Join Maynard Institute Co-Executive Director Martin G. Reynolds for a roundtable conversation on Monday, February 5 at 6:00pm PST, with several other authors who contributed to the volume of essays, Reinventing Journalism to Strengthen Democracy: Insights from Innovators. Published by the Kettering Foundation in 2023, the book features journalists from newspapers, public radio, civic media groups, and new media collectives who share their perspectives on how to address the growing distrust of media and institutions. Hosted by KALW Public Media and co-sponsored by the Kettering Foundation and the Society of Professional Journalists, this Town Hall event is a hybrid-format allowing guests to join virtually over Zoom or in-person.

About the Town Hall

Join in-person at KALW’s community event space at 220 Montgomery Street in downtown San Francisco, or via Zoom from anywhere. Teachers who attend the event in person can buy signed copies of the book for $20. Students who attend in person can buy signed copies at a sliding scale. This event is free and open to the public.

Remote attendees, note: If you plan to attend by Zoom, please RSVP through Eventbrite to receive the event link.

In-person attendees, note: Doors open at 5:00pm. The event space is just to the left of the main entrance to the Mills Building at 220 Montgomery Street. We recommend taking BART/MUNI, exiting at Montgomery, and walking two blocks north. If you drive, there are several garages within two blocks of the event location; Ride-shares can drop off and pick up directly in front of the venue.

*Attendees must be registered to join this Town Hall event.

About the Essay by Martin G. Reynolds

From the publisher: During summer 2020, the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor sent shockwaves across America. Newsrooms and the journalists in them also felt the shock. Martin Reynolds, former managing editor and editor in chief of the Oakland Tribune and co-executive director of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, was one of them. Even though Reynolds saw himself “in Floyd, in Taylor, and in the faces of countless other people of color who had been slain by police,” his initial instinct was to maintain his objectivity and to frame these events through the lens of a media professional and not a Black man with a Black son. Reynolds examines this experience and suggests some ways the dismantling of systemic racism in newsrooms might begin.

Read an excerpt of the essay written by the Maynard Institute’s Co-Executive Director, Martin G. Reynolds, for the book, Reinventing Journalism to Strengthen Democracy: Insights from Innovators, published by the Kettering Foundation and edited by Paloma Dallas and Paula Ellis.