Read on Twitter
Also: I've thought really long and hard about my posts on social media -- particularly this account, which I see as an extension of my journalism. I, and many other people my age, have been told for ages that we need to be careful about what we post online, because employers...
...look at what we post. And as a journalist, ensuring that you're objective and not coming off as biased in any public forum is somehow tied to your ability to report accurately and effectively; this is certainly the case in some situations.
But asking journalists of color to refrain from advocating for their communities is asking them to separate from their identity entirely. From themselves. It negates who we are as reporters and people -- we are your students, your friends, your coworkers.
Impartiality and objectivity are often called into play here. I think too often "objectivity" is used as an excuse and tool to suppress voices of those from marginalized communities and those who are standing up for their right to exist.
And implying that a journalist who is a person of color advocating for themselves stands as a breach of that "objectivity" is something that really doesn't sit well with me. The two concepts are being presented as mutually exclusive, and that's not the case. We are multifaceted.
Not just multifaceted, but talented journalists. Don't discredit my ability to report on a story accurately because I retweet a post advocating for Latinx communities to address internalized and externalized racism towards the Black community. Do you want to see my clips?
Anyway, my heart hurts for the Black and brown reporters out there who are facing even more trauma caused by editors who don't understand this, standards departments who don't understand the significance of these events, and readers who troll reporters taking a stand.
