Pricey Reader,
Once I was rising up in northeast Louisiana, half-truths and tall tales had been as a lot part of the cultural panorama as casually displayed Accomplice flags, blooming magnolia bushes, and pesky mosquito bites. Mendacity was deemed socially acceptable in lots of cases; folks lived by the adage “by no means let the reality get in the way in which of an excellent story.”
My 4 siblings and I had been accustomed to aunts and uncles sharing numerous tales so grandiose that we’re nonetheless questioning how a lot was grounded in actuality and the way a lot was the results of vivid imaginations.
However my father, born and raised in Chicago, didn’t esteem this explicit Southern custom. He and my mom had one hard-and-fast rule for his or her youngsters: completely no mendacity.
This precept was so deeply ingrained that untruths nonetheless unnerve me—particularly from these with the ability to affect folks, like information organizations.
As a communications skilled dedicated to uplifting the work of organizations devoted to collective liberation, I consider the best challenges to freedom are disinformation, the rewriting of historical past for political acquire, and the weaponization of individuals’s lack of awareness to additional disempower them.
As the brand new interim govt director of YES!, I’m pleased with our protection, which embodies journalism’s core tenet to inform the reality—with out shedding sight of the humanity of the folks on the heart of our protection.
YES! is dedicated to resisting the callous cynicism present in a lot mainstream media, as a substitute elevating vital context and options which might be already rising inside communities most impacted by the problems usually decreased to mere marketing campaign speaking factors.
Our dedication to the YES! viewers throughout this election cycle (and at all times) is to proceed offering correct reporting grounded in fact, and commentary and context that courageously identify the forces making an attempt to divide us. As a media group, we all know that truth-telling is our greatest shot to satisfy our mission and encourage folks to “construct a extra simply, sustainable, and compassionate world.”
Consider that.
Khalilah R. Elliott
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Khalilah Elliott
is the interim govt director of YES! Media, a former vice-chair of YES! Media’s board of administrators, and the founder and chief disruptor of Gafford Communications, a dynamic social-impact consulting agency dedicated to partnering with nonprofits, inventive establishments, philanthropic organizations, and socially acutely aware manufacturers to drive transformative change. |
