About Public Square Amplified

Public Square Amplified (PSA) is a grassroots local nonprofit newsroom headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, founded by a team of Black women, led by Josie Gonsalves, with over 80 years of combined experience in the academic, nonprofit, journalism, and community organizing sectors.

PSA positions journalism to deconstruct our shared racialized space and the power of construct and context in curating and consuming news. Our reporting centers on democracy, social and economic justice, racial equality, and the immigrant experience rooted in community.

What we do

Our first step is to serve Newark, the most populous city in New Jersey, by creating a community-responsive news outlet powered by residents' reporting about the city's five wards. Public Square Amplified's digital and social media platforms also reflect stories from the African-Caribbean diaspora and pioneer a central multimedia platform for multi-lingual stories that center the local immigrant experience. Ultimately, we'll work to reach residents and neighborhoods with similarly limited avenues to read about, access, share, or publish news that addresses the community in the context of civics, racial equity, and justice.

Mission

PSA positions journalism as a civic tool and creates a pipeline for a new cadre of local journalists of color representing their geographic and ethnic communities. 

Vision

To create forums that explore civic participation, common ground, and just solutions.

Public Square Amplified will design and present workshops to train participants on civics and citizenship. Our forums, driven by local reports and feature stories, will engage readers and residents about the experiences and causes most pressing to the people of Newark.  

To train and provide a platform for aspiring journalists, including residents and students.

 Public Square Amplified will train and provide a publication outlet for local and aspiring journalists through a comprehensive media and newsgathering training program that equips journalists to share community stories otherwise misrepresented or neglected by other outlets. 

Through our community journalism boot camp, we will make journalism and local reporting more accessible to Newark residents while supporting aspiring writers of color and promoting civic engagement.

 

Policies