Black-owned media outlets are grappling with the same financial headwinds affecting much of journalism — including declining ad revenue, uncertain digital business models and the challenge of connecting with audiences through video. But their obstacles are also distinct.
While Black Americans are among the country's most engaged news consumers, they make up a smaller share of the U.S. population and often have less disposable income to spend on media subscriptions.
Those pressures have pushed several Black-owned outlets to scale back, fold or reinvent themselves. Yet the appetite for journalism that captures the full scope of Black life in America is still there. Ashley Allison hopes to reimagine that space.
A Democratic political strategist and CNN commentator, Allison is the founder of Watering Hole Media, the company that recently acquired the digital media outlet The Root from G/O Media. The acquisition marks the online magazine's return to Black ownership for the first time in years. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
She says The Root's founding in 2008, the year Barack Obama was elected, captured a moment of new energy around digital storytelling.
"The Root's purpose was to bring news to Black audiences through a digital platform. It was extremely successful in its founding."
"That campaign really used social and digital media to connect to a piece of the electorate that sometimes felt left aside by mainstream media," Allison told Morning Edition. In an interview with NPR's Michel Martin, Allison shared her thoughts on the future of The Root and how it will navigate the current challenges being faced by media companies.
Interview highlights
Michel Martin: The Root has changed ownership several times since it was founded in 2008. In 2015, Graham Holdings sold it to Univision. Then in 2019, it changed hands again and went to a company that used to be called Gawker, now G/O Media. Has something been lost with the change of hands, in your view?
Ashley Allison: I think every owner has a vision for what they want the publication to be, including myself. So I can't really speak to what those folks wanted to do, but I know in this moment, we look at this platform as an opportunity not just to tell Black stories and talk about the Black experience in this country. The reason people keep wanting to buy this outlet is because it's a successful one that can thrive in this economy.
Martin: This is a moment of intense pressure and scrutiny on media companies. Have you thought about that, and how do you plan to address that?
Allison: I think anyone who works in journalism has thought about that. But it cannot deter us from standing in truth and facts. We want to be rooted in data, in science and in truth. There is a place for commentary and opinion, for sure, but all of that commentary, we will not be a site that pushes mis- or disinformation. We just have to stand and draw a line in the sand.
Martin: What is your benchmark of success?
Allison: We want our readers to continue to engage with our writing and our video. We want to be not just an online publication, but also an offline one. We've done in-person activations, but we want to go into communities, talk to people and engage. Most importantly, when people look at The Root, I want it to do what it did for me: give you a blueprint to be aspirational and inspirational and know that anything is possible, even if you haven't already encountered it.
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