Monday, September 28, 2026
11 a.m.–noon
Annenberg Hall, Room 304

Conventional journalistic norms discourage reporters from taking sides. They are supposed to remain neutral, impartial, and objective. Yet there is also a long tradition in journalism, dating back to the 1800s, that pursues truth by practicing solidarity for social justice.

Anita Varma offers a bold defense of reporting for social justice, showing what journalistic solidarity looks like in principle and in practice. She argues that solidarity is a longstanding yet unacknowledged journalistic norm that fosters truthful reporting when people’s basic dignity is at stake. Ethical journalism incorporates solidarity throughout the reporting process: deciding what is newsworthy, whom to include, how to approach them, what questions to ask, how to structure stories, and how to assess impact. Varma illustrates these practices through case studies of local and national reporting on homelessness, housing instability, and the cost of living.

Based on analysis of published journalism, in-depth interviews with journalists, and public engagement with people who aim to make journalism better, Solidarity in Journalism demonstrates how reporting can help society’s most vulnerable. Amid intense debate over the role of the media, this book makes an urgent case for solidarity in journalism as crucial for representing and addressing social division.

About the speaker

Anita Varma is the author of Solidarity in Journalism: How Ethical Reporting Fights for Social Justice (Columbia University Press), which is her first book. After earning her PhD in Communication at Stanford University in 2018, Varma went on to start the Solidarity Journalism Initiative at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics (Santa Clara University) which she then brought with her to Austin, Texas when she joined the School of Journalism and Media (University of Texas at Austin) as a faculty member in 2021.