Citizen and community news
Answering reader questions builds trust and becomes the foundation of our community and newsletter
In the coming year, we hope to grow our efforts in multiple ways, specifically to reach new communities and publish in more languages. Two weeks ago we published our third reader generated story. Readers of our WhatsApp group were regularly reaching out to send us photos of housing court documents that they had received, which … Continued
Saving democracy is a slogan not a strategy
In the past four years, I’ve seen increasingly fervent articles, studies and op-eds declaring journalism’s essential role in a healthy democracy. As we’ve heard many times before, local news is critical to informing communities and promoting civic engagement. The very presence of a local news organization revives democracy, underpins democracy, sustains democracy, and yet these proclamations have been strikingly disconnected from reality.
Narrative change: Designing conversations for an inclusive economy
The sustainability of local journalism is tied to the strength of local business and both have been rocked by a deadly pandemic and roused by nationwide rallies for racial equity. In developing blueprints for an equitable post-pandemic recovery, communities have a critical opportunity to address the role of local media in creating a more accurate … Continued
How to find diverse sources
A lot of the work has already been done The evidence is overwhelming that lack of diversity and inclusion in journalism not only perpetuates stereotypes and media distrust, but also limits which stories get told, how they are told, and whose voices are heard. Based on the pre-training survey responses, many reporters believe including diverse … Continued
How to write a newsletter about the dead
“For me, it’s knowing I’m going to learn something interesting (also potentially important, alarming, life-saving, funny, depending on the newsletter.)”
Q&A: Wisconsin Public Radio’s Source Demographic Project
Here are some of the most common questions and answers, which I hope will help newsrooms tackle a similar initiative to make their coverage more reflective of their communities.
What’s next for Documented Semanal, a WhatsApp newsletter
When the pandemic began, we, like many other organizations, worked quickly to respond to all of the pressing needs of our readers. Tens of thousands of NeW Yorkers were suddenly left jobless and afraid of getting sick. We knew financial relief and organizations seeking to help were out there, but many residents did not know … Continued
Looking for a subscription success story? Try Scandinavia’s Schibsted
Scandinavia online readers lead the world in paying for online news, with 26% on average in Nordic countries answering affirmatively to the 2020 Reuters Digital News Report question, “Have you paid for online news content?” In Norway alone, the percentage of readers who pay for online news is 42%, up eight percentage points from 2019. … Continued
A pop-up newsroom goes digging on Facebook to share its COVID-19 news
When COVID-19 first hit, the Missouri School of Journalism quickly realized local newsrooms everywhere would be struggling to keep up with news about the virus. So the school created a “pop-up” newsroom called the Missouri Information Corps. We spent the summer reporting issues related to the pandemic and distributing stories and information to news outlets … Continued
Engaging with your audience = eyes, ears and super fans
After the New York City Mayor’s office announced a $20 million donation from the Open Society Foundation to help undocumented immigrants, city officials went on live TV to show the beginning of the delivery of the funds. Many of our users heard this news and messaged us to report that the phone numbers and email addresses … Continued