GPB hosted a public screening and panel discussion at Mercer University’s Reg Murphy Center for Collaborative Journalism in February for Breaking the News. The film focuses on the launch of the news agency The 19th* and explores what people read in the news and why certain topics are chosen as news. Fabian was joined by panelists Tanya Ott, Assistant Professor of Journalism in Residence at Mercer University; Traci Powell, Founder of the Pivot Fund; Sydney Sims from Capital B; and Sofi Gratas, a GPB reporter based in Macon who covers rural health and health care for GPB.

The group held a thought-provoking conversation about how newsrooms that embrace the lived experiences of their journalists create more engaging content and civic participation. “It’s so refreshing to watch the reporters in Breaking the News build an entirely new newsroom that’s focused on empowering groups that have largely been ignored,” said Gratas. “It’s not easy being a woman, both in a general sense and in the journalism world, and I’m eternally grateful to those before me who have worked tooth and nail to change the landscape.”

Breaking the News is part of the Indie Lens Pop-Up series that brings people together for film screenings and conversation. If you missed the film’s GPB broadcast and you’d like to explore the topic of how news stories get covered and whose point of view gets centered in the stories, you can stream the film with GPB Passport.