This year’s ‘State’ of Baltimore invites media outlets to discuss the importance of their work in an age of uncertainty, where access to history and information is being widely questioned. Join this illustrious panel at the forefront of disseminating information in varying capacities – their charges, their challenges, and what happens when information is threatened, silenced, or removed, most especially in an election year or at a time when people need more than one resource for information that directly affects their lives. This panel, comprised of artists, scholars, journalists, and editors, will share the missions of their organizations, the importance and ‘culture’ of their work, their challenges with “distractions” and waning attention span, the dissolution of newsrooms, and the vast number of uncertainties at a time of global unrest. Expect a thought-provoking discussion designed to inform and enlighten you about these media outlets, what’s the threat to how they operate, including the rise of AI images and content, and why they deserve your support. They will share what they are doing to sustain themselves at a time when life happens on the screen in 30-second sound bites. LISA SNOWDEN is the Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of BALTIMORE BEAT, a digital and print-based news product based in Baltimore City, who has dedicated her life to journalism, seeking to elevate underrepresented voices and drive meaningful conversations around pressing societal issues. CARA OBER is an artist, curator, and the founding editor and publisher at BMOREART, Baltimore’s art and culture magazine, who writes regularly about artists, museums, and material culture, with emphasis on context and subtext in the art world. Artist and Executive Director of AFRO CHARITIES, SAVANNAH WOOD leads the charge to increase access to the 130+-year-old AFRO American Newspapers’ extensive archives. Like four generations of ancestors before her, she remains invested in sharing and preserving Black stories. Maynard 200 Fellow, JASMINE VAUGHN-HALL is the West Baltimore neighborhood and community reporter for The BALTIMORE BANNER who wrote a collection of inspiring quotes for her book Umbrella for Every Sh*tstorm. Local radio host of Morning Edition at WYPR, Baltimore’s NPR News Station, ASHLEY STERNER has been a familiar over-the-airwaves voice for nearly two decades. Historian and postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, DR. LAUREN FELDMAN serves as the Project Coordinator of JHU HARD HISTORIES, a public history initiative that examines the histories of racism and discrimination at the university. Award-winning writer ALANAH NICHOLE DAVIS is a lead reporter for Technical.ly, a multi-market news organization that aims to connect a community of technologists, entrepreneurs, and other professionals, and will moderate the conversation.