There are many benefits of featuring real readers in your reporting, but it can be hard to know where to start. In this lightning chat, we talk about best practices for gathering stories from your audience, how to build trust, and why covering divisive political issues through personal narratives is a good idea.
Spaceship Media worked with Advance Local, Essential Partners, and other organizations to create a nationwide discussion between persons with very different opinions on the topic of gun control.
Reckon Women promotes dialogue around women’s issues in the South by sharing news articles and asking open-ended questions to invite discussion.
Learn about Southern California Public Radio’s engaged journalism work and Alabama Media Group’s project “Reckon Women: Motherhood.” Both are finalists for the 2020 OJA Gather Award in the Overall Excellence category.
Spaceship Media and other outlets are experimenting with ways to bridge the political divides in the U.S. Other efforts include a new StoryCorps feature with intimate conversations between political opposites and a Reddit page at The Seattle Times that ran with a series on race called “Under Our Skin.” Facebook, where Russia-financed vitriol helped to inflame hatred before the 2016 election, hosts issue pages moderated by journalists on topics such as health care, and hyperlocal discussion groups about schools and town elections run by citizen volunteers.
