How are we going to put, you know, Ashley into it? What are you going to do that may be different or change it or are you going to keep it the same?

Well, I definitely put a little flavor on it.

And that's that's the beauty of ownership.

You know, right now it is predominantly a written publication and we're going to keep stay true to the written word.

But one of the things that we're really going to invest heavily on is video, right? Like you're doing this podcast, but it's a video podcast because that's what people are holding their phones and getting information like that.

So we're definitely going to be covering and doing a lot more video work while we're headed into a midterm election.

And then following that, there'll be a presidential election.

You

Um, how big of a test will this primary then be for the, the direction the party is headed?

Yeah, there have been a lot of progressive candidates have won in deep blue states, but there's also been Democrats that are winning in high Trump w- uh, voter margin states, and they're still winning or closing the gap.

I think this is going to be a test for just where voters are and what appetite they are for the issues.

I don't actually think it's progressive versus moderate or progressive versus Republican.

It's about can I afford it and can I not? Are you fighting for me or are you not? Are you part of the billionaire class or are you not? And I think that there are people potentially on both sides that are trying to jock for that, but definitely on the Democratic side, more progressives are leaning on a, a affordability, a anti-billionaire, uh, message.

And I'll just say, you talked about three very, very different places in our country-

Yeah.

Trust is a big part that, that candidates have to do.

... you know, what, what are you doing? What stories are you telling that no one else can because you have that power? Talk for a second about that.

Yeah.

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you for having me.

Um, I think we all play a role in this moment, and the role that I think I'm playing is, sure, I get to go on CNN a couple nights a week and speak my truth and tell the truth, um, as try and stop mis and disinformation, but I also think the power that we have is we need to be building some infrastructure.

[clapping]

So that's what ownership means.

When The Root 100 comes out, we didn't put you on The Root 100 'cause you got arrested.

You know what I mean?

I mean, what you're building is ownership in its own right, right? It looks different, and I think that this is the moment with how media is changing.

Mainstream media will still be there.

I think it will always have a role, but it's not the only thing in the ecosystem now, and so you have your ownership with this platform.

Owning your IP is a game changer.

Like, think about, I don't know, when I used to come up, um, and we would watch movies about Motown or, or, or Ray or whatever, and then we'd be like, "He got the masters, he got..." Like, "He got the rights to his music." Like, people used to take our crafts, take our...

exploit us.

Mm

So there are a lot of reasons that FIFA wants him off their back.

any sense to me.

Literally what FIFA is about, they gave him a participation trophy.

If you work in sports, if you deal with sports, that is almost an insult to give someone a participation trophy.

It says you're not capable, you're not really able to do the job, you really don't deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.

And it was the greatest honor of his life.

It's the

greatest honor of his life.

Oh, wow

... which is massive.

Um, so I wanna double that within a year.

Uh, we're gonna be moving to video while still respecting the written word, so we'll do all writing, we'll continue to do writing, but for most written pieces we'll also have a video component.

Um, I, our audience is predominantly Black, but it's not all Black.

And so I want The Root, again, it is a Black publication, but Black stories are American stories.

Mm-hmm.

That is, that is con- ...

Tell me how you process taking over the root in this particular grim and bizarre moment for American media writ large.

Yeah, you know, when...

Obviously, over the last couple of months, just watching everything that is happening in media, when I was getting close to closing on the deal, the question I asked myself was like, are you sure you really want to do this? And the answer was, yes, this is the only thing that you should be doing right now, because it's what my assignment is for the work I'm supposed to be doing on this planet in this moment.

um but of course the weight of this moment weighs on me and the team and we want to make sure that we allow the root to be a place of integrity and really rise into the occasion now all that being said i wrote a letter to our readers about we're not going to be perfect but we will have a standard of excellence and we're going to move with steadiness and intense and with great intensity So you're not going to see some massive scalable project in the short term because one, we have to make sure that not only are we doing the good work of putting news out, but we also are being good stewards of the business so that it is here for another 17 years like it has been to date.

So looking at all the forecasting that everyone else is looking at, but I think just trying to stay ahead of the trends in digital distribution is stay ahead of the story.

So make sure that people can rely on you.

But also really, you know, the one thing that I think advertisers should be aware of is like Black people have a $2 trillion buying power in this country.

Tell me about your journey or your interest in getting to the ownership space.

Right.

...

Barack Obama.

He uses digital first really to get elected, social media, um, getting small donors.

And so Henry Louis Gates, someone who was also in a relationship with Barack Obama, starts it with Donald Graham at the Washington Post.

Like I said, first of its time, revolutionary.

Since then, it has had different owners.

Wow.