How do we know engaging community matters?

By Bill Densmore

When journalists engage the public at the beginning of the reporting process, it helps elevate stories and issues of underrepresented audiences, a report by Journalism That Matters (JTM) concludes.

Journalism That Matters brings together diverse stakeholders to imagine and build inclusive civic communications systems that foster vibrant democracy and thriving communities. It brings journalists out of their professional “silo” for networking with technologists, librarians, citizen journalists, media-literacy educators, researchers, and other policymakers.

The report focuses on detailed comments of six respondents, quoting and analyzing answers to a set of questions designed to understand how ideas spawned or taught at JTM events influence newsrooms and reporters.

“Some of our reporters now produce stories using new and different sources than they had used before,” one respondent wrote. The broadcast newsroom hosted lunch-and-conversation sessions among its reporters and the public. The result: more diverse voices. Adding the respondent: “The perspectives that are being shared in these reporters’ stories are broader, nuanced and unexpected.”

One of the people who helped prepare the report, JTM cofounder Stephen Silha, a former journalist and foundation executive, said research for the report and participation in multiple JTM events document these changes among participants:

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