This week the award-winning journalist Tre’Vell Anderson, stopped by Wallis Annenberg Hall as a guest of their Lunch and Learn conversation moderated by Dr. Allissa V. Richardson. Anderson had a lot to say about diversity in the newsroom, the media’s failings, and how to make it better.
In the spirit of coming together for an educational conversation about diversity within the field of journalism, the Charlotta Bass Journalism and Justice Lab welcomed Tre’Vell Anderson for a moderated discussion. Kaleef Starks has the story.
The Black non-binary podcast host and former Los Angeles Times Film reporter spoke with Dr. Allissa V. Richardson about radical authenticity within today’s media landscape. Richardson, founding director of USC’s Charlotta Bass Journalism and Justice Lab, says it’s important for students to see a successful journalist who is outside of the typical mold.
Allissa Richardson: I think for me, in the space that I occupy as an educator, it’s important for me to bring my classroom to a broader audience at Annenberg so people can begin to see what it might look like to practice inclusion in real time. It’s fine when we talk about diversity and inclusion and all of these different buzzwords, but it really becomes important to students to see themselves in the classroom.
Recently named on Out Magazine’s 2023 list of most impactful LGBTQ+ people, Anderson’s career in journalism highlights the importance of resilience in an ever-changing industry. The South Carolina native shared their thoughts about the concept of objectivity for journalists from underrepresented communities.
Tre’Vell Anderson: Objectivity is a machination of white supremacy. Objectivity is just subjectivity from the vantage point of those who are already in power. Everybody has biases. Nobody can be objective. But what we can be as journalists, right? We can be accurate. We can be precise. We can be thorough.
A journalist who centers stories about identities along the margins, Anderson encourages journalists to challenge the status quo through their storytelling for more representation.
Anderson: Our stories will be disregarded, they will be diminished, they will be disrespected. That’s just the landscape that we’re dealing with and that’s because the foundation of our industry has already disrespected us and our stories. So, that’s going to continue. If we are interested in changing what this record looks like as it relates to our communities, we are going to have to play the game. By which I mean, how you can make these stories feel important and of consequence to the people who are in power, so that we can continue telling them, so that more people can see the possibilities of how they can exist.
They also shared their thoughts about the notion of how bias is seen for reporters of color and/or those from excluded communities. They feel that their identity improves their reporting.
Anderson: The problem is it’s only our biases as black people, as queer people, as folks from historically excluding communities that get deemed as a problem. Our counterparts, their biases, it’s just normal. I think what we’re trying to get to a place and an articulation of, in terms of being black journalists specifically, but I think this applies to other communities as well. My life experiences and the identities that have shaped me can always help inform the work that I’m doing, and if we’re able to acknowledge the truth of our realities as human beings, and our complexities as human beings, that only improves the reporting.
Richardson says Anderson’s visit is a display of ‘inclusion in real time’.
Slay on!
For Annenberg Media, I’m Kaleef Starks.