Thread by @mediaghosts

For more details on the evolution of "media deserts" from its origins in 2010 and why "news deserts" just doesn't address the crisis journalism is facing right now: mediadeserts.wordpress.com/project-timeli…

Here's the pitch I made to the Knight Foundation in 2012: michelleferrier.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/the…

Which was based on the collaborative research of the Communication Policy Research Network (of which I was a researcher) responding to changes at the FCC: academia.edu/40226876/Revie…

And examining not only the presence or absence of "news", but the emerging hyperlocal online news sites into this "media ecosystem": michelleferrier.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/aol…

My role, back in 2008 on @Poynter as part of e-Media Tidbits was to explain online community and "engagement" both online and off: poynter.org/author/michell…

@Poynter And to develop both online and offline ways for government to share information and engage residents in dialogue about sustainable community strategies: irma-international.org/chapter/virtua…

@Poynter I continued to work on developing community-based communication tools and methods, examining computer-based communication AND through @jtmstream and our innovation and engagement gatherings around the country: researchgate.net/publication/29…

@Poynter @jtmstream I developed several "invention" spaces with @jtmstream such as the Create or Die innovation events for underserved and underrepresented communities: journalismthatmatters.org/blog/tag/creat…

@Poynter @jtmstream And worked with @fionamorgan and @democracyfund
on describing this emerging ecosystem: slideshare.net/locallygrownne…

@Poynter @jtmstream @fionamorgan @DemocracyFund So you can see my approach to local news has been more expansive than mapping media deserts, to look at co-creation at the local level. "News deserts" focuses on the relevance of the journalism enterprise, rather than what we can be.

@Poynter @jtmstream @fionamorgan @DemocracyFund And to examine at the local level, the conditions for civic communication and whether the conditions exist for local, fresh, news and information: medium.com/journalismthat…

@Poynter @jtmstream @fionamorgan @DemocracyFund The difference in "media deserts" and "news deserts" is not just a semantic one. These phrases define who is centered in the examination at hand. We need to examine the code, content and conduit layers fully to make visible the networks driving local narratives.

@Poynter @jtmstream @fionamorgan @DemocracyFund Here's an explanation of the media deserts methodology published in: The Communication Crisis in America, And How to Fix It:
springerprofessional.de/en/media-deser…

@Poynter @jtmstream @fionamorgan @DemocracyFund If you're studying "news" at the local level... "It turns out, if you want to save a species, you don’t spend your time staring at the bird you want to save. You look at the things it relies on to live instead." --CJ Hauser, The Crane's Wife: bit.ly/30S0lsK

@Poynter @jtmstream @fionamorgan @DemocracyFund ..."You ask if there is enough to eat and drink. You ask if there is a safe place to sleep. Is there enough here to survive?"...

@Poynter @jtmstream @fionamorgan @DemocracyFund Only a small part of studying media has anything to do with news. Instead, I counted tweets. Measured the local communication infrastructure. Stopped just so on the side of the road waving my phone in the air. Felt the presence of living what you write: academia.edu/37781389/Remot…

@Poynter @jtmstream @fionamorgan @DemocracyFund Experimented with ways of co-creating news and information in rural SE Ohio with #MediaSeeds and @jtmstream : medium.com/journalismthat…

@Poynter @jtmstream @fionamorgan @DemocracyFund So I do take a bit of offense when "people" ask "What's the difference?" I'm making it visible here @tglaisyer @CJR @jcstearns @JesseHolcomb @nikkiusher @CISLMUNC @jtmstream @Blackamazon @wearehearken because MY work centers underserved and underrepresented communities.