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An issue of Freedom's Journal overlaid with a torn edge of paper. At the right-hand corner of the issue is an image of stacked hundred dollar bills.

The Black press has always faced an inequitable funding landscape. Its future can’t be the same

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Commentary
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April 15, 2026
Looking to historical models can provide some clarity and inspiration in an environment once again hostile to funding Black journalists and the Black press.

The Objective is a nonprofit newsroom examining systems of power and inequity in journalism: how newsrooms treat their employees, how journalists interact with their community, and what new forms of journalism can look like.

Graphic recording of The Objective’s Trans Media Convening panel, Narrative Change in Journalism. Top left section, below heading that says Narrative Change in Journalism: A swiss army knife that says “narrative change.” Many stories combine to form narratives that shape meaning and our realities. Multiple infrastructures work to shift narratives: Organizing, art, documentary. Journalism shapes reality by: telling us what’s happening, starting and expanding conversations (thought bubble that says “What even is gender?”), showing us what’s possible, presenting evidence in context, offering institutional guidance, and showing our power. Top right section: Journalism’s histories: A set of practices & traditions that upholds the status quo & ignores the margins. Omit: Stories about Black folks and everyone on the margins. A news station has a flag that says “myth of objectivity.” Another tradition shines a spotlight on the margins & refuses to look away! A la Ida B. Wells. A portrait of Ida B. Wells is shown. Bottom left section: Where has this brought us? 3 main approaches to coverage: 3D glasses with one pink lens and one blue lens. Cis lens is default and dominant: Nature documentary (behold the wild trans person), clinical (puzzle, not people), and scandalized (e.g. Jerry Springer, Ace Ventura, JK Rowling) & newsrooms (like CBS) are firing trans reporters. Below right section: What is our assignment? Pressure newsrooms, equip individual reporters to fight ‘em, humanize the story, multi-tactical, non-binary — work all the precious points & follow the data. Scoop the newsroom, tell a better story, work with & for each other, be our best resource. Build our own places. “Throw sand in the gears of genocide.” -Rasha Abdulhadi. Keep fighting!
Strategizing about a safer media ecosystem for trans people: The Objective’s first Trans Media Convening
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The Objective
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April 13, 2026
Three Black journalists, from left to right, Tramon Lucas, Dr. Kaye Whitehead, and Errin Haines sit facing an audience in a town hall session.
Black journalists at Baltimore CBS station call for accountability over alleged discrimination
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News
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April 9, 2026

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In a new collaboration between The Objective and News Futures, 14 practitioners share their perspectives on building local, participatory, and durable information systems over the next decade. Learn more >>>

Papakōlea homestead residents sit together talking to two fire officials n a multipurpose building setting to discuss wildfire preparedness.
Native Hawaiians, new newsrooms work to shift journalism norms in Hawai’i after legacy media exclusion
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News
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March 27, 2026
Image of Texas with the Fort Worth Reporters Guild logo superimposed over Tarrant County/Fort Worth.
Fort Worth Report becomes Texas’s sixth unionized newsroom
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News
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March 9, 2026
Two photos on an orange background. Left is a headshot of Anita Varma, a South Asian woman with glasses and straight hair past her shoulders. Varma is wearing a black-and-white patterned V-neck and black cardigan while posing against a background of trees. Next to Varma is a photo of her book's cover. The title is Solidarity in Journalism: How Ethical Reporting Fights For Social Justice. A painting of an orange, red, and yellow flame is the book background.
Q&A: ‘All journalism advocates’: Anita Varma on solidarity journalism
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News
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March 9, 2026
A screen filter is layered over an image of newspapers in boxes. Three screenshots of the question bars for three different generative artificial intelligence models — Gemini 3, ChatGPT, and Claude — surround a screenshot that reads: The candidate who withdrew could not accept AI assisting with writing. It wasn't a "sacrifice" they were willing to make for a foothold in a thriving newsroom.
It’s healthy for student journalists to raise concerns about AI
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Commentary
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March 6, 2026
A collage of three images. A screenshot of the Ask ChatGPT search bar is top left. Center left is a billboard littered with Baltimore Sun Guild union posters, with one that reads We Will Not Be Silenced in the center. Center right is a screenshot of two political analyses from the Baltimore Sun's Feb. 13 e-edition labeled "AI Analysis", with the Baltimore Sun Guild's edit replacing the headline of both stories with the word "Slop."
When The Baltimore Sun can’t get journalists to lower their standards, it turns to generative AI
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News
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February 25, 2026
A collage of the Media 2070 members (Anshantia Oso, Joseph Torres, Venneikia Williams, Diamond Hardman, Afton Paige) on The Objective orange-themed background. Anshantia is a Black woman with yellow floral earrings and natural hair above her shoulders. Joseph is a Latine man wearing a tan shirt with graying hair and an beard. Venneikia is a Black fem with a half-up, half-down hairdo with hair set in waves below their shoulders wearing an orange dress. Diamond is a Black woman with just-past-shoulder-length hair wearing a yellow floral shirt. Afton is a Black woman wearing a button-up with her hair in braids swung over her left shoulder. Above the members is the text, “Media 2070, An Invitation to Dream Up Media Reparations.”
Q&A: ‘We’re winning when media reparations is common-sense’: Media 2070’s new chapter
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News
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February 13, 2026

What is The Objective?

Despite holding themselves up as “objective” and “impartial” for generations, mainstream American newsrooms have almost always been defined by homogenous teams that fail to account for race, gender, class, disability, and sexuality.

We founded The Objective in June of 2020 as a volunteer collective of journalists concerned with systems of inequity in newsrooms. Our small non-profit newsroom relies on donations to hold journalism institutions accountable and advocate for journalism that’s understanding of power dynamics and the intersections of identity.

Support Our Work
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Graphic recording of The Objective’s Trans Media Convening panel, Narrative Change in Journalism. Top left section, below heading that says Narrative Change in Journalism: A swiss army knife that says “narrative change.” Many stories combine to form narratives that shape meaning and our realities. Multiple infrastructures work to shift narratives: Organizing, art, documentary. Journalism shapes reality by: telling us what’s happening, starting and expanding conversations (thought bubble that says “What even is gender?”), showing us what’s possible, presenting evidence in context, offering institutional guidance, and showing our power. Top right section: Journalism’s histories: A set of practices & traditions that upholds the status quo & ignores the margins. Omit: Stories about Black folks and everyone on the margins. A news station has a flag that says “myth of objectivity.” Another tradition shines a spotlight on the margins & refuses to look away! A la Ida B. Wells. A portrait of Ida B. Wells is shown. Bottom left section: Where has this brought us? 3 main approaches to coverage: 3D glasses with one pink lens and one blue lens. Cis lens is default and dominant: Nature documentary (behold the wild trans person), clinical (puzzle, not people), and scandalized (e.g. Jerry Springer, Ace Ventura, JK Rowling) & newsrooms (like CBS) are firing trans reporters. Below right section: What is our assignment? Pressure newsrooms, equip individual reporters to fight ‘em, humanize the story, multi-tactical, non-binary — work all the precious points & follow the data. Scoop the newsroom, tell a better story, work with & for each other, be our best resource. Build our own places. “Throw sand in the gears of genocide.” -Rasha Abdulhadi. Keep fighting!
Strategizing about a safer media ecosystem for trans people: The Objective’s first Trans Media Convening
April 13, 2026
A graphic showing the logo for the 2025 Nonprofit News Awards that says Winner: Breaking Barriers Award — The Objective.
The Objective wins its first INN Award!
September 15, 2025