Baltimore Beat awarded for outreach efforts

The staff at Baltimore Beat are proud to be recognized for their work in the community in the August issue of Baltimore Magazine. Every year, the magazine’s editors compile their list of the best of Baltimore. This year marked the magazine’s 50th year anniversary. Baltimore Beat won Best Outreach.

“Community is built into the Baltimore Beat’s ethos. Manifested in its free print newspaper and ‘Beat Boxes,’ which include free, needed items, the Beat also hosted a series of Lexington Market conversations this spring around the 10-year anniversary of the death of Freddie Gray,” editors wrote. 

Baltimore Beat staffers spent Fridays from March to April at Lexington Market talking to members of the community about what they saw, how they felt, and what they remembered about the Baltimore Uprising. They also had artists like photographer Devin Allen and activists like Ray Kelly on hand to share their own thoughts and experiences.

“It’s our job to make real connections with our community, just as it’s our job to publish important, truthful news and information. One can’t happen without the other,” said Baltimore Beat Editor-in-Chief Lisa Snowden. “If the connections aren’t there, then nobody is engaging with the work. What we are doing is creating the work and building the connections.”

The results of their work were published in the April 9 issue of the paper, which marked 10 years since the Baltimore Uprising. 

That work isn’t the only way Baltimore Beat is meeting their audiences where they are. They have 52 Beat Boxes stationed all over Baltimore, where members of the community can find Narcan, Fentanyl test strips, water, food, and other necessities. They also host Conversations with the Beat at Current Space Garden Bar after the release of each issue and directly before Garden Hours, with Jayswann, a bi-weekly dance party.