Reporting safely and with clarity:
Journalism and the Black Lives Matter Protests

Following the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing nationwide protests against institutionalized racism, American journalists have been called to witness a turning point in the country’s history. It’s forced a real-time debate about how journalists mesh their craft and moral obligations with an absolute commitment to the truth. At the same time, it has presented journalists with the challenge of covering a movement without clear leadership and a response from an administration enjoying declining trust. It has also come as journalists themselves have become targets, after four years of “enemies of the people” rhetoric.  How do journalists bring the necessary ethical and journalistic clarity to reporting this moment?

Read the IPI webinar recap here

 

In this online discussion organized jointly by International Press Institute (IPI) and National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), prominent U.S.-based journalists, editors and reporters addressed not only the current press freedom challenges and safety implications, but also the immense challenge for American journalism to help communities understand and navigate this moment.

Watch the video recording


Speakers:

Karen Attiah, Global Opinions Editor, The Washington Post, Washington DC
Madison Carter, Reporter, WKBW-TV 7 Eyewitness News; President, Buffalo Association of Black Journalists, Buffalo NY
Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Houston Bureau Chief, Los Angeles Times, Houston
Omar Jimenez, CNN correspondent, Chicago
John Yearwood, Editor, China Watcher and Deputy Editor, Trade & Agriculture, Politico; IPI Board member and former NABJ Board member, Miami (moderator)

Reporting safely and with clarity: Journalism and the Black Lives Matter Protests