https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231187562
The International Journal of Press/Politics
1–24
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/19401612231187562
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Article
Reporting on Black Lives
Matter in 2020: How Digital
Black Press Outlets Covered
the Racial Uprisings
Miya Williams Fayne
1
and Allissa V. Richardson
2
Abstract
George Floyd’s fatal police encounter sparked the largest social justice movement
in American history. Black press journalists in the United States found themselves
documenting and coping with Black trauma as they performed their duties in
pandemic-mandated isolation. Through semi-structured interviews with digital Black
press journalists, this study, which was conducted between 2020 and 2021, explores
the reporting and personal strategies these journalists deployed during tumultuous
times. We found they (1) provided humanizing and ongoing social justice coverage;
(2) relied on Black experts, activists, and their readers as sources; (3) created social
media content that appealed to Black and non-Black audiences; and (4) cared for
each other and readers to build intracultural support. Our findings illuminate how
the digital Black press practiced “movement journalism,” an approach that centers
oppressed people and counters protest paradigm-style coverage.
Keywords
Black Lives Matter, Black press, movement journalism, protest paradigm, digital
journalism, social media
1
Department of Communications, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, USA
2
School of Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Corresponding Author:
Miya Williams Fayne, California State University Fullerton, 800 N. State College, CP-460-20, Fullerton,
CA 92831, USA.
Email: mwilliamsfayne@Fullerton.edu
1187562HIJ XX X 10.1177/19401612231187562The International Journal of Press/PoliticsWilliams Fayne and Richardson
research-article 2023