Banner Institute for Community News Executive Board visits the Banner streaming news studio.

Not pictured in group photo: Dr. Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Board Member

The Banner Institute for Community News was founded as a not-for-profit organization with the goal to drive the sustainability of Black and Brown multimedia community news outlets through funding and educational support. The mission of BICN is to raise and distribute funding to support community news gathering and distribution throughout the New England region initially, and eventually throughout the entire country. BICN will generate funding from nonprofit grants, private donations and live interactive mutimedia events. The events will be designed to promote all elements of Black history and education through multimedia interactive presentations that utilize the latest experiential learning techniques. The BICN will also support community organizations through news media literacy education — teaching them how to create, generate and distribute their own news and media information. We will also eventually provide programming as well as fund existing media educational and literacy institutions.

“The Board is excited to support the Bay State Banner and help further its long standing commitment to providing news and information to our community. Charlie, Denise and I along with the rest of the BICN Board are eager to utilize our deep level of experience to realize the BICN Mission and further its goals. Stay tuned there will be more dramatic announcements soon to come.“ — Keith Motley