Commentary: Newsroom Profile: Black Indy LIVE – Indiana Capital Chronicle

Commentary: Newsroom Profile: Black Indy LIVE  Indiana Capital Chronicle

Love it or hate it, digital news outlet Black Indy LIVE has more social media followers than the city’s 131-year-old Black press. Is the viral digital news platform worthy of our attention? These are story examples from Black Indy LIVE’s most recent posts on Instagram. Love it or hate it, digital news outlet Black Indy LIVE has more social media followers than the city’s 131-year-old Black press. The outlet, which focuses on Indianapolis’ Black community, is hard to ignore given its popularity, which is why I’ve decided to take a closer look. The platform has significant influence, with 186,000 followers on Facebook and nearly 60,000 followers on Instagram. Laron Anderson, the man responsible for the content, does not call himself a journalist, though he often acts like one.

However, the site breaks many journalistic norms. That comes at a cost to news consumers. Black Indy LIVE bills itself as “a viral news source for the state of Indiana” and its creator calls the platform a “statewide news aggregator,” meaning it repurposes news stories reported by other news outlets. In other words, Black Indy LIVE doesn’t do original reporting. Instead, it relies on the work of professional newsrooms throughout the state. Yet, the site doesn’t consistently credit those professional newsrooms or journalists. Nor does Black Indy LIVE tell its audience which