LOS ANGELES– Students and faculty gathered inside the Ahmanson Auditorium on March 25 as a part of the Los Angeles Loyolan’s First Amendment Week for keynote speaker journalist Georgia Fort. The conversation was moderated by the outgoing Editor in Chief, Olivia Silvester, and focused around the week’s theme of ‘Journalists in Jail.’
As an independent journalist Fort was arrested alongside other journalists, notably fellow keynote speaker Don Lemon, for her coverage of an anti-ICE protest inside a Minneapolis church on Jan. 30th. Fort is fighting the charges brought against her and continues to report from Minneapolis.
During the event Fort spoke about her belief that pursuing a business major during college contributed to her success as an independent journalist. “If you’re going to be successful as an independent journalist in today’s climate, you have to know how you’re going to sustain your work and so I actually am very grateful that I studied business,” she said.
Following the murder of George Floyd, Fort was one of three journalists allowed inside the courtroom to cover the trial of Derek Chauvin; coverage, she felt, was profoundly important. “I think it’s a defining moment in my career,” Fort said.
Fort also talked about her ongoing legal battle and the impotence of fighting attempts to challenge the first amendment. “I think that we need people in those places to document what’s happening and if I become an activist, I probably won’t be able to get access to places like that. And so it doesn’t matter if you call yourself an activist or not because they’re gonna call you an activist anyway.”
She also spoke about the important role journalists play as the “fourth estate,” urging students to make sure they defend the institutions that allow journalism to function. “If journalism is going to continue to be the fourth estate, we need to not only stand up for our first amendment, right? But I think that journalism needs to take a stand for our constitution.”
Fort also addressed the rise of independent media outlets, and their importance. Giving students valuable perspective as to how she leveraged her skills to grow an independent platform, she said, “I was able to amass a following. That is similar in size to almost all of the local news outlets. Simply because I didn’t make you wait until 5 o’clock to get the news.”
The event capped off an eventful First Amendment week, and provided all students with valuable insights into the challenges journalists face.
