Get started with community listening with this workbook from the American Press Institute
American Press Institute,This workbook was developed for the American Press Institute’s Community Listening Sprint for alumni organizations of the Table Stakes Local News Transformation Program.
Participating teams in the sprint used the flaring exercises and assignments in this workbook throughout the program to challenge themselves in centering their communities in their outreach, relationships and reporting.
For this self-guided version, we’ve added recommended readings for each week that we suggest you explore before jumping into the flaring and assignments. The workbook can be an individual or team endeavor. If your newsroom is not currently doing this type of work, an individual approach may help create a proof of concept that can help garner the necessary buy-in for more extensive engagement work.
In either case, this workbook is meant to be just a starting point. We encourage you to explore the API Inclusion Index — a key inspiration for the Community Listening Sprint — for a more holistic and lasting approach to covering communities of color. API can bring the index and other relevant training to your organization.
Check out these case studies from the Community Listening Sprint: