Ashley Allison didn’t expect that the news of her company, Watering Hole Media, acquiring The Root would create so much buzz. For her, it wasn’t out of the ordinary because acquisitions “happen all the time.”
However, for the community, this was something significant.
“The response to this deal has been huge. It was overwhelmingly humbling,” Allison tells BLACK ENTERPRISE.
The response from others reflects just how rare Black ownership in media has become. A report from NPR reveals that only 4% of all media in the United States is owned by Black individuals. Meanwhile, legacy media companies with verticals dedicated to coverage of Black communities gutted these departments and laid off staff.
Recently, NBC News dissolved its dedicated editorial team for NBC BLK, a platform that launched in 2015 and focused on telling stories about Black identity, politics, and culture. Teen Vogue and its publisher, Condé Nast, have recently come under fire for layoffs that disproportionately affected Black people and people of color.
“Gone is the political-cultural criticism of the fashion and culture industries by the Black women writers laid off today,” The NewsGuild of New York wrote in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter
about the layoffs. “As of today, only one woman of color remains on the editorial staff at Teen Vogue.”Allison’s purchase of The Root could not have come at a more dire time.
A Legacy Reclaimed
Since its launch in 2008 by Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and former Washington Post Company chairman Donald E. Graham, The Root has been a trusted voice in Black news, identity, and political discourse. Ownership shifted in 2015 when Univision purchased it from The Washington Post Company.
G/O Media purchased Univision’s portfolio of online brands, including The Root, in 2019, before Allison’s company, Watering Hole Media, purchased the publication for an undisclosed amount this past October. She is reportedly the first Black woman owner of The Root.
“I have always been a reader and an admirer of The Root … and it has always been a part of my story,” Allison says.
When the opportunity presented itself to acquire such a powerful platform over the summer, she knew instantly that: “This is it. No questions asked. Why wouldn’t we build on the legacy that it has had to date?”
A Vision for The Root’s Future
A study from Pew Research shows that Black Americans are skeptical about the U.S. news media. The skepticism is rooted in long-standing concerns about coverage, representation, and the media’s role in society.
Almost two-thirds of Black adults, or 63%, say news about Black people is often more negative than news about other racial and ethnic groups. More than half (57%) say the news only covers specific segments of Black communities and often misses essential information, and 43% said the coverage largely stereotypes Black people.
Allison says her goal with The Root is to close this gap.
“We want to tell the stories that might not make it in other publications or on other channels,” she says. “I think we are able to do that with honesty, integrity, data, and facts with a journalistic rigor.”
She plans to expand the digital reach and coverage by investing in video and audio components to meet people where they are. An estimated 54% of U.S. adults access news through social media and video networks. There will be no shortage of opinions, commentary, and conversations with people readers may not always agree with.
Allison is clear that The Root will not platform people who cause harm to Black communities.
“There is a rigor that I think we should be able to have as Black people, to have a conversation and debate and still be able to work together in community,” says Allison. “We’re also going to be asking folks what they want to hear throughout the year to really get a sense of where our audience is.”
An average of 10 to 15 million people consume The Root each month. According to Allison, readers are not solely Black. Another goal for Allison is to ensure that The Root provides information for people who want to learn more about the Black experience.
A Dream Deferred Is Not a Dream Denied
What many may not know is that Allison wrote down her dreams of acquiring digital media properties in her journal in 2009. She envisoned it, then prayed about it, and waited.
Acquiring The Root is more than a business move. It’s destiny fulfilled. The Democratic strategist and former senior staff member in the Obama and Biden administrations urges anyone with a dream to push through, even when it feels impossible.
“The things that we sometimes fear or feel that no one will support, it’s often the exact opposite,” she says. “My dream was to buy media property, and I did it. People have been very receptive. If you have a dream, try it, because it’s probably been something everybody has been waiting for.”
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