The impetus for forming this regional media network lies in the recognition that journalism in the public interest is integral to democracy, but that communities which are struggling to shift power around the biggest challenges to our society––state violence, economic exploitation, disenfranchisement from political participation, climate catastrophe––often do not have access to shaping news coverage and media narratives. In general, the journalism field lacks reporters who focus on grassroots social movements that are led by the people directly impacted by the problems they are addressing, especially LGBTQ communities and women of color. As a result, the social movements we build are not reflected in the public dialogue, and our communities lack information that is critical to affecting change.
In order to address this problem, we plan to create programming to build relationships between journalists, movement organizers, and media outlets; support the career development of journalists and storytellers from communities directly impacted by injustice; help members of movements in shaping media narratives that affect their communities; and facilitate collaboration, resource-sharing, and justice-oriented practices among community-based media.
Altogether, this new center functions to improve community access to producing, disseminating, influencing, and consuming news and information that people who are directly impacted by unjust conditions can use to understand and change those conditions for the better.
This initiative originated at Project South, a Southern movement-building organization. As a fellow there, Anna Simonton assessed the historic and current relationship between news media and Southern social justice movements. Her work culminated in a report, “Out of Struggle: Strengthening and Expanding Movement Journalism in the U.S. South.” The Media Consortium, formerly a network of more than 80 progressive news outlets nationwide, emerged early-on as an important thought partner and resource for this work. Manolia Charlotin served as the network’s Associate Director and helped lead the racial equity strategy within the independent news sector. After the release of “Out of Struggle,” a collective of volunteers formed to convene journalists and organizers at the 2018 Allied Media Conference to shape movement journalism as an idea and a practice. TMC was an important partner in this effort.
The Movement Journalism “track” at the AMC affirmed and built upon emerging ideas about what is needed in order for movement journalism to flourish. It also served as a space to pilot aspects of movement journalism. To support journalists who are directly impacted by racial and gender-based injustice, we recruited a cohort of Southern women and trans journalists of color to attend the conference. We also developed a mentorship program for another cohort of early-career journalists from communities that are mis/under-represented in most media. These programs were made possible by the generous support of Foundation for a Just Society and News Integrity Initiative. The success of those programs serves as the basis for the initial programming of the Southern Center for Movement Journalism.