Top, left to right: Deborah Douglas, Amber Payne, co-editors-in-chief, The Emancipator. Lower: Jhmira Alexander, president and executive director, Public Narrative, at Journalism and Women Symposium Camp.

When was the last time—if ever—you were part of a venture when a leader pronounced that joy was an integral part of the mission?

“We built into our mission that joy underlines our ethos,” says Deborah Douglas, co-editor-in-chief of The Emancipator, the new journalistic venture from Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research and the Boston Globe’s opinion team resurrecting the 200-year old abolitionist newspaper. “Journalists should not have to create from tension.”

““We built into our mission that joy underlines our ethos,” says @Debofficially, co-editor-in-chief of @The_emancipator, the new journalistic venture from @BU_Tweets ‘s Center for Antiracist Research and @BostonGlobe ‘s opinion team. #antiracism #womeninjournalism”

The rarity of the vision of Douglas, and co-editor-in-chief Amber Payne, is why the participants of the recent annual Journalism and Women Symposium conference appeared elated during the keynote offered by the editors in a conversation with Jhmira Alexander, president and executive director of Public Narrative.

The Emancipator, co-founded by Bina Venkataraman, Boston Globe editorial page editor and author of the 2019 book The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead in A Reckless Age, and Ibram X. Kendi, founding director of The BU Center for Antiracists Research and author of several books including the 2019 How To Be An Antiracist, will be a digital, multi-platform entity sharing content with the Boston Globe, Douglas says.

“We’re creating something from scratch and aiming to reframe the national conversation on racial equity,” Douglas says.

““We’re creating something from scratch and aiming to reframe the national conversation on racial equity,” @Debofficially says, @The_emancipator. #racialequity #abolition”

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Answering questions from the participants at the JAWS Camp, with the theme of “Re-Emerging and Re-Imagining,” Douglas, who has served as deputy editorial page editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, Eugene S. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Professor at DePauw University, senior leader with The OpEd Project, managing editor at MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, and author of Moon U.S. Civil Rights Trail: A Traveler’s Guide To The People, Places, and Events That Made The Movement, says, “Journalism is not where I work. Journalism is who I am.”

Read Deborah Douglas’ Power To Change Story in Take The Lead

Payne, former managing editor of BET.com, executive producer of Teen Vogue and Them, and creator of NBCBLK, as well as producer at NBC Nightly News, says that as consistently “the only” Black producer at NBC Nightly News, that for content considered a “Black story,” she was the one called to do the work.

“Because I am the only Black person in the meeting, I need to have a perspective and if I don’t speak up, I’m not sure who will,” Payne says. “I need to have that mindset and I need to do that series and make sure I am responsible in the newsroom and represent in the newsroom.”

““Because I am the only Black person in the meeting, I need to have a perspective and if I don’t speak up, I’m not sure who will,” says @Amberwaves about her work at NBC Nightly News. #Blackjournalist #newsroom #racialequity”

Douglas says her experience in legacy media showed her, “There is not always room for the fullness of the communities we serve.” She adds, “The way we practiced objectivity for many decades is the white male default, the patriarchy. But objectivity is something you can aspire to and calibrate what you’re bringing to stories.”

Noting the historic imbalance of racial and gender identities in newsrooms and media sites across the country, Douglas says, “Once I started interrogating the orthodoxies and started to critique them, I made it my point to exercise my agency.”

“Noting the historic imbalance of racial and gender identities in #newsrooms and media sites across the country, @Debofficially says, “Once I started interrogating the orthodoxies and started to critique them, I made it my point to exercise my agency.” ”

Payne, a former Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, says, “Our approach is evidence-based opinion and perspective. We’re not political.” She reiterates that the project is “solutions-focused and solutions-forward.”

Douglas explains, ‘We prioritize humanity. American news media is biased; we are supporting discussion.” She adds the team is working “to achieve excellence in storytelling and how to achieve that democratic ideal.”

With the official launch scheduled in a few months, The Emancipator is a newsletter now and will expand to more platforms. “From the 19th century to now, we want to find new meanings and contextualize the moment we are in.”

At the close of the keynote panel, Alexander applauds the co-editors and says, “You are building the plane while flying it. You are bold and courageous and you are those who ultimately end up being the ones who lead by example.”

Read Jhmira Alexander’s Power To Change Story in Take The Lead

Offering advice to the younger journalists participating, Douglas suggests they embrace “serial mastery. Always be learning.”

“Offering #advice to the younger journalists participating, @Debofficially suggests they embrace “serial mastery. Always be learning.” #continuingeducation #journalism”

Melody Spann-Cooper (left) and Susy Schultz at the recent Journalism & Women Symposium camp.

Also delivering a keynote at the recent JAWS camp, Melody Spann-Cooper, chairman of Midway Broadcasting Corporation, which she has owned since 1999, and author of the 2019 book, The Girlfriend's Guide to Closing the Deal, offers leadership advice in a highly competitive and evolving broadcast environment.

“Women have to show up as their authentic selves. It is the most powerful thing you can do,” says Spann-Cooper, who is co-chair of Diversity and Inclusion Council for the Obama Library Foundation and vice chair of the Illinois Broadcasting Association. “You have to play chess at the table, not checkers.”

Detailing the importance of women backing each other in “hijacked conversations” when men may take credit for another woman’s idea in a meeting, Spann-Cooper says, “As women we need to make people stop, acknowledge and affirm” each other. “We need to understand the power of networking.”

“Detailing the importance of women backing each other in “hijacked conversations” when men may take credit for another woman’s idea in a meeting, @MelodySpannCoop says, “As women we need to make people stop, acknowledge and affirm” each other. #womensupportingwomen”

In conversation with Spann-Cooper at JAWS Camp was Susy Schultz, veteran journalist and former executive director of the Museum of Broadcast Communications. “There’s the remembering part,” Schultz says. “As we move up, there are some people whom we’ve met that we don’t remember. We have to check in and do some reporting on your life and career.”

In a competitive journalism environment, “I think this industry pits us against each other,” says Spann-Cooper whose company manages WVON 1690AM, the oldest Black-oriented radio station in Chicago. “As women, let’s intentionally create pipelines. What I’ve learned is when you open the door for people, your door widens.”

“In a competitive #journalism environment, “I think this industry pits us against each other,” says @MelodySpannCoop whose company manages WVON 1690AM, the oldest Black-oriented radio station in Chicago. “As women, let’s intentionally create pipelines.” #womensupportingwomen”

Spann-Cooper says the 58-year-old radio station she runs, along with other stations, is streaming 24 hours a day, seven days a week on IHeart Radio. Learning to reimagine content for different delivery systems is the present and future of broadcast, she says.

While the industry is still predominantly male-dominated, Spann-Cooper says, “We have to make sure to be comfortable with that inner voice and go for it.”

Schultz adds that the radio industry—now more than a century old—is being reimagined as a business, but its mission remains the same. “It is always about good storytelling and meeting people where they’re at.”

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About the Author

Michele Weldon is editorial director of Take The Lead, an award-winning author, journalist, emerita faculty in journalism at Northwestern University and a senior leader with The OpEd Project. @micheleweldon www.micheleweldon.com

Equity, Humanity, Power and Joy: Black Journalist Leaders On Addressing History With Solutions

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