A resource for news innovators powered by American Press Institute
Complexity: Advanced
Article Complexity Bar Graph

Creating a public space for community journalism

This case study demonstrates a more advanced way newsrooms might provide in-person public gatherings for citizens to get involved in the journalism process.

Civic journalism organization City Bureau and South Side Weekly partnered in Chicago to create Public Newsroom, a weekly gathering that encourages citizens to come together and create community-produced news reports. This piece describes the design of the effort and early results, as well as information on how crowdfunding has played a part in enabling it. While many news organizations dipping their toes into including live events as part of community engagement may not want to start at this level, it provides inspiration and demonstrates more involved opportunities for some news organizations to consider.