Driving the news: The Boston Globe's editorial page editor Bina Venkataraman and Boston University professor and author Ibram X. Kendi unveiled plans for The Emancipator in a social media video while speaking at the historic African Meeting House in Boston on Tuesday.
- "The Emancipator aims to resurrect and reimagine anti-slavery publications in the 19th century for the 21st century and the movement to achieve racial justice," Venkataraman said.
- "That call for freedom has continued to echo since the American Revolution, and I think that call for freedom will continue to echo in The Emancipator," said Kendi, author of "How to Be an Antiracist."
The intrigue: The Emancipator will feature a new newsletter on race and justice edited by Boston Globe columnist Kimberly Atkins.
- Its advisory board will consist of Los Angeles Times editorial page editor Sewell Chan, URL Media co-founder S. Mitra Kalita and University of California, Berkeley law professor Ian F. Haney López.
- The Emancipator says it currently is searching for two editors to help run the project.
The big picture: The revival of The Emancipator comes as a number of Black and Latino newspapers and magazines have closed in recent years because of increased costs of production and competition from mobile apps.
- Activist Shaun King came under scrutiny over his financial dealings to recreate abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ newspaper, The North Star, as an online venture.
Flashback: The Boston Globe, then led by editor Martin Baron, won the 2003 Pulitzer prize for its investigation into the Catholic Church sexual abuse legacy.
- But Baron also faced criticism from the paper's journalists of color after a hiring spree of 19 all-white staffers that the Black and Latino reporters called "the 19-o shutout."
- A few years later after a series of buyouts, Baron again faced scrutiny when 11 more all-white staffers were hired and few editors of color were left.
