What’s missing from the online discourse about the viral Jacksonville Jaguars interview

The Black Press never agreed to conform to the mainstream media’s ideal of “objectivity.”

L: Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen. R: Jacksonville Free Press editor Lynn Jones-Turpin.

In the aftermath of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, a moment between head coach Liam Coen and longtime Black journalist Lynn Jones-Turpin went viral, sparking a heated discussion about media standards.

“I’m going to tell you, congratulations on your success, young man,” Jones-Turpin, an associate editor at the Jacksonville Free Press, told Coen after his team fell to the Bills. “You hold your head up. You guys have had a most magnificent season.”

“You did a great job out there today. You just hold your head up, okay? Ladies and gentlemen, Duval,” she continued. “You keep it going.”

Her words of encouragement quickly spread across social media, generating criticism from journalists who hold that so-called objectivity is the highest principle in the field.

“Nothing ‘awesome’ about fans/fake media doing stuff like that. It should be embarrassing for the people who credentialed her and her organization, and it’s a waste of time for those of us actually working,” said Mark Long, who covers the Jaguars for the Associated Press.

“Awesome? Are you serious. That’s not a reporter,” said Mike Harrington, a baseball columnist for the Buffalo News. “That person shouldn’t even have a credential.”

Putting aside for a moment that Jones-Turpin has reported on Florida’s largest city for over 20 years, there’s context about her background that many media members, who rarely interact with local Black newspapers to begin with, likely don’t understand.

The Black Press never agreed to conform to the mainstream media’s ideal of “objectivity.” In fact, the first Black newspaper aimed to distinguish itself from other newspapers of its time. This is not to say the pursuit of truth isn’t important, but realizing that “objectivity” has always reinforced white worldviews.

“Others for too long have spoken for us,” wrote John Brown Russwurm and Samuel Cornish, who founded Freedom’s Journal in the early 19th century. “We wish to plead our own cause.”

Since the beginning, Black-owned newspapers and magazines covering Black communities have prioritized community and advocacy. In one of the most notable examples of this work, JET Magazine published images of 14-year-old Emmett Till’s mutilated body after he was murdered by white men in Mississippi, when no other publication would — igniting the civil rights movement.

Black newspapers share the achievements of their community, which were and still are often ignored by mainstream newspapers. Black newspapers provided Black audiences with information they could not find elsewhere.

Jones-Turpin’s uplifting message may seem unusual to mainstream reporters because, as a part of the Black Press, the Jacksonville Free Press was built on a different foundation. The Black Press has always seen itself as an integral part of the community it covers, not a neutral observer hovering above it. This is what makes the Black Press unique.

“This entire year, we have rooted for this team over more than 30 years. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Jones-Turnpin told WJXT News4JAX in an interview. “The stadium, the solemnness, we were rooting.”

The longtime Florida editor also responded to criticism that she is “fake media” during the interview.

“Listen, I’ve been in this business more than 25 years,” she said. “So, he can say whatever he wants about fake news. I am a member of the Black Press, NNPA, the National Newspaper Association that’s been around more than a hundred years. I’m the associate editor of the Jacksonville Free Press, one of the more than 230 African-American newspapers still printing in this country today.”

“Support the Black Press. You can call me fake all you want to, honey. I’ve been doing this a long time.”

Watch Lynn Jones-Turpin’s full interview with News4JAX below.