Remaking the Economy: Information, the Media, and Economic Justice

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This webinar from NPQ‘s Remaking the Economy series takes on the question of the role in media in achieving economic justice. Traditional local media may be dying, but here we shine a light on the rise of nonprofit and co-op forms of local media—and explore how they are amplifying voice in communities of color and low-income communities. Our panelists are:

• Candice Fortman, Executive Director of Outlier Media, a Detroit-based media outlet that aims to identify, report, and deliver valuable information to empower residents to hold landlords, municipal government, and elected officials accountable.
• Darryl Holliday, Executive News Lab Director at City Bureau in Chicago. He’s a Studs Terkel Award-winning journalist, founder of the Illustrated Press and a former reporter with DNAinfo Chicago.
• Kevon Paynter, Executive Director and cofounder of Bloc by Block News Maryland, a Baltimore-based media cooperative owned by newsreaders and news producers that launched this year, with a mission to amplify local news and neighborhood voices.

This webinar explores:

• How do local nonprofit media and media co-ops address the shortfalls of traditional commercial media?
• What are effective strategies that nonprofit and co-op media are using to promote economic justice and hold local officials accountable?
• What is the current state of nonprofit media and media cooperatives? Where are the areas of growth? What challenges do they face?
• How are nonprofit media and media co-ops changing the way stories are sourced? What does citizen-based journalism look and feel like?
• How are community media addressing the growing menace of disinformation?
• What is the ecosystem of support that enables community media to thrive?
• What steps can nonprofits and philanthropy take to support the growth of community-based media?

Resources:

• Marian Conway, “Two Philanthropic Strategies Aim to Boost Faltering Local News,” April 7, 2021.
• Steve Dubb, “What Does Journalism for a Just Economy Look Like?” NPQ, May 19, 2021.
• Candice Fortman, “Faith is not a business plan,” Medium, December 2, 2020.
• Darryl Holliday, “Why We’re Launching Newswire, Your Daily Dose of Chicago Civic News,” City Bureau, May 25, 2021.
• Kevon Paynter, “Here are the pivotal moments that led me to start Bloc by Block News, a new-age media cooperative,” Bloc by Block maryland, November 16, 2020.
• Tom Stites, “A New Business Model Emerges: Meet the Digital News Co-op,” NPQ, March 3, 2021.
• Tom Stites, “What’s New in Co-op Media? Growing Pains in the Digital News Co-op World,” NPQ, December 1, 2021.