2020 was marked not only by the losses of the pandemic, but also by the most significant reckoning with race and civil rights the United States had seen in more than 50 years.
On June 5, 2020, Bloomington organizers gathered around 1,000 people under the beating summer sun to peacefully march and protest against police brutality and racism.
Almost half of our newsroom was there to cover it, and Facebook and Twitter were integral to our live, minute-by-minute coverage of the event -- especially given the volatile nature of other, similar protests in previous weeks.
Because the rally was organized using mainly social media, we used Twitter to reach out to two organizers for interviews, which culminated in this story: Hundreds Expected To Attend Friday Protest Against Police Brutality In Bloomington.
The day of the protest, we used Facebook Live to stream some of the speeches and performances before the march and tweeted photos and videos of the march in progress.
Here are some examples of our social media coverage of that day:
Crowd gathering at Dunn Meadow on IU’s campus leading up to #EnoughIsEnough rally. #GeorgeFloyd #blacklivesmatter @WFIUNews @wtiu pic.twitter.com/oLYg7RuyKf — Adam Pinsker (@AdamPinsker) June 5, 2020
Update: minute-by-minute the crowd grows at Dunn Meadow. Well over 1,000 people of all different ethnicities have gathered. #EnoughIsEnough pic.twitter.com/9s6PTetMMW — Ethan Burks (@EthanMBurks) June 5, 2020
While my colleagues are at Dunn Meadow for the rally and speakers, @BrockEWTurner and I are waiting for the protest to make its way downtown. War memorial on the square is chalked up, along with sidewalks. pic.twitter.com/z0k6qqAWmX — emma atkinson (@emmameg) June 5, 2020
And almost everyone is wearing a mask. pic.twitter.com/baoOSWsvCn — emma atkinson (@emmameg) June 5, 2020
In addition, we culled our social coverage into a live blog on our website, which was updated every few minutes with coverage from the rally.
