Paris Alston: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. It’s been one year since the Bay State Banner, Boston’s weekly newspaper primarily geared towards Black and Latino communities, changed ownership. In that time, the Banner has switched up its print format and built new partnerships. And it’s not done yet. But first, the Banner will be marking its one-year milestone with its inaugural gala tomorrow night. And joining us to talk about that and what’s next for the paper is its editor and publisher, Ron Mitchell. Good morning, Ron. Thanks for being here.

Ron Mitchell: Good morning Paris. Thank you for having me.

Alston: So one year of ownership for you and your business partner, Andre Stark. Congratulations. How would you say the paper has changed in that time?

Mitchell: Well, Andre and I have really focused on trying to expand the coverage as much as we could. And as part of that, we’ve also brought in a lot of community partners by way of sponsorship for different sections. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts worked with us early on when we first created the art gallery. One of the first sections we also created was our sports section, bringing it back from papers of the past. The Banner used to have a sports section many, many years ago. One of the first things we stumbled on when Andre and I started going through the old archives was a sports section. We’re very excited about that. So we brought that back.

Alston: And it’s a very important time for sports now that the Celtics are going to win NBA Finals.

Mitchell: It is, it is. Boston is a superduper sports city, so we were really excited. And for many, many months Cruz Companies sponsored the sports section and now they’ve moved over to arts and culture. We’ve always had an arts and culture section in the paper, the Banner did for many, many years prior to our ownership. But the other thing that we added was a virtual art gallery. We did a full profile of each artist and the Museum of Fine Arts sponsored that in the beginning. And then the wonderful city of Boston, through Mayor Wu, has been sponsoring that for the last three months. So we brought in a lot of special sections that helped to expand the coverage. And one of the other major things we did was we changed the physical format of the paper. We’ve made it larger into a broadsheet, and that gives us more space for more stories.

Alston: And that’s thanks in part to a printing deal with the Times-Union that was recently announced. Now it strikes me, Ron —

Mitchell: Yes, yes. Our friends at Hearst Publications.

Alston: Gotcha. And this, of course, is coming at a time when many local newspapers are actually shrinking, both in size and in staff. So why grow in this way now?

Mitchell: Well, the Bay State Banner, as many folks know — for those who don’t know, is Boston’s oldest Black newspaper, founded by Mel Miller in 1965. And the responsibility of that paper to the Black community goes back, literally to the age of telling our stories as a culture. And early on in the development of this nation, you know, the image of Black folks in media was very, very bad. So the Black papers and the different material that was printed by Black printers and the Black media of that day told our true stories, the images of us, the good news, the bad news. So we stand on the shoulders of that history. And right now, in our society, it is imperative that our stories continue to be told. Now more than ever, you know, I explain it that media is to me, media in general, is the battleground for the whole soul of our country. And if the media continues to do its job like GBH, like the Banner, like many, many publications and tell the truth about our nation and our culture and our people, the electorate will make good decisions. But, you know, it’s all on the line now. I don’t mean to sound, you know, negative, but it’s all on the line. We have to decide where our country is going and telling the true stories of our people, Black, brown, allies, everybody, is the way that I see. It’s going to help our culture. And the Banner’s role is to continue that, to make our city better and our world better in Massachusetts.

Alston: Absolutely. I know part of your strategy is expanding your video journalism, which capitalizes on both you and Andre’s experience in the TV news world. What’s going to be your strategy around that?

Mitchell: Well, you know, when when we purchased the paper, though the Banner had a very nice website, there were no digital ads and there wasn’t any streaming content. We brought in Colin Redd, digital sales manager, came in over from Blavity, helped us restructure the site. We have a lot more streaming now. We have versions of video podcasts on our site as well as for the art gallery and other things. And we’re going to be, through a project we did with Northeastern, we started streaming some actual stories that some students from Northeastern had done for us as well. And we’re going to — you know, I come from TV news, with a history of GBH here many years ago and then more recently, 27 years at WBZ down the street. And, you know, television news and telling video stories is what I do best. Now I’m a boss, now I’m a publisher and editor. So I have a lot more responsibilities. But we’re bringing all those things back. And a lot of that new formatting that folks will see over the next few months on the website is going to be driven by our new managing editor, Jamyra Perry, who came from, Philadelphia, came from the Philadelphia Tribune, one of the nation’s oldest Black newspapers.

Alston: That sounds like a very interesting new hire, for sure. So, Ron, I’m glad you mentioned GBH’s legacy and and telling these stories as well, because as the Banner has reported, GBH recently announcing programing changes for the long running show Basic Black, formerly known as Say Brother, which was the nation’s first public television show geared towards people of color. Now, last month, GBH CEO Susan Goldberg announced that the show’s production would cease immediately as it is being reinvented for digital-first programing. And as a leader of a Black publication who’s going through a transformation of its own, how would you suggest we do that? Some things we should keep in mind.

Mitchell: Well, removal of Basic Black from the air, you know, formerly Say Brother, and I know that it’s not officially, you know, gone forever. So that’s a good news. I don’t necessarily feel personally that it needs to be reimagined, but I understand in this media market, you have to tell the stories in as many ways that you can. So if this is a goal to diversify and magnify the stories and figure out better ways to get the stories out there and to tell our story, then that’s a good thing. You know, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Lee Hill, the [executive editor] here. And I look forward to what the reimagining of the show is. I’m confident that if Lee’s allowed to do what he wants to do, that what will come of it, and I personally haven’t spoken to him about this issue. But knowing Lee, I’m sure that this type of coverage is important to him. So I’m going to stand by and wait to see what the future holds and what the plans are.

Alston: And again, I will underscore that GBH’s CEO Susan Goldberg has said the show will come back as digital-first programing. And each year, Basic Black does take a hiatus around this time, as it does come back for another season with more content. So we will be looking forward to what that looks like as well. Well, that is Ron Mitchell, who is the editor and publisher of the Bay State Banner and will be celebrating one year of ownership with your gala tomorrow night.

Mitchell: Yes, yes. I want to remind everybody to come out to the Bay State Banner one year anniversary gala in Nubian Square at the Bolling Building. Tickets are still on sale. It’s a fundraiser for BlackFacts educational history tools. We’re buying 50 of those and providing 50 high schools in New England with this educational Black history tool developed by a gentleman up from MIT. Old friend of mine, Ken Granderson. So, you know, please come out, celebrate our community and our paper.

Alston: Thank you so much, Ron.

Mitchell: Thank you.

Alston: You're listening to GBH news.

It’s been one year since the Bay State Banner, Boston’s weekly newspaper primarily geared towards Black and Latino communities, changed ownership. Its founder and publisher, Melvin B. Miller, sold the paper to journalist Ron Mitchell and filmmaker Andre Stark.

In that time, the Banner has switched up its print format and built new partnerships.

And it’s not done yet.

“Andre and I have really focused on trying to expand the coverage as much as we could,” Mitchell told GBH’s Morning Edition co-host Paris Alston Wednesday.

Media organizations owned and run by people of color — like The Banner, which Miller founded in 1965 — play a vital role in American life, Mitchell said.

“Early on in the development of this nation, the image of Black folks in media was very, very bad,” Mitchell said. “The Black papers, and the different material that was printed by Black printers and the Black media of that day, told our true stories, the images of us, the good news, the bad news. We stand on the shoulders of that history.”

That role is especially important now, he said.

“It is imperative that our stories continue to be told, now more than ever,” he said. “If the media continues to do its job like GBH, like the Banner, like many, many publications, and tell the truth about our nation and our culture and our people, the electorate will make good decisions. It’s all on the line now. I don’t mean to sound negative, but it’s all on the line.”

Mitchell said he’s proud of the paper’s refurbished arts, culture and sports sections. The newspaper has created a digital art gallery, in partnership with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the City of Boston.

“We’ve always had an arts and culture section in the paper, the Banner did for many, many years prior to our ownership,” he said. “But the other thing that we added was a virtual art gallery. We did a full profile of each artist.”

They also brought back the sports pages.

“One of the first things we stumbled on when Andre and I started going through the old archives was a sports section,” he said. “Boston is a super-duper sports city, so we were really excited.”

On the business side, they’ve redesigned the physical paper into a larger broadsheet and hired Colin Redd, digital sales manager, from Blavity to help put in digital ads and streaming video.

They’ve also hired a new managing editor, Jamyra Perry, from the Philadelphia Tribune, one of the nation’s oldest Black newspapers.

Their expansion comes at a time when other newspapers are shrinking and cutting staffs. GBH, too, recently announced layoffs of 31 people and programing changes for the long running show Basic Black, formerly known as Say Brother, the nation’s first public television show geared towards people of color. GBH CEO Susan Goldberg said that the show’s production would cease immediately as it is being reinvented for digital-first programing.

“I know that it’s [Basic Black] not officially gone forever, so that’s good news,” Mitchell said. “I don’t necessarily feel personally that it needs to be reimagined, but I understand in this media market, you have to tell the stories in as many ways that you can.”

He said he looks forward to seeing what GBH does with the show in the future.

“If the goal is to diversify and magnify the stories and figure out better ways to get the stories out there and to tell our story, then that’s a good thing,” he said. “I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Lee Hill, the [executive editor] here. And I look forward to what the reimagining of the show is. I’m confident that if Lee’s allowed to do what he wants to do, that what will come of it — and I personally haven’t spoken to him about this issue.”

So how are Mitchell and Stark celebrating their first year of owning The Banner? With a gala Thursday night at the Bolling Building in Nubian Square. Tickets start at $150 and are available on the newspaper’s website.

“It’s a fundraiser for BlackFacts educational history tools. We’re buying 50 of those and providing 50 high schools in New England with this educational Black history tool developed by a gentleman up from MIT, old friend of mine, Ken Granderson,” Mitchell said. “Please come out, celebrate our community and our paper.”