蜜桃影视

The fusillade of insults and threats aimed at the New York Times鈥檚 鈥溾�� is evidence of the power journalism has to create change, Nikole Hannah-Jones told a rapt, remote audience during an appearance at the 鈥檚 73rd National Seminar.

Named for the year the first slave ship arrived in the English colony of Virginia, the project launched in August 2019 with an issue of the Times magazine dedicated to reframing 400 years of racialized American history. In April, Hannah-Jones, who conceived the project, won a Pulitzer Prize for her lead essay.

Hannah-Jones and the project have provoked the ire of numerous Republican elected officials, ranging from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who described the series as espousing a 鈥淢arxist ideology,鈥� to Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who has the stories and related materials from public school classrooms.

鈥淭he New York Times鈥檚 鈥�1619 Project鈥� is a racially divisive, revisionist account of history that denies the noble principles of freedom and equality on which our nation was founded,鈥� Cotton said in a statement about the bill he introduced, which took place the day after Hannah-Jones鈥檚 EWA appearance in late July. 鈥淣ot a single cent of federal funding should go to indoctrinate young Americans with this left-wing garbage.鈥�

Indeed, Hannah-Jones said she believes the pushback is related to the fact that schools throughout the country are teaching 鈥淭he 1619 Project.鈥�

鈥淣o one’s been more surprised than me that a year later, [President Donald] Trump, Pompeo or Tom Cotton are filling the need to try to discredit a project that’s a year old,鈥� she told the education writers during a conversation moderated by The Wall Street Journal鈥檚 Chastity Pratt. 鈥淚 think if anything, that really speaks to the power that 鈥楾he 1619 Project鈥� has had and the power of journalism to not just report on what’s happening, but to actually move the narratives that we’ve all long accepted.鈥�

The project is being taught in at least one school in every state in the country, Hannah-Jones said, and is mandatory curriculum in several, including Chicago Public Schools.

鈥淭here鈥檚 this understanding of the power of a narrative about the challenges, the deification of our founding, that really centered slavery and the Black experience,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he power of our children actually learning that history at a younger age, as opposed to those of us who didn’t learn it at all.

鈥淭hat’s been deeply, deeply gratifying as someone who began my career as an education reporter.鈥�

That career provided vital inspiration to New York Times reporter Erica L. Green, who introduced the session. Hannah-Jones 鈥渓aid the groundwork for us to be able to write not only the stories that were expected of us, but required of us,鈥� said Green. 鈥淭o effectively cover a system that was supposed to be the great equalizer in this country. It’s been incredible to watch her continue to inspire.鈥�

Pratt and Hannah-Jones talked frankly about the disproportionately white composition of the education press corps and the impact on coverage of K-12 education of white reporters鈥� own educational backgrounds and lack of expertise on racism. In 2017, Pratt reminded listeners, Hannah-Jones tweeted that white reporters鈥� 鈥渇ear, complicity and guilt get in the way.鈥�

White reporters鈥� children often attend schools that are segregated or more affluent than those attended by students of color, Hannah-Jones reiterated at the seminar. 鈥淎 lot of times, white journalists, their experiences of our educational system is completely different from the experiences of most of the kids that they cover,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd we would be willfully naive to think that that has not and does not impact coverage, but you can’t get around that.鈥�

She is concerned that coverage of school shutdowns has not focused enough on what she called 鈥渢he lack of instruction and the lack of accountability during COVID.鈥� Even many children who have technology and internet access are not being served well, she noted.

鈥淚’m really worried about what that’s going to look like in the fall,鈥� she said. 鈥淚’m worried that because there was so much of a focus on reopening schools, that not enough time has been spent on preparing for schools not to reopen, or on instruction, if schools are not able to fully reopen.鈥�

In terms of advice for reporters attending the session, Hannah-Jones said white journalists in particular need to take time to understand race.

鈥淲e’ve always treated racial inequality as something that you just know or don’t know based on osmosis, like just being a person in America, you will understand how to cover this,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hose of us who are good at writing about racial inequality are good at writing about racial inequality because we have studied it. And if you are white, you actually probably need to study it even more intensely because you don’t even have the lived experience of what that is like.鈥�

Further, she said, reporters need to make sure their pitches are bulletproof when they fear a story is one their editor will be reluctant to assign 鈥� a category she said segregation is too often lumped into.

鈥淵ou know what stories your editor is likely to be drawn to and what stories your editor’s likely to reject,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd if the story that you really want to tell is one that your editor is more likely to reject, you report the hell out of that story before you ever pitch it.鈥�

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 蜜桃影视鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.