Meet Ishena Robinson. We’re excited to welcome her to URL Media (which stands for Uplift, Respect and Love), as our new Editorial Director, overseeing coverage in this critical election year. In her role, she also amplifies the content across URL’s consortium of Black and Brown-owned media organizations, now numbering 27 and reaching 27 million users. Ishena joins us from the Legal Defense Fund, where she worked as editorial director based in New York.
Her career spans numerous roles across media, advocacy and, even, aviation (more on that later). We caught up with Ishena in her first week on the job to ask some questions about why URL and why now. Give her a warm welcome and make sure you’re following her on LinkedIn (and make sure you’re subscribed to URL’s newsletter!):
Ishena, why URL Media?
URL Media has an admirable mission that couldn’t be more urgent in this time in our collective history. It’s sad to say, but in many ways the mainstream media has been failing us and failing this democracy. URL Media’s emphasis on more locally-owned media that serves primarily BIPOC audiences brings the news back to the source–people, their communities, and their needs. That perspective excites me.
You join the network at a critical time — the 2024 elections. Tell us how you’re approaching this task of directing editorial coverage and what unique lens URL Media brings to the work.
URL Media centers the needs and concerns of BIPOC communities, which should be front of mind as we move into the 2024 elections. The last presidential election came on the heels of a massive racial justice uprising, and the aftershocks of that movement continue to reverberate through our political systems and realities. We are amid a backlash to advancements for racial justice that didn’t end with Jan. 6, 2021. All of this will inform how people show up to the polls in 2024, and what will be important to them as they vote. Safety, access, and engagement for voters of color will be central to URL Media’s editorial approach to these critical elections.
You’ve had an eclectic background in mainstream media, ethnic media, advocacy work. How does all that come together now?
My entire career has had justice as its locus. I’m driven by a passion for advancing the rights of historically marginalized peoples, and shining a light on their concerns. I am also motivated to help find and build shared understanding, and I still believe that journalism is key to that effort. I am thrilled to bring those passions and interests to my role as editorial director at URL Media.
Wait, you were a flight attendant. What did you learn? What do you wish more travelers knew?
I learned that service work is not for the faint of heart! And I wish that more travelers knew that the nicer you are to your flight attendants and gate agents, there are perks untold that you can earn–if even just the pleasure of knowing you were kind to someone helping you get to where you want to go.
You invoke your Jamaican background with great pride. Tell us a little bit about your upbringing, your migration story and your connection to Jamaica and the diaspora now. How does this influence your work?
I migrated to the US from Jamaica over a decade ago, at 22 years old. Having been born and raised in Jamaica informed so much of my identity and perspective of the world, but so did coming into adulthood in America. I always say my migration gave me a deeper sense of my Blackness, which I am forever grateful for. I am also a writer, and my specific lens of being a Black woman and immigrant, who migrated to the U.S. in adulthood from a majority-Black country, informs all of that I do. A yearly trip back to Jamaica helps too!
Favorite Caribbean or Jamaican restaurant?
I’m tempted to gatekeep … But I’ll let you in on a secret: CC’s Jamaican Restaurant in Brooklyn has the absolute best curry goat!
