network, which has been focused on reporting every type of breaking news in a locale. BLCK News will grow the reader base by leveraging the BNN’s established position as a community news resource.

Sponsorship Model

BLCK News will develop a sponsorship model intended to support media outreach of national and local organizations, and commercial brands, committed to sustaining the coverage of news for the black community .