A View from the Field: Fighting for Reparations and Free Speech
Members of the Media 2070 team sit within the Black Future Newsstand exhibit
Halline Overby
A View from the Field is an ongoing feature that highlights the efforts of Free Press’ team of organizers and advocates.
We provide regular updates from the field as staffers work alongside our amazing allies and activists to create a just and equitable media system.
The Media 2070 team — Diamond Hardiman, Anshantia Oso, Joseph Torres and Venneikia Williams — traveled to Los Angeles to present the latest version of its Black Future Newsstand exhibit. The “Riot to Repair Soundscape Exhibition” was a multimedia immersive showcase delving into the power of reparative storytelling. Among other elements, “Riot to Repair” included an audio archive that Dr. Allissa Richardson and students at the USC Charlotta Bass Journalism & Justice Lab created. The archive featured interviews with L.A. residents reflecting on the murder of George Floyd and the 2020 racial-justice uprisings. Different versions of the Black Future Newsstand have previously appeared in Harlem, Austin and Chicago. Learn more about the powerful exhibit in L.A.
Anshantia also took part in a panel discussion at the Narrative Power Summit in New Orleans. The summit is a gathering for social-justice communicators and movement workers.
Free Press hosted “The Public Interest in Free Speech,” an event in Los Angeles featuring FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, Rep. Raul Ruiz and a panel of experts. “I launched this First Amendment tour to bring attention to this administration’s campaign of censorship and control — and I want to be clear, this is an administration-wide campaign,” Gomez said during the event. “Freedom of the press requires journalists that are able to do their job without interference from their corporate parents. We are not seeing that today because of the actions of this administration and it is so dangerous.” Jessica J. González moderated the conversation. Learn more and watch the discussion.
Vanessa Maria Graber and Timothy Karr took part in a lobby day at the New Jersey Statehouse to try to save state funding for the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, which works to strengthen local journalism. Since 2021, this historic nonprofit — the first of its kind in the nation — has issued grants totaling $9 million to 56 organizations in 18 of the state’s 21 counties.
Vanessa Maria also took part in a panel discussion at the Collaborative Journalism Summit in Denver that explored the erosion of press freedom in the United States. She discussed threats facing student reporters and Latinx journalists, as well as FCC threats to TV and radio stations that cover Trump and immigrant issues. Vanessa Maria also hosted a lunch-and-learn session about the Media Power Collaborative, a nationwide network that Free Press coordinates. The MPC works to pass strong public policies to transform local news.
Amanda Beckham and Heather Franklin helped lead the workshop “Breaking Ground: From Grassroots Advocacy to Lawmaking in Washington” at the Net Inclusion conference in Phoenix.
Jenna Ruddock took part in a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable. The conversation centered on surveillance technology and human rights.