Traditional journalism is a top-down model. Typically, a reporter or editor identifies a story within a news organization, using their professional judgement to decide what stories should be told. Once assigned, the reporter gathers information, synthesizes it and the editor edits the piece.
But where is the community in this system? It’s not until the final step (publication/broadcast) that the public enters the equation, simply as “consumers” of the story.
Community engagement journalism radically flips that model, and it is the future of our craft. In this democratic system of journalism, the community asks for answers to a question they are curious about, and then the newsroom works in partnership with the community to “interview” that question. This style of journalism creates a feedback loop between the community, the reporter and the editor.
Wanna Know Idaho is a community engagement podcast that partners with members of our community to get answers to their questions, and helps us know we’re meeting the needs of our community — one episode at a time. In this contest entry, we highlight three episodes of the podcast from 2020.
