A View from the Field: Creating a New Media System

Once a month, we provide updates from the field as staffers work alongside our amazing allies and activists to create a more just and equitable media system.

• Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights Nora Benavidez took part in a panel discussion on misinformation, harassment of journalists and social media at the North American Broadcasters Association conference in New York. David Reiter of CBS News moderated the conversation.
• Nora also spoke at the American Constitution Society National Convention, where Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan delivered the keynote address. Nora participated in a panel discussion about First Amendment rights and the Supreme Court.
• Media 2070 Campaign Manager Venneikia Williams taught “Diagnosing the Media System,” a month-long class at Colorado College. The course explored how the media have harmed communities of color for centuries. Students learned about the cultural and infrastructural interventions needed to secure media reparations. One of the many powerful works on the syllabus was the 100-page essay that launched the Media 2070 project back in October 2020.
• During her time in Colorado, Venneikia moderated a screening and discussion of the award-winning Media 2070 documentary Black in the Newsroom alongside the Colorado Association of Black Journalists.
• The Free Press-led Media Power Collaborative (MPC) brings together media workers, movement organizers and allied researchers to build a shared vision for the future of our local media system. In May, Reparative Journalism Program Manager Diamond Hardiman, News Voices Director Vanessa Maria Graber, Senior Director of Journalism and Civic Information Mike Rispoli and News Voices Program Manager Alisha Wang Saville led a workshop for MPC members on narrative power. The Free Press staffers shared case studies and workshopped ideas on how to tell our stories to win. Watch a video of the discussion.
• Finance Director Michael Abbate, COO/CFO Kimberly Longey, Chief of Staff Misty Perez Truedson and Development Director Brenda Rivas took part in a Ford Foundation BUILD training on strengthening financial resiliency.
• Vice President of Cultural Strategy Collette Watson and Media 2070 co-creator Alicia Bell screened Black in the Newsroom, which Collette directed, at the RISE Conference in Canada.
• Collette and Black Thought Project creator Alicia Walters discussed the upcoming Black Future Newsstand installation during a Borealis Philanthropy webinar called “Kaleidoscope: Building Strong BIPOC Information Ecosystems.” (Watch a video of the presentation.) Media 2070 and the Black Thought Project are presenting the custom-built installation over Juneteenth weekend in Harlem. The piece poses the question “What does a media that loves Black people look, feel, sound and taste like in a future where reparations are real?”