Imagine the morning news meeting convened in the local café, open to whoever wishes to participate

Journalism that Matters: An Inquiry and a Dream

In an industry deeply in crisis, where conversations focus on what’s broken, with no solutions in sight, twenty nine journalists from print, broadcast, and new media; mainstream and alternative; editors, writers, bloggers, publishers, educators, funders, community activists and even a Wall Street analyst, came together drawn by the question, “What does it mean to do journalism that matters?”

Throughout their time together, the journalists set their own agenda, sharing stories, discovering the myriad interconnections among print, broadcast and new media. They asked questions that stimulated new ideas – Is journalism without advertising possible? Our companies, ourselves, our journalism: Why are we so pissed off? What can the elders and newcomers in journalism learn from each other?

Twenty nine journalists found kindred spirits as they reconnected with the original impulse to make a difference that drew them to the field. They found others with the same longing for meaningful work, they saw an expanded role in the community, both as outsider witnesses and as storytellers and weavers of healthy communities. Together, they pictured a newsroom based in these ideas:

· Journalists as conveners of conversations that inform and engage people

· Professional and citizen journalists working in partnership

· High-tech delivery (web based, podcasting, etc.) with high-touch sourcing of stories from listening posts in ordinary places: cafés, libraries, schools

· An economic model based in local investment

As they imagined a new way of working, the group came alive. A newspaper editor described the experience:

The conversations were exhilarating and breathtakingly fresh. A picture began to emerge of how the future of journalism might be transformed. Not only could we imagine a new model, we could describe it, and could see ourselves working in it.

The ideas were magnetic, providing a glimpse into the emerging pattern of a new journalism and creating a foundation that has attracted others to join the effort. The next step of this adventure was conceived: bringing community leaders, journalists, media educators, and funders together to devise experiments in three communities – urban and rural, depressed and affluent. Months later, the twenty nine journalists continue communicating electronically, still connected by the power of their experience.

With no formal infrastructure in place, some of the journalists who were inspired by the images that emerged of a new type of newsroom found the resources to reconvene and bring new partners into the mix. Six months later, 22 diverse journalists and citizens gathered around the question “What is the next news room and how do we create it?” The first evening, a deeper and clearer purpose emerged, sparked by a citizen participant: this wasn’t about a new newsroom at all; rather, they were envisioning a new news ecology. The insight was electric. The sense of community forged around this purpose is bearing fruit – experiments in urban and rural communities are emerging. By staying connected to each other, these experiments become a learning laboratory, a community of communities growing the capacity of professional and citizen journalists for a new kind of journalism.

During the three-day gathering of journalists, new connections were made and projects defined. As the community experiments take shape, what might they look like organizationally, how might they affect the communities in which they operate?

Imagine Journalism Rooted in Community…

Imagine the morning news meeting convened in the local café, open to whoever wishes to participate. The content for web, broadcast, and print for the day is selected as people reflect together on what best serves the community’s needs. Stories are pursued by people taking responsibility for what they love:

…A citizen journalist hears about a potential conflict between a social service agency and the people it serves. She recruits a professional journalist to investigate with her. Their first step is creating some powerful, appreciative questions to discover what is life-giving in the situation, so that the whole story is told.

…The local school board meeting is covered by a high school student as a community service project. The high school newspaper staff partners with professional journalists. Beginning with school and youth issues, as student skills increase, they cover broader community issues. And, of course, the growing population of young bloggers is engaged in all aspects of this community journalism work.

…A musician is listening and composing. He will travel to restaurants, cafés and street corners singing the news of the day.

…A professional journalist has just turned in his series on an emerging community trend in cross-cultural cooperation. Before the new news operation joined the community, there was little interaction among different ethnic groups. As people from the different parts of town met through gatherings convened by the news organization, they got to know each other. They realized knowing more about each other’s cultures would lead to greater trust and cooperation. It began with progressive dinners and sharing traditional foods. Now people are visiting each other’s places of worship. They’re even forming study groups to learn about each other’s beliefs. Some were inspired to set up a blog, an online newsletter, and podcasts to increase their reach within and beyond the community.

…A graduate student is interviewing several activists, journalists and politicians about the new movement in "action research journalism" in which investigative journalists team up with non-profit advocacy and research groups to investigate corporate or governmental abuses of power. Confronting the officials involved with the potential expose draws them into negotiations to correct their actions. Major deliberations with citizens and other stakeholders are underway to change the systems which make such abuse unattractive or unavoidable. Successful negotiations and deliberations become news stories of successful reform in which everyone wins. The would-be expose becomes mere background material eclipsed by the narrative of positive change. Commentator “Paul Hardey” dubbed this growing phenomenon "appreciative democratic blackmail."

One of the offshoots of action research journalism is that more officials are taking the initiative -- before any investigation happens -- to deal with difficult moral decisions proactively. They engage journalists in utilizing public dialogues, appreciative inquiries and community deliberations to work out acceptable -- and sometimes thrillingly creative -- approaches which are widely reported and credited to the initiating officials.[i]

A feature of the news organization web site is the "tip jar” button. Both citizen journalists and professional journalists benefit not only from feedback and interaction with their audience but feel acknowledged for a job well done[ii]. It has also proved a great recruiting tool for attracting citizen journalists.

That afternoon local journalists meet online with members of two other communities engaging in similar experiments. They’ve been approached by a new community that wishes to learn from their example. They discuss how to communicate the initial challenge of enticing people to become citizen journalists. After years of being a passive audience, it takes creativity and commitment for people to realize the benefits of getting involved.

The news organization has also just heard from a national broadcast news network which wants to explore a local/national partnership. As market share for national broadcast news continues eroding, networks have a new openness to learn from thriving community news operations. It is a long awaited opportunity to scale local learning for the national stage.

That evening, the editor and interested news organization employees meet with the citizen oversight board, a self-selected group who come together monthly to ensure the social, economic, and cultural needs of the community are met. Tonight they discuss the upcoming annual review inviting a randomly selected mix of citizens to provide feedback on how well the news organization is meeting the community’s needs.

This annual event has worked so well that the local Citizens for a Better Community group is working with the town council and the news organization to convene a similar event for the community. They plan to randomly select twenty citizens for a weekend of facilitated conversation to produce a consensus statement about the state of the community. The journalists will cover the selection process, who these very different participants are (so the community can identify with them) and how they change during their dialogue. Their findings and public discussions of them will also be covered. With repetition and good coverage, they expect the process to become a powerful way for the community to see itself. Dreams and concerns are voiced in a coherent way that everyone -- public officials, institutions, and the public itself – can engage.[iii]

On the other side of town that same evening, a citizen journalist is covering a town meeting on waste disposal. With increased trust among the community’s many ethnic groups, there is growing confidence that those who show up are acting in service to the whole. This has enabled people to follow the issues they care most about, knowing that others are doing the same on their behalf. This virtuous cycle of increasing trust and creative community engagement mediated by community journalism has attracted national recognition, and a national foundation has just informed the town that they have received an award as one of the most livable communities in the country.

Excerpt from Holman, Peggy, Tom Devane and Steve Cady. The Change Handbook: The Definitive Resource on Today’s Best Methods for Engaging Whole Systems, Chapter 66, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, 2007.