A platform to support community-minded journalists
This playbook by jesikah maria ross is a guide to participatory journalism. The playbook is intended to help you select and develop stories in conversation with the communities most affected by a certain issue; design a reporting process that generates understanding, connection, and trust; and strengthen existing networks and forge new alliances that build community resilience beyond reporting.
Journalism + Design has developed a suite of systems thinking tools for journalists to focus their reporting on the underlying causes of complex problems: the policies, power dynamics, and beliefs fueling systems that actively harm, marginalize, or benefit specific people. By expanding our lens beyond individual events and outcomes, journalists can hold entire systems accountable, rather than just the symptoms they produce.
Date: 01/16/2020
In 2018, New Jersey created the Civic Information Consortium, a first-of-its-kind nonprofit with the mission of strengthening local-news coverage and boosting civic engagement in communities across the state. Free Press Action conceived of the Civic Info Bill, which created the consortium and is now serving as a model for other states that are seeking to give people the news and information they need.
Huge datasets that cover vital national issues are coming out of the federal government every day, and within them hide endless numbers of story leads for local journalists. With the proliferation of available data, it’s become common for newsrooms to have access to datasets that contain more story leads than they can meaningfully pursue themselves. Collaborative data journalism allows multiple newsrooms to find and tell those stories, increasing impactful stories told.
How do we make the case for investing in engagement? “Engagement” is an evolving set of practices within journalism, and its impact on attracting, developing, and satisfying audiences has yet to be fully and rigorously documented, particularly by the scholarly community. One entity that is making a strong case for the commercial, as well as the journalistic value of doing engagement work, is Hearken, whose landing page features in bold letters: “Does Hearken Work? Yes.”
NewsU: As a mediator among those who create, distribute and consume the news, the Newseum wants to help each group better understand the others. In this session, the Newseum’s Kristi Kenneth focuses on revealing what the organization has learned about the current media landscape through workshops with news consumers young and old world-wide. What issues cause the most confusion? Where does the public lay blame for problems like “fake” news? What skills do students and the general public need to develop, and what can journalists do to help bolster those skills?
NewsU: Facebook Groups are an exciting way to build communities, especially on the local level. Facebook Groups remain an effective way to interact with audiences and share meaningful stories. But how do you start? What makes for a good Facebook group? What pitch can you make for resources? How can you involve your business side and journalists outside of the social media team in managing it? This webinar discusses best practices in starting a topical Facebook group, how to involve your newsroom and how to keep the conversation going.
This 10-step guide offers practical tips and exercises to create the optimal conditions in your newsroom for meaningful engagement efforts to take root and thrive. This guide will help cultivate lasting culture change in your newsroom that results in producing more relevant content in a more authentic manner.
Before there were Facebook and Twitter, email and cellphones, there was real-time, face-to-face conversation where ideas were presented, positions debated, solutions brainstormed… In this webinar, we’ll focus on producing editorial events to engage your audience and generate revenue. We’ll talk through how to create a great program (the key to building audiences!), keep the costs low and generate income. We’ll also help you strategize about how to best deploy your resources: your staff, your partner organization’s staff, and contributions, and technology.