As part of a 2011 information ecosystem assessment of tribal areas, we spent some time learning and most importantly listening to how White Earth and Pine Ridge residents are developing culturally relevant information channels to keep residents up on all the news they need to know.
The Listening Post Collective co-sponsored the recent Engaging Emergence civic media conference in Philadelphia. Seven LPC partners and a host of collaborators joined more than a 100 other journalism practitioners, innovators, and educators dedicated to centering community in media. Goals for the meetup including hearing from people about what kinds of civic media innovations have momentum, how best to support and collaborate on these efforts, and on a bigger scale, how do we imagine a journalism space that’s truly equitable.
Mariah Castañeda is the Co-founder and Audience Director for the civic media outlet Los Angeles Public Press. As a new community led shop, they wanted to make sure they started building their news strategy by getting peoples input. Mariah graciously shared some tips on how to build listening into a media startup.
When reporter Maritza Félix realized Spanish language news consumers in Phoenix were facing misinformation during the pandemic, she took it upon herself to respond, creating Conecta Arizona as a way to get sourced information in Spanish to a community that sorely needed it, in a space and format that felt culturally comfortable and relevant.