I was astonished to learn about parts of journalism I had never heard of before. What was surprising to me was that it took so long for me to learn about them. I was in Journalism History last semester, and half of the events that Juan talked about weren't even mentioned in the class. It's shocking to me because these events are so important to the evolution of minority journalism, and they are constantly overlooked.
After the speech, I talked with a friend about parts we both found interesting. We both thought it was remarkable when he was talking about how the black radio station was on the second floor of a building (while the white radio station was on the first floor), and Martin Luther King would make announcements by having the microphone passed down to him from the second floor. It shows how limited minorities were and how badly they wanted to get their messages across to the public.
It is amazing to me how mainstream media flipped — and continue to flip — stories so easily in order to provoke reactions from the public. For example, Native Americans were depicted as evil in the mainstream press, while the Boston News Letter would have reports of slaves attacking their masters.
He portrayed an ongoing cycle in minority journalism — new technology is introduced, minorities use that technology to speak out against "the man", the technology becomes restricted, those who spoke out are shut down, and eventually new technology is introduced, beginning the cycle again.
Juan proved himself to be a fantastic investigator and his passions were truly shown. If we decentralize the mainstream media, we will have true democracy. I'm very glad I am fortunate enough to have seen him speak. He opened many eyes to the truth behind minority journalism, and I think it's very important for him to share that.
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