Media for the People
Counterstream on the Power of Story Sharing
Today, we want to highlight an incredible conversation between PLANTCRAFT creator Amirio Freeman and Counterstream Co-Founder Shilpi Chhotray on the role of independent media in our current moment. Scroll down for a sneak peek of this illuminating interview or click through to read this conversation in full at Peace & Riot.
Ping. Ping. Ping. While waiting to virtually chat with Shilpi Chhotray, Co-Founder and President of Counterstream Media, my phone was abuzz with news notifications alerting me to the latest devastation impacting our global community: more news of continuing genocide, more news of climate crisis, more news of spreading fascism.
When looking at our traditional media institutions—legacy newsrooms, long-standing magazines—one would think that the defining and only narrative of our times is one of total collapse. As communities on the frontlines of environmental justice and other allied movements continue to rewrite the story of our people and planet, what new narratives to challenge, mobilize, and inspire can we uplift right now? Shilpi and the Counterstream team are part of a new era of media makers answering that question.
With Shilpi calling in from Oakland, California, and me clocking in from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, we chatted online for Peace & Riot to discuss the need for greater investment in narrative justice and how to partner with communities in reciprocal acts of story-sharing to uncover strategies for creating media for a world fated for more than disaster.
Shilpi Chhotray (far right) hosting a conversation at the Hip Hop for Change 6th Environmental Justice Summit. Photography by Sarah Arnold.
AMIRIO FREEMAN: When it comes to Counterstream Media and the broader environmental justice movement, there's a recognition that stories are powerful. They’re embedded in our policies, they help us make sense of the world, and they can mobilize the masses to imagine realities beyond this one. So I'm wondering for you, at this ‘hour on the world's clock’—to borrow from the amazing activist Grace Lee Boggs—what stories do we need, and what do we need those stories to specifically do at this moment?
SHILPI CHHOTRAY: Oh, I just got chills! I love that quote.
Counterstream believes storytelling is both an act of truth telling and imagination. With Peace & Riot in particular, we’re interested in telling stories that recognize that sometimes peace is necessary—and sometimes rioting is necessary—in the fight for justice. And when we consider this current moment, Peace & Riot couldn't be more relevant. This project was born out of the understanding that dissent and disobedience are part of a long lineage of movements led by our ancestors.
So to go back to this idea of what stories we need right now, I think it’s critical to expose environmental harms that are rooted in extractive systems by intentionally uplifting stories that center resilience, care, and visionary solutions.
To that end, every one of our media projects at Counterstream aims to uplift community-led solutions. Whether it's Indigenous economies, mutual aid networks, or artistic expressions of resistance, we seek to illuminate pathways towards the future.
AMIRIO FREEMAN: I really appreciate this idea of ancestry, of lineage. I’m curious for you, and for Counterstream, who would you consider to be your narrative elders, so to speak? What are those publications and platforms, media makers from the past, maybe, who presaged the work of Counterstream?
SHILPI CHHOTRAY: One of my biggest inspirations in this narrative work comes from my Indigenous colleagues and friends—people I've been very, very lucky to work with in my advocacy work. Thanks to them, I've learned a lot about applying the concept of reciprocity to our work at Counterstream and beyond. Storytelling is so innate to the work that they do and the reciprocal relationships that they nurture with land.
As a mother, these values have also shaped incredible moments I've had with my son. Since having my second child, I’ve been reflecting even more on what it means to hold history and cultivate care in sharing stories across generations. Also, I’m Indian, and the roots of cultural identity—of holding each other from generation to generation— have deeply shaped how I think about sharing stories. It’s not just about documenting; it’s about honoring and carrying forward wisdom in a way that strengthens community.
On that note, there are several media platforms in particular that really inspire me. One of them is Prism, which is a nonprofit newsroom led by journalists of color. We’ve had the absolute privilege of working with them for Season 3 of our People over Plastic podcast, and they truly take a very courageous stance when it comes to social, racial and environmental justice. I also love Loam and Hammer & Hope, and I think Capital B is amazing. We need more of these platforms to not only be funded and out in the world, but also working together.
AMIRIO FREEMAN: I love that, and I want to touch on something you mentioned earlier in your response on how so much of Indigenous storytelling really centers reciprocity. When I look at Counterstream, I can sense not only that there's reciprocity embedded in the stories that this platform is telling, but also that there’s reciprocity deeply embedded in how Counterstream approaches storytelling. One of the things that I appreciate so much about Counterstream is that there's such a deep commitment to producing media that foregrounds the experiences of communities on the frontlines.
That said, I can name so many examples of media makers working with frontline communities in a way that creates more harm either because certain tropes are being reproduced or because the process of working with these communities feels extractive rather than relational.
Given that, can you talk a little bit more about how your team approaches collaborating with frontline communities, especially in ways that build trust and share power? What does that commitment look like on a very practical level? And why is that important to your philosophical approach at Counterstream?
SHILPI CHHOTRAY: This is such an important question.
Counterstream was born out of a response to the failures of mainstream media. So often, mainstream media sensationalizes and misinterprets the actions of frontline communities, of Black and Brown and Indigenous communities, and of movement organizers particularly in the Global South. Mainstream media often reinforces dominant power struggles by amplifying state narratives while sidelining the voices of those impacted by injustice.
This is nothing new, and we're seeing it in real time. There is criminalization of protest, the erasure of Palestinian liberation struggles, and the watering down of environmental justice movements. So independent media—like Counterstream, like Prism, like Loam—we have a responsibility to counter those narratives by creating space for truth telling.