Insights from a Journalist turned PR Associate on Journalism’s Changing Landscape
Media has historically served an important, albeit complicated, role in racial justice movements. If the news media hadn’t aired images of police violence against peaceful protesters during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches on televisions across the nations, we may not have ever seen the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Civil Rights Leaders understood the power of media attention then, and they understand it today. It’s why Rev. Al Sharpton and the attorney Benjamin Crump accompanied the family of Nolan Wells to tell their story to the journalists at the National Association of Black Journalists in Atlanta.
The media ecosystem that has helped racial justice movements tell their stories, however, is changing, which means the traditional mechanisms of social justice storytelling will no longer suffice. As a former journalist who has worked across both the traditional and Black press who now sits on the other side of strategy as a media relations associate, I want leaders working to advance racial justice to know that understanding and navigating this changing landscape is imperative for their movement’s success. Here’s what you need to know:
There are less journalists of color in traditional media spaces
During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, many leaders across news outlets pledged to address the longstanding lack of diversity that plagues newsrooms across the country. Most notable of these efforts include the creation of jobs at the Washington Post that would lead “a national conversation on issues of race and diversity,” and the New York Times’ pledge to diversify its leadership pipeline.
But as the Trump administration began cracking down on DEI efforts across industries, we began to see journalists of color announce their layoffs at alarming rates. In the first week of Black History Month this year, about half of the union members of color at The Washington Post were laid off – some of whose jobs were part of the 2020 diversity plan. Prior to this, about 150 people associated with NBC’s diversity verticals, like NBC Black, NBC Latino and NBC Asian America were laid off in 2025.
The result of accelerating journalism layoffs is a landscape where there are more journalists looking for newsroom jobs than there are available. For the journalists who don’t end up landing one of the available jobs, they may either build their own platforms on social media, freelance, or leave the industry altogether.
It also means that there are less journalists in the big newsrooms advocating for the social justice stories we need them to tell.
The Black news outlets we know are closing or struggling
Journalists of color in traditional newsrooms aren’t the only ones struggling to survive in the industry. The Black Press, which has been a pivotal institution that has platformed many stories that traditional media would refuse, has also been significantly struggling. As someone who has worked in the Black Press, I can say that it is an important institution with more responsibility to the people than it has capacity for.
In February this year, two Black-owned newspapers ceased publication after serving their communities for decades – The Richmond Free Press in Richmond, Virginia, and the Skanner in Portland, Oregon. Both closed due to financial constraints.
In an interview with NBC4 Washington, Ben Chavis, who is the CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association which represents Black-owned newspapers, said that 200 of the 250 member newspapers are struggling financially. Many Black newspaper owners say that the increased cost of tariffs and dwindling advertising dollars due to DEI dismantling are the key factors in the uncertainty of the Black Press’ sustainability.
When news outlets are hanging on by a thread, it means there are less resources to do the journalism required to adequately serve a Black audience. I have seen some Black-owned news outlets rely on part-time freelancers, or one full time reporter to fill the newspaper. When there are many priorities and little bandwidth, it is harder to stand out to a reporter who literally has the entire newspaper depending on them.
People are leaning on nontraditional outlets for their news
Earlier this week I was watching a podcast clip where one of the hosts suggested that the team head to the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Houston in 2027. I’ve been around NABJ for the majority of my career, and my traditional experience at the conference didn’t really call for podcasters to be seen as experts in journalism.
But the fact of the matter is that these emerging creators – whether they are former full time journalists or influencers with little to no traditional journalism training – are becoming increasingly important, and their platforms are becoming almost as powerful as traditional media outlets. And it’s a little scary for executive level leaders whose first instinct may be to shy away from social media, where these creators build their audience.
That instinct is reasonable, but you must overcome your fear of engaging with content creators if you want your story heard on large platforms. Many of these platforms may not be hosted by our idea of a “true journalist,” but they are influential to the very audiences that social justice leaders are looking to reach. For example, The Grits and Eggs Podcast which was started by a former trucker, has more than 227,000 subscribers on YouTube. The host, Deante Kyle, has more than one million followers across platforms.
The rules of the media landscape are becoming blurry, and that can be intimidating. But with solid media training and preparation, you can truly crush any interview and get your story out there. Because no matter where it is, your story of social justice solutions deserves a spotlight.
Kenya Hunter is a senior media relations associate at Spotlight PR. Before Spotlight, Kenya spent seven years as a journalist at outlets like The Associated Press, Capital B, and The Richmond-Times Dispatch.