From the editor
In a recent Zoom conversation with current Nieman Fellows and alumni, Maria Hinojosa said she founded the Harlem-based nonprofit newsroom Futuro Media Group "out of frustration" at the lack of diverse voices and perspectives in mainstream media. Today, more than a decade after Futuro’s launch, many journalists of color still feel that same frustration, and they are responding — just as Hinojosa did — by building their own editorial projects and news outlets.
In "Get to Know the Newsrooms Focused on Elevating Latinx Voices in the U.S.," Sofia Cerda Campero explores how some of these initiatives, comprising more established outlets as well as younger startups, are bringing nuanced, in-depth coverage to the issues impacting Latinx people. One of the programs featured in the piece is "¿Qué Pasa, Midwest?," the first bilingual podcast from public broadcasting station WNIN in Evansville, Indiana. Though the Latinx population in the Midwest grew by 18% between 2010 to 2019, Paola Mazizán, the podcast's founder and producer, did not see a corresponding growth in coverage of Latinx issues. So she decided to tell those stories through "¿Qué Pasa, Midwest?" in English and in Spanish.
Kristine Villanueva also addresses the urgent need to bring knowledge and nuance to covering communities of color in the latest essay in our ongoing series "The Newsrooms We Need Now." Against the backdrop of two more mass shootings and, since the pandemic started, an increase in violence against and harassment of members of the Asian American Pacific Islander communities, she shares "5 Things I Learned as an AAPI Engagement Editor Covering Anti-Asian Hate."
One of her recommendations: Instead of questioning whether reporters are too biased or too emotionally invested to cover traumatic events impacting communities of which they are a part, lean into their expertise. “If you want meaningful engagement, connections, and nuanced storytelling,” Villanueva writes, “let journalists with lived experiences lead on all levels in the newsroom. Their perspectives are valuable to communities who need them … Investing in journalists of color, even a little, brings massive returns both in and out of the newsroom.”
Sincerely,
James Geary
Editor, Nieman Reports
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