Jiquanda Johnson

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Jiquanda Johnson (born 1976) is an American journalist who founded Flint Beat in Flint, Michigan in 2017 and reported on, among other things, the Flint water crisis. [1] The site has become important for national news organizations and community members, which use her reporting and Flint Beat to chronicle the long-term effects and historical conditions in Flint related to the crisis. [2] [3]

Contents

Career

Johnson is a Michigan native who reported on the Flint water crisis and many other issues for Detroit News, Flint Journal and NBC News. Johnson is currently the CEO of Brown Impact Media Group, an independent media company she founded in 2014, [4] [5] and sits on the board of directors as vice president for East Lansing Info, a local newsroom covering East Lansing, Michigan. [6]

Flint Beat

Johnson's career as a journalist began in 2002 with The Detroit News, before moving to the Flint Journal and, later, Flint Beat. [3] [7] She talked about the founding and growth of Flint Beat on the PBS program "The Follow Up" in 2019, talking about the news gaps in Flint that drove her to launch the site, and how community was at the heart of creating Flint Beat. [8] "They're not voiceless," she said in an interview with the Poynter Institute, "They just don't have a platform. Flint Beat is that platform." [9]

In interviews, Johnson has said it's challenging to report on her own community where she grew up and has recounted her own daughter's exposure to lead in Flint's water, as well as to gun violence, as challenges. [10] [9] Additional challenges that Johnson has faced with Flint Beat as a startup newsroom is a lack of funding; while she struggled with funding the newsroom in its first few years, [9] the newsroom had "record breaking" fundraising years in 2020 and 2021, with additional support from programs like Report for America. [11] [12]

In 2021, Flint Beat won the "News Media Publication of the Year" award from the Michigan Press Association. [13]

News Movement

Following the creation of Flint Beat, Johnson developed an educational program, News Movement, to train students in reporting practices and journalism. [14] [15] The after-school and summer camp program, for youth in North Flint, is grant-funded by the Ruth Mott Foundation and housed at the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village. [16]

Facebook censorship

In 2018, Johnson came into national spotlight as a journalist whose posts about racism were removed by Facebook. [1] She had posted images of the aftermath of her father's truck being vandalized with racial slurs and having its tires slashed, before her posts were removed from the site and she faced a temporary ban. [17]

The company reversed course and apologized following the harassment Johnson faced as well as the outcry online after she revealed the ban; Johnson maintains it was due to her being a journalist, "noting that people in her professional network knocked on Facebook's virtual door about this action." [17]

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References

  1. 1 2 "How Flint Journalist Jiquanda Johnson Is Reporting On The Water Crisis From The Inside". Bustle. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  2. ↑ Dunn, Patrick (April 30, 2020). "Michigan innovators step up to reverse nationwide decline in health journalism". Second Wave Michigan. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  3. 1 2 "'We're old news, but we're still living this' — mistrust still flows in Flint". Los Angeles Times. 2019-07-30. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  4. ↑ "Jiquanda Johnson and Ann Nichols Appointed to East Lansing Info Board of Directors | ELi Archives". eastlansinginfo.org. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  5. ↑ Ramirez, Cynthia (2022-04-13). "Photos: Albion College NAACP Hosts Celebratory Luncheon". The Albion College Pleiad Online. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  6. ↑ "ELi Takes a Reporting Pause to Assess Next Steps". East Lansing Info. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  7. ↑ "From Flint To Chautauqua, Change A City's Narrative". post-journal.com. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  8. ↑ The Follow Up | 11/26/19 Aftershow with Jiquanda Johnson | Season 3 | Episode 9 , retrieved 2022-06-29
  9. 1 2 3 Hare, Kristen (2018-09-05). "She knew how to cover Flint. Now she's figuring out how to make that coverage sustainable". Poynter. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  10. ↑ Eichenstein, Alex (2020-05-15). "Q&A: Jiquanda Johnson on moving beyond the gun violence problem to find solutions". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  11. ↑ "The Renaissance Of The Black Press - Ms. Magazine". msmagazine.com. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  12. ↑ McKown, Lauren (2021-04-05). "Even without deep pockets, Main Street shows up to support local news". Poynter. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  13. ↑ Stockrahm, Kate (2022-03-18). "Flint Beat wins 2021 Local News Media Publication of the Year, nine more awards". Flint Beat. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  14. ↑ "Jiquanda Johnson". ivoh. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  15. ↑ "Media". SBEV. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  16. ↑ "News Movement". Ruth Mott Foundation. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  17. 1 2 "Opinion | Facebook reverses itself after suspending Michigan journalist who denounced racism". Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
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