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The hierarchy of national media coverage means that local journalists aren't trusted to tell the stories of their communities with the urgency they deserve. So instead, big names get flown out in the aftermath of trauma, prepared (& expected) to find + describe it themselves.
The point, that is being missed, is that this violence is everywhere in this country. It can look like Kenosha, but it's not just vigilante violence or fires burning. It's the slow churn of things like people not being trusted to tell their own stories, as they are happening.
It's local journalists becoming fixers & translators, between the people they live alongside and have relationships that rely on trust + integrity. So that when someone is misrepresented or doxxed or tokenized they have to live with those consequences. This is the aftermath too.
I want us to be asking ourselves why we trust some people more than others? Who would even get the chance to work for a national outlet? Who would appeal enough to someone with those connections to be offered mentorship & opportunity?
