This month marks the start of the third year of new ownership of the historic Bay State Banner newspaper, founded 60 years ago by Melvin B. Miller to fill a void during a time of challenging social change.
In the two years since the purchase, our team has introduced many new ways of presenting news and commentary, including a weekly streaming newscast, sports and business pages, and a robust opinion section. We have also established new and expanded partnerships with other media outlets like GBH, WCVB-TV and the Boston Business Journal to broaden our coverage and provide them with a platform to reach our growing audience.
As the Banner moves into its seventh decade, the voice of local, independently owned media is more important than ever before. In 1965, the Banner was launched in a local and national atmosphere of hostility from many quarters to Black political and economic empowerment. We once again are living through a time of heightened opposition to Black advancement. President Donald Trump and his lackeys have clearly taken aim at Black, brown and progressive voices, including those in the media.
The last few weeks have seen the impact of Trump’s regressive agenda, with mainstream media outlets falling in line with his promise to end diversity, equity and inclusion in both hiring practices and the dissemination of progressive ideas in print, radio, TV and other platforms. Nothing makes that more evident than the recent modern-day lynching of multiple progressive voices throughout the media landscape.
The removal of Black newscasters like MSNBC’s Joy Reid and the longtime NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt by NBC was striking. Holt is a popular, even towering figure in network news who will give up his anchor seat sometime this summer. Reid, an outspoken Trump critic who hosted “The ReidOut,” was treated with no dignity at all — summarily sacked and shown the door, her show immediately cancelled.
The latest line-up shuffle also saw the demotion of progressive Asian journalist Alex Wagner. But it was the treatment of Reid that was particularly shocking because MSNBC had always been viewed as a center-left media platform. Rachel Maddow showed tremendous courage on her own MSNBC program, calling out her network about Reid’s removal.
“I think it is a bad mistake to let her walk out the door,” said Maddow, who saw her own staff cut in the latest round of network belt-tightening — a move some considered a reprisal for her on-air remarks about Reid’s departure. For his part, Trump was overjoyed, congratulating the network in vile language for firing “one of the least talented people in television, the mentally obnoxious racist Joy Reid.”
This trend is not new to media as a whole. This is just the latest bending of the knee by major media outlets to the right-wing threats by Trump and his administration. The billionaire owners of The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times both interfered in the independent editorial departments of their nationally acclaimed newspapers by refusing to allow endorsements of Vice President Harris to run in their papers before the November elections won by Trump. Their moves sparked resignations and massive cancellations by subscribers.
Post owner Jeff Bezos, who is also the controlling owner of Amazon, sparked further staff and subscriber turmoil by recently declaring that the paper of record for Washington, D.C., would henceforth focus its opinion pages on “writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.” His authoritarian directive mimics the Trump administration’s rhetoric at a time the White House is slashing thousands of federal jobs and undermining vital government services provided to vulnerable individuals and communities in our nation.
The Trump team has also taken aim at major media outlets, threatening to revoke broadcast licenses and even imprison executives if they don’t fall in line with the Trump agenda.
No one should be surprised who followed the Trump campaign. During the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago last year, Trump delayed his appearance over objections to moderators planning to fact-check the many false and misleading statements he was likely to make. He didn’t disappoint. During his brief moment on the stage, he falsely blamed the NABJ host for the late start and then disgracefully questioned the Blackness of Vice President Harris. But what could you expect of someone who lied about Barack Obama’s U.S. citizenship?
The Bay State Banner is a strong and independent voice committed to pushing back on blatant misrepresentations of fact designed to erode trust in truth as a way to erode trust in democracy. We will stand up to efforts to divide communities and use polarization as political and social weapons. And we will continue to demand that media outlets do not fold under pressure by limiting diversity in staffing and opinions.
The year 2025 marks not just the 60th anniversary of our paper but also the 250th celebration of the start of the American Revolution. The first strike against tyranny began in our home state of Massachusetts and led to a Constitution and a Bill of Rights enshrining the strongest guarantees of press freedom known to history. We consider it our sacred duty to uphold that legacy by using our voice to stand up for truth, democracy and equality.
Ronald Mitchell
Editor and Publisher, Bay State Banner
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