ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how members of the black press covered, debated, and made sense of the events in Baltimore following the 2015 arrest and death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray. It highlights the historical role of black publications and black journalists in covering national crises about race. First, the black press is widely regarded as a paragon of the alternative media arising from counterpublics. Second, the black press has been particularly important in times of national racial crises, upheaval, and evolution. Black newsmakers understand the necessity of a digital presence and in fact exploit this by offering online content that would be nearly impossible to include in print editions. The chapter demonstrates that while black journalism has changed over the decades it continues to offer important perspectives on national conversations about race and inequality. Ultimately, in this case, the black press provided counternarratives in print and online to anyone willing to look.
