Black Lives Matter activists and Black journalists talk how to report on race
Many mainstream newsroom spaces often overlook or poorly cover Black experiences, racial issues and activism. Yet, there are new efforts that are emerging to fight for the urgency of improving the coverage of Black communities.
This is how I described “Black Narratives Matter: How to Source Build as Black Journalists w/ BLM Organizers,” an event I organized and moderated at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism on Tuesday, Dec. 1.
The New York Association of Black Journalists and Black Lives Matter: NYC advanced the conversation around building stronger professional ties, the intersections of journalism and activism spaces, and how both areas should be covering Black experiences.
A combination of Black journalists and organizers expressed the need for an event focused not only on these intersections and source building, but also, the challenges that Black newsroom journalists and independent activism writers face. The nuances of covering Black experiences and implementing these ethical changes start with Black journalists who advocate for better coverage in a variety of spaces.
It only made sense to have an event that was almost exclusively Black people and people of color. It made sense for Black journalists and organizers to mobilize around how we cover Black communities and their experiences before these conversations are expanded to a larger news organizational audience.
This is why I started Black Narratives Matter (BNM), a collaborative effort with Black Lives Matter, and a watchdog site to guide news media in covering Black experiences and provide resources on race literacy, which re-launched on Dec. 14. The site features how-to guides, collaborative essays, terminologies and quick facts.
The audience engaged and connected on Twitter using #BlackNarrativesMatter, sharing excerpts from the panelists on ethics and their best practices of reporting on Black communities.
The event featured four panelists:
Yamiche Alcindor is the former national breaking news reporter at USA Today who covers quickly developing incidents and stories about the social issues affecting the United States, and now covers national politics at New York Times.
Tamerra Griffin is a breaking news reporter at BuzzFeed who covers the African diaspora, and demonstrations in a fast-paced newsroom.
Arielle Newton is a Black Lives Matter: NYC organizer, and the founder and editor-in-chief at Black Millennials who blogs about race from her own militant Black millennial voice.
Terrell Jermaine Starr is a freelance journalist and Black Lives Matter: NYC activist who writes about U.S-Russia relations, freedom of the press and global Blackness.
The panelists not only discussed journalistic ethics of how they report on race, but how Black journalists in newsrooms should listen and source build with Black communities, and no one’s perspective was the same.
The “no-nos” seen in coverage:
Alcindor took issue with the question. According to her, she covers Black experiences the same as she does politics, international affairs or anything else. “You go in and you be skeptical. I was taught to ask questions, to not believe someone just because they say it,” said Alcindor who added this applies to everyone including police, protesters and activists.
She recommends that journalists challenge what they hear and think deeply about the issues they cover.
Newton looks at things differently, as someone who owns her own space to write. She is not attached to any traditional news media outlet. Therefore, she is not impartial. She writes from her own pro-Black, unapologetic opinion. As an activist, she writes about her experiences on the frontlines of the movement.
A few years ago, Griffin read a study that stated broadcast news media treats Black and white perpetrators differently. According to her, the study said broadcast news would interview family members and people who could speak to the humanity of a white person, but would interview officers and other people in authoritative roles when the story was about a Black person.
According to Griffin, those subtle choices in reporting make a difference and have huge ripple effects on how we see humanity in certain groups differently.
“Oftentimes, Black people are robbed of a certain sense of humanity in the way that we write about them, in the words that we choose [and] in the people who we choose to talk to tell us who they were,” she said.
“That right now is the biggest thing that I’m trying to work through as a journalist because I’m aware of these things, it gives me that extra step in my reporting,” Griffin added.
According to Starr, journalism operates as a “country club.” The resources and privilege determine who is a journalist. As someone who is transparent about freelancing for mainstream and traditional news media, he said journalism is dominated by these newsroom spaces.
“Traditional media has operated as a white man’s diary,” he said.
Starr wrote a piece for the Washington Post about safe spaces for protesters and critiquing news media about their response to University of Missouri’s protesters with, “There’s a good reason protesters at the University of Missouri didn’t want the media around.”
He encourages Black journalists not to duplicate the behavior of his white peers, but also, says that as journalists, the press pass isn’t a police badge.
He talked about how people in that space were hurting. Starr recommends for reporters to not be so arrogant in realizing that, and to figure out who or how else to do their job, instead of engaging back and forth with protesters.
Black people should be covered with humanity attached:
Yamiche covers Black people the way she covers any person, and that’s with respect. According to her, she builds people’s confidence when talking to her and she writes about anyone in a fair way.
Newton is very clear that she believes white-dominated media will always dehumanize and demonize Black bodies. According to her, she wants to fight against that.
She will write about Black people and their experiences, especially for those who are the most marginalized. For example, she will write about her Black transgender sisters, and the facts and statistics of the violence they face, and put in that piece her ask to come out to that protest.
Griffin is happy to work at a news organization, BuzzFeed, whose ethical guidelines include activism issues: LGBT equality, civil rights, women’s right and anti-racism that don’t have two sides.
According to her, “skin folk is kinfolk” helps when reporting on Black communities that experienced a lot of trauma and distrust news media.
Starr is transparent about his audience and who he represents. Starr serves in between activism and journalism, but according to him, all of the other panelists are covering important Black narratives, regardless of the entities they are doing them for. One of his best practices is making sure his community understands who he is and why he’s there. He lets his sources know that everything they say to him on the record is eligible to be in print.
Alcindor on self-care: “Resting is important…”
Newton on owning space to write: “No f**** given!”
Griffin on source-building: “I try to put myself in the position of the sources…”
Starr on community immersion ethics: “Activism is truth.”
What Black journalists and activism writers would like to see in the future of media:
For more tweets, check out CUNY Graduate School of Journalism’s Storify of the event.
Ultimately, each panelists captures in their writing how to be racially literate and cover Black people by showing their humanity; how to provide context when covering Black narratives; how to be transparent on what is your role as an activist, a journalist or both; and how they individually write about Black people with their own personal ethics in place.
As a social journalist, I cover racial justice issues and Black Lives Matter with a similar set of ethics, as a racial politics writer at the Daily Dot.
I focus my reporting, engagement and community collaboration on four principles mainly: transparency in the relationship and trust building with sources; the listening and amplification of Black voices; the growth of my own racial literacy by providing deeper context of Black narratives; and verification with research, reliable sources and data-driven information to back up my reporting.
The event resulted in more than 360 tweets with great impact and positive feedback from the audience.
Some of the panel’s co-organizers say that this event is only the beginning of these conversations about race and Black narratives existing between the intersections of activism and journalism.
Activism writer Amity Paye on impact of BNM:
Panelist Arielle Newton on impact of BNM:
My own reporting and that of other Black writers clearly has an impact, and its own set of challenges, but voices the of Black communities do matter and do respond to deeper coverage or lack thereof it in many cases. Just look to Black Twitter; they’ll tell you that Black narratives matter.
Editor’s Note: This is the third post in a series of critical analyses documenting the process of social journalism and applying it to covering Black Lives Matter. Also, these essays on BLM will correlate with personal experiences of how I’m dealing with race and systemic racism, and how I’m having conversations about it.
Follow me on Twitter @DeronDalton, @BlkNarratives, and follow the hashtags#BLKSocialJ (BLK Social Journalist) and #BlackNarrativesMatter.
