How to get engagement buy-in from your newsroom

You’ve seen this editor.

 

Leaning back, arms crossed, chin tucked down as you make your case to try engagement journalism for your next story or project. The frown. The head shake. 

 

This is going to be a tough sell.

 

But it doesn’t have to be.

 

The roadblock of getting the larger newsroom support was a recurring theme we found with the 134 journalists from 63 newsrooms who participated in the Election SOS Engaged Elections training last year. We found that the secret to getting a yes is to use the same approach as you do when reporting a story. Here are three steps for getting your newsroom on board: 

1. Get curious: If you don’t know why they might want to try out engagement, it’s time to simply ask. Uncovering people’s motivators is one of those skills journalists have honed their entire careers — there’s no reason you can’t put those skills to use in your own newsroom. Get curious about what people are working on, what they need and what they’re struggling with.
2. Make your pitch: You wouldn’t go to your editor with a story pitch without being ready to say why it needs to be reported, so put the same prep into your proposal for engagement work. Be ready to answer questions by understanding what you want to accomplish and why it matters.
3. Build your beat: Engagement is not a product or a project, but a process. Just like a beat is not built in a day, building a meaningful relationship with your audience takes time. We call it the “pizza stone of engagement” — every time you make something, you add a little more flavor and, over time, create more unique and delicious offerings.

Local reporters need to be focused on covering far right extremism and extremist activity more than ever. Because of limited time and lack of resources available to  overextended local and regional reporters, 100 Days in Appalachia compiled insights and suggestions to assist local newsrooms on the front lines of community political violence and extremist activity. Read on for tips for covering extremism, including:

A guide to the identities and language of the far right - Poynter 

Standout solutions journalism of 2020 - Solutions Journalism Network 

In a year of worsts, Solutions Journalism Network is celebrating reporting on responses to the last year’s biggest challenges. They looked at 2,800 stories to narrow it down to provide top examples of inventive and solutions-oriented journalism work to inspire others. See some of the top stories on COVID-19, racial justice and democracy.

 

Disabled people who had trouble voting falls dramatically: report - The Hill 

Difficulties with access to voting reported by disabled Americans fell significantly between 2012 and 2020, according to research published Wednesday by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The EAC report found about 1 in 9 disabled respondents reported voting difficulties in 2020, compared to more than a quarter of non-disabled Americans.

 

Voting Rights in Spotlight as Supreme Court Considers Arizona Election Rules - WSJ

The Supreme Court this week hears an Arizona case with broad ramifications for the future of the Voting Rights Act, the first in a pipeline of high-stakes litigation following the legal frenzy that marked the 2020 election season. Two Arizona provisions are at issue: a longstanding rule disallowing votes cast in the wrong precinct, and a measure passed by the legislature in 2016 that prohibits get-out-the-vote operatives from collecting and delivering vote-by-mail ballots.