Journalism as a vehicle for civic engagement
I can't stop thinking about a hyperlocal newsroom's attention journey.
This year, I had the pleasure of attending my first LION Publishers Summit, a unique gathering of news leaders and entrepreneurs focused on creating sustainable newsrooms. This was time well spent: Every session, and even every conversation in the hallway and over coffee, led to actionable advice. I left Chicago feeling smarter and motivated.
There’s one session that I can’t stop thinking about. Anita Li, the founder and publisher of The Green Wave, a hyperlocal newsroom in Canada, spoke about the distinctive ways her team is engaging with their audience. Anita describes The Green Line as a news outlet *and* community services organization. The Green Line provides information and encourages people to take action on the local issues they care about.
She outlined The Green Line’s attention journey model, which was so easy to understand if you think about it in terms of how we all become infatuated with something like a musical artist (the world’s Chappell Roan obsession explosion comes to mind). The attention journey moves from meet → like → love → stan. The Green Line utilizes content and engagement pieces at each point of this journey. But most notably, they also employ an action journey to help audiences understand an issue, dive deep, meet others who care, and crowdsource solutions. Anita wrote a guide on these models for the Reynolds Journalism Institute.
Something else very cool: She writes a Substack called The Other Wave where she chronicles what she’s learning from building and running The Green Line.
I’m incredibly bullish on these new ways of thinking about utilizing journalism to stimulate civic engagement and serve audiences with the information they need.
What I’m reading
The New York Times: The Education Crisis Neither Candidate Will Address
Associated Press: More Black and Latina women are leading unions — and transforming how they work
Better News: What Gen Z journalists want news leaders to know
Nieman Lab: What’s the journalism we can make for people who don’t trust journalism?
Harvard Business Review: The More Senior Your Job Title, the More You Need to Keep a Journal
And a bonus link: Need a magazine subscription, dog toys, or a random box of chocolates? Support my niece’s Girl Scout troop’s fall drive.
One more thing
Early voting is already starting in some areas! Carve out time in your calendar this week to check your voter registration and make a plan to vote.
See you next week,
Rachel
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