Tag: WhatsApp
What can grow in the desert?
We are awash with studies and white papers about the demise of local newsrooms as a threat to our democracy. But what if, instead of asking what we’ve lost, we ask what can actually grow in these deserts?
Creating an affordable text system for your community centered newsroom
SMS systems are often expensive, pay per a text plans can make it affordable.
RJI Fellows reflect on eight month projects, what they’ve learned and how the industry can benefit
Seven fellows at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute who have been working on innovative projects that can benefit the journalism industry, over the past eight months, are wrapping up their projects. Six shared findings and insights from their projects, as well as links to resources during a recent Q&A webinar with the public. We’ve … Continued
Reynolds Journalism Institute fellows to present overviews of their projects
Fellows will discuss what they learned and answer questions about their projects during the webinar. The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute’s 2020-2021 fellows will present an overview of their projects on Tuesday, Feb. 16 beginning 11 a.m. CST. Six fellows will discuss their project and what they learned, how they accomplished their goals, and share … Continued
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
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
Readers can help you plan your next move
The beginning of the coronavirus pandemic brought with it a surge in engagement and traffic to the Spanish materials we publish on our site, Documented Semanal. Within weeks, we had built an ecosystem where our readers, using our WhatsApp app, had guided us to create certain stories which would then draw in more subscribers who … 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
Utilizing the WhatsApp audio feature for news
One of the most popular features of WhatsApp is the ability to leave a short audio message in lieu of a text message, video or photo. It’s a feature that’s widely used across the world, but less so in the United States. And Radio remains popular across Latin America, especially in areas with limited internet … Continued
We’re meeting our audience where they are. Now what?
Early on in our existence we realized we were facing a challenge. Our reporting was about city, state and federal immigration related policies and how they were failing the New York residents they were aiming to serve. However, our metrics told us our stories were not always reaching the people the stories were about. I … Continued