A unique voice in Spokane’s media landscape officially returns this weekend.
The Black Lens, a newspaper and website aimed at informing and representing the city’s Black residents, relaunches under new management and with a new look.
Attorney and activist Natasha Hill is serving as the paper’s interim editor. In a conversation with Spokane Public Radio’s Brandon Hollingsworth, she said The Black Lens is transitioning from a past under its founder, the late Sandy Williams, to a future as a reliable voice for Black residents, businesses and organizations.
“Her passion to get a Black community newspaper started in a place like Spokane – where our numbers aren’t huge, but our impact is and has been – we’re going to keep with that mission,” Hill said. “But it is going to transition into being its own independent nonprofit with a board…so that we can ensure that this is a community-owned paper.”
The publication will also have a broader reach. In addition to newspaper racks around the city, the Lens’ monthly issues will be included with Sunday editions of the Spokesman-Review newspaper and available by standalone subscription. The Black Lens will also have a social media presence and an emailed newsletter for online audiences.
The Black Lens under Sandy Williams was nearly a one-person operation. The paper’s last issue was published in January 2022, when Williams redirected her focus to opening the Carl Maxey Center in Spokane’s East Central neighborhood. Bringing the paper back after two years of dormancy was a collaborative effort that included a memorial fund created in Williams’ honor, the Spokesman-Review and Williams’ family, Hill said.
“When Sandy passed, there were a lot of folks who wanted to keep that legacy going,” Hill said.
Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley approached the Williams family with a plan to resurrect the paper and professionalize its appearance and content, Hill said. The idea was received favorably among the family, especially Sandy’s brother Rick, who has a background in business and philanthropy.
“He saw something in that plan that was doable, and that would be a huge asset for our community, so the Williams family stepped up to work with the Spokesman,” Hill said.
One of Hill’s major tasks will be finding and hiring a permanent editor to continue The Black Lens’ evolution. Other plans include hiring a race and equity reporter and freelance contributors. For the time being, Spokesman-Review alumni and others are volunteering their time and skills to help create the paper’s early editions.
In the future, The Black Lens will operate under a local nonprofit organization called Comma Journalism Labs, which was established last October. Rick Williams and Rob Curley serve on its board.
The Black Lens offers a voice and view not replicated by Spokane’s other media outlets, Hill said. The paper’s focus and topics are geared toward serving residents in a way other press institutions don’t.
“When you live in a city and a region that is predominantly white, that’s the perspective you’re going to get,” Hill said. “So having a perspective from the Black community, you’re sharing and talking to folks about issues with the slant toward how it impacts them.”
Hill hopes revitalizing The Black Lens can provide a template for launching or strengthening minority-focused media in other cities across America. If it works, Hill said, communities can present their own voice and preserve independent media.
The first edition of the new Black Lens will debut Sunday, February 4.
