- Welcome to Independent Lens!
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
The words "mainstream media" get thrown around a lot these days.
However you define it, tonight's film Breaking the News
undoubtedly tries to redefine the genre.
The film tells the story
of a group of marginalized women,
people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community,
determined to bring
newer, fresher, and more inclusive perspectives
to the news.
The two leading ladies in the film
are Emily Ramshaw and Amanda Zamora,
two women who decided that the status quo had to change.
Ramshaw says 70% of news policy and policy editors
are almost all white males
who make decisions on what gets reported in the news.
Ramshaw and Zamora saw this and asked themselves,
"How do we feature those non-represented people
and include them in our coverage?"
So, they took action and changed the narrative.
They founded an independent news organization called The 19th*,
a not-for-profit digital news outfit
named after the amendment that gave women the right to vote.
There's also an asterisk next to The 19th*,
which acknowledges Black women and other women of color
who were not able to vote until much later.
Ramshaw and Zamora say,
"It's the asterisk that guides them
and keeps them focused on those who do not have a voice."
Their mission was in full display
when they were the first news outfit
to break the Breonna Taylor murder story.
Without The 19th*,
Taylor's murder would never have received the attention it did.
To add to the multitude of challenges
in launching a major news operation
with the business model they did,
the 19th* had to wade through the COVID-19 pandemic
in its infancy.
Breaking the News was directed and produced
by a trio of talented filmmakers--
Heather Courtney, Princess A. Hairston, and Chelsea Hernandez.
All three of the directors have journalism backgrounds,
which complements their filmmaking and storytelling.
They're also committed to the mission
of getting the word out
about The 19th* with an asterisk
through their award-winning documentary.
The 19thnews.org website
notes that you won't find on the site:
Cheap shots or cheerleading.
Opinions or false equivalency.
Partisanship.
Horse race politics.
In a statement of its values, the organization says,
"Our reporting will be rooted in
facts, data, evidence, and excellence."
Since the film's completion,
others are cheerleading for them.
The film made its worldwide debut
at the Tribeca Film Festival,
where it was nominated for Best Feature Documentary.
Breaking the News starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.