Local News Outlets, Universities, Nonprofits To Join Forces In Covering Affordable Housing In Dallas
At first it was only by chance – or maybe luck – that Dallas journalists Keri Mitchell and Tom Huang started calling other local journalists in the summer of 2019. Both wanted to brainstorm how the Dallas news outlets could work better together.
But Huang of The Dallas Morning News and Mitchell of Dallas Free Press quickly got wind of each other’s reach. A few years later, meetings and a pandemic later, Huang, Mitchell, and their news organizations join forces with several other media outlets, as well as local universities, non-media organizations, and the Solutions Journalism Network to create the Dallas. to establish media cooperation.
The nonprofit network of organizations will collaborate in reporting, sharing content and hosting events to identify and review solutions to the challenges of affordable housing in the Dallas area. The project’s key partners say this is an issue that neither of them has been able to address consistently on their own – but it is an important, systemic problem that requires a stronger response.
“The traditional business model [for local news] doesn’t work very well for citizen journalism in my opinion, ”said Mitchell, who founded the nonprofit Dallas Free Press to boost the voices in the disinvested neighborhoods of Dallas. “This seems like the only way we can really make a big impact in some areas where we as local journalists need to be a big influence.”
Huang, deputy editor-in-chief at The News, agreed, “We will build a strong media ecosystem that sheds light on issues of the highest public concern for the benefit of our community.”
And the collaborative and solution-oriented approach could open up “new avenues for the local media,” said Keith Campbell, editor-in-chief of The News.
The collaboration’s media members include Al Día, KERA, Dallas Doing Good, D Magazine, Dallas Weekly, Texas Metro News and Advocate Media. Southern Methodist University, the University of North Texas, and the University of North Texas at Dallas will attend, offering college journalists and other students an opportunity to learn and share about affordable housing.
Amy Maestas oversees local media collaborations on the Solutions Journalism Network. She says local news organizations tended to be competitors. And such a large-scale collaboration would have been unthinkable 20 years ago, perhaps even in the last decade.
This isn’t the first local media collaboration of its kind, however. In fact, the Dallas group takes its inspiration from Resolve Philly and the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, two local media initiatives of similar origins that are now nonprofits.
They are part of several local media collaborations across the country that Solutions Journalism Network oversees, aiming to serve at least 15 over five years, said Liza Gross, vice president of practice change at Solutions Journalism Network.
Several groups in the Dallas collaboration have already participated in partnerships, including The News, KERA, Dallas Free Press, and Texas Metro News.
Texas Metro News reached an agreement with The News in July 2020 to share resources for free to Texas Metro News and to help The News bolster coverage of the Dallas black community. Cheryl Smith, editor and publisher of Texas Metro News, said the experience made her optimistic about being a part of this latest collaboration.
“I do not want [a scenario where,] If I weren’t at the table there wouldn’t be any blacks in the stories, ”she said. “And I don’t think that’s going to happen. I know it won’t happen to the group we have here. “
Gabrielle Jones, KERA’s editor-in-chief, said it was important to the collaboration to emphasize community engagement. “I think it’s important to involve organizations that are not just thinking about the content of the media product, they are working with people in the community and thinking about solving these problems every day,” she said.
The collaboration will benefit from data from the Child Poverty Action Lab, said Ashley Flores, senior director of the lab. Housing is a complex, multi-level issue that requires “nuanced treatment,” she said. But that is exactly what makes the solution journalism approach promising to them, with its potential to shed light on a ubiquitous problem and examine smaller, workable solutions.
The cooperation is currently looking for a project manager. “We’re holding back until we get our project manager on board, but I know we all have a lot of ideas,” said Mary Martin, editor-in-chief of Dallas Doing Good. “I can’t wait to have a big whiteboard session with this whole team.”
Many of those involved hope that this is the beginning of something not just big, but lasting.
“These are my hopes [the project] eventually appears as a kind of constant drumbeat, “pointing out systemic problems Dallas is facing, said SMU journalism professor Jake Batsell.
Mitchell agreed, “Some sort of organization where we continue this work and focus together on deep systemic issues is the long-term goal. And I think we have a pretty good shot. “
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