Reflective Journalism Project: News Feed
Bring your newsroom or publication into closer alignment with movements for liberation
APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED. Check back for our next session!
Are you a journalist, editor, or media maker committed to justice who wants to align your work and organization with liberation movements? Are you interested in telling stories on the intersection of health justice and food sovereignty? Do you want to be part of a growing community of people who use journalism as a tool for liberation?
Join us for Prism’s Reflective Journalism Project fall cohort, News Feed: A movement journalism training on the politics of food and health, a free, interactive 4-part live training workshop and professional development program about how to write, build, and publish an accurate narrative that supports movements for justice. Our live, virtual training sessions will take place September 3, 10, 17, and 24 from 12:00-1:30 PT/3:00-4:30 ET.
Our goal is to train, teach, and share strategies with editors, journalists, and media professionals to bring your newsroom or publication into closer alignment with movements for liberation.
To learn more about program details, what you can expect, and the application process, jump ahead to the sections below—and don’t forget to read the FAQs!
Following the program, participants will have the opportunity to pitch and collaborate on stories for publication at Prism, receive mentorship opportunities and support from Prism journalists and editors, access exclusive movement journalism materials that you can implement in your own newsrooms or publications—and much more!
Seats are limited and reviewed on a first-come, first-serve basis, so don’t wait to apply!
Why are we doing this?
At Prism, we’re proud to situate our work in the growing ranks of movement journalism. Though it may be a recent term, it’s not a recent phenomenon—movement journalism is accountable to the liberation of vulnerable, marginalized people and our planet, a direct challenge to the long-held, mainstream practices that uphold the status quo under the myths of neutrality and objectivity.
In the words of our colleagues and comrades at the journalist collective PressOn:
“Movement journalism is journalism in service to liberation. This does not mean turning journalists into soapboxes for activists, but fostering collaboration between journalists and grassroots movements, and supporting journalism created by oppressed and marginalized people.”
Movement journalism is a direct confrontation to mounting fascism, which relies on state-sanctioned lies and disinformation. Authoritarian leadership makes false promises of an “improved economy,” all while enacting policies that destabilize our communities’ food systems, health, and environment. Gutting programs like medicaid, food assistance, and other critical social services carries out the largest wealth transfer from the working class to billionaires in modern history. Grocery prices are at an all-time high, with nearly 19 million people in the U.S. living in areas affected by food apartheid. Immigrant farmworkers who build, feed, and sustain the country are exploited for their labor and targeted by increased ICE raids. At the same time, Palestinians are being starved as we surpass 650 days of U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.
In a period of rapid decline of food access, health care systems, and climate upheaval across the U.S. and beyond, our work as movement journalists demands an unwavering commitment to amplifying the resistance efforts, organizing tools, and resources needed to fight oppression and sustain movements for collective liberation. Movement journalism is rigorous, principled, and committed, and we believe we need proper training and strategy-building to create an accurate shared narrative that grounds us in times of chaos.
With us, you’ll be learning from movement journalists who’ve been reporting on the frontlines of justice movements and publishers and editors who have built media organizations that are not just mission-driven, but also movement-aligned. We’ll share editorial strategies, tactics, and skills for building relationships with sources, and engagement tools that will maximize your reporting impact, engender trust, and connect with aligned readers.
Program Details
From September 3 to September 24, Prism’s Reflective Journalism Project: News Feed will be hosting four live 90-minute online workshops where participants will learn how to use the editorial tools and applications of movement journalism to enhance their storytelling, activism, and media engagement.
This four-week professional development program is ideal for:
- Journalists, editors, and activists seeking concrete strategies and skills on how to produce and distribute powerful journalism that can reveal truths, shift public opinion, and shine a light on the movements that bring hope in urgent, desolate times
- Organizers seeking training on the publishing process and building relationships with journalists and editors
- Writers and journalists interested in professional development that aligns their political values with the nuts and bolts of journalism and publishing
- Editors, journalists, and managers in newsrooms or publications interested in organizational development and building a workplace culture to bring movement journalism practices to your team
- Managers and team leaders seeking technical skills and workplace policy proposals that implement equitable publishing processes in their organization
- Anyone interested in incorporating a movement journalism/solutions journalism lens in their writing or newsroom practices
We especially encourage editors, writers, media professionals, and advocates underrepresented in mainstream media or living on the front lines of injustice to apply.
We are excited to provide an informative and interactive learning experience for our participants through this program. Each session will include two parts:
- Live training sessions (1 hour each). These sessions will be recorded and available for cohort participants to revisit after the program.
- Workshop sessions (30 minutes) with Prism editors, giving participants the opportunity to share, discuss, and develop any stories they are pursuing or hope to pursue.
The breakdown of each session is as follows:
Session 1 (Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 12:00-1:30 PT/3:00-4:30 ET)
- Live training session: (1 hour)
- Unpacking the journalism industry’s “myth of objectivity,” how it impacts our reporting and infiltrates our editorial processes, and the strategies mainstream media employs to destabilize marginalized communities, shape public opinion, and manufacture consent. Featuring Prism’s Editor-in-Chief, Lara Witt.
- Workshop: Q&A (30 minutes)
Session 2 (Wednesday, September 10, 2025, 12:00-1:30 PT/3:00-4:30 ET)
- Live training: (1 hour)
- A skill-share of the concrete reporting, editing, and publishing methods and principles Prism uses to uplift and protect communities most impacted by injustice and harm, and how you can apply those strategies to food and health reporting. Featuring Prism’s Features Editor, Tina Vásquez.
- Workshop: Discussion & Activity (30 minutes)
Session 3 (Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 12:00-1:30 PT/3:00-4:30 ET)
- Live training: (1 hour)
- A strategy deep dive into rejecting capitalist “audience growth” and approaching audience engagement and development as coalition-building, reframing community engagement as political education, informed by and accountable to movements and communities. Featuring Prism’s Audience Director, Shabnam Banerjee-McFarland, Community Engagement Editor, Yashwina Canter, and Social Media Editor, Kyubin Kim
- Workshop: Discussion & Activity (30 minutes)
Session 4 (Wednesday, September 24, 2025, 12:00-1:30 PT/3:00-4:30 ET)
- Live training: (1 hour)
- A skill-share covering creative content design and production to distribute reporting to coalitional audiences, gaining a deeper understanding of how thoughtful content creation can attract audiences and transform them into loyal readers, and how to translate complex reporting on health justice and food sovereignty across platforms. Featuring Prism’s Audience Director, Shabnam Banerjee-McFarland, Community Engagement Editor, Yashwina Canter and Social Media Editor, Kyubin Kim.
- Workshop: Q&A (30 minutes)
What to expect from this program
- Professional development training from frontrunners in movement journalism and solutions journalism
- Mentorship opportunities and support from Prism journalists and editors
- Opportunities post-program to pitch and collaborate on stories for publication with Prism
- Networking with a cohort of like-minded writers, editors, activists, and community leaders
- Exclusive office hours with Prism’s Editor-in-Chief, Lara Witt
- Lifetime access to session recordings and workshop materials to revisit after the live trainings
- Prism’s movement journalism “starter pack”
- Anonymous sourcing guide
- Anti-doxxing and safety guide
- Radically inclusive editorial style guide
- Audience growth as coalition building: Connecting with the Right Readers one pager
- A certificate of completion, granted by Prism
Testimonials
RJP alums hail from all kinds of publications and organizations, such as Press On, All* Above All, More Perfect Union, The Institute For Palestine Studies, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, The Kansas City Defender, Center for Constitutional Rights, and many more. Here are some reflections from our Spring 2025 cohort:
“The level of detail, organization, and thoroughness delivered in the Reflective Journalism Project by the Prism team was outstanding. Especially around the editorial process, the information, resources, and conversations held in each session were jam-packed and insightful, leaving us with a generous amount of material to review in reflection. I’m looking forward to contributing to and engaging with the collective work that emerges from this wonderful container.”
– Chinyere Erondu, editor and writer
“I love that this workshop went beyond writing and reporting in that you also gave participants a peek at how Prism promotes movement journalism and builds coalitions. The Reflective Journalism Project is so needed right now, and is super helpful for seasoned writers who are looking to apply their media savvy to centering the people and communities most impacted by policies.”
– Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez, author and freelance journalist
“I loved the Reflective Journalism Project. I had a wonderful experience. The Prism staff assembled an excellent month-long course on movement journalism. I left with a greater understanding of the craft, a deeper commitment to activism as a writer, and better equipped to do the work I feel called to do.”
– Steve Peraza, journalist and historian
Read past Reflective Journalism Project’s participants journalism here!
Frequently asked questions
1. When will this program take place?
The program will take place in four sessions over the month of September on Zoom (September 3, September 10, September 17, and September 24) on Wednesdays, 12:00-1:30 PT/3-4:30 ET.
2. What is the deadline to apply?
Applications open July 28 and close August 17, 2025. Keep in mind that we only have 30 seats available, and applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-serve basis.
3. How much does this program cost?
We’re excited to share that this fall’s workshop is funded by a generous grant and therefore free of charge!
4. What should participants prepare before attending the program?
Our goal is to share movement journalism-centered editorial strategies with media makers, editors, and writers interested in using those skills to develop their publication or newsroom in alignment with movements for justice and liberation, specifically movements for health justice and food sovereignty. As such, we encourage participants to have pitches and/or stories they wish to develop in mind while attending the program in order to participate in workshop activities.
5. Will session recordings be available for asynchronous viewing?
Yes! Sessions will be recorded and distributed to the cohort post-program
6. When will I receive my certificate of completion?
Certificates will be emailed to participants no more than two weeks after the program ends on September 24.
Want to learn more before applying?
Contact Prism’s Developmental Editor Rikki Li (rjp@prismreports.org) if you have any questions!