MediaJustice

Over the past several months, we’ve grappled with the fact that the collusion between Big Tech and Media and governments have shaped the unequal terrain that has harmed, exploited, and suppressed BIPOC marginalized voices. It’s clear that though our movements have been able to secure major wins, we lack the power to truly turn the tide against the monopoly media and tech corporations hold over us. The platforms we use to disseminate education, mobilize across communities, and bridge accessibility gaps are the same media that shadowban us, uphold hate speech in the name of free speech, and prioritize profit over people. But this unfair advantage stops now. At MediaJustice, we’re proud to announce our organizational strategy, #ShiftingTerrain, which points to the reality that we are fighting on conditions we would not choose for ourselves. It also refers to the potential of a new media and tech landscape, as we build the power we need to make bigger wins possible. We’re reimagining what it will take to truly reclaim our digital future by: ⭐️ Delivering political education grounded in a racial justice analysis to advance a new, shared “common sense” for the role media and technology should play in our society.  ⭐️ Closing relationship and collaboration gaps between social movements and advocacy organizations through convenings and campaigns to build our collective power. Over the next five years, we believe it is our mandate and responsibility to wage fights that weaken the power of the media and tech industry and strengthen the power and capacity of the media justice movement. And we call to anyone who dreams of a just digital world: we need you with us. Learn more about how the conditions our communities are facing make this a pivotal moment for us to reshape the digital terrain, from our very own Executive Director Steven Renderos. https://lnkd.in/ezSmKsqg

This is your yearly reminder: rest is radical and is integral to the movement for media justice🗣️ As we prepare to take action in the face of fascist policies, Team MediaJustice will be enjoying some much needed rest during our office closure from now till the New Year. We’ve got a lot of work to do in 2025, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t rest our bodies and take time to be with our loved ones. Keep an eye out for our political education and actions in the New Year. This fight is not over.

Ahead of Trump’s second term inauguration in January, we are preparing to do more than just react during Trump’s initial 100 days — we’re making long-term strides that fortify our media justice movement to protect our people and ensure that we have the opportunity to fight in the future. This #GivingTuesday, we’re asking for your support as we mobilize our people and resources to build cross-movement solidarity and advance interventions toward liberation. A gift supports our team in 2025 as we: 🎯 Actively close relationship gaps and build power between movements and advocacy organizations. 🎯 Develop curriculum and political education materials, circulating a “new common sense” to ensure that social movements understand media and tech’s role in oppression. Join us as we reclaim media and technology from the unchecked power of Big Tech and Media corporations by donating today. https://lnkd.in/dCDkY2MZ

We're hiring! MediaJustice is looking for a dedicated and detail-oriented Director of Finance to join our team to advance people-centered media and technology. An ideal candidate will: ✅ Bring 10+ years of experience in monitoring the financial health of a nonprofit and will support positioning the organization's financial resources for maximum alignment with our goals ✅ Play a crucial role in collaboration and alignment between all staff at MediaJustice around finance tasks and needs ✅ Have a strong desire to support the movement for media and technology justice with a racial justice analysis We'd love to see you and your comrades' applications, which we're accepting until 12/3. https://lnkd.in/eGjDUWxZ

In September, we convened our staff for the first time in our new organizational formation to align ourselves around this next chapter for MediaJustice. Nestled in the Hudson Valley, we took time to celebrate our journey, reground ourselves in the current tech and media terrain, and pave the path ahead for our movement. This is the latest stage in our 15 years advocating against the harms of Big Tech and Media. As technology and corporate harms have accelerated in an unprecedented time, we clapbacked with our people-centered organizing and political education. As we embark on this new chapter, we asked our staff to reflect on why now is a pivotal moment for our #ShiftingTerrain strategy. Though we all approach this work from different intersections, our commitment remains the same: we will BLOCK the media and tech industry’s attempts to expand their power and BUILD a people-centered movement that will achieve a liberated media and tech future for us all.

What makes you hopeful for a future media and tech landscape that is led by our communities? We asked our MJ comrades in the digital equity space to discuss how affordable, reliable, and community-led broadband internet access could narrow the digital divide and bring power back to our communities and they had a lot to say. Stories like these are not isolated. The digital divide disproportionately impacts the Black Rural South, who make up some of the most disconnected communities in the U.S. Last year, we traveled to Utica, Mississippi to hear from community members directly about their lived experiences and hopes for the future. Culminating from the unique history of Utica and its relationship with technology, we collaborated with community members to produce our first documentary, Deeper Than a Div/de. Released last April, the film unveils the challenges the Utica community faces, as well as the shared stories of hope for a connected future. Revisit our documentary to hear directly from Utica, MS community members on how the lack of reliable broadband access has created barriers to participate in our increasingly online world and how solutions need to be by and accountable to the community. https://lnkd.in/ervEr22A

Check out our Executive Director, Steven Renderos, speaking with UCLA Center on Race and Digital Justice Founder and Director Safiya Noble, Ph.D. today on how our new strategy is #ShiftingTerrain away from the collusion of Big Media and Tech and toward a liberatory future. Part of Aligned 2024, we're creating a people-centered future where we reclaim our tech and media landscape. https://lnkd.in/gUwyuAW3

Convenings like Take Back Tech II are unprecedented in the movement space. That’s why we are dedicated to creating convening spaces like #TakeBackTech with our new strategy, #ShiftingTerrain. We are devoted to continuing to host community-building and strategy-expansive spaces for all of us to reclaim narrative power and build the media and tech landscape our people deserve.. Co-hosting #TakeBackTech back in June with Mijente helped us by building stronger relationships with YOU, our comrades. We need to enable the field to take on fights with the clarity and power needed to accomplish durable wins that weaken the power of the tech and media industry while strengthening the power of the movement field.  As we look forward to the future, let’s reflect on the lessons we learned back in June- our power lies in building community, and resisting the oppression of Big Media and Tech with joy and collective knowledge. If you missed Take Back Tech II this year, check out our recap blog: https://lnkd.in/e-_wbZFA

Electronic monitoring (EM) is the latest technology in the long line and history of social control under racial capitalism. EM is a form of digital incarceration, often in the form of a wrist or ankle “shackle” that can monitor a person’s location, among other exploitative data. Though it may be framed as positive reform, we know it’s actually just an alternative form of mass incarceration, violating the privacy of people and their loved ones, limiting financial opportunities, and reinforcing harmful stigmas. Let’s be clear: surveillance and criminalization of Black, Indigenous, and migrant communities is not new. However, the technology law enforcement agencies have access to in order to oppress Black and brown communities has shifted as technology has evolved. Last year, we launched our Unshackling Freedom toolkit, designed to combat e-carceration in our communities. We also launched a three-part learning series, which discusses the strategies and tools needed to catalyze a collective movement against this violence. As we continue implementing our new strategy, #ShiftingTerrain, we will continue to develop the political education materials necessary to combat these harms. Until then, we invite you to revisit our previous Unshackling Freedom toolkit and series to learn how you can get involved. https://lnkd.in/eXapnYdf

What is possible in a future without media and technology harms? This is the question we asked our 400+ participants who attended #TakeBackTech II, the first BIPOC-led tech and media movement convening of its kind. Co-hosted with Mijente, we convened nationwide organizers, community members, and tech workers nationwide to deepen relationships across movements and discuss strategies we'll need to combat technology's worst harms. Bridging these relationships is exactly the type of movement-building work we are emphasizing in our new strategy, #ShiftingTerrain. By shifting our current terrain, we’re creating the conditions necessary to dismantle the existing media and technology system and build people-centered governance. Now we’d like to hear from you: What do you think is possible in a future without media and technology harms? What will we create together?Join the conversation by responding here!