Thread by @d_holli

People ask me. I ask people. I ask myself: Accurate, reliable info is key to *everything else* so what’s a shared vision for local news that "leads to a vibrant, multiracial democracy?"

The future of local news blueprint is in rewrite imo so here's what I'm thinking in 4 pts 🧵

**ONE. Local news should improve lived outcomes** There are reporters & editors who’ll see this and say “we already do that”—I appreciate you but there is no number of news articles will *gestures wildly* solve these problems. Content won’t save us

It won’t save us because so many people already feel harmed by journalism—they remember the exploitative coverage, they remember feeling disrespected and misunderstood. They're still paying for it. This is not new shorensteincenter.org/kerner-fifty-y…

People don’t feel part of the public narrative. They don't feel like local news is making their lives better & they aren’t going out of their way to support it. Eventually, they’ll build new systems to replace it—you know who you are & let’s talk 🙏🏾

So how do we make local news into invaluable civic infrastructure that’s worthy of public trust, energy & time? News that's really a public good?

A shared vision for local news—**TWO: Improved outcomes are more sustainable when people self-organize**

I talk about @city_bureau's "Inform, Engage, Equip" often because it’s simple shorthand: most journalism informs, some journalists engage and we need more newsrooms to equip their more communities with journalism skills. So let’s do all 3 medium.com/city-bureau/do…

Journalism skills are civic skills. Some of the most exciting media orgs that I know aren’t just producing news content or engaging people online, they’re working directly with people on skills & info they need to self-organize where they live cjr.org/special_report…

A shared vision for local news—**THREE: Journalism should cultivate people to self-organize** If I were talking to a traditional newsroom editor this would be the most controversial point—but save the objectivity/advocacy argument—it’s over popmatters.com/lewis-raven-wa…

Ivory-tower journalism is failing us. We're taking on big, collective, interrelated challenges and we need infrastructure that supports equitable access to quality information. For everyone.

We need new leaders. We need way more people involved.

A shared vision for local news—**FOUR. We need inspirational, place-based institutions to support this work** & some of these new models already exist. I won’t list them in case they disagree but most of these folks are #onhere so they can tell you themselves 👋🏾

At City Bureau, we measure our work helping people stay informed & self-organize through 4 impact pillars. We prioritize…civic knowledge, generative relationships, information economy skills & paid opportunities to act on the first 3 citybureau.org/notebook/2020/…

We produce award-winning, impactful investigations (ok I know someone is going to ask 😉), we host #publicnewsroom events across Chicago and we're helping orgs around the country start up Documenters Network sites to monitor & engage local government documenters.org

We believe the future of local news is service-oriented, networked & participatory. We acknowledge media's history of inequity & oppression. We’re shifting power toward liberatory info systems—not for “journalism” as a profession, but for thriving communities

So newsrooms shouldn't do it alone. I'm always excited to hear from info hubs that aren't usually seen as "newsrooms"— libraries, public schools, public access TV/radio, bookstores, barbershops/salons, etc—bc so many folks there are reimagining public space & public information

Is that a vision for local news? Is it shared? Is the civic news overton window close? Who's already doing this & can we connect? s/o to my partners, co-leaders, friends, neighbors @bechang8 and @hdbacklund—these things are invariably group efforts 🖖🏾