‘This Is Hope 2.0′: Roland S. Martin on the DNC’s Embrace of Alternative News Outlets, Kamala Harris’ Moment and Fighting Misinformation (2024)

Standing in the middle of the Media Row section at the United Center, veteran journalist Roland S. Martin made a bold statement on the first night of the Democratic National Convention.

His “Roland Martin Unfiltered” daily talk show series had been humming for hours, shooting one-on-ones and roundtable interviews from a makeshift studio perched in a well-trafficked corner of the area cordoned off for broadcast and digital outlets that aren’t named CBS, ABC, NBC/MSNBC, Fox News, PBS and CNN.

“I dare say that today alone I have had more African Americans on our broadcast than you’re going to see on MSNBC, CNN and Fox News combined for the week,” Martin told Variety. “That’s in one day. And it’s not just the same voices. That’s why our voices matter, because we are providing a perspective. Every speaker on that stage who’s Black — we go live to them. You watch other networks, they’re likely not carrying their speeches. That’s why it matters.”

The scene and even the signage in and around the United Center has made it very clear that the Harris-Walz campaign is embracing alternative news outlets, including the new breed of digital journalists and commentator entrepreneurs who offer their work via YouTube, Substack, Patreon, Medium and the like. In a presidential contest that might be described as the nation’s first TikTok election, Democrats have also put out the welcome wagon for social media creators. The “creators” contingent got their own dedicated credential line at Chicago’s sprawling McCormick Place facility that is hosting the DemPalooza expo and other events during the day before the speechifying and campaign shouting begins in the early evening at United Center. The DNC, which aims to propel Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to the White House in November, runs through Thursday.

On Monday night, Martin looked around the Media Row staging area and marveled at the growth of independent news outlets since he attended his first presidential nominating convention as a journalist, the GOP’s 1992 gathering in Houston for President George H.W. Bush.

“It’s a totally different ball game now because the audience has changed,” he said, pointing to a spectrum of independent operators such as his own Black Star Network in Media Row that range from conservative to progressive.

The “why” is pretty obvious. In the modern era, there are readily accessible paths for notable voices to reach viewers and listeners directly through social media and online platforms. Moreover, the trendlines for traditional media indicate that the future of news dissemination will be far more bespoke in the next 100 years than it has been for the last century. Martin notes that the audience on social media is much younger than the 65-plus audience that dominates broadcast and cable TV news. At the same time, Martin says his older fans have no trouble following his various efforts via his YouTube channel, which has nearly 1.4 million subscribers. Black Star Network pieces together distribution for various programs via a host of widely available free platforms.

“You look at the linear model. On the young side for a cable network is 65 years old. And yet, to understand how the world has changed, the analytics for my YouTube channel say that 33% of the people who watched me in the last 28 days are 65 and older. Half of my audience is 54 and up. So the reality is that even those folks are looking for alternative points of view,” Martin said.

Martin, an industry veteran who previously served as a news anchor for BET and TV One, sees his Washington, D.C.-based “Unfiltered” program as a good example offering the kind of “culturally relevant” information that his audience won’t hear on MSNBC.

“When I’m talking about Vice President Kamala Harris’ housing plan, I’m talking about it from a Black perspective. I had a Black economist on. I had the president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers on,” Martin said. “She made a point that there are 2 million eligible African Americans right now who can’t buy a home. You’re not hearing that on CNBC and on Bloomberg. What we’re doing is providing them the kind of information that they are not getting.”

Social media has been a boon to independent news media, but it can also been an enormous engine of misinformation. It’s important that experienced journalists and commentators have a grasp of TikTok and other next-generation platforms because that is what is shaping the world view of Gen Z and beyond, Martin warned. Martin pointed to an urban myth that spread recently through Black communities that the Biden administration had slashed billions in federal funding for HBCU institutions. As a veteran print TV and digital journalist, it’s in Martin’s DNA to combat misinformation, especially in the pitched environment of an election year. Being a source of credible information is good branding for indie operators like Martin.

“When the stories were going around that Biden cut $35 billion from HBCUs — that was a lie. We were able to put information out to negate that and show people, ‘This is what the truth is.’ We go a lot more granular than you’re going to get on CNN, MSNBC or Fox News, because we’re speaking to that audience. When we see those lies, we immediately go after them and we knock those things down, because we’re all about giving people truthful information.”

After taking the pulse of Black voters and legislators on Day 1 of the DNC, Martin was still cautious in assessing Harris’ prospects in November. But he invoked the momentum of President Barack Obama’s equally historic campaign in 2008.

“This is Hope 2.0. This is about energy. This is about a totally different vision of the world as being dark and evil, and America is going to trash — that’s Donald Trump and JD Vance. People don’t want to hear that,” Martin said. “What [Democrats] are presenting is totally different in terms of tone, in terms of look, in terms of optimism. If they keep that up, and then if she does well in the Sept. 10 debate, I think you’re going to see that lead of hers widen against Trump.”

In discussing how much the TV and news media have changed since he covered his first national political convention as a reporter for the Austin American-Statesman newspaper, Martin reflected on how his own viewing habits have evolved when it comes to entertainment. The sheer volume of shows available now is impressive, he said. Martin cited the MGM+ series “The Emperor of Ocean Park” and “The Godfather of Harlem,” both starring Forest Whitaker, as being on his recent watch list. He also has a message for Netflix regarding Season 3 of the Keri Russell drama series “The Diplomat.”

“I’m like ‘Hurry the hell up.’ What are we waiting on, 2026?”