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The business of media is in danger — but it sure isn’t dead. Many of the rising stars that were poised to “save journalism” like Vice and Buzzfeed have either entered bankruptcy or stopped reporting on news. There have been layoffs across the industry and many newsrooms have cut back on the resources available to journalists. But workers have also organized unions, including highprofile campaigns at Condé Nast and The New Yorker, and started workerowned media like Hell Gate and Defector. This month on “Meet the BIPOC Press”, Laura Flanders is joined by three journalists who have lived through the struggles and are a part of the solutions. Alex Sujong Laughlin is a supervising producer and coowner at Defector; Esther Wang is a workerowner at Hell Gate; and Tammy Kim helped organize unions at Al Jazeera America and The New Yorker, where she is a contributing writer. How do they think about the future of journalism, and what difference does it make when journalists have the freedom to speak truth to power — especially when it comes to reporting on policing and Palestine?

“. . . One of the biggest reasons people mentioned wanting to work for Defector was actually citing the Palestine coverage because it was so refreshing for them to see journalists speaking frankly about their opinions about what's happening and not being beholden to really archaic rules of journalistic objectivity.” Alex Sujong Laughlin

“. . . In New York, Hellgate and other local news outlets were part of an initiative to get a new bill to support local news included as part of this year's budget . . . Much to our surprise, it actually was included. [It’s] a tax credit for smaller outlets and a way to support local news in an environment where Google and Facebook have killed off all of the revenue streams. Those kinds of initiatives give me hope.” Esther Wang

“. . . I think I'm still intoxicated by the dream of journalism, of being able to call anybody, of becoming an instant expert on something and then learning something else. I also think the three of us all believe that there is still a social justice component in this work . . . The existence of Hell Gate [and] Defector . . . are evidence that we're going to figure it out, that some form of journalism is going to exist and that we'll keep doing it.” Tammy Kim

Guests:
Tammy Kim: Contributing Writer, The New Yorker
Alex Sujong Laughlin: Supervising Producer & CoOwner, Defector Media
Esther Wang: CoFounder, Hell Gate; Former Senior Political Reporter, Jezebel

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Credits:
Executive Producer: Laura Flanders
Supervising Producer: Sabrina Artel
Senior Consulting Producer: Rory O’Connor
Consulting Producer: Jordan Flaherty
Senior Video Editor: David Neumann
Creative Designer & Video Editor: Nat Needham
Audio Director: Jeannie Hopper
Development Director: Sarah Miller
Communications Director: Janet Hernandez
Executive Assistant: Nady Piña

Photo of Tammy Kim by Sarah Shatz.

CONTENT
00:00 – Intro
2:16 – WorkerOwned CoOps and Defecting for Worker Control
7:50 – Journalism Driven by Social Justice and the State of Podcasting
11:46 – Navigating Funding, Legalities, and Editorial Freedom in WorkerOwned Media
17:50 – The Role of WorkerOwned Media in Election Coverage
20:34 – Journalism’s Future and Redefining Journalists’ Roles as Workers