BALTIMORE – Artist-run venue The Compound will host a musical and visual art fundraiser for the Baltimore Beat, a Black-led and controlled nonprofit print newspaper. Tickets are on sale here.

The event will feature performances by popular local musicians Outcalls; DJ Ducky Dynamo; Glorian; Daoure Diongue; Inc. Inc. Inc.; and visual art displayed by Micah E. Wood; James C. Waller; Kurt Astudillo; with more artists to be announced. The event is at 8pm with a suggested donation of $15; 100% of ticket sales, on-site donations, and the photographic print sales going to fund the important work of the Baltimore Beat.

Produced by students in the Arts Production & Management program at the University of Baltimore, the event brings together artists and musicians to support The Baltimore Beat in a multi-modal setting. The musical space will feature performances by groups from across the Baltimore music scene: operatic pop duo Outcalls, eclectro popera from Glorian, multi instrumentalist Daoure Diongue; improvisers Inc Inc Inc and ubiquitous Baltimore Club DJ Ducky Dynamo. The visual space will feature work by photographer Micah E. Wood; surrealist painter Kurt Astudillo; and maximalist marker artist James C. Waller.

It will be an energetic evening of art, drinks, and dancing, in service of an essential Baltimore news outlet. The Beat aims to serve all of Baltimore City, including those with limited internet access and those who are a part of underrepresented communities. The paper reflects the energy and excitement of the city, its legacy as a cultural hub of Black American life, and the joy of being a Baltimorean, and believes news should be free and accessible to all and that to achieve this, journalism cannot solely be digital and should not be paywalled.

For more information about this event, please reach out to University of Baltimore Arts Professor Ian Power at ipower@ubalt.edu.

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Over the past two years, Brandon helped establish Baltimore Beat as a nonprofit newspaper by raising its initial $1 million from the Lillian Holofcener Charitable Foundation. Brandon was pivotal in helping develop Baltimore Beat’s infrastructure. His vision guided Beat immensely, and the organization is thankful for the hard work and dedication he put into this project since its founding. Brandon always intended on stepping down once the Beat was set up and operational.

“My job at the Beat was essentially completed once our first issue was in readers’ hands. It was always central to the Beat’s strategy that I would significantly pull back my involvement soon after launch,” Soderberg said. “After assisting in standing this massive, important project up, I want to give the Beat space to find other people for the team. The Beat was capitalized based on the premise that those who are often empowered need to disempower themselves significantly.”

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Baltimore, August 19, 2022 — Following the launch of the first issue of Baltimore Beat, Baltimore bookshop Greedy Reads and nonprofit news outlet the Beat announced today the start of a monthly author events series. Curated by the staff of Greedy Reads and Lisa Snowden of Baltimore Beat and her team, these events promise provocative conversation with some of the most compelling authors publishing today.

“All of us at Greedy Reads have been eagerly awaiting the launch of Baltimore Beat, and are so grateful for the invaluable service they’re providing to the entire community of Baltimore,” said Julia Fleischaker, owner of Greedy Reads. “We’re unbelievably excited to work with their brilliant team, alongside local and visiting authors, to bring these important, illuminating, and galvanizing conversations to the city.”

Appropriately, two of the first book conversations announced are with Baltimore-based authors exploring complex issues of race and representation and environmental justice. 

On September 22, at Greedy Reads’ Remington location, author Brandi Collins-Dexter will be at the store to discuss her new book, Black Skinhead: Reflections on Blackness and Our Political Future (Celadon Books). Author Steven Thrasher said that Black Skinhead is the book he has “wanted to read about Black politics in America not just in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidency, but after the elections of Barack Obama and Joe Biden failed to deliver material results for Black people.” 

The Beat’s EIC Lisa Snowden will moderate the conversation with author Collins-Dexter.

On December 8, at Greedy Reads’ Remington location, author and Towson University professor Nicole Fabricant will be at the store to discuss her new book, Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore (University Of California Press), which details the organizing by Baltimore high school students who called attention to the race- and class-based health inequalities brought on by toxic emissions on the South Baltimore Peninsula. 

The Beat’s Deputy Editor J. Brian Charles will moderate the conversation with author Fabricant.

Also scheduled, on November 11 at Greedy Reads’ Remington location, Greedy Reads and the Beat present author Patrick Radden Keefe, who will discuss his book Empire Of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. Keefe will be introduced by the Beat’s Director of Operations, Brandon Soderberg.

“We need spaces that help us think deeply about the world around us. That’s what we are trying to create with Baltimore Beat and I’m grateful for the folks at Greedy Reads who are providing space for that, too,” Snowden said. 

This collaboration between Greedy Reads (named Best Bookstore by Baltimore Magazine) and Baltimore Beat—a Black-led, Black-controlled nonprofit newspaper—builds on the powerful and inspiring “Future of Journalism” panel that featured the Beat back in May during Greedy Reads’ Lost Weekend Literary Festival. 

“The enthusiasm for the Beat’s relaunch in the Greedy Reads community has been palpable since the announcement was made. The journalism panel at our festival was by far the most talked about and had the highest attendance – and far and away the most energy. Seeing so many people come together to reimagine what journalism in our city can look like was a truly special moment for us,” Emily Miller, manager at Greedy Reads in Remington, said.

Proceeds from the sale of books featured in the monthly series will be split between Greedy Reads and the Beat, which means those who purchase a book not only support local, independent bookshops but the Beat’s community-focused news as well.

Baltimore readers can also stop by Greedy Reads’ locations in Remington (320 W 29th Street) and Fells Point (1744 Aliceanna Street) and check out monthly book recommendations by the Beat’s staff which will also be featured on Greedy Reads’ website, greedyreads.com.

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Baltimore, July 1, 2022 – Black-led, Black controlled nonprofit newspaper Baltimore Beat is pleased to announce that noted Baltimore artist and photographer Schaun Champion will join the Beat as Director Of Photography.

Champion is a gifted photographer whose work has been featured in BUST, The New York Times, People, Baltimore Magazine, BmoreArt, and many other outlets.

“I’m an advocate for truthful storytelling and opportunities,” Champion said. “I saw an opportunity for a publication to tap into resources that they already have here on the ground and an opportunity for people to learn at every level. I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to be a part of change.” 

In her role as Director Of Photography, Champion is responsible for cultivating a unique look for Baltimore Beat’s photography that will catch readers’ attention and bring a more empathetic photographic approach to the city and its residents. Champion’s thoughtful work and attention to detail ensures that Baltimore Beat’s visuals are just as important as the written word when it comes to telling and preserving Black Baltimore’s stories. 

Champion says that she sees the role as an opportunity to guarantee that a place exists for future photographers to learn and grow. It’s also an opportunity for journalists to expand the way they view photography.

“The opportunity for education is important because it’s something I didn’t have when I was getting started,” Champion said. “The Beat is a beacon. A place where you can go and get the training that you need and the opportunities that you probably wouldn’t find elsewhere.” 

A native of Baltimore, Champion has been working as a photographer for 10 years. In 2021, she was awarded the Baltimore Black-led Solidarity Fund Grant. In 2020, she won Baltimore Magazine’s Best of Baltimore award for Photography and was awarded the Unvael BIPOC Artist & Poet Grant and Awesome Baltimore grant.

“Schaun takes the role of photographer very seriously and that’s why I knew I wanted her to work with Baltimore Beat,” said Baltimore Beat Editor-in-Chief Lisa Snowden. “You can see the care and love and respect that she has for Black life and culture in the images she creates.”

You can contact Schaun Champion at photo@baltimorebeat.com.

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Baltimore, May 13, 2022 — A team of journalists and nonprofit practitioners led by Editor-in-Chief Lisa Snowden announced today the return of Baltimore Beat, a Black-led, Black-controlled nonprofit newspaper and online outlet.

In the traditions of the Black press and the alternative weekly, Baltimore Beat’s community-focused reporting prioritizes thoughtful engagement with local readers—especially those with limited internet access and those who are a part of underrepresented communities. 

To make sure news gets to those with the least access, the Beat will begin publishing and distributing a free newspaper every other week starting this summer, with plans to strategically expand distribution and frequency of publication over time. For Snowden, free print news is a necessity in Baltimore, a majority Black city with a significant digital divide and so many people living below the poverty line. 

“The pandemic continues to highlight the many, many inequities that exist in our communities,” said Snowden, formerly an editor at The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, and The Real News Network. “Our decision to forgo a paywall and distribute a print newspaper is our way of addressing those inequities. We want to make sure everybody can access the nuanced reporting we’ll be doing.”

Baltimore Beat will rely on support from Baltimore readers and likeminded large-scale donors who understand that reporting must reflect the diversity and experiences of all Baltimoreans and hold those in power accountable through investigative work, literary storytelling, and service journalism.

Joining Editor-in-Chief Snowden is Baltimore Beat’s Deputy Editor J. Brian Charles, who has been reporting on Baltimore gun violence at The Trace for the past two years and has previously worked at Chalkbeat, Governing, and The Hill. 

“Baltimore has always been an important city in the story of Black America. It is a place where communities are faced with corrupt policing, substandard housing, underfunded schools, power-serving politics, and an overdose crisis, among many other issues,” Charles said. “Our publication will document the challenges facing Baltimore and show readers how communities here continue to develop ideas to address and get past those challenges.”

The Beat’s Arts and Culture Editor Teri Henderson is formerly a staff writer for BmoreArt and gallery coordinator for Connect + Collect, and is the author of the 2021 book Black Collagists. 

“Art is always political and at Baltimore Beat we will tell the stories of those artists and creatives whose contributions are often overlooked or ignored by news outlets that focus on the predominantly white art world,” Henderson said. “Baltimore Beat will provide a space for creative reflection and celebration of the artistic and creative contributions of Black Baltimoreans.”

The Beat’s Director Of Operations Brandon Soderberg is the former editor-in-chief of Baltimore City Paper, coauthor of the 2020 book I Got a Monster, and an advocate for mindful, person-first journalism. His experiences as both reporter and publisher make him uniquely situated to strategically assist the Beat. 

“After two years of work on this with the staff and a team of community-minded financial and nonprofit folks, I’m elated to finally tell the city: Baltimore will have a news outlet that reflects Baltimore’s majority Black population and prioritizes the city’s working class concerns,” Soderberg said. “You’ll see intentionality in every aspect of the Beat: from how we report to how we distribute our paper to how we operate our nonprofit newsroom.”

Baltimore Beat was established in 2017 following the closure of alt-weekly institution Baltimore City Paper. The Beat began as a for-profit weekly newspaper, shuttered in 2018, and transitioned to a nonprofit online outlet focused on service journalism and high-impact investigative work in 2019. 

In 2020, the Beat paused its journalistic operation to strategize the start of a nonprofit newspaper with support from the Baltimore-based Lillian Holofcener Charitable Foundation. In response to the police murder of George Floyd and inequities exacerbated by COVID-19, The Lillian Holofcener Charitable Foundation made the bold decision to provide the Beat with the vast majority of the foundation’s holdings, creating a longer runway towards sustainability for the publication.

“The money held by the Lillian Holofcener Foundation came from Baltimore. Divesting our assets to a Black-led news organization is what Baltimore and its majority Black citizenry need right now,” Lillian Holofcener Charitable Foundation’s Adam Holofcener said. “We hope that our model of no-strings attached, large-scale giving to Black-run, Black-controlled local organizations inspires other Baltimore philanthropic groups to act in kind.”

For EIC Snowden, this is an important opportunity to change the mood and tenor of local news.

“Journalism is still a very white industry. There aren’t a lot of places Black journalists can go where they will be valued, heard, and respected,” Snowden said. “I want Baltimore Beat to be a place where that can happen.”

For all inquiries: lisa@baltimorebeat.com

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