Who We Are

Our History

The Listening Post Collective (LPC) was established in 2013 by Jesse Hardman to adapt Internews‘s global expertise in community information mapping for the U.S. Through innovative strategies, LPC helps local media and community organizations address information gaps and empower underserved communities. 

Our inaugural project in post-Katrina New Orleans rebuilt trusted information networks, pioneering the use of SMS for civic news sharing. This laid the groundwork for numerous successful civic media projects across the country. 

We launched the Civic Media Playbook, a digital learning community, mirroring our 3-phase Civic Media Design process—Listen, Seed, and Cultivate. This platform provides tools, resources, and a collaborative network to map information needs and launch sustainable, community-driven civic media projects. 

Our work demonstrates the power of community engagement in creating impactful, local journalism. We provide a proven framework to build resilient information ecosystems that directly serve community needs. 

Our Values

Listening is our greatest tool

We start with listening. We ask questions that help us understand how we can be of service to communities.

Cultivating local power is essential

We help build power by providing tools and advice that help partners understand community needs and identify ways to help strengthen and sustain their work.

Being adaptable and responsive strengthens collaborations

There isn’t one tool, process, or approach in building news and information solutions for communities. We develop toolkits, playbooks and strategies that are adaptable and meet partners where they are.

Trust is earned

We earn trust by being transparent about what is driving our work, what we think, what we don’t know, and we show up for the people we work with.

Equitable media requires culturally relevant solutions and transformative investments

We help build power by providing tools and advice that inspires partners to understand community needs and identify ways to strengthen and sustain their work

Staff