kristi nelson bumpus stories knox news sentinel

#Kristi nelson bumpus stories knox news sentinel full
#Kristi nelson bumpus stories knox news sentinel series

Editors demanded less drive-by crime accounts and more nuanced and critical reporting on the criminal justice system. Q: What measures around diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging was your newsroom taking before this?Ī: The major effort underway was a de-emphasis on mayhem reporting - the constant drumbeat of stories about assaults and robberies and murders that blend into a long narrative of despair - that began in February 2019. We needed to change dramatically, to tackle our legacy, serve the present and improve for posterity. It was like being hit with a bucket of ice water. There was no reporting about the rich tapestry of lives lived in an entire part of Knoxville, and worse, it was creating and calcifying an image of neighborhoods that was distorted and deficient. “Google ‘East Knoxville,’” he said, “and tell me what comes up.” The results were dismaying: a shooting, a murder, an arson, a shooting, a body found, another shooting. He pointed out the damage using that broad geographic label does to the people who live there. McKenzie questioned a headline on a crime-related story that generically referred to East Knoxville, a collection of plurality Black neighborhoods in the city. Sam McKenzie, who represents parts of Knoxville. Q: When did you realize your organization had a problem to solve? Was there a specific event or incident that sparked your effort?Ī: The event that ignited our newsroom’s efforts to genuinely change our approach was a true emotional awakening. To reveal the triumphs and challenges of our whole community, to create a meaningful conversation centered on solutions, it is imperative that we truly and fully represent the experiences of Black communities in Knoxville.

And as human beings, we were failing to recognize the experiences of Black people who live here.

#Kristi nelson bumpus stories knox news sentinel full

As journalists, without telling the full story of our community, we were failing to present a full account of life in Knoxville. Q: What problem were you trying to solve, and why was solving the problem strategically important for your organization?Ī: Black communities had little or no trust in Knox News, so we distilled our solution to this: We will ensure that Black communities are truly and fully present in Knox News coverage. We weren’t including voices of color in our storytelling, outside of government and law enforcement, and we had followed that script throughout our history. In that project, we uncovered our history of coverage, dating back generations, that obscured the experiences of Black people in Knoxville, distorted their accomplishments and challenges, and outright tokenized people of color.

#Kristi nelson bumpus stories knox news sentinel series

It’s called Confederate Reckoning, a national award-winning series that delved into the legacy of racism in the South. We started executing a new coverage approach in 20 after joining a project with other USA TODAY Network–South newsrooms that critically examined coverage of Black communities. Few stories and videos, including from our newsroom, featured Knoxville’s Black communities in positive ways.

Coverage by major news outlets followed a familiar script: lots of stories about crime, and from a perspective that was almost exclusively institutional: police, prosecutors and judges.

Black communities make up 17% of the city’s population. Question: What communities do you serve and what can you tell us about the history of your organization?Īnswer: The Knoxville media market, like many across the nation, has typically served an audience that is primarily white and affluent, while practically one in four residents is a person of color. The Knoxville newsroom participated in the University of North Carolina-Knight Table Stakes program in 2020-21. This “win” comes from Joel Christopher, the executive editor for Knoxville News Sentinel (also called Knox News ) Brenna McDermott, the newsroom’s growth and development editor and Cynthia Benjamin, Gannett’s director of audience engagement and trust, based in Rochester, New York. This is a series on Better News to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative and b) share replicable tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole.