Bright light can be unforgiving.
For years, journalists of color have been working to illuminate the systemic racism that our field has been content to keep hidden. In 2020, the spotlight was glaring. From Philadelphia to Los Angeles, very candid, very public declarations from journalists of color about their experiences working in this industry exposed a painful part of our collective reality.
In 2021, we will see a shift from conversations about the grave inequity faced by journalists of color, particularly women journalists of color, to actions that address these structural inequities.
This year’s JOC tweet threads and columns and websites were a rallying cry for change and accountability. More than a few media executives were shown the door — either because that ousted person was actually problematic, or because something unacceptable happened under their watch and someone had to take the fall. In some instances of masthead turnover, there were other demands — lists drafted by journalists of color — for measures that create environments of belonging and for behavior change.
In 2021, these lists must be front and center in the push towards more equitable structures. If we could speak it into existence, 2021 will be the year when newsroom leadership will start doing the hard work — whether by choice and good intention, or economic and social pressure — that it takes to make our industry more equitable.
This must include industry leaders being more proactive than reactive. Diversity and inclusion conversations and interventions — almost always focused on numbers, compliance, and representation — will instead zero in on the policies, people practices, and workflow that enable real equity in a newsroom.
This will mean, for example, conceptualizing equity as something not separate from paid parental leave policies and the health benefits offered to employees. This is the year we see DEI resources invested in legal and IT to protect and support reporters targeted by online violence and abuse, which disproportionately impacts women and women of color. An equitable structure demands honesty and transparency and calls out racism and oppression, both overt and systemic, and builds power and momentum towards achieving goals while encouraging the grace and humility to sustain the endeavor. (Shout out to PolicyLink for the inspiration for Resolve Philly’s definition of an equitable structure.) 2021 will force newsroom leaders to address how they are — or aren’t — meeting these demands.
There is a tectonic shift happening in which people are speaking their truths and media companies are called to task to answer. There really is no other option here. We cannot truly consider ourselves stewards of public trust and information if we aren’t embodying equity at every level. In 2021, journalism will get its shit together. For the sake of democracy. For the sake of our economic future as an industry. For the sake of the communities we serve. For the sake of the people we employ.
Jean Friedman-Rudovsky and Cassie Haynes are the co-executive directors of Resolve Philly.
Bright light can be unforgiving.
For years, journalists of color have been working to illuminate the systemic racism that our field has been content to keep hidden. In 2020, the spotlight was glaring. From Philadelphia to Los Angeles, very candid, very public declarations from journalists of color about their experiences working in this industry exposed a painful part of our collective reality.
In 2021, we will see a shift from conversations about the grave inequity faced by journalists of color, particularly women journalists of color, to actions that address these structural inequities.
This year’s JOC tweet threads and columns and websites were a rallying cry for change and accountability. More than a few media executives were shown the door — either because that ousted person was actually problematic, or because something unacceptable happened under their watch and someone had to take the fall. In some instances of masthead turnover, there were other demands — lists drafted by journalists of color — for measures that create environments of belonging and for behavior change.
In 2021, these lists must be front and center in the push towards more equitable structures. If we could speak it into existence, 2021 will be the year when newsroom leadership will start doing the hard work — whether by choice and good intention, or economic and social pressure — that it takes to make our industry more equitable.
This must include industry leaders being more proactive than reactive. Diversity and inclusion conversations and interventions — almost always focused on numbers, compliance, and representation — will instead zero in on the policies, people practices, and workflow that enable real equity in a newsroom.
This will mean, for example, conceptualizing equity as something not separate from paid parental leave policies and the health benefits offered to employees. This is the year we see DEI resources invested in legal and IT to protect and support reporters targeted by online violence and abuse, which disproportionately impacts women and women of color. An equitable structure demands honesty and transparency and calls out racism and oppression, both overt and systemic, and builds power and momentum towards achieving goals while encouraging the grace and humility to sustain the endeavor. (Shout out to PolicyLink for the inspiration for Resolve Philly’s definition of an equitable structure.) 2021 will force newsroom leaders to address how they are — or aren’t — meeting these demands.
There is a tectonic shift happening in which people are speaking their truths and media companies are called to task to answer. There really is no other option here. We cannot truly consider ourselves stewards of public trust and information if we aren’t embodying equity at every level. In 2021, journalism will get its shit together. For the sake of democracy. For the sake of our economic future as an industry. For the sake of the communities we serve. For the sake of the people we employ.
Jean Friedman-Rudovsky and Cassie Haynes are the co-executive directors of Resolve Philly.
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Janet Haven and Sam Hinds Is this an AI newsroom?
David Chavern Local video finally gets momentum
Alicia Bell and Simon Galperin Media reparations now
Julia B. Chan and Kim Bui Millennials are ready to run things
Alyssa Zeisler Holistic medicine for journalism
Joni Deutsch Local arts and music make journalism more joyous
Matt DeRienzo Citizen truth brigades steer us back toward reality
John Ketchum More journalists of color become newsroom founders
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Parker Molloy The press will risk elevating a Shadow President Trump
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Mariano Blejman It’s time to challenge autocompleted journalism
Doris Truong Indigenous issues get long-overdue mainstream coverage
Jonas Kaiser Toward a wehrhafte journalism
Jennifer Brandel A sneak peak at power mapping, 2073’s top innovation
Sumi Aggarwal News literacy programs aren’t child’s play
Imaeyen Ibanga Journalism gets unmasked
Rachel Glickhouse Journalists will be kinder to each other — and to themselves
Logan Jaffe History as a reporting tool
Danielle C. Belton A decimated media rededicates itself to truth
Cindy Royal J-school grads maintain their optimism and adaptability
M. Scott Havens Traditional pay TV will embrace the disruption
Ståle Grut Network analysis enters the journalism toolbox
Sam Ford We’ll find better ways to archive our work
Gonzalo del Peon Collaborations expand from newsrooms to the business side
Sonali Prasad Making disaster journalism that cuts through the noise
Catalina Albeanu Publish less, listen more
Mandy Jenkins You build trust by helping your readers
Colleen Shalby The definition of good journalism shifts
Nonny de la Pena News reaches the third dimension
Don Day Business first, journalism second
Benjamin Toff Beltway reporting gets normal again, for better and for worse
Kawandeep Virdee Goodbye, doomscroll
María Sánchez Díez Traffic will plummet — and it’ll be ok
Julia Angwin Show your (computational) work
Victor Pickard The commercial era for local journalism is over
Stefanie Murray and Anthony Advincula Expect to see more translations and non-English content
Eric Nuzum Podcasting dodged a bullet in 2020, but 2021 will be harder
Bill Adair The future of fact-checking is all about structured data
Juleyka Lantigua The download, podcasting’s metric king, gets dethroned
Mark Stenberg The rise of the journalist-influencer
Ariel Zirulnick Local newsrooms question their paywalls
Talmon Joseph Smith The media rejects deficit hawkery
Brandy Zadrozny Misinformation fatigue sets in
Christoph Mergerson Black Americans will demand more from journalism
Mike Caulfield 2021’s misinformation will look a lot like 2020’s (and 2019’s, and…)
C.W. Anderson Journalism changed under Trump — will it keep changing under Biden?
Anthony Nadler Journalism struggles to find a new model of legitimacy
Cherian George Enter the lamb warriors
Nico Gendron Ask your readers to help build your products
Steve Henn Has independent podcasting peaked?
Kristen Muller Engaged journalism scales
Mark S. Luckie Newsrooms and streaming services get cozy
Beena Raghavendran Journalism gets fused with art
Jessica Clark News becomes plural
Matt Skibinski Misinformation won’t stop unless we stop it
Pablo Boczkowski Audiences have revolted. Will newsrooms adapt?
Raney Aronson-Rath To get past information divides, we need to understand them first
Renée Kaplan Falling in love with your subscription
Aaron Foley Diversity gains haven’t shown up in local news
Pia Frey Building growth through tastemakers and their communities
Linda Solomon Wood Canada steps up for journalism
Sue Cross A global consensus around the kind of news we need to save
Samantha Ragland The year of journalists taking initiative
Nabiha Syed Newsrooms quit their toxic relationships
Jesse Holcomb Genre erosion in nonprofit journalism
Kerri Hoffman Protecting podcasting’s open ecosystem
Astead W. Herndon The Trump-sized window of the media caring about race closes again
Jennifer Choi What have we done for you lately?
Ben Collins We need to learn how to talk to (and about) accidental conspiracists
Gordon Crovitz Common law will finally apply to the Internet
Ben Werdmuller The web blooms again
Joshua P. Darr Legislatures will tackle the local news crisis
Chicas Poderosas More voices mean better information
Ray Soto The news gets spatial
Tonya Mosley True equity means ownership
Richard Tofel Less on politics, more on how government works (or doesn’t)
Amara Aguilar Journalism schools emphasize listening
Ashton Lattimore Remote work helps level the playing field in an insular industry
Meredith D. Clark The year journalism starts paying reparations
J. Siguru Wahutu Journalists still wrongly think the U.S. is different
Cory Bergman The year after a thousand earthquakes
A.J. Bauer The year of MAGAcal thinking
Tanya Cordrey Declining trust forces publishers to claim (or disclaim) values
Michael W. Wagner Fractured democracy, fractured journalism
Ryan Kellett The bundle gets bundled
Robert Hernandez Data and shame
Andrew Donohue The rise of the democracy beat
Jean Friedman-Rudovsky and Cassie Haynes A shift from conversation to action
Charo Henríquez A new path to leadership
Ariane Bernard Going solo is still only a path for the few
Hossein Derakhshan Mass personalization of truth
Tauhid Chappell and Mike Rispoli Defund the crime beat
Tim Carmody Spotify will make big waves in video
Kevin D. Grant Parachute journalism goes away for good
Sara M. Watson Return of the RSS reader
Rodney Gibbs Zooming beyond talking heads
Brian Moritz The year sports journalism changes for good
Jody Brannon People won’t renew
Mike Ananny Toward better tech journalism
Rick Berke Virtual events are here to stay
Zainab Khan From understanding to feeling
Kate Myers My son will join every Zoom call in our industry
Jeremy Gilbert Human-centered journalism
John Saroff Covid sparks the growth of independent local news sites
Shaydanay Urbani and Nancy Watzman Local collaboration is key to slowing misinformation
Celeste Headlee The rise of radical newsroom transparency
Burt Herman Journalists build post-Facebook digital communities
Masuma Ahuja We’ll remember how interconnected our world is
Patrick Butler Covid-19 reporting has prepared us for cross-border collaboration
Ernie Smith Entrepreneurship on rails
Alfred Hermida and Oscar Westlund The virus ups data journalism’s game
Edward Roussel Tech companies get aggressive in local
John Davidow Reflect and repent
Laura E. Davis The focus turns to newsroom leaders for lasting change
An Xiao Mina 2020 isn’t a black swan — it’s a yellow canary
Andrew Ramsammy Stop being polite and start getting real
Moreno Cruz Osório In Brazil, a push for pluralism
Heidi Tworek A year of news mocktails
David Skok A pandemic-prompted wave of consolidation
Annie Rudd Newsrooms grow less comfortable with the “view from above”
Rachel Schallom The rise of nonprofit journalism continues
Tamar Charney Public radio has a midlife crisis
Delia Cai Subscriptions start working for the middle
Sarah Marshall The year audiences need extra cheer
Jacqué Palmer The rise of the plain-text email newsletter
Hadjar Benmiloud Get representative, or die trying
Marcus Mabry News orgs adapt to a post-Trump world (with Trump still in it)
Candis Callison Calling it a crisis isn’t enough (if it ever was)
Megan McCarthy Readers embrace a low-information diet
Loretta Chao Open up the profession
José Zamora Walking the talk on diversity
Nisha Chittal The year we stop pivoting
Rishad Patel From direct-to-consumer to direct-to-believers
Nikki Usher Don’t expect an antitrust dividend for the media
John Garrett A surprisingly good year
Anna Nirmala Local news orgs grasp the urgency of community roots
Marissa Evans Putting community trauma into context
Gabe Schneider Another year of empty promises on diversity
Joanne McNeil Newsrooms push back against Ivy League cronyism
Bo Hee Kim Newsrooms create an intentional and collaborative culture
Jim Friedlich A newspaper renaissance reached by stopping the presses
Francesca Tripodi Don’t expect breaking up Google and Facebook to solve our information woes
Natalie Meade Journalism enters rehab
Chase Davis The year we look beyond The Story
Sarah Stonbely Videoconferencing brings more geographic diversity
Jer Thorp Fewer pixels, more cardboard
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Stop pretending publishers are a united front
Whitney Phillips Facts are an insufficient response to falsehoods
Zizi Papacharissi The year we rebuild the infrastructure of truth
Marie Shanahan Journalism schools stop perpetuating the status quo