As a journalist, you’re bound to receive some complaints or criticism about your work and you can’t make everyone happy all the time. The key is how you respond — and it’s important to use humility and diplomacy while not being afraid to explain and defend your work.
What if you based your election coverage on what your community has told you they actually want candidates to be talking about as they compete for votes? Join our hosts, Brittany Schock from Richland Source, Bridget Thoreson from Hearken, and Joy Mayer from Trusting News as they talk about what that process actually looks like and what they hope it achieves. Read more about The Citizens Agenda.
Newsrooms need to tell a consistent, repetitive story about what motivates their work, the range of information and stories they offer, what sets them apart, who they are, how they operate and how people can reach them. Telling that story should be a constant drumbeat — part of the rhythm of our work as journalists. So, how do you get started? You can start by talking about your mission, discussing your ethics and asking for feedback.
How can journalists stand out in a minefield of misinformation? See what 14 newsrooms learned when they used their social platforms to experiment with trust-building strategies. We’ll show you what they tried, what worked for different kinds of newsrooms and what totally fell flat.
We need to change the conversation about journalism, and engaged journalists are on the front lines of public opinion. In the wake of Annapolis, let’s workshop ways to use engagement strategies to stand up for journalism. How can we answer comments from complainers and haters? Join Joy Mayer to continue the discussion.
Let’s have a chat on how to create change in newsrooms. Doing engagement work often involves getting colleagues (and bosses) to try new things — even to be *excited* about trying new things. Some newsrooms do that well. What do they have in common? Join the discussion with Kristen Hare of Poynter Institute, Julia Haslanger of Hearken, and Joy Mayer of Trusting News and Gather’s community manager.
Engagement can be lonely work. Many of us do not have in-person colleagues who understand or even support our efforts. We crave a sense of belonging — that feeling that other people get us, like us, and have our back. We want to feel like we’re part of an intentional community. The community we need shouldn’t, however, come with a membership application. There’s room for diverse motivations, organizations, goals, and strategies under the large umbrella of engaged journalism.
We know trust in journalism is low. So what are we doing about that (beyond hoping it changes)? Learn how to use social platforms to tell the story of your journalism and why it’s credible. Don’t just share links to published stories. Build relationships with your users by sharing your process, introducing your staff and telling the story of your brand. Persuade people that you’re worth following. Invite them to connect with you. Give them a sense of who you are and invite them to make an emotional connection.
