The intensity of individual, mob and institutional attacks on working journalists and their media outlets is unmistakable in our current age. World Press Freedom Day pushes back. So, too, does the work of many thousands of individuals locally and worldwide who take the tools of journalism in hand to accurately report the news they encounter in their day-to-day lives in order to responsibly and effectively inform their communities on issues of immense immediate importance.

After the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020, the city of Portland, Oregon – one of the whitest towns in America – erupted in 200 days and nights of protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement against racism and police violence. In the same moment, activists and observers – including everyday people who started out simply pointing their phones at the rapidly escalating police violence – launched a new movement in grassroots media. Their work landed in MSNBC, CNN, the New York Times and news outlets around the world.

What can we learn about the future of news from these grassroots pioneers of breaking news reporting? Can we build on their experience – and their work that continues today – in creating a smart, informative news media now?

And what about you?

What if you or someone you know had the tools to bring real information to the table and actually inform people – in your local community and beyond?

Join Lisa Loving, author of “Street Journalist: Understand and Report the News in Your Community,” for an intimate chat on tools YOU can use to create a media platform and bring your local story to the world.

Lisa Loving wrote the book on citizen journalism from lived experience in creating community media in Portland a decade ago. With the 2019 publication of Street Journalist, she made it her mission to make you realize that “the power of journalism is in your hands.” She writes “While many people believe there is some sort of special degree or license that makes a journalist ‘legitimate,’ the truth is that anyone with the interest, brains and organization can make a crucial difference with their voice.” She’s trained hundreds of ordinary people in the tools of independent journalism, making it clear, as has been demonstrated on far too many tragic occasions in recent years, that anyone with a smartphone has the basic equipment to report what’s going on in their neighborhood. This evening she’ll make those points tangible, and engage in dialog to clarify the issues.

DON’T HATE THE MEDIA, BECOME THE MEDIA 
                                                                               –Jello Biafra