BLCK News, a Local Black News Network
Curating breaking news related to the black experience from the nation’s leading thinkers, journalists and community newsmakers, syndicated with local relevance across 60 major US cities
A local news hub for chronicling the black experience across 60 cities
BLCK News is a breaking news network devoted to highlighting leading thinkers and journalists, national and local, who chronicle stories of the black experience. The network is comprised of 60 individual city feeds covering the top cities in the US, each displaying black news on the website, Twitter, Facebook and other social media.
Where BLCK News fits in the media ecosystem
News consumers normally discover and follow news about the black experience from mainstream media like CNN, and the New York Times, despite the fact that these media generally focus on major impact events like #Ferguson.
African Americans stand out for their reliance on TV news. Almost seven out of 10 (69%) of African Americans said they watched television news “yesterday.” Despite these figures, black-oriented television news programs are rare and few last more than a few seasons.
Pew Research: State of the Media 2013
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).
Curating influential black writers, thinkers and doers
Content curation is the only way to sustain a 60-city news network. Proof of concept is the 400-city Breaking News Network (“BNN”), founded in 2009 and now the only local news network covering every major city in the US and Canada. Borrowing from the BNN curation methodology, BLCK News will curate and aggregate timely news from multiple national and local media sources, and supplement reportage from nontraditional sources including bloggers, civic groups and nonprofits.
Some of the most influential local black journalism that news consumers miss are published by independent news publishers like Colorlines and New America Media, 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 will leverage The Breaking News Network (“BNN”), the largest community media network devoted to the community good, to jumpstart its launch. Over the last five years, the BNN has cultivated a loyal follower base of 800,000 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.
