The Objective

Thinking beyond 'DEI' to make equitable media Andrea D. Wenzel on reimagining an equitable, cooperative, and sustainable local media system amid overlapping crises.

In a “post-DEI” world, “how can we advance civic information and narratives that accurately share the wholeness and complexity of our communities and societies?”

Read the full piece by Andrea D. Wenzel 👇
objectivejournalism.org/2025/12/thin...

Libraries are a locus for civic change Jennie Rose Halperin on the need to invest in underexplored partnerships between civic media makers and libraries as a clear place of change.

In the latest from our Civic Media Series, Jennie Rose Halperin explores why, in an era of escalating threats to democracy, librarians and journalists should collaborate to build meaningful local media ecosystems.

Read the full piece 👇

Do newsrooms need a memeologist? In the age of meme-slop and digital newsrooms shuttering, internet culture reporters say mainstream media is ill-equipped to cover not just trends, but a radicalization that doesn't look how it used…

In the age of meme-slop and digital newsrooms shuttering, are mainstream newsrooms equipped to cover the internet? @jakeadampitre.bsky.social asked @taylorlorenz.bsky.social, @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social, and @samleecole.bsky.social to weigh in:

Students plugging local news gaps isn’t sustainable for students, communities, or journalism Carla Murphy on how expecting college students to “fill the gap” in local news without addressing institutional power may reify inequities.

Carla Murphy offers a critical power analysis of higher education’s relationship to community and to newsrooms, charting a vision for what a healthier, more reciprocal dynamic could look like.

Read the full piece in our Civic Media Series 👇
objectivejournalism.org/2025/12/stud...

Movement journalism can transform narratives When we accept that we are powerless, we foreclose our own radical potential. Stories can change that.

Can stories still change people's minds? How about the structures we live in? @lewispants.bsky.social argues yes.

In his latest column about movement journalism, he says it's crucial we believe that — and tell stories that help us see our own power:

The Objective x News Futures Magazine In a new collaboration between The Objective and News Futures, 14 practitioners share their perspectives on building local, participatory, and durable information systems for the next decade.

🗞️✨Keeping up with our Civic Media Series? Learn more, check out our refreshed pieces, and stay tuned for brand new essays dropping this month. 👀

objectivejournalism.org/civic-media-...

#CivicMedia #FutureOfJournalism #Mediasky

#movementmediamonday is for supporting independent, non-corporate journalism that reimagines what news media can be.

if you appreciate the work @objectivejournos.bsky.social does, like publishing lewis’s column, we need your help to keep that work going! chip in here: givebutter.com/objective25

Movement journalism can transform narratives When we accept that we are powerless, we foreclose our own radical potential. Stories can change that.

happy #movementmediamonday! movement media has helped me stay hopeful in the face of mainstream news' flaws, so editing @lewispants.bsky.social’s series on movement journalism for @objectivejournos.bsky.social has been a joy.

their latest column is out today:
objectivejournalism.org/2025/12/move...

To promote civic information, we need to measure it The new Civic Information Needs Census exists thanks to the understanding that measuring information needs is critical for those creating civic information.

“Healthy media ecosystems provide people with information to meet their needs. But how do we know how much of that vision is being achieved?” Kang-Xing Jin makes the case for establishing a measuring infrastructure within civic media.

Read the full piece 👇

What if journalism mirrored ecological systems rather than capitalist markets? Jennifer Brandel envisions a future of journalism where local news is rooted in local land.

Read the full piece in our Civic Media Series👇
objectivejournalism.org/2025/11/look...

U.S. media has ignored the South. But its problems are the nation's Oral histories from Southern journalists and authors about the news industry’s geographical bias.

"Nearly a decade into my writing career, as an Atlanta-based journalist, I’ve become accustomed to national media turning a blind eye to the South," ajajeanarnold.bsky.social writes. She asked four Southern authors to contextualize this long-standing bias.

objectivejournalism.org/2025/11/the-...

Divest from the 'news desert' framework On encouraging and equipping community media-makers with resources to help local media ecosystems thrive long-term.

Legacy news isn’t the only way information gets shared in communities. Jesse Hardman argues that it’s time to identify and support the information gardens already growing in community backyards around the country.

Read the piece in our Civic Media Series 👇

We need a media ecosystem that urges justice On the imperative for a media system using narrative as a tool to dismantle systemic oppression and redistribute power.

In the latest for our Civic Media Series, Cierra Brown Hinton argues that for a truly equitable future of journalism, media and movement must work together strategically.

Read the full piece 👇

Teen Vogue’s loss is an irreplaceable void in teen media Between fandoms and youth activists, people don’t take teenage girls seriously — but Teen Vogue did.

“From sustainability, social justice, politics, fashion, and everything else, Teen Vogue was a place for young women to feel seen and heard,” @aiyanaish.bsky.social said. “It also gave them the chance to speak for themselves.”

Local news must help build a civic life worth participating in Richard Young on the possibilities for expanding and diversifying civic participation when changing how we think about local news.

For local news to effectively contribute to civic health, a newsroom must be more than just a newsroom. Richard Young makes the case for a news future that integrates journalism with community, local government, and civic organizations.

Read the full piece 👇

The Objective x News Futures Magazine In a new collaboration between The Objective and News Futures, 14 practitioners share their perspectives on building local, participatory, and durable information systems for the next decade.

Journalism is broken. So let’s reimagine it, together. Civic media is part of an equitable news future, and it needs your support.

🗞️ Get your copy of our print magazine. 👇
🧡 Donate or become a monthly supporter today.

In a 2019 study of media organizations, researchers found that the news industry “likely contributes to the widespread public stigma toward people with addiction that hinders advancement of public health policy solutions to the U.S. opioid epidemic.”

Native peoples must be part of an emergent media collective Jodi Rave Spotted Bear on the necessity of American Indians being at the table to forge a new path in building independent Indigenous media.

"The mainstream press has never been fully present to consistently, accurately, or fearlessly tell Indigenous stories.” Jodi Rave Spotted Bear spotlights the Native-led efforts that are building the future of Indigenous journalism.

Read the full piece 👇
objectivejournalism.org/2023/11/jodi...

A bright pink flyer, with a cartoon venus flytrap on the left and an illustration of s.e. smith, a white non-binary person with long brown hair, glasses and a lip piercing, on the right. Right next to the illustration it says "HEAR FROM THE FLYTRAP WORKER-OWNER S.E. SMITH AND A POWERHOUSE PANEL OF TRANS MEDIA." Underneath, it says "Trans Media Convening" in black and yellow. Underneath that it says "Organized by The Objective, Friday, Nov. 14, 11am-4pm EST."

Hear from our very own worker-owner and co-founder @sesmith.lol and a powerhouse panel of trans media at the trans media convening organized by @objectivejournos.bsky.social !

Flyer by rommy torrico

💻 Register at https://f.mtr.cool/nuowcscmvw by November 14th!

objectivejournalism.org/2025/11/nati...

“Guild members would have been afforded more rights working without a contract than by accepting all of PG Publishing’s proposals,” wrote opinion author and Third Circuit judge Cindy Chung about @pghguild.com workers bargaining with @post-gazette.com.
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Public access television: ‘More than a soundbite’ Antoine Haywood on learning from community access television's roots in prosocial activism, public education, and civic communication.

“Public access TV was social media before there was social media.” Antoine Haywood digs into how these participatory spaces empower communities and can revitalize local media.

Read more in The Objective’s Civic Media Series 👇

The future of news is about service, not sensationalism Ayinde Merrill on what the future of news and information means to historically marginalized communities in New Jersey and across the U.S.

Ayinde Merrill makes the case for service journalism: a news future where reporting doesn’t just “cover” communities – it empowers them.

Read the full article in our Civic Media Series 👇
objectivejournalism.org/2023/11/ayinde-merrill-service-journalism-is-news-future

A letter from the Civic Media Magazine editors The stories here show what’s possible when we reimagine local news not just as something to consume, but as a tool for community action.

🗞️✨Announcing our 2025 Civic Media Series: a digital + print magazine featuring essays from 14 practitioners who reimagine local news through the lens of civic media. Read our editors’ letter + stay tuned: articles dropping soon. 👀

objectivejournalism.org/2025/11/a-le...

#CivicMedia #Mediasky

Vogue guts Teen Vogue Politics team Vogue.com is merging with Teen Vogue, eliminating its politics section. Just one woman of color remains on Teen Vogue’s editorial staff.

The very section that made Teen Vogue stand out amid the country’s major news sources for taking youth seriously and for its progressive coverage is now gone.

The UN called it genocide in Gaza. Will Western journalists dare to? If the truth costs us Palestinian journalists our lives, what excuse do you have for refusing to call it by its name?

The UN called it genocide in Gaza. Will Western journalists dare to?

If the truth costs us Palestinian journalists our lives, what excuse do you have for refusing to call it by its name?
objectivejournalism.org/2025/09/the-...

Wall Street Journal shirks apology for anti-trans misinformation As right-wing efforts to connect trans people with violence escalate, journalists must be rigorous when covering anti-trans rhetoric.

Wall Street Journal shirks apology for publishing anti-trans misinformation after Charlie Kirk shooting.

objectivejournalism.org/2025/09/wall...

What is nonprofit news infrastructure solving for? We need new questions for the next two decades of nonprofit news and beyond. And we have to stop treating nonprofit status as "the fix."

What is nonprofit news infrastructure solving for?
We need new questions to guide flourishing news ecosystems that don’t treat nonprofit status as the end-all, be-all fix.
objectivejournalism.org/2025/09/what...

The Micro Division winner of the Breaking Barriers Award is Alexis Allison’s article for @objectivejournos.bsky.social s.bsky.social, “The Editor of a New York City Newspaper Bullied Reporters for Years. Then, He Was Promoted.”

Make it make sense: movement media as political education Even when our stories herald bad news, they can also help people make meaning and figure out our role in responding.

Ever had that "make it make sense?!" feeling when you're reading the news? Yeah. Me too. Conceiving of journalism as political education -- as the @kcdefender.bsky.social does so well -- is one solution and way forward. @objectivejournos.bsky.social objectivejournalism.org/2025/08/make...