Q&A: MLK50’s Wendi C. Thomas on ‘dismantling the status quo’
In 2017, Wendi C. Thomas—a longtime reporter in Memphis—launched MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit news outlet, to investigate issues of economic inequality that she saw being overlooked in the city. The site was named for the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in the city, which was coming up in 2018. Initially, it was only supposed to be a yearlong project. With very little funding and a few credit cards, Thomas decided to give it a try. “I don’t advise this to anybody,” she says now. Seven years on, her bet has paid off. MLK50 continues to cover Memphis, now with a team of full-time reporters and editors. It has produced stories that have improved the lives of residents, such as an investigation into the city’s largest hospital chain, which sued its employees for unpaid medical debts even as it neglected to pay them a living wage; after MLK50’s stories were published, the hospital changed its policies and eliminated millions of dollars of debt. The site has also covered the state of housing in Memphis and a health crisis stemming from the widespread presence of lead paint and pipes in homes throughout the city.
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