Media 2070 Hosts National Town Hall to Celebrate Six Years of Media Reform
The Special Virtual Event Included a First Look at the Reparative Journalism Archive's next Entry.
By: MMM Editorial Team and Gabe Garcia
On Thursday, Oct. 15th, Media 2070 welcomed outlets and individuals alike to a national Town Hall, a gathering of minds and voices idealizing what comes next for the media reparations movement.
The virtual event kicked off with Tianna Mañón of Mañón Media Management acting as the emcee, while introducing Tia Oso, Executive Director of Media 2070 and Diamond Hardiman, Cultural Strategist of Media 2070. Media 2070 was originally launched in 2020 in collaboration with Free Press but has since become an independent institution under Allied Media Projects.
“This move to independence that we made at the end of last year really signifies our commitment to being owned, operated and led by Black leadership and making sure that we have an independent voice, able to serve our communities with integrity and stewarding those resources well,” said Oso.
“So, six years into it, we’re super excited to be able to commemorate this milestone with you all.”
“I’m going to explain a little bit about i SAW THiNGS I iMAGiNED,” said Hardiman. “It’s a multidisciplinary database that examines the intersections between media history, black citizenship and identity, movement building and Afrofuturist visioning. We want it to be a reprieve from the 24-hour news cycle and the constant scroll on our phones.”
Journalists, reporters and news makers, are you interested in covering this story? Please contact Media 2070's direct team at MMM through ggarcia@tiannamanon.com and we can provide more information, contacts and multimedia
A preview of the archive titled ‘i SAW THiNGS i iMAGiNED’ was shown to attendees before the beginning the panel with individuals Kiya Young, Master’s student of USC, Mustafah Greene, Visual Editor of Scalawag Magazine, Akeishein Wells, Communication Strategist of Media 2070 as well as Oso and Hardiman.
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“When we’re in control of the stories that we’re telling about ourselves [black people] we have the opportunity to tell a story that gives people joy, pride, hope, all those things,” said Young. “It’s so important for Black journalists to be able to tell those stories because we can provide nuance or give information in a way that’s raw, real and unbiased at the same time.”
The biggest themes discussed amongst the panelists delved deep into space being held in the newsroom for Black journalists and looking toward a future where Black outlets and networks becoming a blueprint for journalism. One thing that remained clear, was that there was so much progress that had been made, yet so much work to be done.
Missed our virtual town hall? Watch the replay here and don’t forget to sign our Pledge to Care for Black Communities and Black Journalists.
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