PBS NEWS DOC

Join us this Thursday, February 22 at 7pm for a virtual screening event

As misinformation runs rampant, a group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists launched the digital news startup The 19th* to buck a broken news system. Breaking the News is a story of an America in flux, and the voices that are often left out of the narrative. Join MPT for a virtual screening followed by a community-driven conversation.

Meet the Panel

Alanah Nichole Davis (our moderator) is a lead reporter for Technical.ly, a multi-market news organization that aims to connect a community of technologists, entrepreneurs, and other professionals. She covers business news primarily in Baltimore and DC. Davis is an award-winning writer whose work can be seen in Maryland Matters, Baltimore Magazine, Baltimore Banner, Salon, BmoreArt, and more. Many of her written witticisms surrounding love, race, womanhood, and being a human have gone viral online in perfect millennial fashion and are also in print to match her old soul.

Rahne Alexander is an intermedia artist and writer from Baltimore, Maryland. She is a 2021 graduate of the Intermedia+Digital Arts MFA at UMBC, and a 2021 Baker Artist Prize Awardee. Her works in video, performance, music, and painting have been exhibited across the U.S. and around the world, including the Baltimore Museum of Art, Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art, and MIX NYC. Her writing appears in publications such as BmoreArt, The Hopkins Review, UMBC Magazine, the light ekphrastic, flux, Come Sail Away, OnCurating, and the Lambda Literary Award-winning anthology Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica. Alexander's 2019 OutWrite-award-winning chapbook of collected essays Heretic to Housewife was published by Neon Hemlock, and she publishes a weekly blog, Paradise Is Not For Sale.

Jasmine Vaughn-Hall is the West Baltimore neighborhood and community reporter for The Baltimore Banner. She graduated from California State University Northridge in Los Angeles. When she’s not hunting for great taco spots, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two corgis.

Noel Webster is the Sr. Digital Video Specialist at Maryland Public Television. She earned her B.S. in English Communications at Lincoln University, an HBCU in PA. She has over 10 years of television experience working both in the field and in the studio. Noel currently serves on the DEI committee and previously volunteered with organizations such as Good News Baltimore, a nonprofit focused on integrating people of color in the film industry. She is a multi-faceted creative who enjoys connecting with community, creating art through different mediums including charcoal and photography, and getting down on the dance floor. She currently lives in Baltimore City.

Amy Oden, Multiple Emmy Award-winning producer and director, currently directs the video team at the Human Rights Campaign, where she produces and supervises the production of video content advocating for the LGBTQ+ community. Her latest independent short, "The World According to Pussy Noir" will screen at the Maryland Film Festival this spring! Amy holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Maryland, and an MA in Gender and Media from George Washington University. Her work has won Communicator, Emmy, Davey, and W3 Awards.

About Indie Lens Pop-up:

Indie Lens Pop-Up is a neighborhood series that brings people together - virtually and in person - for film screenings and community-driven conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws together local residents, leaders, and organizations to discuss what matters most, from newsworthy topics and social issues to family and community relationships. Learn more about Indie Lens Pop-up and all MPT-hosted events/screenings, visit mpt.org/indielenspopup.

INDEPENDENT LENS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Acton Family Giving, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, and National Endowment for the Arts pbs.org/independentlens