This week, we’re highlighting an essay by D. Razor Babb, a prison journalist who reflects on the ways journalists on the outside can learn from building relationships with those reporting on the inside as the Trump administration continues to attack press.
Also, there are a couple of events coming up you might be interested in: if you’re interested in talking about how to more thoughtfully report on diaspora, we have our first workshop for discussing better practices this coming Monday, May 19, at 3 p.m. ET. You can register here.
And if you want to learn more about the principles underlying the Guide to Reporting on Disabled Communities, which we published a Q&A about last month, the Trans Law Center is holding a panel talking about eugenics and disability reporting on Tuesday, May 27, at 1 p.m. ET. Here’s that registration link.
In this issue:
📝 Will prison journalism save democracy?
And also: California local news commitment cut, media workers reflect on their relationship to artificial intelligence, a look at the New York Times’ Opinion section, and the National Trust for Local News sells 21 Colorado papers to a group with a history of gutting local newsrooms.
—James Salanga
THE CASE FOR MOVEMENT JOURNALISM
Will prison journalism save democracy?
D. Razor Babb is the founding editor-in-chief of The Mule Creek Post, a newspaper published out of Mule Creek State Prison in California, where he is incarcerated. As journalists on the outside grapple with the Trump administration’s attacks on press — from seeking to defund public media funding to trying to dismantle Voice of America — Babb notes that this “intimidation, extortion, and oppression” is “nothing new within the carceral environment.”
“Will prison journalism save democracy? Maybe not,” Babb writes. “But if grit and determination and raw stubbornness have anything to do with it, maybe we can help.”
In an essay for The Objective published this week, he reflects on experiencing the gamut of intimidation, censorship, and oppression as a prison journalist.
“I have also encountered incarcerated individuals on the verge of giving up who have found meaning, purpose, and a reason to not give up by discovering their voice in writing and reporting,” he said.
Babb urges journalists outside to form relationships with those reporting on the inside, as prison journalists have built muscles of resistance and rising incarceration in the U.S. “amplifies the need for an aggressive defense of free speech in prisons.”
“The vast number of Americans incarcerated — 2.2 million, with the poor and people of color suffering disproportionate rates of imprisonment — means prison censorship affects marginalized groups the most, reducing their ability to take part in the public forum,” he writes. “This results in the most impacted by mass incarceration having the least say in the discussion.”
—James Salanga
WHAT ELSE?
A bit more media
Gov. Gavin Newsom walks back commitment to fund California local news: The deal faced its fair share of controversy, as it was settled with Google largely behind closed doors. “The state Department of Finance confirmed Wednesday that California instead will pay out $10 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year,” a spokesperson affirmed to the L.A. Times. The initial commitment was $30 million to local newsrooms in 2025.
How we’re using AI: For the Columbia Journalism Review, 18 people in journalism from reporters to editors weigh in on how they’re using artificial intelligence tools in their work. From tech publication 404 Media co-founder Jason Koebler: “I think it is unwise to lean into this future and align ourselves with companies developing technologies they want to replace us.”
Behind the expansion of the New York Times’ Opinion section: Under Kathleen Kingsbury’s tenure as the head of the section, “the department has doubled in size with nearly 200 people on staff — bigger than many American newsrooms and magazines.” Charlotte Klein chronicles the shifts and notes: “All of these changes have made the distinctions between the Times’ different kinds of journalism blurrier.”
National Trust for Local News offloads Colorado papers to Times Media Group: The company has a history of gutting local papers. As former editor of Colorado Community Media Mark Harden told Inside the News in Colorado: “It’s difficult to see how this turns out to be good news for two dozen Colorado newspapers, their employees and their readers.” It’s uncertain what’s next for the employees at the 21 papers now owned by the Arizona-based Times Media Group.
Have a story you think we should include in this section of next week’s newsletter? Let us know here or by responding to this email.
JOURNALISM IN A GRAF
Quote of the week
“I think of some of the last words Hassan spoke to me: ‘If the Israeli army kills me, the photos I took and the stories I told the world will live on. My name, my cause, and my voice will live on — and the occupation will die.’”
FINALLY…
Resource of the week
This week’s resource is … a resource for covering missing and murdered Indigenous women, focused on the Southern U.S. and put together by Indi/visible, Women AdvaNCe and Press On South.
The guide’s publication is meant to lend more visibility to missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) year-round, and coincides with MMIW Awareness Month. Per a 2016 report from National Institute of Justice, four out of five American Indian women experience violence in their lifetimes.
The South is the guide’s focus since the region is often left out of MMIW narratives, undercutting the misconception that American Indians were “wiped out” in the area — North Carolina, for example, has the highest proportion of Indigenous tribes in the South.
“Our goal is not to overshadow stories that have already been told,” authors Nicki Faircloth [enrolled with the Skaroreh Katenuaka Nation (Tuscarora)] and Antionette Kerr write. “With this guide, we hope to help journalists, media makers, storytellers, cultural workers, and community organizers create media and art that will amplify, uplift, and encase in love all stories of missing and murdered Indigenous women, with an emphasis on the South because that is where there are the least media resources to tackle the issue.”
For more style guides, journalism job boards, and tip sheets, check out The Objective’s resource list.
Thanks for reading. We’ll have more for you next week.
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