Journalism is not a ‘neutral profession’: Nikole Hannah-Jones on ‘The 1619 Project’

Nikole Hannah-Jones won the Pulitzer Prize for creating The 1619
Project, a series from The New York Times that reframes American
history by placing the institution of slavery at the center of the
national narrative. The project was released as a book this month.
On this episode of WBEZ’s Art of Power podcast, Hannah-Jones tells
host Aarti Shahani how she dreamt up the project while on
sabbatical, what the backlash has taught her about how power works,
and why journalism is not a neutral profession. “I want you to feel
deeply disturbed and hopefully guilty by the time you finish my
work so that then you will feel the desire to do something
differently,” she said. We also trace her journey from dutiful
education reporter at a small town newspaper to, well, firebrand.