Full Conversation- Los Angeles Wildfires: BIPOC Media Are Telling Stories Other Media Aren’t

Residents returning to Los Angeles face critical questions on health, safety, and recovery following devastating fires – hear from frontline BIPOC journalists on the ground.

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Full Conversation:  While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on Public TV and community radio, we offer to our supporting members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation.  Laura passes the mic to Kadia Tubman of Scripps News to host this month’s meet the BIPOC press. In this episode we hear what BIPOC Media are telling about the Los Angeles Wildfires that the other media are not.  These audio exclusives are made possible thanks to our member supporters.

Episode Description: In times of crisis, people need their questions answered, fast. As residents impacted by the recent Los Angeles fires return to their homes, are they receiving enough information about insurance and recovery dollars, or how to protect their health and wellbeing? At the time of this recording, the Pacific Palisades and the Eaton fires are still burning, with toxic air and water putting thousands at risk. On top of the immediate dangers, the loss of community and the threat of developers and gentrification will impact residents for years to come. How are the media reporting on communities dealing with this immeasurable loss and what is the path to recovery for the city? Kadia Tubman, Scripps News Disinformation Correspondent, returns to host our monthly “Meet the BIPOC Press” panel. Joining us from Los Angeles are two journalists to talk about the stories they’re covering on the ground. Cerise Castle reports on civil rights, criminal justice and climate. She wrote a groundbreaking exposé of deputy gangs inside the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department which we featured last year.  She is exploring the environmental impact the fires have had in communities such as Altadena. Jacqueline García is a Senior Reporter at CALÓ News, focused on immigration, politics and issues affecting the Latino population. She is covering inspiring organizing among day laborers and immigrants. We’ll also see an excerpt from Castle’s most recent report for Capital & Main. Join us to hear what local BIPOC reporters want outside media to hear, as they respond to the Los Angeles fires.

“. . . I am glad to see that there has been a course correction by both local and national media to bring these stories to the forefront, not just talking about high-income earners in the Palisades that have lost million-dollar homes, but talking about the babysitters, the grocery shopkeepers, the renters that were living in apartments that lost everything in the Eaton fire.” - Cerise Castle

“. . . [Immigrants are] using this phrase of “el pueblo salva al pueblo,” which is people helping people . . . They said that this is what they're showing, that immigrants are also coming to work and they're showing their efforts and their passion for the community, and they want it to go back to as normal as possible.” - Jacqueline García

Guests:

•  Cerise Castle: Journalist, Capital & Main

•  Jacqueline García: Senior Reporter, CALÓ News

•  Kadia Tubman: Disinformation Correspondent, Scripps News

Watch the episode cut airing on PBS stations across the country at our YouTube channel

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Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:

• The Defund Movement in 2024: Frontline Reporters Separate Myth from Reality: Watch / Audio Podcast

•  Colette Pichon Battle on Climate Justice Reparations: Watch / Audio Podcast: Episode &/or Full Conversation

•  BIPOC Media Answers the Call: Community Action After Hurricane Helene: Watch / Audio Podcast: Episode &/or Full Conversation  

Related Articles and Resources:

•  Day Laborers and Volunteers Clean After the Eaton Fire, by Jacqueline Garcia, January 10, 2025, CALÓ News

•. Black Altadena Rebuilds after the Eaton Fire with Guidance from Octavia Butler, by Cerise Castle, January 24, 2025, Capital & Main

•  Governor Newsom announces commitments from major lenders to provide firestorm survivors with mortgage relief, January 18, 2025 Gov.CA.Gov

•  ‘It all ended in a second’:  Thousands of low-income and immigrant workers lost jobs in LA fires, by Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Jeannie Kuang, January 17, 2025, CAL MATTERS

•  Wildfire Mutual Aid Spreadsheet

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