On #BlackLivesMatter and Journalism

In this refined version of a 2020 talk given to journalism students at Duke University, Professor Sarah Jackson reflects on the newsroom controversies and tensions that have accompanied the rise of #BlackLivesMatter. She argues that normative news values have always been at least partially subservient to the larger values of society, which means that, in the United States at the very least they are unavoidably and structurally racist even as they simultaneously represent real efforts on behalf of an occupational group to enact values that help democracy function properly. Jackson’s goal in this powerful piece is for journalists to be more self-reflective about the manner by which their professional efforts can harm particular people and groups even while it purports to benefit society at large.