Still Undecided? Compare the 2026 Candidates Running to Represent Florida’s Congressional District 24

SUPPORTING BLACK-OWNED MEDIA

QUESTION: Black-owned media companies are critical voices in the national conversation, often telling stories and amplifying voices that may not otherwise be heard. Yet they continue to be under-resourced, funded and supported. How have you supported Black-owned media in your work beyond pitching stories for them to cover?

Te Mayonna Brown: “I believe Black-owned media plays an essential role in our communities. These outlets don’t just report the news, they tell stories that are often overlooked hold leaders accountable and create space for important conversations. While I haven’t owned or funded a media company, I have made it a priority throughout my campaign to engage with Black media, make myself accessible for interviews, answer tough questions and treat the outlets with the same respect I would give any national media organization. I believe they deserve access to elected officials not just during election season, but year round. As a member of Congress, I will continue to engage with Black-owned media because transparency and accountability matters. I believe government should communicate with all communities, not just through the largest media outlets. Every community deserves to be informed and respected. Supporting Black media starts with recognizing its value, ensuring it has access and treating it as an important partner in keeping our communities informed.”

Marshall Davis: “My support for Black-owned media beyond asking for event coverage has helped shape the landscape for Black media in South Florida by expanding the center’s curriculum, modeling independent Black broadcasting, building print and technical media infrastructure, sparking cultural pride and serving as an epicenter for Black press. Under my leadership, the MLDAHCAC expanded beyond stage performance to incorporate cinematography, digital media, and audio-visual storytelling into its core multi-arts curriculum.  Youth in Liberty City gained early access to cameras, editing equipment, and production techniques. This expansion provided aspiring Black journalists, photojournalists, and documentary filmmakers with the technical foundation needed to pursue careers in newsrooms and media production companies. I’ve also hosted and produced local television and public access programming focused on arts, culture, and community developments in Liberty City.  By taking to the airwaves myself, I demonstrated how Black community leaders and journalists could bypass mainstream gatekeepers to tell their own stories directly.  My shows have served as a masterclass in community-centered journalism, showing young Black media practitioners how to interview local figures with dignity, depth, and cultural context. The five-building complex was designed with my vision to include a dedicated print shop, studio spaces, and media classrooms. This infrastructure gave local Black writers, graphic designers, and journalists hands-on experience in print production, layout, and publishing.  It served as an incubator for independent Black-owned newsletters, community publications, and arts journalism. Perhaps my greatest impact on Black journalists was teaching narrative sovereignty—the principle that Black communities must control their own stories.  In a region where mainstream news frequently covered Liberty City only through the lens of crime or crisis, I ensured the media had a constant stream of stories about academic excellence, international artistic achievements, and deep cultural heritage. Our program and production offerings challenged young journalists and writers to report on Black life with rigor, nuance, and pride, proving that inner-city neighborhoods are rich sources of brilliance, and most importantly instilled pride and self determination for Black culture and enlightenment to honor other cultures. Throughout my tenure, the center has served as a primary news hub and trusted partner for local Black news outlets to promote Black Excellence, which also promotes self-empowerment. Journalists covering South Florida’s Black communities have relied on the center as a consistent source of positive, high-achieving local news. By routinely hosting community forums, artistic showcases, and press conferences, I’ve provided Black reporters with direct access to local cultural leaders, visiting national artists, and rising talent.”

Oliver Gilbert: “Let me say something clearly: press releases aren’t support. Pitching a story isn’t support. Support means dollars and access, and I’ve tried to practice both. My campaigns advertise in Black-owned media. That’s a choice. It reflects a belief that a free press that looks like the community it covers isn’t a luxury. It’s infrastructure. And you invest in infrastructure. Black-owned media companies are, in most cases, small businesses. They face the same capital constraints, the same cash-flow pressures, and the same structural barriers that Black entrepreneurs face in every sector. My BUILD Business Act is built for exactly that: startup grants, low-interest financing, and expanded SBA lending in underserved communities. Expanding access to capital for small businesses means expanding the economic foundation Black-owned newsrooms need to survive and grow. In Congress, I’ll push federal agencies to place their advertising dollars with Black-owned and minority-owned outlets. The federal government spends real money communicating with the public, and that money should reach the outlets that actually reach our communities. That isn’t charity. It’s smart policy, and it’s overdue. I believe in what Hy-Lo News is doing. I believe in what Black-owned media does for Miami-Dade and Broward. The best way I can show that belief is to back it with resources, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

Shevrin Jones: “Black-owned media outlets are not nice-to-have, they are essential infrastructure for our democracy and for this community in particular. They cover the stories, candidates, and institutions others overlook, and they have earned more than pitches. They have earned investment. I have backed that belief with action. My campaigns have put their own advertising dollars directly into community publications, and I have consistently made myself available to Black-owned press for interviews, forums, and accountability. In Congress, I will push federal agencies to direct a fair share of their substantial advertising budgets to Black-owned and minority-owned media, ensure the Black press has equal access to my office and back policies that strengthen local journalism. Black-owned media amplifies our community’s voice; my job is to make sure the institutions with money and power finally amplify yours.”

Kendrick Meek Jr.: “Black-owned media companies are not just news outlets; they are vital cultural institutions and guardians of our democracy that ensure our stories are told accurately and with dignity. For too long, political campaigns and corporate entities have treated Black media as an afterthought, only showing up to pitch stories or buy ad space during election cycles. As your representative in Congress, I will codify this support into federal practice:
Directing Federal Advertising Dollars: The federal government spends billions of dollars annually on public service announcements, military recruitment, and agency advertising. I will introduce legislation requiring a mandatory percentage of all federal agency advertising budgets to be directed specifically to minority-owned and localized media enterprises. I will work on Expanding Capital Access for Independent Mediaby working with the Small Business Administration to create targeted loan and grant programs specifically designed for independent, minority-owned media companies to upgrade their digital infrastructure, print equipment, and broadcast technology. I am also committed to Protecting Local Journalismby supporting legislative efforts to alter federal antitrust exemptions that allow local and ethnic media outlets to collectively negotiate fair compensation from massive tech and social media platforms that profit off distributing their original reporting.”

Jean Monestime: “I strongly believe that our dollars must be spent several times in our communities before it goes out, therefore I support Black-owned media.”