Tessera

Dania Warhol (elle) is a Puerto Rican media maker calling much-needed attention to the water crisis on the island. Dania shared thoughts w/ us on how journalists can be accountable to movements by centering communities, keeping them safe & engaging in decolonization, popular education + more. 🇵🇷

How can journalists be accountable to grassroots justice movements? Dania Betún Warhol, EspicyNipples Founder. Includes photo of Dania, a visibly Black, transmasculine Puerto Rican person with cornrows, an Orula necklace, a black shirt that spells out the word "trans" in sign language, a microphone in one hand as if rapping, and a cell phone in the other, standing in front of an orange background wall.

As journalists, we are accountable to the people and to community-based movements, not to corporations, institutions, or powerful interests—and certainly not to the ‘like’ economy. Especially in these times we are living in with artificial intelligence and with all these narratives surrounding the issue of legality, that is a language and a discourse in itself that journalism has the ability to demystify and put the power (knowledge) in the hands of the people.

Therefore, a crucial first step for every journalist is to undertake the internal work of decolonizing themselves because possessing strong narrative techniques is insufficient if your practices and discourse reproduce the very same forms of violence you denounce. Furthermore, journalists must put their knowledge at the service of these movements through popular education, thereby ensuring that people from the most marginalized communities can continue this work.

Accountability also requires returning resources and visibility to communities, correcting mistakes, protecting vulnerable sources, refusing to provide coverage based solely on suffering, and remaining answerable to people and movements beyond publication.

Level up your backgrounding skills with Laura Kurtzberg, training director at Investigative Reporters and Editors @ire.org! Register for our virtual training by 9/9 @ bit.ly/backgroundingire. Backgrounding will help you tailor your interview strategies, verify images, videos & info + much more. 🕵️

Movement storyteller Zaira Campos (she/her) @adopteecrossing.bsky.social, one of our new grantee partners, is reporting on the intersection between abortion surveillance and child welfare investigation systems, and their negative impacts on Black, queer, disabled, and low-income families.

The theme of this year’s National Association of Black Journalists Convention, “OUR REVOLUTION: Truth, Power and Black Journalism,” set the tone for 4,000+ journalists who convened in ATL to build toward a media ecosystem that empowers Black communities. The Black press is alive and well! #NABJ26

Press On board member Lisa and Neesha smile and pose for a photo at the LGBTQ+ Task Force reception.

Neesha smiles and poses by a large sign that says, “Welcome. #NABJ26. August 12-16, 2026. Atlanta, GA. Our Revolution: Truth, Power and Black Journalism.”

Photo of a booklet that says, “The Trans News Initiative: for journalists, media researchers, community organizers & more. transnewsinitiative.org.”

Have you enjoyed a deliciously juicy slice of watermelon this summer? If so, take a few minutes this Labor Day to read our grantee Tonya Abari’s story for Offrange about how climate change is threatening farmers’ ability to grow watermelons at bit.ly/melonfarmers. 🎨: Adam Dixon

Kinda chic for us to follow the examples of ancestors like Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Claudia Jones, and Monica Roberts by advancing justice and liberation through the practice of movement journalism. 😎

Graphic with purple background that says, “Kinda chic to be a movement journalist” and features photos of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Monica Roberts, and Claudia Jones.

Graphic with purple background that says, “Kinda chic to be a movement journalist” and features a group photo of six movement media makers smiling and posing at a recent movement journalism meetup in Asheville, N.C.

Migrant Roots Media unearths the root causes of planetary migration through centering migrant voices. Their founding director, Roxana Bendezú (she/her), told us that journalists can be accountable to social movements by making sure those most impacted by oppression can tell their own stories.

Journalists can be accountable to grassroots justice movements by first recognizing that hegemonic media structures were not built for us; they were built to silence us. That means decentering institutional sources and treating movements not as objects of coverage, but as knowledge producers and collaborators.

Ideally, people directly impacted should become the ones reporting about their own communities: we are the experts on our own lives, our histories, our struggles, and our victories. Palestinian journalists reporting from Gaza under genocide are the most powerful proof of this truth. Counterhegemonic journalism isn't a style or a methodology; it's a daily political commitment to democratizing who gets to define reality.

The nonprofit Project NOLA may be using “crime cameras” to monitor migrant construction workers in New Orleans’ French Quarter, putting them at risk of ICE surveillance. Our fellow, Edith, spoke to organizers & advocates about this issue for @prismreports.org—read her story @ bit.ly/projectnola.

Image description from Prism: “Construction workers refuse to come down from a roof after U.S. Border Patrol agents conducted a raid at a construction site, on Dec. 3, 2025 in Metairie, La.”

In honor of Black August, we’re sharing advice for movement journalists from legendary Black lesbian feminist writer Barbara Smith, co-founder of the Combahee River Collective. We hosted an intergenerational conversation with her about Black feminist media past, present, and future in 2023.

Graphic with black and white photo of Barbara Smith with her hand on her chin and a quote that she shared during our 2023 event: “The way that Black journalists should function under capitalism ideally is to do work that undermines capitalism and that also illuminates how that system operates so that people can be more ready to seek alternatives to a system that only serves a tiny, microscopic proportion of humans on Earth.”

Learn the art & science of backgrounding—how to research sources before interviewing them, how to verify info, images & videos online + more—with Laura Kurtzberg, training director at Investigative Reporters and Editors @ire.org! Register for our 9/16 virtual training @ bit.ly/backgroundingire. 🔍

Krystal Kavita Jagoo, MSW (She/Her/Hers) 🇹🇹👊🏽✍️🏾♊️♊️♏️@equitableforall.com · 2mo ago

Movement journalists make sure that Black people aren’t erased in migrant narratives. For @prismreports.org, Alexandra Martinez writes about how Haitian communities are mobilizing as a recent Supreme Court ruling threatens Haitian migrant families—read the story @ bit.ly/tpsruling. 📸: Spencer Platt

Image description from Prism: “People hold posters during a news conference and rally on June 25, 2026, at a Manhattan, New York, union headquarters to support the Haitian and Syrian communities after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could end Temporary Protected Status for potentially millions of foreign nationals from countries such as Haiti and Syria.”

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AI data centers aren’t inevitable, and the people have the power to resist! Across the U.S. South, communities are speaking out against the harmful impacts of data centers. This artwork by Vy Vu reminds us that true power lies with the people. www.creativewildfire.org/vy-vu

Drawing of diverse community members unplugging from a data center and growing and making things that heal our communities. It says, “Ditch the data centers” on a little boy’s shirt and on a picket sign. There is a ribbon that says, “Our community’s heartbeat is more important than a data center’s hum. We will always need clean air, water & land.” It also says, “The future is ours to build” in a body of water next to the data center.

Movement journalists & movement artists share a commitment to reflect the cultural, social & political conditions of the oppressed with ethics and care. Here are a few tips from artists Sonia Guiñansaca & Julio Salgado for movement journalists looking to incorporate visual art into their practice. 🎨

Press On: How to Work With Movement Artists as a Movement Journalist. As told by Sonia Guiñansaca & Julio Salgado.

1. It’s important to be in community with artists and cultivate intentional relationships with artists and community members that are rooted in consent. We encourage you to continue nourishing these relationships post-collaboration.

2. Be honest and transparent about your budget when discussing the possibility of collaborating with an artist.

3. Bring artists into a project at the beginning versus at the last minute.

4. Trust the creative process. Ensure the number of allowable feedback/edit rounds are reflected in your scope of work, memorandum of understanding (MOU), or contract.

5. Who’s telling the story and who’s making the ultimate editorial decisions matters.

6. All of our roles within the social justice movement ecosystem are interconnected.

If you already know the principles & commitments of movement journalism, it’s time to take the next step! Learn what movement journalism looks like in action from award-winning journalist @tinavasquez.bsky.social—register for our August 12 Movement Journalism 201 training @ bit.ly/mj201training.

For @truthout.org and @solitarywatch.bsky.social, incarcerated journalist @kwanetaharris.bsky.social writes about how commemorating Black August transforms prisons—“spaces of intended destruction”—into “laboratories of liberation.” Read her piece at bit.ly/blackaugustliberation. 📸: Getty Images

Image description from Truthout: “Mourners give the Black Panther salute as the casket of George Jackson is carried from St. Augustine's Church in Oakland, California. Jackson, a Black Panther, was killed on August 21, 1971, by guards at San Quentin Prison.”

Shift Press is a movement journalism publication that makes sure youth in Houston, Texas are both seen and heard. Their director, Uyiosa Elegon (he/him), believes that journalists can be accountable to grassroots justice organizers by working to break down barriers between the two groups.

How can journalists be accountable to grassroots justice movements? By Uyiosa Elegon, Shift Press Director. Includes photo of a young Nigerian American man smiling while standing in front of a background of trees.

Journalists can be accountable to grassroots movements by considering themselves as a part of the work. Our framing, word usage, and sourcing all help or harm movements.

Journalists need to break the editorial fourth wall. More people need to know how we do what we do. We need to provide journalism trainings to grassroots movements so our people can learn, practice, and challenge editorial processes.

Journalists can be most accountable to grassroots movements when our people have the time, money, relationships, knowledge, and spiritual fortitude to uplift journalists or take them and their organizations out of business.

July is Disability Pride Month! Whether you’re a disabled journalist yourself or are able-bodied and wish to report on disability issues accurately, ethically, and respectfully, here are a few disability reporting tips based on our training last year with @thesicktimes.org & @newdisabledsouth.org.

We know that social movements and movement media are under state surveillance and vulnerable to attacks. Hilary Moore (she/they) of High Water Coaching (highwatercoaching.com) shared thoughts with us on how journalists can support the safety of grassroots justice organizers. 🎨: Asia Bordowa

How can journalists be accountable to grassroots justice movements? Hilary Moore. High Water Coaching Project Lead. Includes illustration of a woman with medium length light brown hair, blue eyes, and a blue hoodie.

Journalists can be accountable to grassroots justice movements by integrating the kinds of practices that keep more and more people safe. As stewards of key information, how you and your colleagues handle the data collected matters—you have the power to uplift and empower struggles, as well as expose people and make organizations more vulnerable.

Talk to organizers about the risks they face and get the support you need to play a meaningful part in mitigating those harms. Skilling up in this way is a critical part of our broader responsibility to grassroots justice movements and keeping each other safe.

Check out a recent investigation with important findings by Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net for The Dissident @ bit.ly/nyttransnews. Her analysis of over 3,242 NY Times articles uncovered a shift from affirming to skeptical editorial framing in the paper’s coverage of trans people starting in 2022.

Graphic with newspapers in the background that says, “Big surprise! The NYT continues to disappoint. A new study found that trans news coverage at the paper went from affirming and protective of trans rights to supportive of anti-trans policies and beliefs. Civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo tracked the newspaper from 2014-2026 and found that the New York Times shifted their editorial framing in coverage related to trans people beginning in 2022. Read Caraballo’s findings on The Dissident’s website at bit.ly/nyttransnews.”