Indie Lens Pop-Up Film Screening of "Breaking the News"

Women and LGBTQ journalists launch startup The 19th* to buck a broken news media system.

Indie Lens Pop-Up, presented by ITVS, INDEPENDENT LENS, and Fayetteville Public Library will host a screening of the critically-acclaimed documentary by Heather Courtney, Princess A. Hairston, Chelsea Hernandez, and Diane Quon. Join members of Arkansas Press Women, Arkansas Soul, and the University of Arkansas’ School of Journalism, among others, for a conversation around creating a new media narrative that serves communities historically ignored by legacy newsrooms.

“Breaking the News” follows the launch of The 19th, a news startup that bucks the white, male-dominated news industry, asks who’s been omitted from mainstream coverage, and how to include them. Bringing viewers right into the newsroom during tense moments as the newsroom launches in a pandemic amid rising social unrest, the film provides a lucid picture of what it takes to challenge the status quo and break the mold in American media. With footage spanning three years, the film documents honest discussions at The 19th around race and gender equity, revealing that change doesn’t come easy, and showcases how they confront these challenges both as a workplace and in their journalism. But this film is about more than a newsroom. It’s about America in flux, and the voices that are often left out of the American story.