The summary below was provided by Ode founder and Siouxland Public Media Arts Producer Ally Karsyn. Siouxland Public Media, the NPR affiliate in Sioux City, Iowa, produces Ode, a curated live storytelling series where community members tell true stories on stage to promote positive impact through empathy. The storytelling series offers a multi-platform output—on air, online and in person. Through these channels, Ode has strengthened existing community partnerships and established new ones—all while generating a new revenue stream and attracting a new, younger audience to engage with public radio.
Community in Unity, created by Alaska Public Media, invites residents of Alaska to sit down and participate in face-to-face discussions in order to tackle relevant community issues. Recorded for radio broadcast, the group conversations have included topics ranging from homelessness to race and identity with the hopes of getting people who wouldn’t normally meet together.
This study examines the opportunities and threats to the discursive values of professional journalism inherent in collaborating with citizen journalists, as well as areas of overlap in the values and practice of professional and citizen journalists. This study reveals that, while there is minimal overlap in discursive values between professional and citizen journalism, there are several areas of overlap between the two traditions in theory and practice. This study indicates strong public interest in participating in the journalistic process.
The Yarn Exchange Radio Program shares stories that cultivate a more cohesive community by drawing from its multigenerational and multicultural landscape. The ensemble cast, composed of community members, performs a monthly radio show on themes chosen by the cast.
Capital Public Radio’s The View From Here uses a documentary unit as a capacity building project for reporters in a radio newsroom. The documentaries are each an hour long and tell the stories of three unique people or families, woven together to show how different people deal with a similar social justice issue.
The South Side Photo Walk, an annual workshop going on its ninth year held by Syracuse community newspaper The Stand, uses photography to bring people together and highlight a typical day in the South Side neighborhood of Syracuse, New York. Participants use photography to capture an aspect of the South Side community that is less frequently covered in the media.
During the summer of 2016, The Tennessean introduced the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, a group open to the entire newsroom that tries to tackle the issue of diversity by speaking honestly about newsroom blind spots. The task force ensures that The Tennessean is accurately reflecting the demographics and needs of its community in its coverage and newsrooms.
Headed by Tri-State Public Media (WNIN) producer Paola Marizán, the bilingual podcast ¿Qué Pasa, Midwest? was established with the hopes of telling the stories of Latino community members living in the Midwest. Audience members are able to contribute to the podcast’s production by suggesting their story ideas and guest-starring in podcast episodes.
A day after the funeral of Freddie Gray and the subsequent escalation of protest violence, and in response to the narrowly focused reporting of national and local news outlets on the Baltimore Uprising, Wide Angle Youth Media (WAYM) students and staff felt compelled to use their documentary skills to collect positive images of Baltimore youth.
We chat with Meredith Turk of Colorado Public Radio, Ross Reynolds of KUOW, and Andrew DeVigal of Agora Journalism Center at the University of Oregon about face-to-face engagement and how it can help bridge divides.
