From shy singer to arts advocate, Flisadam Pointer impacts New Jersey media
After more than a decade of identifying as a blogger — and two journalism degrees — Flisadam Pointer has started to embrace the title of “journalist.”
“2023 was my sharpening my tools year and 2024 is about execution,” said Pointer. She is starting a new chapter professionally while continuing to advocate for arts coverage in New Jersey.
Born and raised between Newark and Hillside, New Jersey, Flisadam Pointer has known since childhood that music was her passion. She first wanted to be a singer but was too shy to pursue that idea. Instead she focused on talking about music and entered a mentorship program in high school where she got her first taste of media in radio. Pointer then acquired experience in other mediums like blogging and audio formats, working as a freelance journalist for outlets like UPROXX and ThisisRnB.
Pointer has seen the “traditional” media ecosystem move away from the arts in the state, she said, and how small, hyperlocal content creators have engaged in this work — albeit at a smaller scale with a smaller reach.
She recommends a few — The Garden State podcast by hosts Josh Sobo and Josh Chomik, Black In Jersey by Tennyson Donyea, The Newark Times by Tehsuan Glover and The Montclair Girl and its subsidiaries by Jennifer Tripucka, among others — for folks looking for arts and culture stories specific to New Jersey.
Making her own way
In 2012, Pointer launched Envert Media, first during her college years as a radio jockey on Rutgers Radio, WRSU 88.7 FM. Her solo show, “Envert Radio” would eventually become a digital news platform “specifically curated for independent musicians.” With this outlet, she took on the entrepreneurial and content production aspects of journalism. And her reporting “focused on independent film creators and actors, independent musicians, independent visual artists and independently funded arts events.”
By 2017, the need for coverage was greater than she imagined, said Pointer. “The requests from artists to appear on my then-radio show on WRSU spanned beyond graduation. This led to the ENVERT Media shifting to digital.” ENVERT is now on hiatus, but at its peak ENVERT would cover 2 to 3 New Jersey artists a week, through different work including interviews and event promotions, she mentioned.
The new lineup for Envert includes “a series of podcasts -both visual and audio interviews — that highlight creators, helping them fundraise, spread the message, and a promotional campaign to bring actual attendees, funding and donations back to these arts causes,” said Pointer. When it comes to generating buzz and attracting the attention of bigger publications, “the goal is to fill in the holes of coverage that they don’t have.” In the process she hopes to support the promotional needs of NJ artists and creatives.
Changing journalism
Working in journalism, where people of color are consistently underrepresented, hasn’t been easy and Pointer has experienced difficulties. She listed a few examples: the time when a college professor told her she didn’t have ‘the look’ to be on camera; or being told that her style of writing didn’t have the right tone. But she has persevered and said she is now reclaiming for herself what the word ‘journalist’ means.
In tackling diversity and inclusion in the news industry, Pointer says, “We have to get rid of this stuffiness that exists in the journalism space of who can be formally called a journalist, which is a conversation that I have all the time. I felt like the title of a journalist was so off putting to readers because it constricted what you were able to say, how you were able to say it and what formats to deliver it.”
“I feel like diversity and inclusion goes to not only what’s happening in the entertainment space, covering these artists that are from international backgrounds and speak multiple languages, but also the idea of the media space shifting,” she said, “and how we should be presenting this information to be consumed,” she added.
How the industry changes will inevitably determine what opportunities are available to up-and-coming journalists.
Her advice for journalists who are just starting out is three-fold:
- It’s possible that you may be ahead of the times with your ideas — don’t be afraid to be the first.
- Find a way to combine what you’re good at with what you’re passionate about.
- Build a network because you never know who can help lift you up.
Mariela Santos-Muniz is a freelance journalist and a part-time collaborative journalism newsletter and database coordinator for the Center for Cooperative Media. Follow Mariela on Twitter.
About the Center for Cooperative Media: The Center is a primarily grant-funded program of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. Its mission is to grow and strengthen local journalism and support an informed society in New Jersey and beyond. The Center is supported with funding from Montclair State University, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, the Independence Public Media Foundation, Rita Allen Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more information, visit centerforcooperativemedia.org.
