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Beyond “allyship:” True belonging and investment in queer news and communities

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How do we invest in Queer News?

This webinar/panel discussion took place June 25, with the Maynard Institute hosting panelists for a discussion on the state of Queer news and how news outlets can truly invest in LGBTQIA+ stories and communities in a meaningful and sustained way. Panelists included:

  • Tre’vell Anderson, Executive Director, Trans Journalists Association

  • Jireh Deng, Co-Founder, Asian American Journalists Association LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group

  • Joseph Darius Jaafari, Editor in Chief, LOOKOUT News

  • Ken Miguel, National Board President, NLGJA/The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists

  • Kae Petrin, Co-Founder, Trans Journalists Association

  • Juan Michael Porter II, Director of Communications, HIV Caucus/Positive Women’s Network

  • Phillip Zonkel, Co-Founder/Editor In Chief, Q Voice News

    • This webinar/panel asks questions on and provides context and guidance on coverage of LGBTQIA+ stories and people that is inclusive rather than tokenizing, is relational rather than transactional, is sustained and stewarded rather than erratic and extractive and is conscientious and culturally sensitive.

    To donate/subscribe to any of the panelists’ organizations:

    This page will evolve and soon include a resource guide on covering queer/LGBTQIA+ communities with care and continuity to better include LGBTQIA+ people in news year round and in all the communities where they exist. This guide is being designed as a collaboration between The Maynard Institute and the panelists featured in this panel discussion.

    Your support matters

    Donating to MIJE helps newsrooms and professionals improve their reporting, workplaces, and the communities they serve.

    Donate now

    Covering Immigration: Journalism, ICE, and Imperiled Civil Rights

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    On Tuesday the Maynard Institute hosted a digital dialogue on covering immigration, with guest panelists and alumni Michelle Zenarosa, formerly editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Public Press, and Christopher Mark Juhn, photojournalist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

    Also joining the Maynard alumni and co-executive director Martin G. Reynolds was Andrés Cediel, visiting professor at the Arizona State University Cronkite School of Journalism. Cediel is an award-winning documentary filmmaker covering and journalism educator specializing in immigration.

    Together, panelists discussed the erosion of civil rights and the mandate of journalism as the “bulwark of our democracy,” as well as physical and digital safety for reporters, mental health and balancing obligation with burnout. Professor Andrés Cediel also discussed the legality of immigration laws from the Constitution to civil courts, and ramifications of civil rights violations for journalists and journalism.

    Watch the full webinar here via YouTube, and scroll further analysis and resources.

    Click here to view all slides in this webinar as a .pdf.

    “Our latest Maynard digital dialogue convened journalists whose expert insight and lived experience illuminated the crisis of immigration enforcement, escalating attacks to press freedom and Constitutional rights,” Odette Alcazaren-Keeley, director of the Maynard Regional Training and Maynard Communities of Practice programs said.

    “The conversation deeply resonated with and engaged attendees, including fellow media professionals, partners and supporters across our networks.

    “The voices of our two Maynard alumni panelists on the frontlines in Minneapolis and Los Angeles exemplify the power of peer learning, collaboration and support. These are cornerstones of our Maynard Communities of Practice programming that serve our Institute graduates cohort, and we bring to the journalism field – vital in this moment of rupture.

    “We see the volatility and anguish gripping America’s cities and newsrooms, but draw hope from the solidarity of communities coming together, and the resilient courage of journalists fighting for truth,” Alcazaren-Keeley said.

    Covering Immigration: Journalism, ICE and Imperiled Civil Rights.

    Photography by Christopher Mark Juhn in Minneapolis, MN. January, 2026.

    From Michelle Zenarosa: How the LA Public Press adapted to ICE.

    Sustainability: A marathon, not a sprint.

    Safety Infrastructure: What we built.

    Editorial decisions under authoritarianism.

    What we’re still figuring out.

    First Amendment: Freedom of the Press

    Second Amendment: Right to Bear Arms

    Fourth Amendment: Search and Seizure

    Fourth Amendment: Search and Seizure Pt. 2

    Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection Under the Law

    Arizona v. U.S.

    U.S. Code 1325: improper entry

    “Show us your papers.”

    Criminal vs. Civil Issue

    Questions?

    Attendees said:

    “Really helpful. Thanks for flagging issues for us to be thinking about in our newsrooms.”

    “Quickly creating a legal Membership Structure within your news org, business, or coalition is one way to quickly define and extend structural protections to freelancers without needing them to be staff. The protections may have to be limited (since funds are limited) but it could provide the type of legal class coverage and some safety protections that are life saving now and in the future. Also – creating a mandatory Buddy System – people working in tight knit groups of three for all freelancers and all staff journalists – can be transformative for protections on and off duty, for care and self-care, for check-ins and follow-ups.

    Developing this structure, with rotating responsibilities among the buddies, can take pressure off the hierarchies, decentralize the pressure, and strengthen mutual support practices.”

    “Collaborating also is important among different ethnic groups targeted by ICE. We need to unite!”

    “I’m Paulina, audio and print journalist in California, I’m really glad I’m here. Thank you to Maynard and all the panelists for your time and for sharing your hard-won insights.”

    “I love that approach to comprehensive coverage. Collaborating with other newsrooms and journalists is powerful and so important in this moment.”

    “This is great information that’s really helpful up here  where we’re more isolated.”

    Additional resources from panelists and attendees:

    Legal resources:

    Personal Protective Equipment and safety resources:

    Mental Health resources for journalists reporting from conflict:

    Resources for Trauma-informed reporting: 

    Data Training: Heat and Gun Violence

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    On Tuesday, July 30, nearly 100 journalists from across the country gathered virtually to focus on an emerging research topic: the connection between gun violence and rising temperatures. With Earth’s hottest day recorded the previous Monday, the subject could not have been more timely.

    Training: Data for Journalists Covering Climate Change and Gun Violence – co-presented by the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education and the Society of Environmental Journalists – featured guest speakers Helina Selemon and Aaron Glantz.

    This event was particularly special to Maynard’s network of program alumni. Selemon is an alumna of the Maynard 200 Fellowship, and her research grew out of her Maynard 200 Fellowship project, which received a national Solutions Journalism Award as an investigative story linking extreme heat with gun violence.

    Glantz served as Selemon’s mentor, and the Maynard 200 Fellowship’s Investigative Storytelling Executive-in-Residence.

    The Maynard Institute’s co-executive director, Martin G. Reynolds gave a brief welcome address at the start of the training.

    “I am deeply appreciative of this work and this project and we hope that this information can be useful as you think about how to cover gun violence and climate change across our nation,” said Reynolds.

    Parsing the Data by City

    Using a spreadsheet data set compiled for this training and based on analysis from Boston University’s RISE Lab and the University of Washington’s Firearm Injury and Policy Program and using data from NASA’s North American Land Data Assimilation System and the Gun Violence Archive, Selemon illustrated the link between rising above-average daily temperatures and increases in gun violence nationwide.

    Selemon presented this stark statistic: Higher-than-normal temperatures, on average, can be attributed to nearly 7% of all shootings in the U.S. (or 7,973 total shootings).

    “Here’s what we know: there’s a relationship between higher than normal average temperatures and shootings. We can attribute nearly 7% of all shootings in the U.S. to higher than average temperatures. It’s almost 8,000 total shootings,” Selemon said. “These percentages vary by city. But in New York it’s double that. That’s where I’m based.”

    Helena Selemon, Maynard 200 Fellowship alum, reporter for Amsterdam News’ Blacklight investigative unit.
    100 U.S. cities analyzed for study, by region.

    The training provided local reporters across the country with access to exclusive local data on the amount of gun violence linked to climate change in each of the United States’ 100 largest cities – from Akron, Ohio to Winston-Salem, North Carolina – as well as the percentage of shootings where elevated heat is a factor and the most dangerous day for gun violence linked to climate change for each US city.

    The research also suggests that the top 10 cities with the most gun shootings related to extreme heat were Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis, Memphis, Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Houston, and Boston.

    One surprising finding: several cities seemed to have less shootings during hotter days – those cities included Baton Rouge, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, based on data from 2015-2020.

    Coverage resulting from this training

    Selemon encouraged journalists to reach out to researchers for more information and to localize data for their audiences. Since the presentation, two stories have been published using this data model as the foundation for their reporting in the New Jersey Monitorand the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. She also focused part of the presentation on finding local initiatives that combat rising temperatures, including greening efforts.

    Training Recording and Resources

    For journalists who were unable to attend, we have compiled 5 resources and next steps you can take below.

    About the Society of Environmental Journalists

    The Society of Environmental Journalists is the only North American membership association of professional journalists dedicated to more and better coverage of environment-related issues. SEJ’s mission is to strengthen the quality, reach and viability of journalism that advances public understanding of environmental issues.

    About the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education

    Since 1977, the Maynard Institute has fought to push back against the systemic lack of diversity in the news industry through training, collaborations and convenings. The Institute promotes diversity and antiracism in the news media through improved coverage, hiring and business practices. We are creating better representation in U.S. newsrooms through our programs , which gives media professionals of color and those of diverse backgrounds the tools to become skilled storytellers, empowered executives and inspired entrepreneurs.

    See Programs

    Get in touch to learn more about what we do and how we can help

    Connect with us
    A young woman sits at a large round table covered with a black tablecloth. A Black woman with short curly hair, she wears gold earrings and a colorful dress. A blue Maynard Institute lanyard with a name tag that reads

    Your support matters

    Donating to MIJE helps newsrooms and professionals improve their reporting, workplaces, and the communities they serve.

    Donate now

    Case Study: Rochester | Fault Lines | Table Stakes

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    The reckoning for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle came after New York state passed a law making it illegal to discriminate against someone based on hair texture and hairstyle.

    Second in the nation, the 2019 law was seen as a layer of protection particularly for Black people who have long faced scrutiny and discrimination in schools and the workplace based on their hairstyles. Although D&C reporters in Albany had covered the official proceedings, newsroom editors knew the story needed telling from the viewpoint of Black men and women. Doing so proved challenging.

    Looking back, Emerging Audiences Editor Cynthia Benjamin ticks off a list of reasons why — “busy,” “page views,” “is it appropriate?” and most telling, “I don’t feel comfortable.” Benjamin, who has been in the D&C newsroom for 27 years, said steadfast reluctance to cover the story was “an awakening for Rochester.”

    On reflection, she said, newsroom leaders realized a major disconnect between the newsroom and a sizable part of its coverage area. About 20,000 Muslims live in Rochester, but there was a void in coverage of Ramadan. Coverage of Latinos was similarly muted. Much of the reporting about Black people revolved around crime and courts.

    “We tended to deliver a one-size-fits-all news report,” said Executive Editor Michael Kilian. “But it doesn’t fit all. It never did.” These revelations coincided with D&C participation in Table Stakes, an initiative underwritten by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and meant to help legacy news organizations with digital transitions. Kilian and Benjamin said they knew going into Table Stakes that they needed to address what lack of diversity in coverage meant to their operation.

    The D&C used Table Stakes to question its approach to coverage and engagement concerning communities of color. Along the way, the staff examined fundamental structural flaws in its coverage model and strategies. Measures and strategies promoted by management, and by which reporters were judged, ran counter to the goal of representing the community well.

    “We were serving up content of interest to readers who weren’t that racially conscious necessarily, and often perpetuating stereotypes because we weren’t necessarily that aggressive about other types of stories,” Kilian said.

    Rochester resident Krystle Ellis, a member of the D&C Digital Advisory Group, recalled that, for years, she had little use for the paper. “It wasn’t a publication for Black people,” said Ellis, who is director of communications and special events for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Rochester. Rarely, she said, did stories highlight the “greatness and power of the Black community.”

    Instead, she said, Black people always seemed to be criminalized. “There wasn’t much to celebrate.”
    The D&C’s coverage strategy has become a model for Gannett, where other newsrooms are adopting its approaches and tactics. Benjamin recently was part of a company-wide discussion on diverse coverage initiatives.


    Fault Lines

    Table Stakes introduced the Maynard Institute’s concept of Fault Lines®, pioneered by the late Robert C. Maynard after the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 killed 63 people. Maynard posited that just as geological fault lines rupture and disrupt society, societal ones can fracture communities and heavily influence how people interpret events and information.

    The most common societal Fault Lines that have ruptured American society mirror demographic lines of race, gender, geography, generation, class and sexual orientation. In addition to the dominant Fault Lines, physical and mental disabilities, politics and religion are among physical and social identities that can influence how events are viewed.

    It’s incumbent on journalists to recognize and make sure that their personal Fault Lines don’t unduly shape coverage. They should also be mindful of audience and stakeholder Fault Lines during the reporting process. The idea clicked with Kilian and Benjamin who said they absorbed the language of Fault Lines and the concept. The result has been transformative, with community members easily pointing out the change.

    “There’s better coverage,” said Julio Saenz, chief communications and development director of the Ibero American Action League. “Deeper stories, not just the poor Hispanic or the African-American who needs help.”

    A course correction

    The D&C’s approach was methodical and deliberate.

    Kilian cited early recognition that treading carefully was necessary to ensure buy-in from staff. Discussing race, he said, can prompt defensiveness by white staffers. Newsroom leaders didn’t want people to feel as if they were being called out or accused of being racist before they even got started, he said. At the same time, it was important for the D&C to confront its coverage failings.

    Population share by race.

    The newsroom was divided into small groups in which people could discuss diversity, equity and inclusion without becoming defensive, Benjamin said. The groups met for five weeks, each with a different charge addressing how the D&C could improve coverage of people of color:

    • “Revamping public safety: How does coverage of crime and safety meet the needs and interests of our . . . diverse audiences in ways it doesn’t now?”
      “Authenticity: How do we develop stories on topics of the highest interest to people of color?”
      “Inclusion: How do we adjust our newsroom culture to attract and retain diverse journalists?”
      “Newsletters: What types of content that we create now or could create would work in a Spanish-language newsletter or in one focused on jobs and careers?”
      “Community partnerships: What potential partnerships in our community might strengthen our bonds with communities of color? What might that look like?”
      “Diverse subscriber advisory group (The DAG): How do we find the influencers that can help shape coverage and serve as a test group for how coverage is received?”

    The small groups provided an outlet for people to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion without becoming defensive. They also devised a game plan to tackle their respective charge. The result, Benjamin said, was “five weeks of buy-in.”

    They knew success would require more than meetings and committee recommendations to sustain change. “To keep the spotlight on diversity,” Benjamin said, the small groups continued meeting every six to eight weeks, weekly meetings occurred with section editors.

    She and Kilian said it was important to be mindful of day-to-day coverage to keep people focused.

    The Democrat and Chronicle relied on its entire newsroom to help transform its content.

    In revamping public safety, the newsroom found itself challenging long-held newsroom norms that have shaped journalism’s approach to police coverage.

    “There’s a law enforcement industrial complex that rolls these press releases and schedules these cases,” Kilian said. “We’ve been covering them from time immemorial without thinking about how that distorts the local community’s perception of itself and marginalized communities.”

    Before the change in strategy, one in five stories, or 20 percent of coverage, was what Kilian called “routine crime coverage” or “suspects and trials coverage.” This approach distorted reality.

    “There’s no way, shape or form that in Rochester . . . or anywhere else, 20 percent of all human activity revolves around crime,” he said. “It’s just not the case, but if you read our pages everyday, that’s really your takeaway.”

    Over the past year, the D&C has shifted to an enterprise model of public safety coverage that is more solutions-based and includes voices beyond law enforcement. “We stopped responding to every press release,” Kilian said.

    Also examined was the practice of running mug shots with every story.

    “One of the biggest issues was mug shots of Black men on the website,” said Kilian, adding that this is an issue with websites nationwide. The D&C upended the practice as it began scrutinizing its police and criminal justice coverage.

    In the end, the D&C altered its mug shot policy:

    • Mug shots are no longer run routinely.
    • There is discussion and understanding about why it’s important when mug shots do accompany coverage.
    • Mug shots are no longer the main photo on the website or with a story.

    In September, Kilian wrote a Sunday column publicly addressing the D&C’s shortcomings and pledging to improve. An excerpt:

    “We live in an America where roughly half the children of school age or younger in 2019 are kids of color. Monroe County residents live in a county where 3-in-10 residents are non-white (and that percentage among children is substantially higher).

    “If these facts surprise you, it is in large part because news outlets including the Democrat and Chronicle have failed to cover communities of color and their lives and achievements consistently or well.

    “Let me be clear: D&C journalists can point to specific and insightful and excellent examples of coverage of diverse communities over the years. But the truth is that on any one given day, a local African-American or Asian-American or Hispanic resident is not likely to find their experiences represented on our website or in our newspaper pages.”

    A Rochester native, Kilian wrote that news media clearly hadn’t kept up with how the community has changed.

    The area is now 4.5 times more diverse than in 1970, he said, adding, “But you would never know that from looking at the local television, local newspapers.

    Vanessa Crumity at her salon Hair Etc. by Vee in Rochester. Former D&C reporter Meaghan McDermott and former intern Erin Gayle visited the salon in July 2019 to report Black people’s reaction to a law protecting natural hairstyles in the workplace.

    Some pushback surrounding follow-up coverage on the hair anti-discrimination law stemmed from concern that the story wouldn’t generate enough page views. In the past decade, many newsrooms roiled by disruption, including plummeting circulation, began looking to page views as a measure of success.

    As a result, reporters found themselves measured not about the quality of a story or whether it reflected the mood of a community, but about how many clicks it received. As a result, stories about communities of color are often debated by journalists concerned that these won’t generate page views.

    “If these facts surprise you, it is in large part because news outlets including the Democrat and Chronicle have failed to cover communities of color and their lives and achievements consistently or well.As D&C editors began reevaluating coverage and trying to align it with the goal of expanding audience, they quickly recognized the problem with the emphasis on page views.

    “It’s an artificial conundrum,” said Kilian, who has been an editor for 30 years. “It’s one more excuse for not going down a path that we kept making excuses not to go down decade after decade after decade.
    Looking back, Kilian said the news industry’s failure to chart a course correction developing broader audiences sooner has been costly.

    “The industry definitely goofed 10-12 years ago. That’s when we should have been talking about diversity and inclusion as part and parcel of our survival,” Kilian wrote.

    He said rather than respond to changing demographics and events such as the election of President Barack Obama, newspapers continued using coverage models established when the nation wasn’t as diverse.

    Allowing page views to influence coverage decisions created a cycle that reaffirmed itself while promoting stereotypes.

    “When it came down to focusing on page views, starting six, eight, 10 years ago, many metro organizations were able to chase the page views of white suburbanites and older white suburbanites by writing about the mishaps of people of color,” Kilian said.

    Table Stakes requires participants to develop a “performance challenge,” a new and transformative project.

    Benjamin said as they began reflecting on their existing coverage model they realized: “Over time we began to give more weight to things that resonated with the current audience. But that audience, as we said in our performance challenge, was older and white and dwindling. We couldn’t keep writing content for this audience and try and grow an audience we didn’t have without changing our content strategy.”

    Page views involving crime coverage are particularly thorny. “Every cop story you post has a certain amount of guaranteed page views because people click on that stuff,” Kilian said. “What’s harder is to think about the page views you’re not getting because you’re emphasizing that coverage, or the page views you could get if you did the smart enterprising story that has more voices and more perspective.”


    A new strategy and old principles

    Moving forward, Kilian said the coverage deficit and reason behind it became clear. “We didn’t have and sustain meaningful relationships with sufficient numbers of people of color,” he said. “That’s why the stories were often so generalized that people of color didn’t see themselves in the stories.”

    Getting out into communities where the D&C lacked a presence was paramount. In its Facebook Journalism Project Community Network grant proposal, the D&C explained:

    “Our journalism fails to reflect how multidimensional our community members, and potential audience, are.”

    “A scientific survey conducted in Monroe County shows fewer than half of black/Hispanic people think local news coverage accurately mirrors what goes on in communities of color. Only 28% of black and 39% of Hispanic respondents think the local news portrays people of color fairly. Most of these community members do not value or trust us.”

    The grant allowed the D&C to establish a mobile newsroom, a twist to the age-old admonition to get out of the newsroom. This project took 37 staffers into communities of color. The 16-week effort allowed journalists to “listen to what people tell us,” Benjamin said.

    They found themselves making inroads in communities that had all but given up on the D&C.

    Emerging Audiences Editor Cynthia Benjamin, left, and Tracy Schuhmacher, food and drink reporter, track the progress of content and social media for the D&C’s first mobile newsroom.
    Ellis was pleased with the turnaround.


    “Finally, we get to see ourselves the way we see ourselves, and in ways we don’t see ourselves,” she said. “I can tell the paper has changed. A lot of people could tell the paper had changed. They are reporting more stories about people of color, but they are accurate now. They are unbiased.”

    From left, D&C Editor Michael Kilian; Len LaCara, content strategy analyst at USA TODAY NETWORK and Sheila Rayam, D&C community engagement editor, at a Race and Media breakfast with Causewave Community Partners, a Rochester nonprofit.

    Ellis said she and her friends “are actually interested in reading” the D&C.

    The newsroom targeted nine Rochester ZIP codes that it had traditionally underserved and listened for issues and stories that would resonate with readers. They discovered restaurants in northeast Rochester by talking with people at the mobile newsroom staged there at an early childhood development center.
    Food and drink reporter Tracy Schuhmacher found stories previously overlooked. While reporting about The Sweet Potato Pie Place, the city’s oldest African American restaurant, Schumacher found just one D&C archives reference to it — in an obituary.

    Victoria Lang holds the main attraction at The Sweet Potato Pie Place. Behind her, from left, are Bertha Smith Israel, Dennis Lang and Gladys Burke.

    The new approach also sparked stories about illicit drug trade in neighborhoods and brought people into the newsroom. Community organizers at a staff diversity session shared concerns about neighborhoods littered with needles and syringes. These discussions led to a “sprint,” a period of focused coverage, by the watchdog team highlighting the community’s response to the open-air drug market.

    Page views have grown. Kilian said those for diverse content are higher than overall content. “It does show if you do your job like you’re supposed to and you’re building relationships in communities of color with organizations of color, you can and will succeed,” he said.

    Crime coverage has been transformed. “We’ve cut . . . by more than half the amount of crime coverage,” he said. “It’s down to 8 or 9 percent. I don’t know what the right number is, but that sounds a lot better than 20 percent.”

    At the same time, coverage of diverse audiences has grown from 3 percent to 20 to 25 percent, Kilian said.

    Even when staffers were sent home as the novel coronavirus took hold, the D&C didn’t lose its stride. Instead, Kilian and Benjamin said that while they would have struggled a year ago, now they merely pivoted.

    Coverage has included understanding the role of public transit in a pandemic, especially regarding essential workers; a feature on caring for a medically fragile child amid a pandemic told through Ellis’ family; and the racial divide in social distancing.

    Content has been translated into Spanish for local radio partners in a new relationship.
    “A year ago, we wouldn’t have been able to do what we have done because the relationships didn’t exist,” Kilian said.

    Jean Marie Brown is an assistant professor of professional practice at Texas Christian University. She was a senior editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She was an editor and reporter at The Charlotte Observer and a reporter at the former Post-Tribune in Gary, Indiana, and the Chicago bureau of The Wall Street Journal. She is a senior Fault Lines trainer for the Maynard Institute.

    Get in touch to learn more about what we do and how we can help

    Connect with us
    A young woman sits at a large round table covered with a black tablecloth. A Black woman with short curly hair, she wears gold earrings and a colorful dress. A blue Maynard Institute lanyard with a name tag that reads

    Your support matters

    Donating to MIJE helps newsrooms and professionals improve their reporting, workplaces, and the communities they serve.

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    Covering Crime and Safety in Oakland

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    On Thursday, September 12, over 70 journalists and community members gathered to discuss covering crime and safety in Oakland, and news media’s responsibility in engaging with communities facing violence.

    Bay Area Journalists Convening: Covering Crime and Safety in Oakland – co-presented by the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, Baywell Health and Change Consulting – featured panels on Comparative Community Survey Research, a Community Panel moderated by Bilen Mesfin Packwood of Change Consulting, and a Journalists Panel moderated by Professor Lisa Armstrong of UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

    Martin G. Reynolds, who emceed the event, thanked the co-sponsors at Baywell Health and Change Consulting for their partnership. He praised the event for being both information-rich and an opportunity for journalists to gather in fellowship.

    “It is rare to not only have a tremendous event with outstanding information, presentations and moderation, but for the process to be so enjoyable and collaborative,” Reynolds said.

    Comparative Community Survey Research: Primary Questions and Core Themes

    Presented by Robert Phillips, President and CEO of Baywell Health, and Thu Quach, President of Asian Health Services, research on Asian and Black Oaklanders’ views on violence and safety focused on two primary questions:

    • What are the attitudes, perceptions, and experiences regarding violence among our Black and Asian communities?
    • What factors influence how our communities perceive, react to, and heal from violence?

    A secondary question arose from these initial questions directed at understanding violence and safety through a community health lens:

    • What community-based interventions will promote safety within our Black and Asian communities?

    The six core themes this research explored included:

    • The health impacts of violence.
    • How public narratives drive tensions.
    • Racialized stereotypes and stigma.
    • Historical trauma and experiences.
    • Shared Humanity.
    • Social proximity as a mediator.

    Comparative Community Survey Research: Findings

    Qualitative interviews and quantitative survey research conducted by Baywell Health and Asian Health Services revealed that 94% of respondents felt that violence in general was a “very serious problem” in Oakland, with 83% reporting they felt violence against Black people was a serious problem and 74% indicating that both sex trafficking and violence against Asian Americans are a severely concerning issue in Oakland. Sixty-nine percent also had the perception that anti-Asian hate was a concerning issue in Oakland.

    When asked “Have you, or has anyone close to you, been a victim of violence in Oakland?” 20% of respondents said they had personally been a victim of violence. A total of 65% of respondents stated that they or someone close to them had been a victim of violence.

    Demographic data gathered from respondents also revealed that certain subgroups were more likely to report being personally affected by violence in Oakland:

    • 47% of people with income less than $30,000 per year.
    • 44% of respondents with no college education.
    • 42% of residents of West Oakland.
    • 36% of respondents aged 18-44.

    Findings also revealed that community tensions were driven by media, history, COVID-19, former President Donald Trump, and weak social ties.

    One respondent, listed as a 49-year-old Korean female who responded to query with Asian Health Services, was quoted as saying “I think we have preconceived notions through how media portrays or how stereotypes are perpetuated by our network or what we hear around us.”

    Another respondent, listed as “Black, 18 to 24-year-old female” answered a query from Baywell Health, said she felt that media portrayal of Black-on-Asian crime was inflated and not representative of reality, saying “It feels like it’s pushing that narrative of Black versus Asians when I feel it doesn’t really have to be that way.”

    When asked what they felt was to blame behind the increase in violence against Asian residents of Oakland, 56% said Asians being blamed for the COVID-19 virus, as well as anti-Asian rhetoric from former President Donald Trump (55%), drove violence against Asian community members in the city.

    Further findings indicated that stereotypes – disseminated through subgroups in the community, perpetuated in media and entrenched in institutions – drove racial tensions between Black and Asian communities in Oakland.

    Over half of all survey respondents felt that violence against Asian Americans received more attention than violence against Black residents, and panelists discussed that this perception may be two stereotypes working in conjunction: the “model minority” myth, and the myth of inherent Black criminality.

    Seventy-four percent of respondents felt that public officials had taken more action in response to hate crimes against Asian residents, while giving less attention to violence committed against Black Oaklanders.

    Comparative Community Survey Research: Possible solutions

    While having difficulty processing trauma and trying to understand how to interact with other communities within Oakland, residents responding to the survey recognized four elements in health services and social support as the pillars for achieving public safety:

    • Expanding mental health services.
    • Providing youth job training and counseling programs.
    • Increasing non-police staff trained to respond to non-violent emergencies.
    • Increasing investments in helping residents meet basic needs, such as stable, supportive housing and food assistance.

    Although many felt social distance had driven a wedge between Asian and Black communities in Oakland, forcing people to rely on news media, social media, and stereotypes in the absence of community knowledge of people of different racial or ethnic backgrounds, respondents also saw the problem of social distance as revealing a solution: increased social proximity.

    A 49-year-old Korean female respondent said “…continuously learning and making myself aware of their history makes me more open and accepting. Media also has an influence, and it’s not always good.”

    Community panel, moderated by Bilen Mesfin Packwood, Founder and Principal of Change Consulting

    Bilen Mesfin Packwood moderated a community panel with Tinisch Hollins of Californians for Safety and Justice, Nicole Lee of the Urban Peace Movement, and Thu Quach of Asian Health Services.

    In dissecting the research of Baywell Health and Asian Health Services, the panelists also discussed their personal experiences living in racialized communities and experiencing systemic and individual instances of violence.

    Panelist Tinisch Hollins discussed not only the violence and loss she and her family had experienced, but the violence and racism entrenched in mass incarceration, and the pitfalls of relying upon policing and mass incarceration to curb crime and violence and further public health.

    “(California) became the model for the rest of the country on a mass incarceration, and so our work is to undo that. Our work is to show the state that there are not only smarter and more strategic ways for us to do public safety and to hold systems responsible for where they’re not working on behalf of our community. But let’s take it a step deeper. How do we actually create safety? And you have to bring the people who have been least safe into the middle of the conversation about how we create policy,” Hollins said. “Our work is very important at not only changing laws, but changing narratives.”

    Panelist Nicole Lee spoke about the perceptions versus realities of creating community safety through investment in communities, referencing a ballot initiative that was passed in 2014 called Prop 47, or the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act,” which reclassified certain nonviolent felonies as misdemeanor crimes. A new ballot initiative, Prop 36, would increase punishment for low-level drug offenses and nonviolent crimes.

    “One of the issues that Tinisch is working on right now is Prop 36 throughout the state, which is this Republican effort to repeal a hard-fought and won criminal justice reform that many of us worked on almost 10 years ago called Prop 47. Real community safety is about investment, and Prop 47, over nine years, saved $817 million that was then reinvested into schools, drug treatment programs and other programs all over the state of California, the things that actually create community safety.” This part of this story is not being told, and it leads us to these very narrow, individualistic kinds of supposed fixes that really are about creating a false sense of safety for a small group of people at the expense of most people.”

    Journalists panel, moderated by Professor Lisa Armstrong, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

    Professor Lisa Armstrong moderated a panel of journalists including David DeBolt of the East Bay Times, Julian Glover, an anchor with ABC7 News Bay Area, Marisa Lagos, journalist for KQED, and Roselyn Romero, reporter for The Oaklandside.

    The panel built upon the previous panel discussions on community as well as the research from Baywell Health and Asian Health Services.

    “One of the things that came out of the study that we heard about at the beginning of the session was Black Oakland residents said that they found that the media played a key role in perpetuating the stereotype that Black people in general are violent and to be feared,” Professor Lisa Armstrong said in moderating the panel. “They said this perception impacts racial relationships in the city and feeds into persistent anti-Black racism. So my question is, what would you say has been the media’s role in perpetuating these stereotypes, and what do you think could be done to repair the damage that has been caused?”

    Journalists dicsussed news media’s role in perpetuating stereotypes, responsibly covering communities and mitigating harm, covering violence as a spectrum of systemic and individual harms, and engaging in trauma-informed and historically-accurate reporting.

    The panel discussion echoed new survey research from the Pew Research Center that found “a clear relationship between how much local crime news Americans consume and how concerned they are about their safety.” Analysis of survey data from 1993 to 2022 shows that the majority of Americans have perceived a rise in crime every year. However, official statistics show a dramatic decrease in crime. This impact of local news crime coverage varies across groups, stoking higher rates of fear among with women, racial and ethnic minority groups and Americans who have lower incomes.

    Resources and next steps

    • Review the slide deck: Download your PDF copy of the slides that contain a breakdown of Baywell Health and Asian Health Services’ Comparative Community Survey Research.
    • For potential sources: Contact Stephanie Ong, Vice President of Communications and Engagement at Change Consulting at stephanie@change-llc.com.
    • Share your story: Are you reporting on a story involving public health and safety, crime, violence, or justice in Oakland that was informed by this research? Contact Community Engagement Coordinator Amani Hamed at ahamed@mije.org to share your story.
    • Subscribe and join to stay informed. Don’t miss out on future trainings! Subscribe to the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

    About Baywell Health

    In the midst of the Black Power and Civil Rights movements, four Black mothers saw a need in West Oakland and delivered. Their endeavor became The West Oakland Health Council. The predecessor to Baywell Health, the West Oakland Health Council became the neighborhood’s anchor for healthcare, health education, food and housing programs, and voter registration.

    Fifty years later and under the name Baywell Health, the organization continues to be the Bay’s home for top-notch healthcare, health education, and other services intended to care for people and families.

    About Change Consulting

    Founded in 2008, Change Consulting is a Black-owned social communications agency based in Oakland. Change Consulting provides a continuum of services with the goal of helping racial and social justice advocates, organizers, and visionaries win racial and social justice including communications strategies, content development, and 1-on-1 and group coaching and training.

    About the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education

    Since 1977, the Maynard Institute has fought to push back against the systemic lack of diversity in the news industry through training, collaborations and convenings. The Institute promotes diversity and antiracism in the news media through improved coverage, hiring and business practices. We are creating better representation in U.S. newsrooms through our programs , which gives media professionals of color and those of diverse backgrounds the tools to become skilled storytellers, empowered executives and inspired entrepreneurs.

    See Programs

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    Structural Racism

    By Brenda Payton

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    All Resources

    Introduction

    Ten years ago, halfway through the first term of our first Black president, Dori Maynard, the late president of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, asked me to compile a list of studies showing racial disparities in various aspects of American life. I put together a compendium of more than 150 studies that found inequity in education, health, housing, criminal justice and employment. I was struck by how pervasive racial inequality was, in every nook and cranny of our society. The term structural racism was fairly new.

    As the events of this year have unfolded, I remembered that report and contacted the Institute about doing an updated version that would be useful and might find a more receptive audience. In addition to the original categories, I looked at wealth and the COVID-19 pandemic. Again, I was stunned by the ubiquity of racial disparity. This time I stopped at 260 studies. There were three times the number of reports on structural racism as 10 years ago.

    In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed much of the structural inequity the studies document. Black Americans have gotten sicker, are five times more likely to be hospitalized than whites, and have died in disproportionate numbers — in Chicago ,they are 30 percent of the population and 60 percent of the deaths. Black businesses did not receive a proportionate share of the stimulus package because they don’t have relationships with major banks. The virus threw off the facade of a just, equal society and demonstrated that Black Americans are physically ill and living on the margins.

    And then Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, ignoring his pleas for his life. That incomprehensible video flagrantly illustrated the motivation of Alicia Garza to co-found the Black Lives Matter movement. The cases of Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and far too many others have been a cruel reminder that many do not value Black lives. COVID-19 exposed a society that does not value Black lives.

    If the country had taken structural racism to heart 10 years ago, how much more progress would we have made toward achieving racial equality? There were proposed solutions then, as there are now. This time, I thought if there is a silver lining to the evidence of extensive racial inequality, it is that so many organizations and scholars are studying it. Then I realized I had made the same observation 10 years ago.

    We find ourselves with a re-invigorated opportunity to recognize and repair the racial inequity that has not only limited Black Americans, but limited the country overall. One study found that if Black families had the wealth of white families, the country’s economy would be $1.5 trillion larger.

    As the author James Baldwin emphasized throughout his career, this is not Black America’s problem, it is America’s problem.

    This report is designed as a tool for journalists and researchers. It includes links to more than 260 studies that, since 2010, have found racial disparities in all aspects of American society. Most of the sections include examples of institutions and initiatives working to solve the problem. Many of the studies can serve as a launching point for journalists to investigate the specific issue in their communities.

    It begins with examinations of structural racism.

    Structural Racism

    Structural Racism Toward Solutions

    COVID-19

    It didn’t take long for the pandemic to unmask the structural racism in American society. Black Americans were at higher risk to get the virus and have higher death and hospitalization rates. The economic impact has also been disproportionate, with higher numbers of Black people unable to pay their rent or make mortgage payments. Once children were sent home from school, continuing their education online was also more problematic for Black students because a greater percentage did not have the necessary technology. Small Black businesses largely did not benefit from the paycheck protection program because they did not have a relationship with a major bank. Even the arrests for failing to practice social distancing in New York City saw huge racial disparities — 90 percent of those arrested were people of color.

    Criminal Justice

    Racial inequities in the criminal justice system have been long-documented. The first citation is a compilation of 140 studies showing racial disparity at every level of the system, from policing, to misdemeanors, the war on drugs, jury selection, the death penalty, plea bargaining, sentencing, solitary confinement, bail and pardons. Other studies show racial inequality in police violence and harassment. As a result of mass incarceration, Black communities are disproportionately disenfranchised. This section includes a 2018 report to the United Nations on racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system.

    Criminal Justice Racial Inequality Toward Solutions

    Police

    Disenfranchisement

    Education

    As stated, the racial disparities in school discipline have been documented for sometime. They continue. Studies also show disparities in college graduation rates. One area that is getting more study is the role of teacher’s racial perceptions. Black teachers produce better academic and behavioral results with Black students and are more likely to recognize gifted Black students than white teachers. Yet public school teachers are far less diverse then their student bodies; teachers of color represent 20 percent of the nation’s public school teachers while students of color comprise 51 percent of the public school students. White teachers are more likely to view Black students as troublemakers than white students with similar behavior.

    School Discipline

    Teachers and Racial Disparity

    Education Racial Disparities Toward Solutions

    Employment

    The Black white unemployment rate has been a reality for so long, it is almost assumed. Even when unemployment rates go down, the gap between Black and white unemployment is persistent. The Black rate is generally twice that of the white rate. Studies find racial disparity in wages, in wages after graduation from college, in employment and earnings after incarceration. Applicants with Black-sounding names are called in for fewer interviews. Black workers are disproportionately affected by layoffs and stay unemployed longer. Newsrooms are less diverse than the workforce; newsrooms are 77 percent white, the workforce is 65 percent white.

    Health

    As stated, the racial disparities in health have been a longstanding problem, As I wrote 10 years ago, “The medical profession understands that these disparities are the most fundamental indictment of a society that claims to be based on equality.” Many of the same disparities persist, in infant and maternal mortality rates, life expectancy. Black patients are less likely to receive appropriate treatment for cardiac care, kidney disease, stroke, cancer or AIDS. They are more likely to have an amputation. Doctors are less likely to prescribe state of the art tests for Black patients and more likely to send them home from the hospital too soon. Even regarding pain medication, doctors were less likely to prescribe pain medication for Black patients. One reason Black Americans are sicker, a disproportionate number live near oil and gas facilities and face more health-threatening air pollution.

    Health Racial Disparities Toward Solutions

    Environmental Racial Disparities

    Environmental Racial Disparities Toward Solutions

    Healthy Food

    Healthy Food Racial Disparities Toward Solutions

    Housing

    Owning a house is central to the American Dream, yet homeownership has been elusive for Black Americans. The 30-percent gap between white and Black home ownership is higher today than in 1968. Shockingly, Black college graduates have a lower home ownership rate than white high school drop outs. Racial disparities in lending are part of the problem and the resulting lack of homeownership contributes to the Black white wealth gap. Even once Black families purchase homes, there is racial inequity in the appreciation of homes. Black people are more likely to report racial discrimination when looking for a place to rent. The disparity also shows up in homelessness: Black people make up 13 percent of the nation’s population and 40 percent of the homeless, a disparity that is another indication of structural racism in areas such as employment and the criminal justice system.

    Housing Racial Inequality Toward Solutions

    Lending

    Banking

    Banking Racial Inequality Toward Solutions

    Wealth

    The Black white wealth gap has received more attention in recent years, recognized as a fundamental measure of inequality that effects myriad aspects of life. The Brookings Institution describes it as the result of accumulated inequality and discrimination. Median white wealth is 12 times median Black wealth. Racial disparity is found in business ownership, being “unbanked” (not having a traditional bank or checking account ) and insurance rates. Business owners of color with better credit scores than their white counterparts are subjected to worse treatment and more scrutiny. McKinsey& Company estimates that if Black families had the wealth of white families, the country’s economy would be $1.5 trillion larger. The wealth gap limits Black Americans and the country at large.

    Wealth Racial Inequality Toward Solutions

    Get in touch to learn more about what we do and how we can help

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    Newsrooms begin to reflect on their roles in systemic racism

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    The role of newsrooms in systemic racism

    As the nation begins wrestling with the issue of systemic racism and its consequences, many mainstream newsrooms may also find themselves looking inward, particularly at coverage of police and courts. Three recent participants in the spring 2019 Gannett-McClatchy Table Stakes have begun examining how newsrooms’ practices, such as crime and courts coverage, have had long-term effects, not only on Black communities and communities of color, but also on their communities as a whole.

    The project involved journalists in Rochester, New York; Sacramento, California., and Wilmington, Delaware. Editors in all three newsrooms said they recognize that years of crime news has eroded goodwill among Black people and that gaining their trust will require journalists to rethink ingrained approaches to coverage. They have begun a self-examination that includes reviewing norms that have stood for generations. In these newsrooms it’s no longer standard to use booking shots or to write about crimes that aren’t felonies.

    “There’s a law enforcement industrial complex that rolls out these press releases and schedules these cases,” said Michael Kilian, executive editor of the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester. “We’ve been covering them from time immemorial without thinking about how that distorts the local community’s perception of itself and of marginalized communities.”

    Critics have long maligned the overrepresentation of Black people in crime coverage and the resulting distortion in community perceptions. A two-year study of how Black families are represented in national and local coverage found that their members are overrepresented as criminals by 11 percentage points, while white family members are underrepresented by 39 percentage points, according to “A Dangerous Distortion Of Our Families.”

    Dr. Travis L. Dixon, courtesy of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    Dr. Travis Dixon, the study’s author, said this imbalance in crime coverage reinforces societal tendencies to associate criminal behavior with Black people. “As readers consume more and more of that, they tend to think, that person is possibly a criminal,” said Dixon, a communication professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

    The consequences of coverage

    The goal of Table Stakes, underwritten by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund, is to help legacy news organizations with digital transitions. It addresses diversity, equity and inclusion through the Maynard Institute’s Fault Lines concept. The late Robert C. Maynard, for whom the institute is named, promoted the idea that societal faults, or identities, can fracture communities just as geological fault lines rupture the earth.

    Maynard traced the origins of his argument to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake on California’s central coast. Most of the 63 people killed were on the Cypress Street Viaduct in West Oakland that hadn’t been reinforced to withstand the force of the magnitude 6.9 quake. Maynard called on American journalists to adopt coverage models that would reinforce societal Fault Lines so they could better withstand tensions and pressures.

    Race, class, generation, geography, gender and sexual orientation are the most common societal Fault Lines® that have ruptured American society. In addition to these, physical and mental challenges, politics and religion are identities that also heavily influence how events are viewed. Incorporating Fault Lines in coverage means not only understanding how content might be viewed by different audiences but also how journalists make coverage decisions.

    Crime coverage, which includes the police beat and criminal courts, has long been a staple of American journalism. This approach includes publishing booking photos of suspects and often reporting criminal background information even if it’s not relevant to the story. Reporting on crime was amplified in the past decade as legacy newsrooms struggling for a digital foothold began factoring in page-view potential when making coverage decisions.

    “Every cop story you post has a certain amount of guaranteed page views because people click on that stuff,” Kilian said. “What’s harder is to think about the page views you’re not getting because you’re emphasizing that coverage.”

    “Every cop story you post has a certain amount of guaranteed page views because people click on that stuff,” Kilian said. “What’s harder is to think about the page views you’re not getting because you’re emphasizing that coverage.”

    Mike Feeley, executive editor of The News Journal in Wilmington, said that when his staff began to reconsider its crime coverage model, one of the first questions was “How do we replace that audience?”

    When The News Journal stopped publishing arrest roundups filled with booking photographs, it replaced that content with photos of swim meet clubs “because they were very popular,” he said.

    Mike Feeley, executive editor of The News Journal in Wilmington, courtesy News Journal

    He added that the swim club photos attracted more interest than the gallery of people who had been arrested.

    In Rochester, the D&C stopped responding to every police press release, Kilian said. Instead, the staff looks more for trends and community responses to crime or what he calls “smart enterprise stories with more voices and perspective or solutions.”

    “People who are willing to pay for our work are going to look for coverage like that, not ‘man shot on Main Street.’”

    In Sacramento, the Bee’s examination of coverage began as it dealt with repercussions from the death of Stephon Clark, who was unarmed when shot by police while in the backyard of his grandmother’s home.

    Lauren Gustus, president and editor of the Bee said it became apparent that the paper had “a great track record” covering restaurant openings in midtown and holiday lights in east Sacramento.

    “We don’t have a good record, so to speak, in many other communities,” said Gustus, who had joined the Bee several weeks before Clark’s death. Table Stakes supported and gave focus to the process, which accelerated this summer in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

    “Culturally, the conversation in Sacramento and across the nation moved very fast.”

    The Bee also adopted a policy on booking photos, which are no longer published, except for limited exceptions. Even those exceptions have to be vetted and approved.

    The policy change is an indicator of how the Bee’s relationship with Black people has evolved. In the months after Clark’s death the newsroom turned its attention to repairing its relationship with Black people and other marginalized groups and communities.

    When the Bee ran surveillance video showing people who hadn’t been charged with a crime, but were being sought by police, said Kamaria Roberts, West Region Video/Audio Lead for McClatchy. “These people didn’t have charges against them. Some people in the community called and said this is not OK.” The Bee responded quickly with the booking photograph policy in part to show it took the objections seriously.

    “Previously, we would have published the story at the request of the police,” said Gustus, who noted that people in the video were involved in a protest. “The moment would have passed and we would have served as a conduit for police.”

    “Previously, we would have published the story at the request of the police,” said Gustus, who noted that people in the video were involved in a protest. “The moment would have passed and we would have served as a conduit for police.”

    Now, however, the Bee considers its responsibility to balance public safety against what may or may not be criminal behavior on a case-by-case basis, she said.

    Gustus said the Bee also did a content audit that showed its sources were “overwhelmingly white and male.” The audit was made public, she said, because “it’s important to share those results with the community, so the community can hold us responsible for moving the needle on our sourcing.”

    Kilian said his newsroom audited its coverage and found that one in five stories represented some aspect of crime coverage. “One in five is 20 percent,” he said. “There’s no way, shape or form that in Rochester . . .or anywhere else, 20% of all human activity revolves around crime. It’s just not the case, but if you read our pages every day, that’s the reality you take away.”

    Such coverage is devastating, he said, noting that in some neighborhoods 90% of coverage was crime related.

    “That is the story of that neighborhood to the rest of your community,” Kilian said, “even though that’s not the reality of life there. Obviously there are people there who go to church, drive buses, love their children, are coaches and musicians and everything else. But we’ve failed to tell those stories because we haven’t engaged with those communities.”

    Such coverage can make people less empathetic and more critical of Black people, Professor Dixon said. He said police shootings or arrests may prompt people to believe that whatever happened was deserved.

    The way we’ve always done it

    The processes these newsrooms have undergone are not a journalism norm. Journalists “don’t focus on how we’re doing things or why we’re doing things,” said Deborah Douglas, a journalist and the Pulliam visiting professor of journalism at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. “We just have this orthodoxy of input/output.”

    When it comes to crime coverage, she said, journalists often give more weight to police accounts, allowing those to frame the narrative. “We go to the police and regard them as ‘official’ sources, and we take what they give us and we publish it.

    Deborah Douglas, courtesy DePauw University

    “They enjoy this default as being this official credible source.”

    Feeley said that in its examination of coverage, his newsroom realized that often “the person who’s arrested doesn’t have a voice.” He said The News Journal no longer uses the words “authorities said.” Rather than rely on catchall, sources are identified by name or position.

    “They’re a police officer, district judge or attorney general’s office,” he said.

    Kilian noted that while journalists haven’t developed relationships with Black people and communities of color, they have cultivated law enforcement. “We engage with the police every minute of every day. And so we’ve ended up with something that doesn’t reflect the full breadth of life in our community.”

    Lessons learned

    The editors at the Sacramento Bee; the Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester, New York; and the News Journal, Wilmington, Delaware, did more than hit the reset button on crime coverage.

    Each newsroom reassessed not only the police beat, but they also considered their audience goals to see how they did or didn’t pair up. Mike Feeley, executive editor of the News Journal, said they quickly realized the argument of “well, it’s news,” no longer held.

    More than that, they had to be frank about the newsroom’s relationships with Black people and communities of color. “People don’t want to talk with us because of who we are,” Feeley said.

    Editors eliminated the crime beat completely and refocused their approach to center it on the impact of crime on a community. They no longer cover crimes that are less than felonies unless there’s a newsworthy element like a prominent suspect.

    Background checks have also been a disputed media practice, with Black people in particular accusing journalists of selectively doing the checks and using the information even when it wasn’t pertinent to the story.

    Now, this information is only included if it’s relevant.

    The News Journal also changed its approach to covering courts. Rather than approaching cases with incremental day-to-day coverage, reporters are now focused on more “exhaustive coverage” that examines issues and trends.

    The News Journal also changed its approach to covering courts. Rather than approaching cases with incremental day-to-day coverage, reporters are now focused on more “exhaustive coverage” that examines issues and trends.

    Feeley said the News Journal is following the trail blazed by the D&C, which is producing content about and for traditionally underserved communities, in place of crime coverage.

    The D&C no longer runs booking shots as a matter of course. Instead, Kilian said full blown discussions are held about the merits of running such a photo. The newsroom also stopped responding to every police press release.

    Crime coverage has been reduced 8% to 9%, Kilian said, replaced with diverse audience coverage.

    The D&C also used a Facebook grant to set up listening posts in underserved areas. Editors and reporters got out of the newsroom and listened to community members.

    The Bee recognized that in many cases Black voices were muted or ignored in its coverage. The newsroom received a Facebook grant that allowed it to recruit Black writers from communities it had a history of ignoring.

    Roberts produced a documentary featuring Clark’s brother, Stevante, as he worked for change following Clark’s death. The newspaper hosted a conversation between Stevante Clark and Police Chief Daniel Hahn.

    Roberts, who helped direct this past summer’s protests of George Floyd’s death, said she and the reporter were aware of the inroads they had made among Black people in Sacramento and were determined to keep it. She said the reporter made a point of focusing on people on the ground, interviewing protestors as well as police to give as full a reflection of the events as possible.

    The newsroom has also created an equity team, led by Keiona Williamson, a Sacramento native, who returned to the city after being away for eight years. Williamson said that one of the charges of her team is to “shape coverage of the Black community that is really reflective of a dynamic community that has its own social hierarchies, own politics, its own economics.”

    The team is also preparing an equity report meant to help explain where significant disparities exist in Sacramento. Williamson said a host of indicators will be examined including homeownership, education, political representation and economic stakes.

    Douglas, of DePauw, recommended that newsrooms take several steps if they intend on recast police and crime coverage.
    1. Learn not to default to the police narrative. “The police are not the only credible official source.”
    2. Avoid sensationalism. “We need to wean ourselves from that appetite for sensational news.”
    3. Rethink coverage orthodoxy. She noted that some coverage emphasizes property damage over human lives, “especially white property v. black and brown lives.”
    4. “Respect and empathy for the people we serve.” She said journalists need to understand and interrogate how society is structured.
    5. Step back from episodic reporting and “engage in more contextual reporting.”
    6. Thematic framing of issues: “Stop centering established power in our narratives and start centering people power. We’re almost like a PR agency for established power because of our over reliance on official sources.”

    Jean Marie Brown is an assistant professor of professional practice at Texas Christian University. She was a senior editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She was an editor and reporter at The Charlotte Observer and a reporter at the former Post-Tribune in Gary, Indiana, and the Chicago bureau of The Wall Street Journal. She is a senior Fault Lines trainer for the Maynard Institute.als of color and those of diverse backgrounds the tools to become skilled storytellers, empowered executives and inspired entrepreneurs.

    See Programs

    Get in touch to learn more about what we do and how we can help

    Connect with us
    A young woman sits at a large round table covered with a black tablecloth. A Black woman with short curly hair, she wears gold earrings and a colorful dress. A blue Maynard Institute lanyard with a name tag that reads

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    Donating to MIJE helps newsrooms and professionals improve their reporting, workplaces, and the communities they serve.

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