Media 2070 to Release Award-Winning Documentary to the Public
WASHINGTON — Media 2070, an advocacy project committed to building equitable newsrooms, is releasing its award-winning documentary, Black in the Newsroom, to the public on Mon., April 3. The documentary will be available for free on YouTube and on the Black in the Newsroom website, allowing the public to learn more about the plight Black journalists face and how newsroom inequities affect coverage of communities nationwide.
The 17-minute documentary follows Elizabeth Montgomery, a Black journalist who lands her dream job at The Arizona Republic. However, her dream soon becomes a nightmare when her low salary forces her to choose between paying rent and buying groceries — while a white colleague in a similar position is paid thousands of dollars more per year. The documentary sheds light on the lack of newsroom diversity and explores how anti-Blackness impacts Black journalists, transforming how stories are told.
The Media 2070 team encourages viewers to tweet along with the film, using the hashtag #BlackInTheNewsroom, allowing supporters to interact with the documentary and discuss standout moments, little-known facts and the next steps. The documentary's release follows the team’s ongoing efforts with its Pledge to Care campaign, calling newsroom leaders to take specific steps toward undoing generations of racialized harm.
"The Media 2070 project is very excited to finally make our documentary Black in the Newsroom publicly available for streaming in your classroom, community or home,” said Collette Watson, director of the Media 2070 project. “Elizabeth Montgomery's experiences working in a corporate newsroom illustrate the larger problem of anti-Blackness in the media system. This issue has existed for generations and will continue to keep our society mired in racist disinformation unless we create a new media system grounded in reparative care for Black journalists and communities. This film is a must-watch for anyone who cares about intersectional justice and Black liberation.”
The full-length documentary will be available on Mon., April 3, at 8 a.m. EST.
For more information about Media 2070, visit https://mediareparations.org/ or contact Nyasia Almestica at nyasia_almestica@hotmail.com.
Media 2070 is a project of Free Press, a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization working to create a world where people have the information and opportunities they need to tell their own stories, hold leaders accountable and participate in our democracy.
