Launch Announcement
Josh Fischer (L), Camilo Ruiz (R)
We are happy to announce the launch of Untitled Media. We are both photojournalists, who met during the Summer of 2021 at the Fairy Creek blockade. Since then we've covered all kinds of political protests in Vancouver and Victoria, decampments in the Downtown Eastside, water defenders in Wet'suwet'en territories, forest defenders in the Redwoods, floods, forest fires and other climate crises.
Starting a new media venture in a shrinking industry seems like a bad idea. This year alone dozens of newsrooms have shut down. A 130-year-old paper has ceased printing. Local radio has disappeared across the country. We are very aware that even photojournalism schools have shuttered. The current landscape is not without its success stories, see: Cabin Radio, and Capital Daily. It is for these reasons that we are moving forward with this project.
In Spring of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, we witnessed a phenomenon in media coverage of the protests across Canada and the U.S. Watching the movement evolve from Minneapolis to Portland, to Atlanta and New York—we were able to view livestreams from local freelance journalists as well as regular people who decided to pick up their camera or phone and go into the streets. It was an unprecedented level of on-the-ground media access that just wouldn't have been technologically possible during the Iraq war protests or Occupy Wall Street. It was also clear who was or wasn't trusted by the people on the ground participating in these mass movements. The freelance reporters were local, so they were known, or if they were new, they earned the trust of the people. If they weren't trusted, they lost access.
During the Fairy Creek blockade, Camilo reported extensively on police misconduct. This work is the reason someone leaked confidential disclosure material to him. His subsequent reporting on this material led to a publication ban in the form of an injunction that nearly got appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. It speaks volumes that in spite of all the reporting on Fairy Creek from Canadian outlets to international ones, they chose to leak to a photojournalist who spent months embedded with them. This is one of many similar stories.
There is a space between a traditional photojournalist and someone who picks up their camera and heads to an event or protest. We have occupied this middle ground for years now and we are not alone.
We launch this outlet to centralize and elevate our work. If you want to support us, or have something to contribute please feel free to reach out. We would love to hear from you.
Josh + Camilo