Synopsis: Residents in North Carolina struggle for basics after Hurricane Helene's devastation; local BIPOC media step in to provide crucial support and information. ¿Cómo redefinieron el periodismo medios locales durante el huracán? Brooklyn Brown y Magaly Urdiales comparten sus experiencias en el último episodio de "Meet the BIPOC Press" Short Description: Some residents had no food, electricity, or cell service after Hurricane Helene ravaged the western part of North Carolina in October. Amidst misinformation and no information, local media had to step in to inform desperate people fast. This month on “Meet the BIPOC Press”, we explore what media outlets did to serve their people in that moment. Guests: • Brooklyn Brown (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians): Reporter, Cherokee One Feather • Magaly Urdiales: Co-founder, JMPRO Community Media • Amir Khafagy (Co-host): Journalist, Report for America Member, Documented Full Conversation Release: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on Public TV and community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation. These audio exclusives are made possible thanks to our member supporters. Become a supporting member at https://LauraFlanders.org/Donate
Description: Some residents had no food, electricity, or cell service after Hurricane Helene ravaged the western part of North Carolina in October. Amidst misinformation and no information, local media had to step in to inform desperate people fast. This month on “Meet the BIPOC Press”, we explore what media outlets did to serve their people in that moment. Laura and co-host Amir Khafagy, a journalist with the New York City-based publication Documented, speak with two local BIPOC media projects that saved lives and expanded their relationship with their communities. Our guests are Brooklyn Brown, Reporter for Cherokee One Feather, the local newspaper of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; and Magaly Urdiales, co-founder of JMPRO Community Media (“Justice Media Project”), a grassroots nonprofit that shares essential news and information with immigrant communities in Spanish, English and Mayan Indigenous languages. As they found themselves at the frontlines of relief efforts, how did these local outlets redefine journalism?
“. . . Objectivity doesn't have to be cold. Reporting the facts doesn't have to be without passion. That's something I see a lot in community journalism, is that we are able to practice good journalism while also having a heart for the community that we're covering.” - Brooklyn Brown
“I think many barriers and many problems of the corporate media came in place. We were called for people that were looking for a story, that were looking for somebody that was crying because their loved one wasn't found yet. And for us it was frustrated . . . in a moment like this, that can be transactional.” - Magaly Urdiales
Guests:
• Brooklyn Brown (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians): Reporter, Cherokee One Feather
• Magaly Urdiales: Co-founder, JMPRO Community Media
• Amir Khafagy (Co-host): Journalist, Report for America Member, Documented
Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:
• Where Do We Go From Here? Frontline Activists Talk Election ‘24 Takeaways, Watch / Podcast: Abridged or Full Conversation
• Climate Change Journalism: Moving Frontline Communities from the Sideline to the Center, Watch / Podcast
• BIPOC Press for the People: Bursting the Corporate Media Bubble, Watch / Podcast: Abridged or Full Conversation
Related Articles and Resources:
• “Joey in chaos,” The giving heart of the Ice Cream Social, by Brooklyn Brown, October 15, 2024, Cherokee One Feather
• JM Pro Community Media Podcast, Listen
• Helene Response and Recovery, updates posted daily - Ashville, NC
Full Episode Notes are located HERE. They include related episodes, articles, and more.
LAURA FLANDERS & FRIENDS
FULL, UNCUT CONVERSATION | BIPOC MEDIA ANSWERS THE CALL:
COMMUNITY ACTION AFTER HURRICANE HELENE
Watch / Listen, Download and Subscribe to the Podcast
NARRATOR: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on public TV and community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation. The following is from our Meet The BIPOC Press series. This month, we explore how local BIPOC led media amidst misinformation and no information served and informed their community in the wake of hurricane Helane in Western North Carolina. These audio exclusives are made possible thanks to our member supporters.
LAURA FLANDERS: Hurricane Helene caused unprecedented damage across Western North Carolina. The Office of State and Budget and Management estimates a total of $53,000,000,000 in damages alone, and statewide recovery efforts are still underway. Amidst misinformation and no information, local media had to step up to inform desperate people fast. No local media outlet these days has all the resources it needs. And so today, we are recognizing and honoring 2 local media projects that in spite of all the odds they personally faced as institutions saved lives and expanded their relationship to the communities they serve. With me to help do that honoring and discussing is cohost, Amir Khafaji. He is an immigrant and labor reporter for Documented, which is based in Queens, New York. Amir, welcome back. Glad to have you.
AMIR KHAFAGY: Laura, it's always a pleasure. Thank you for having me. In North Carolina, collaborations with existing community networks, many BIPOC led local news organizations found themselves on the front lines of relief efforts and redefined what service journalism is actually about. I'm happy to introduce our guest today. Brooklyn Brown, a reporter for Cherokee One Feather, the local newspaper of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians based in Cherokee, North Carolina. Also with us is Magaly Urdiales, the cofounder of JMPRO Community Media, a grassroots nonprofit that shares essential news and information with immigrant communities by producing print, radio, and online journalism in Spanish, English, and Mayan indigenous languages. Thank you both for joining us today.
BROOKLYN BROWN: Thank you.
LAURA FLANDERS: It is really great to have you both. Let's start with giving, for our audience who are around the country some sense of the communities that we're talking about. Can you help paint that picture, Brooklyn? Let's start with you.
BROOKLYN BROWN: Yes. So, Western North Carolina is, Appalachian community. My news outlet in particular covers the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. We're the ancient indigenous civilization of Western North Carolina.
LAURA FLANDERS: And what about you, Magaly?
MAGALY URDIALES: Yeah. So our community media channel covers all Western North Carolina counties, and we were located in one of the counties that was most impacted by the hurricane, which was Sonanoa.
AMIR KHAFAGY: So, Brooklyn, I was hoping you can tell me more about the mission of Cherokee One Feather. I work for a community based media outlet in New York called Document in New York, and we sometimes feel like we do more than just straight reporting. And it seems like your news organization does that as well. Can you tell us more about what that reporting is like and what else you do as an organization?
BROOKLYN BROWN: Yes. So the Cherokee Warnefeather, it is a community newspaper. It's community journalism. So our mission, our goal is to provide information to the Cherokee community, which is particularly the koala boundary, which is the land trust in Cherokee, North Carolina that our members of the Eastern Band live on, but it can also be off boundary. We have members of the Eastern Band off boundary, and so what we do is we provide information that the community needs. That can be anything from food drives to hard hitting investigative journalism.
LAURA FLANDERS: And what about JMPRO? Can you tell us more about that and how did it get its name, Magaly?
MAGALY URDIALES: Well, we got our name because we believe that media is a powerful tool to change society and to move social justice in our communities. It came from the Justice Media Project, and we have a very strong foundation on community organizing. And because we believe that combining those efforts of media skills and community organizing, we can really help to change things in our community. And, especially with the hurricane, I think JMPRO Community Media has already been working in the communities in the pandemic and have the structure to just have a group of community reporters that can work in rapid response mode. So we can go to the communities and start helping in any way we can because the hurricane got us on guard. I mean, you know, we hear about this kind of natural disaster more in Florida. But when we hear about Buncombe County, Western North Carolina, we think about the beautiful mountains, and we didn't think about, you know, the danger that we can be in these kinds of disasters.
LAURA FLANDERS: So tell us but describe, if you would, what it was like for you that day, the day that you decided you had to sort of jump into action around the hurricane, Magaly.
MAGALY URDIALES: Well, I think on the first day, we were really surprised. We were getting out because we didn't have electricity. We didn't have water. We didn't have an Internet connection. We didn't have phone services, and we had just one tank of gasoline. And we were going around just trying to look for ways to go out. My neighborhood was trapped. It was damaged all around it. It was unbelievable to see a whole house submerged in water. And then with no services, with no electricity, we were getting this is going to be really bad for us. So our only question was where can we start? I mean, we have our community reporters in different counties, and then we couldn't get connected with them. We didn't know if they were okay. So we start driving little by little looking for safe roads that we can start going through by car, making sure that we also save the gas because I mean, the gas station was closed. So you have to really be careful about how long you can go until you are without any gas. So that is how we start doing an assessment of the surrounding places just to see the damage and then to see how we can go through the other places closer to us. Yeah. And then I think after that, we were thinking, how can we get our helicopter? There is no way we can get to those places without us getting trapped as well. So, yeah, I think it was the first thing and the most important thing was the assessment. And, also, you know that we are families. Another question was, we have kids, and people were calling us, saying to us, are you going to evacuate? And it was for us a moral decision, a moral decision. How can we evacuate when we felt that we have the responsibility to use the infrastructure that we have already built and to start helping with the skills that we have? So by 2 AM in the morning, we start calling. And I say 2 AM in the morning because that was the only time that we can get a little bit of signal. We have to walk through the mountain, the higher place to get a signal and start calling people just to make sure we can get connected with the resources that we have in other places.
AMIR KHAFAGY: Brooklyn, I was wondering if you can speak to the same situation of how your news organization, Cherokee One Feather, responded to the hurricane and also responded to other crises like the pandemic. And also, how would you describe the Cherokee cultural values that you grew up with and, how you, the cultural values that the organization strives for, informed the crisis and the response to the crisis?
BROOKLYN BROWN: Right. Yeah. So fortunately, the Cherokee, North Carolina area was one of the more less affected areas of the hurricane, and we still were impacted. You know? We still had flooding. We still had power outages, but just not as devastating as other areas. However, we did have members who lived off boundary in areas like Swannanoa and Haywood County that did lose everything, including our editor here at the One Feather, Robert Jumper. And so because of that, we instituted a Cherokee value we call Gadugi. It is a word in Cherokee that means community lending a hand, offering what you can. And so the eastern band mobilized. The principal chief, Michelle Hicks, tallied up, I think, 3,200,000 in supplies and funding for that crisis. Similarly during the pandemic, it's, Goddogee community. It's about helping your neighbor, being there for your neighbor, and, like I said, giving what you can, which could be money. It could be cleaning supplies. It could be just a prayer. So that's what we did, here at the One Feather. That's what we were doing and continue to do as Cherokee people, is.
AMIR KHAFAGY: When you say you said something interesting. You said off boundary, and I think I've made it while we were prepping for this, I made the mistake of saying reservation. Is there a difference? Could you explain that a little bit for someone who might not know?
BROOKLYN BROWN: Yes. So the reason that it's called the boundary and not the reservation is because we own the land. It's our land. It's the Kualoa Boundary. It's a land trust. It's not a reservation. And the boundary is Cherokee, North Carolina, but it's the counties of Swing County and Jackson County. So that's sort of like our localized area. We also have parts of the boundary in Cherokee County and Graham County, so that's Robbinsville and Murphy areas, but like I said off boundary is our members who are living in places that are not technically the koala boundary, but they are still members of the Eastern Band, and they're still members of our people that we care about and wanna help in crisis.
LAURA FLANDERS: Got it. I'm so struck listening to the both of you. I'm as I'm sure you are, Amir. I'm thinking a lot of the journalists in Gaza who are figuring out how to continue doing the reporting they need to be doing even as their families are in crisis. Obviously, you know, not to shed distinctions here and differences, but I'm so impressed that organizations that we know struggle, each of your organizations struggle on a daily basis simply to survive as we do. And yet you came together to be doing this work. To others who are facing crises right now in local journalism, perhaps, or covering local crises or communities feeling in crisis after the election and after everything that we've been through this year, What's your most useful learning perhaps? How did you stretch? What did you learn? What did you get inspired by that you might wanna share? Brooklyn.
BROOKLYN BROWN: Yeah. What I kept coming back to were the stories. These were all individual stories that come into the larger narrative of love and community outpouring. Appalachian Communities, Western North Carolina, we are who are rebuilding. We were the ones on the ground with our neighbors helping, mothers saving their drowning children, neighbors saving each other in the flood. So that's what inspired me and continues to inspire me in crisis is that in this tragedy, we had such an outpouring of neighborly love, And that's what community journalism is about, is sharing those individual stories that come together to show just the strength of a community.
LAURA FLANDERS: Magaly, what about you? I mean, there were news reports at time, as I understand it, telling journalists and others to stay away.
MAGALY URDIALES: Well, I and I think back to what was the most needed at that moment, I think many barriers and many problems of the corporate media came in place. We were called for people that were looking for a story, that were looking for somebody that was crying because their loved one wasn't found yet. And for us, it was frustrating. It was frustrating how transactional, in a moment like this, that can be. So Transactional. We'll give you if you give us, etcetera. Yeah. So at the moment, when people were, you know, trying to connect with us, asking how we can support you, what can we do for you, those first days, the most important need was food, electricity, shelter, water. So I think that for us, it is important in this time of crisis to check ourselves, to check our boxes, and evaluate what we can do to support, how can we be transformational, and how can we use the power of media to connect to a bigger resource. Because what we needed at the moment is that if you have connections with huge companies that have a helicopter, hey. Make that connection and call and let them know that we need that. If you have that power of people in power that can bring water immediately, we need that right now. I, myself, was processing water from the rain the first day because we just needed a little bit of water for our basic needs. So I think, yes, I think the media needs to be more transformational. And one of the things that has been a strain of JMPRO is JMPRO Community Media is that before this crisis, we take the time to know the community. We take the time to have listening spaces where we can listen to the needs of the community. Many people were saying, how can we send to you maybe some computers or maybe some forms that you can use it without knowing that before this crisis, even before the pandemic, there are rural areas that even though if you have a computer, you won't have connection because you don't have, for example, satellite Internet connection. That was the only thing that was working in this area, but we couldn't have access to that because it's not something that is accessible for organizations and groups like that.
AMIR KHAFAGY: But, Magaly, I was wondering and everything you said, I resonate with, my news organization documented. I was wondering in times of crisis, it seems that misinformation, hence, spread like wildfire. How did your news organization combat that?
MAGALY URDIALES: I think, go directly to the source. One thing is that I was receiving calls from people all over the country, right, And people that were local that decided to evacuate, which was their option, and I don't blame them. Right? But what we needed was to be present. And I think one strategy for us is to be there. If we hear that, hey. Somebody is in need of shelter. Let's go. Let's knock on the door, and let's ask who needs shelter. But then when somebody says, please let me know who needs this shelter because I have somebody that can help. You have to be careful because you have to go yourself and walk with them and see what is the resource that you are offering, how this resource is going to be available to them, how accessible it is going to be, and what are the requirements. Because everything was moving fast, we didn't have the time just to give people, this is a number. You can connect with this resource. We needed to follow-up. We needed to be present. We needed to be here. If you have one you can be there.
LAURA FLANDERS: I want to take a moment to thank you personally and on behalf of my team for your support at this time. Your curiosity, commitment to truth, and solidarity mean the world to us. As we approach the end of the year, we need you more than ever. We are determined to mount a media resistance to marginalization, silencing, and political violence. We intend to continue to amplify the voices of change makers and push bold ideas to the forefront. We'll do our part, but we can't do it alone. Our year end fundraising drive kicks off on Giving Tuesday, December 3rd. Will you stand with us, join with us, and help us build the media resistance we need more than ever right now? Every contribution helps, and you all help keep this content free for everybody. Do your part. Visitlauraflanders.orgforward/donate to contribute today, and thank you.
LAURA FLANDERS: Brooklyn, I wanna ask you a similar question. I mean, there was misinformation of the regular kind, people getting things wrong, but under hurricane Helene conditions, there was also intentional misinformation being spread for reasons of undermining people's faith in the federal government. Now I'm assuming many members of the eastern band of Cherokee have lots of reasons to be skeptical of the US government. How did you address that question of misinformation?
BROOKLYN BROWN: Yeah. I would say that our biggest issue with misinformation was, they were telling people not to come to Western North Carolina as a whole, which was true for certain areas that were deeply affected. The hurt of that was that there were counties who needed tourism, needed an economy at that time, and so you're killing our economy in a time when we need it most of all. So that was another goal of ours was to get out to the community, places that are open, roads that are open, businesses that are open.
LAURA FLANDERS: Because you're there right next to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Right?
BROOKLYN BROWN: Right. Yeah. And that was road closures in the park too were a huge part of that. So along with, you know, the conspiracy theories and things like that there was also just that overarching, let's just sort of push Western North Carolina into its suffering and ignore them, and that's not what we needed. Like Megaly was saying, we needed people present. And so that was a big part of our coverage as well.
LAURA FLANDERS: And do you have critiques of mainstream commercial for profit media as they attempted to cover the story?
BROOKLYN BROWN: Yes. I would say that the local media, like Magaly and I, were the ones getting the stories straight from the people. There was a lot of sensationalism. There was a lot of coverage that was painting this light of the evils of people, and I think we were covering the love and the strength of the people here. And so, yes, I do have critiques of the sort of sensationalism that was coming with it. And like Magaly was saying, they were not trying to help or provide resources. They were just trying to profit off of what was happening to us.
LAURA FLANDERS: Amir, I'm sure you've had this experience of being in a situation where reporters are looking for the most pitiable character, like, who can we focus on to show just how, you know, what bad shape these folks are in, and therefore need our rescue. I'm sure you saw a lot of that, both of you, and I hate to bring it back to your minds. But what's your advice to journalists going forward? Perhaps some of them with all the right intentions coming to a place they don't know well, assigned to cover it with the idea that bringing attention will bring support. Magaly.
MAGALY URDIALES: I think, make sure that you use the social justice lens, that you are inclusive in the way you conduct your media, and make sure that you try to be part of the community that you try to cover. In this crisis, we have a group of more than 134 local organizations and leaders with different skills, and everybody just shows up and and and says, I'm here. How can I help? And they are here for the long road. So I think it being that, involves the community. I think that's the most important thing for the JMPRO community, since we focus and center the voices of the community that are most impacted.
LAURA FLANDERS: Brooklyn, am I hearing you hire a local person perhaps rather than come yourself?
BROOKLYN BROWN: That and, just to listen. A lot of the stories and the people I was talking to, they were in need of really simple accessible things, like insulin for a diabetic that lost all of their medicine, you know, $50 to pay, you know, affordable motel room costs. So, it's about if you're going to come and cover the community to listen to what is being told, that the coverage that you're doing, it's not just that you're documenting. You're actively helping someone share their needs with the community.
AMIR KHAFAGY: I hear what you're saying, and I think there's a lot of critics, especially of local media, that say that that's not impartial. Right? As reporters, we're supposed to be neutral and we're supposed to be impartial. What do you say to those critics? And do you find that to be a complication when it comes to reporting on these communities? We could start with you, Brooklyn.
BROOKLYN BROWN: Yeah. I would say that there's nothing biased about trying to get someone something that they need. You can be objective, and you can report the facts while also helping someone in need. And the facts were that people had lost everything and that they needed help. Those were the facts. So the objectivity doesn't have to be cold. You know? Reporting the facts doesn't have to be without passion, and that's something I see a lot in community journalism is that we are able to practice good journalism while also having a heart for the community that we're covering.
AMIR KHAFAJI: Magaly, Same question.
MAGALY URDIALES: There are different ways and different roles that we can play. And I think if for us, most, the most of all, we are part of the community most affected, and we are respectful of the needs of the community and respectful of who needs to be the voice in the camera. So I think having those values in place, I think, are very important. Yeah. And there are different ways and roles that we can play. As Brooklyn says, that doesn't mean that you don't have to be called, that doesn't mean that you have to dispose of who you are. You are most of all human, treating humans and covering humans' stories that we need to be very careful about, very empathetic, and very respectful. Yeah.
LAURA FLANDERS: It's sometimes, on an anti intuitive, but it's been our observation that communities in crisis often, not at first, but eventually emerge stronger, with stronger relationships, stronger connections with one another, and real experiences of having collaborated that make future collaborations easier. You may not know quite what that looks like right this second. We're talking to you awfully soon after hurricane Helene, but, what do you think, Brooklyn? Are there stories from now that give you a sense that you will emerge stronger?
BROOKLYN BROWN: Absolutely. I was a history professor of Appalachian history. So I know the history of what has happened over centuries to Appalachian communities and that sort of historical pattern of something tragic happening to us and then us coming back stronger, so I know based in history that we are going to come back stronger, but I also think it's now politically in the political climate that we're in, such a strength that we get to show as Appalachian people. We get to break the stereotype that we are living off of the government and there's so many stereotypes about Appalachian people. And that now in this moment of tragedy and crisis that we are getting to be, we're getting to show who we are through our love, through our strength, through our togetherness, through our diversity. I love that today we have 2 women of color talking about the people of color in Appalachia that we're helping and on the ground. So dispelling and dismantling the ideas of Appalachian communities is, for me, the immediate what's happening immediately that shows me that we're gonna build back stronger.
LAURA FLANDERS: And what about the media, Magaly? Do you feel like the media projects you've been part of and connect with have really gained in strength?
MAGALY URDIALES: I think so. I think so. And there are many stories that I can count by you, how Western North Carolina can be politically divided. In this crisis what we saw was solidarity. What we saw is spaces where it doesn't matter your political position. You came together just to help each other, just to strategize together, and to create a process where there was nothing. Right? And I think that is a big lesson. We are now part of new efforts that are going to help not only in these timelines of restoration, but also efforts that will help to the needs and barriers that we have been having before this crisis. So yes, definitely. I think solidarity and the new processes created. And that was because we have the opportunity to work together. In my case, there was no way for us to go nowhere. We needed to get together. We even needed to cook together to survive. And those situations keep us, keep us alive, keep us keep us moving forward through this crisis that was exhausted because it is still happening. It will take a long time for recovery.
AMIR KHAFAGY: Listening to you speak, it really is eye opening, and it really makes me feel optimistic about the state of local journalism and media. Because I think we hear this idea that local media is in perpetual crisis, and local media outlets are closing left and right. Magaly, I hope you can speak on how has this crisis allowed your news organization to grow and expand.
MAGALY URDIALES: Well, when we are talking about expands, as this crisis hit the surrounding areas where we live, one of the beautiful things that happened is that our cohort of community reporters started growing. We started having calls from people that were located in another county that these people said, hey. I can be here. I can report from here. I can be the point person. And that was something that happened in another county. And as a result of that, now we are in the process of building the capacity of this cohort so we can learn from this crisis and be stronger and be part of this rapid response team that we already have from the past and, yes, keep moving forward. I think that is something that I am not only grateful for, but I am proud of. How people in the community, people that are shy, talking on a camera can come with their cell phone and say, I can be here to report. So that's
LAURA FLANDERS: Love it. Brooklyn, to you, I I heard from one of your pieces that people need not just food and water, but also ice cream.
BROOKLYN BROWN: Yes. Yes.
LAURA FLANDERS: Do you wanna talk about that story? It just moved my heart.
BROOKLYN BROWN: Yes. So, one of our local, JROTC instructors at our, Cherokee High School, he has a food truck business. And, the idea for that story actually came from my editor, Robert, who was one of the people that lost everything, and he said, you know, in this time of tragedy, like, what I want and need is a little bit of joy, a little bit of normalcy, something positive. And so Jason, who was the instructor, was handing out ice cream. And he said, you know, for families and specifically children, just to get a little bit of ice cream was a joy in chaos, which was the title of the article, joy in chaos. And so, you know, you don't think about that a lot, that just something small, some ice cream, a toy, could mean everything to somebody in times like this.
LAURA FLANDERS: Magaly, one thing we haven't talked about is digital equity, and I know that that's one of the aspects of your work. Can you just fill us in on that part of the work that you do?
MAGALY URDIALES: Yes. And I think it is related to whom we want to give the voice of the platforms that we promote. And one of the thing in the values of our programs is that the community reporters that are part of the cohort team of JMPRO is people from the community, workers, construction workers, hotel workers, people that speak Spanish, immigrant people, native speakers, that just wants, to come together and build their capacity to disseminate not only news, but also resources in a way that is meaningful to the communities that they live. And I think that when we are thinking about digital equity, I think our communities deserve to have the platforms that we need, the resources that we need in order for us to build a strong community media platform. So I think there are different aspects of the work that we do that we can talk about, but I think the most important thing is how we can create these spaces where they can receive capacity building sessions in their language. They can have access to higher education in their language, and the most important thing, they can have access to their resources. All of our workers have a camera, a very modern camera, computer, and the resources and equipment that they need to be able to do their work.
LAURA FLANDERS: Well, listen. Thank you both so much. Brooklyn Brown, Magaly Urdiales, thank you so much for being with us. It's been a pleasure to hear from you. And I don't know about you, Amir, but, obviously, you know, we planned this conversation before the last election. But there's something about it that feels absolutely spot on the right message for me to be hearing today.
AMIR KHAFAGY: I agree. I think it's so important for people, especially immigrant communities, communities of color, to have access to a media platform that really speaks to them, that really is in touch with their needs. We documented how we were reporting on the election in a way that showed that a lot of the immigrant communities were skewing towards Trump and skewing, towards the Republican Party. And a lot of what we were hearing is because they felt that they were either not being their voices weren't being represented in the media or they were getting misinformation from other media outlets or online and social media. So I think it's really important, and it's a vital necessity to have local media in communities that are traditionally not touched by mainstream media.
LAURA FLANDERS: Well, it sounds like an endorsement of the continuing project here at Laura Flanders and Friends of this monthly feature, Meet The BIPOC Press. Thank you once again, our guests, and Amir, for joining me.
BROOKLYN BROWN: Thank you. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to speak and for highlighting women of color in Appalachia who are doing work during the hurricane.
MAGALY URDIALES: Thank you so much for having me in this space. I'm really happy to be with you, and thank you for the work that you do. Thank you.
AMIR KHAFAGY: Thank you. Great.
LAURA FLANDERS: And as I've now started saying, stay kind, stay curious, and stay brave Until the next time. For Laura Flanders and Friends, I'm Laura. We hope you enjoyed listening to this full uncut conversation from our Meet The BIPOC Press monthly series.
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