There’s a misconception about Buddhists that they just hang out meditating and ignore current events or popular culture. In fact, Buddhism is about balance and focus rather than 24/7 navel-gazing. It’s also about social and political action—which, in a time of war and multiple social and economic crises, may make Buddhists an especially interesting and important community to connect with.
For instance, right now in South Korea and Thailand, Buddhist monks are playing leading roles in large-scale demonstrations concerning their respective governments. Also, Buddhist economics is a key influence behind the increasingly popular cultural trend called Voluntary Simplicity.
Many Buddhists do watch the news closely, and there’s a global market for news from a Buddhist perspective—especially (but not exclusively) among immigrant communities from major Buddhist regions such as southeast Asia, Tibet, and Korea. Check out the Buddhist Channel for current headlines.
On the lighter side, there’s also the Buddhist Forum on Non-Buddhist Media. This mainly focuses on popular culture. Want to know what Buddhists think about Battlestar Galactica? Whether some Buddhists think “the Force” is like “the Way?” What kinds of music Buddhists think is cool? Here you go.
According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, most Buddhists in America live in western (45%) and southern (23%) states. Most are white (53%) or Asian (32%). Rough estimates of Buddhists in America range around five to six million—about three-quarters of whom are “ethnic Buddhists” (who consider Buddhism an inherited family tradition, whether recent or not). The remainder are converts of various backgrounds. Here’s a good Christian Science Monitor backgrounder on Buddhism in the US.
NOTE: This post is part of a special series on how news orgs can connect with communities of difference through communities of faith.
See the series intro for links to the rest of this series.
Where are your local Buddhists? Because Buddhists are busy living an examined life (or perhaps examined in living a non-busy life), there are scores of available resources for finding Buddhist communities in the real world and online. A good place to start is this Buddhist media clearinghouse, which lists everything from bilingual Chinese-English resources, to mixed teachings in Polish, to resources for Buddhists in Alaska.
It’s remarkably easy to meet and talk to Buddhists. There are many organized sanghas (communities led by nuns and monks in residence), centers, and temples around the US. (Here’s a list.) Also, Buddhist meditation classes are available just about everywhere—even in the fundamentalist Christian bastion of Colorado Springs. Anyone who would like to learn to focus and relax a little bit, or is just curious, tends to be welcomed openly.
In early 2009, former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts plans to launch a 24-hour African American News Channel, called Black Television News Channel (BTN). Comcast and DishNet have already pledged support. “There’s a whole lot more to the African American community than entertainment and sports,” says Watts.
Last month, Politico published a Q & A with Watts about the project.
Watts, who was the only black Republican in Congress during the eight years he served, told Politico he’s launching the channel because “The African-American community is, I think, news-starved and underserved.” He makes some excellent points about missing content that would likely interest African Americans.
And in this NewsOK.com interview, Watts elaborated: “I saw some data that said when you looked at the top 10 TV shows in the white community and you looked at the top 10 TV shows in the black community, none overlapped, with the exception of ‘ER’, which was number one in the white community and number 10 in the black community. So I started asking questions: Why? There was a time when we all got our language and we got our culture fed through three TV networks. Today it’s totally different, and people I think receive the news and they want to hear the news in ways that they want to listen to it. ...None of the mainstream news sources target the African-American community in ways that they actually want to listen.”
What would this channel do differently from, say, CNN? In the Politico interview, Watts mentioned covering the lagging rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. For a while, the mainstream media doggedly followed this story. But now the tens of thousands of still-displaced folks (many of whom are black), seems largely forgotten. The current ripples from Katrina are no less sensational or shocking than what happened at the Superdome.
One way to reach communities of difference is quite simply to cover the stories they care about. For instance, Aug. 29 will mark the third anniversary of Katrina. Are you covering which improvements are happening in the Ninth Ward?
Interestingly, when asked if the channel is being launched just as the first African American president might be inaugurated, Watts says, “Whatever Obama is doing, it’s news. If he becomes president, then that surely would provide a lot of content—but I think news is more than presidential elections or the war in Iraq.”
Watts claims to know what this community needs. He probably can’t provide it all by himself, either. There’s definitely room to grow in this news market. Once this channel launches, be sure to watch it—and watch the reaction to it, online and elsewhere, especially from African Americans. Whether it succeeds or fails, BTN will likely yield valuable lessons about how to serve African American communities better.
Given that recent research from the Pew Center on The People and the Press shows that online video is especially popular with African American internet users, it would be great if BTN also included a strong online component. We’ll see what happens.
If you want to connect with younger audiences, as well as African Americans, you might try offering more online video. This option is supported by the latest research report from the Pew Research Center for The People and The Press…
“Among internet users, online news video is particularly popular with young people and African Americans. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of blacks who go online say they regularly (18%) or sometimes (47%) watch news video clips or programs; that compares with 47% of whites.
“Almost six-in-ten (58%) internet users younger than 30 say they at least sometimes watch news video; those 50 and older are far less likely to do this.”
Several newspapers are experimenting with online video efforts like the Newark Star-Ledger’s new LedgerLive vidcast (featuring veteran reporter Brian Donohue).
Will these efforts get much traction with the community? Perhaps… But so far this particular vidcast seems to be trying to emulate traditional TV newscasts. I’m not sure that’s what will resonate most with core audiences of online news video, as described by the Pew study.
Of course, the Ledger’s site NJ.com publishes much more online video than just the LedgerLive noontime vidcast. These pieces range from straightforward interviews to fun videos with major potential to become viral linkbait like this:
Roaches predict the President
The key here is that the Star-Ledger is not only publishing online video, but willing to experiment with various approaches to video content. That’s probably the most crucial determinant of potential success in online video.
Bylines to Bollywood: Connecting with Hindu and Indian-American Communities
More than one billion people around the world come from India, and millions of Indians live abroad. Almost every US city and town includes Indian immigrants and their descendents. Many of these people practice Hinduism. According to the Hindu American Foundation, currently nearly 2 million Hindus live in the US (1.8 million Indian and 200,000 Indo-Caribbean). Additionally, there may be as many as 1 million practicing American Hindus not of Indian origin.
Despite this, Indian Americans are drastically underrepresented in US media, including news media. Also, most Americans know little or nothing about the Hindu faith that helps keep a large part of the diasporic Indian culture connected…
One key point to understand is that Hinduism is technically “henotheistic”—which means “belief in one god without denying the existence of others.” (Otherwise known as having a philosophy of “one god at a time.”) This is one reason why tolerance is a key Hindu value. (Remember Gandhi’s “All religions are true.”) That can be especially important to keep in mind when seeking comment from members of the Hindu community on stories involving controversy or conflict.
There’s an extra benefit to connecting with local Hindu and Indian-American communities: Their food and festivals are so fantastic, you’ll want any excuse to cover an event! Diwali, the Hindu “festival of lights,” is an excellent opportunity. It celebrates the triumph of good over evil, and expresses hope for beauty and prosperity in the coming year. This year Diwali falls on Oct. 28, so you have time to prepare. Contact local Hindu mandirs (temples) and ask about planned festivities.
NOTE: This post is part of a special series on how news orgs can connect with communities of difference through communities of faith.
See the series intro for links to the rest of this series.
In general, a key feature of the Indian American community is its impressive and still-growing cultural investment in technology. Consequently, connecting with Indian-American and Hindu communities is generally pretty easy. These communities tend to be tech savvy and avid consumers of all kinds of media, from hard news to pop culture. Mobile media is especially popular. For example, Hindu news sites like Sarve Samachar transmit headlines to mobile phones worldwide via text message.
One of the best ways to connect with Indian and Hindu communities is to get to know their media—especially Bollywood films. These are generally very entertaining, full of music and spectacle reminiscent of Silver Screen-era musicals, but with a modern twist. Sites like BollywoodWorld will clue you in to which films are hot new releases or popular classics. Rent a few and treat yourself to some pure entertainment. Come on: 1.6 billion Indians can’t be wrong!
Mosque Communicating: Connecting with Muslim Communities
Despite tireless efforts to break stereotypes about the religion of Islam and Muslim culture, misinformation and prejudice still abound in the US. Consequently (and understandably), some Muslims are wary of US mainstream media—and some news organizations may be similarly wary, too.
That’s why right now it’s especially important for news organizations to foster constructive relationships with local Muslim communities…
Fortunately, many Muslims (especially community leaders) want to connect with news organizations. They welcome sincere interest and accurate reporting.
The Muslim community is large (over a sixth of the global population) and growing quickly. This faith comprises people of all ethnic groups, income brackets, and education levels. With widespread prejudice still common in the US, many Muslims are private about their faith. Therefore chances are that your local Muslim community is significantly larger than you might guess.
Your local mosque or Muslim community center is probably the best first point of contact. Most major US cities have mosques, and these tend to be very welcoming places to visit. Also, most larger colleges and universities have Muslim student centers or organizations.
NOTE: This post is part of a special series on how news orgs can connect with communities of difference through communities of faith.
See the series intro for links to the rest of this series.
Muslim Bridges is an especially useful resource. It lists more than 1500 mosques in all 50 states. The site also offers an interesting section on the fact and fiction of “Islamaphobia.” Islam’s themes of equality and community make this religion especially appealing to minority groups, so this site also includes information targeted toward African-American and Latino adherents and potential adherents.
Many mosques also publish online newsletters and have successful community outreach programs. Consider The Mosque Foundation, with its strong community content and flashy Web design. In addition to outreach, community and school program listings, it also offers a concise primer on Islam.
True, some Muslim organizations have specific political agendas. However, these tend to resemble the Minaret of Freedom Institute’s agenda than the Taliban’s. The Minaret’s stated mission concerns education, free trade, and socioeconomic improvement. They feature articles and references about terrorism and jihad, civil liberties, freedom and democracy, women’s issues in Islam, and more.
There’s also a rich world of Muslim media. Ask local Muslims which sources of news, information, and entertainment they prefer. Check out whatever is popular locally, and keep an eye out for stories, angles, or perspectives that you might have been missing so far.
Mass Communicating: Connecting with Catholic Communities
Even though the Catholic Church has been around for millennia, it’s still quite relevant and powerful in many modern communities. Here are three big reasons why news orgs should build relationships with the local Catholic Church…
Immigrants. Many (perhaps most) new immigrants to the U.S. are Catholic. If you want to connect with new immigrants, Hispanic communities, or people who are close to the immigration debate (think liberation theology), they’re probably all right down the street at the local Catholic Church—on a very regular basis.
Information network. The Catholic Church has a large, well-established, sophisticated global information network in place, comprising several Catholic news outlets as well as internal reporting, both formal and informal.
Catholic schools, charities, and hospitals have old, deep roots in many communities of difference.
Catholicism isn’t just about faith and rituals—it’s about meeting social needs and providing structure to communities in need. And it’s also about influencing government.
For instance, several Latin American countries are governed for and by an elite ruling class, so the needs of the larger, poorer population go unmet because there are no social structures to help them and nobody would fund them if there were. In those places, absent civil infrastructure, the Catholic Church is often the only game in town—in no small part because for Catholics, good works (charity, helping folks out, general humanitarianism) are a major tenet of the faith.
NOTE: This post is part of a special series on how news orgs can connect with communities of difference through communities of faith.
See the series intro for links to the rest of this series.
This dynamic also happens in some impoverished, corrupt North American cities, such as Camden, NJ and Baltimore, Md. There, Catholic charities and healthcare have long played a key role in keeping local low-income and homeless people sheltered, fed, healthy, educated, and trained for work.
Many Catholic organizations and congregations also are active on political issues both mundane and hot-button: from zoning and education to law enforcement and abortion. Ties between the Catholic church and local political parties and governments often run deep.
The 800-lb gorilla: Of course, lately the US Catholic church and many rank-and-file Catholics have had an uneasy relationship with the news media—and with each other—due to widespread and often sensational coverage of the priest sex abuse scandals. Realize that by covering this important story, some news organizations and journalists have made it more difficult than you might otherwise expect to connect with Catholic communities and sources. Those communities are still healing from the deep wounds of that scandal, and you may have to approach them repeatedly in a low-key way to establish good will. Also, the Church spent considerable sums in legal fees, insurance hikes, and victim reparations over the scandal. In some diocese, that shortage of funds has led to closures of some schools and other important programs. Now might be a good time to check in to see how those congregations and communities are recovering.
As I mentioned above, the Catholic Church has its own global news network. Also, there are hundreds of Catholic newspapers in the U.S., in every state and the District of Columbia, not to mention worldwide. Some of the news items are particular to the faith or diocese—but there are also opinion pieces and event calendars.
A natural place for a news org to start building bridges with Catholic communities is to partner with local Catholic newspapers. Start by reading them and referencing them in your coverage. (Giving them credit shows respect and builds trust.) This can provide new insight on hot debates (immigration, abortion, sexual orientation, education, war, and population growth, to name a few). You may be surprised on the diversity of views you’ll find on these and other issues from within the allegedly “monolithic” Catholic community.
Here are a few more ways you can build bridges with Catholic news outlets and communities:
Swap calendar listings between your news organization and Catholic newspapers and newsletters.
Cover some of their celebrations. Maybe the Saint Swithen’s Day pancake breakfast doesn’t sound like your speed, but Fat Tuesday sure is—and everyone will be there!
Cover their political events These happen more often than you might think at Catholic churches and organizations. Check out this preview of a pro-life prayer vigil featuring Alveda King. I’m not saying your story should necessarily be sympathetic to any particular viewpoint, but connecting with your local Catholic Church or diocese can help you make sure you don’t overlook the views of this important community.
Cover local Catholic charities.Catholic Charities USA uses its considerable global network to reach folks in need. They’re always seeking volunteers, donors, and opportunities to help, and they’re closely involved with current events and politics. They’re not just human interest—they’re newsmakers. They even feature election guides, and you’d better believe that’s powerful stuff for millions of newly enfranchised Americans.
Churchin’ Up: Connecting with Communities of Faith (Series Intro)
Church (or temple, or the mosque, etc.) is where many communities get their news and information. It’s more than that, though. For many communities, the church is the social and political heart of the community—and homilies cover more than just spiritual teaching.
Over the next few posts to this blog, I’ll examine how news orgs can build bridges with some key communities of faith. Tap into this rich conduit of information. If you’re having a hard time reaching certain communities of difference (race, ethnicity, immigrants, lower-income, etc.) directly, then—as Cab Calloway told Blues Brothers—you could use some churchin’ up!
“I can’t,” you may think. “I’m a journalist—I’m supposed to cover communities, not get involved with them. Plus, I’m cynical, and church is scary. And I might burst into flames.”
Don’t worry. Communities of faith tend to be very welcoming. They probably won’t try to convert you, nor will they attack you. Besides—the ones that likely would try such shenanigans are already contacting you, so you know how to avoid them. This not about them. This is about connecting with interesting communities doing interesting and newsworthy things. This is about understanding these communities better so that you can serve them better with news and information.
Videoblogs like Alive in Baghdad show the power of letting people speak in their own voice—and language. However, adding subtitles so that your core online audience can understand what these voices are saying adds a layer of technical complexity to video production.
A technically simpler way to subtitle your videos is the service DotSub...
Set up a free DotSub account and then you can submit your video and add subtitles in any language.
I first heard about DotSub from Kristen Taylor, the community manager for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. She used DotSub to subtitle her Aug. 7 video introducing the Knight News Challenge Garage. (More about that later. It’s a service that should interest news orgs because news orgs can apply for News Challenge grants, too.)
As Kristen’s video shows, subtitles can also help if you’re using online video to connect with people who are not native speakers of your language—whether abroad or right in your community. Sometimes it can be helpful for people who are learning a new language to see text as well as hear the words.
Learning from Activists: Allied Media Conference 2008
My earlier posting on reaching prison populations mentioned the Allied Media Conference, an event for “alternative media makers and committed social justice activists.” The site for this conference is worth checking out. This year, the theme was: “Our Evolution Beyond Survival: Media Strategies for the Next Ten Years.”
...You know, the same stuff mainstream news organizations are worried about…
Some important communities of difference that more news orgs are trying to reach are also in the spotlight at this annual conference. If you want to learn how activists are engaging these communities—often with little or no money—consider attending next year. (Subscribe to the AMC e-mail list via their Web site for updates.)
Here’s a two-minute video recap of AMC 2008 by Steve Mansour:
Also, here’s Vanessa Miller’s excellent AMC 2008 photo slide show. It’s quite a different set of faces than you’d typically see at a media conference.
Finally, here’s the Evolving Communities Project, a featured video at AMC 2008. To create this expression of the themes of AMC 2008, independent video producer and cellist Diana Nucera led a collaborative production process involving nine-year-olds, computer graphics specialists, scientists, and youth media orgs from coast to coast. Check it out:
If you’re trying to engage communities, it might help to reach out to the people who are actually trying to get engaged!
You probably know couples who met in church, temple, etc. But these days, a surprising number of people of all faiths are eschewing singles bars and regular online dating sites (tawdry or otherwise) in favor of meeting a nice potential spouse with similar religious inclinations. Finding a companion or life partner is a core social need in any community, so religious dating sites, events, and services have sprung up to combine the volume of the former with the virtues of the latter.
Why should news orgs care about religious dating?...
Social activities may not seem like traditional journalistic “news,” they are terribly interesting and important to communities. Also, communities of faith often overlap with communities that are under-served by, and under-represented in, mainstream news media. Increasingly, religious communities are actively reaching out to communities of difference through dating sites, services, and events. Some of these are strongly focused on matrimony, but others also are highly social. Building bridges with these projects can help news orgs connect with many kinds of communities.
Dating (religious or otherwise) may sound like it has little to do with news, but the connection goes deeper. Communities prefer to connect with media outlets that respect their values—and values are the cornerstone of religious dating. Technology and media (especially the Internet and cell phones) are often criticized for undermining religious values and practice. In contrast, religious dating sites use technology and media to keep religious values intact by helping folks with similar religious values find each other—in such volume that they have a statistically better chance of a close match.
Carolyn Moynihan wrote about a Catholic woman looking for a husband in Meeting Your Match:
“Attractive, extroverted and accomplished in her profession, Miss X could have landed a date at the office or among the gym crowd with no trouble at all. But she was a practicing Catholic and wanted to meet men who shared her values before she would consider dating them. Anything else would be a waste of time.
“...I was reminded of Miss X (now, happily, Mrs. Right) by a recent New York Times article describing courtship arrangements among American Muslims. Here is another faith community, much more socially defined than Catholics, but also immersed in a secular culture more or less unfriendly to its sexual values and customs.”
Moynihan goes on to list a number of different kinds of dating events used by the Muslim community in the market for matrimony: banquets, speed dating, and of course online Muslim dating services, such as Muslima.com. While the site is primarily a matrimonial matchmaking one, it also features electronic Muslim chat and pen pals. Talk about defying Islamaphobia!
How can news orgs connect with religious dating services, events, and sites?
Talk to the people running these projects to find out what their goals are, how the understand their community’s needs, and whether people from local communities are already participating.
Ask whether they’d be comfortable with having their events/services listed in a mainstream news venue. Some religious communities distrust news media and prefer to promote their dating efforts all by themselves. Even though some may say “no thanks,” it makes a good impression to ask their permission and respect their decision.
List religious dating items in your event listings, community services directories, and community calendars. Give them a clear, simple process for submitting their information for publication.
Cover religious dating respectfully. Too often, coverage of anything involving courtship or dating devolves into snide wisecracks (like “Holy Hookup, Batman!” or “Yenta on steroids”) that can sound dismissive, salacious, or disrespectful—and thus increase frictions. Stories about religious dating can be lighthearted and fun—just be careful that you’re not using humor to put anyone down.
Nearly three million people are incarcerated in US prisons, according to according to the US Dept. of Justice (as of June 2007). The vast majority of them won’t be in jail forever—which is only one reason why news organizations might consider prisoners as an important community with news and media needs.
US prison inmates overlap with a number of other communities—by race, gender, economic status, and religion, to name a few. The Sentencing Project (an excellent resource) estimates that, “One of every three black males born today can expect to go to prison if current trends continue,” and that women are also a growing demographic in the prison system. Worse, a staggering “two-thirds of women in state prisons are mothers of a minor child.”
US prison inmates have a great deal of access to daytime television, but internet access is very limited for felons. Some much-needed reforms are slowly occurring there, however. For example, this year’s Allied Media Conference (for “for alternative media makers and committed social justice activists”) featured a workshop on media access for prisoners. (More about why news orgs should check out this conference.)
Making room in publications for prisoners’ voices and stories
Blogs and MySpace pages that publish letters from prisoners
Call-in radio shows where prisoners and others can leave voicemail messages. For instance, the Appalshop radio project Holler to the Hood features messages from loved ones incarcerated listeners, because there is no way to phone a prison inmate directly.
Beyond facilitating much-needed reforms in the American judicial system and important avenues of communication, prisoners are avid consumers of media, and they need it badly. The publisher’s description of Library Services to the Incarcerated, by Sheila Clark and Erica MacCreaigh says: “Inmates, as much or more than the general population, need information and library services. They represent one of the most challenging and most grateful populations [librarians] can work with.” That logic of challenge and loyalty might well apply to news organizations, too. This book offers dozens of practical ideas for getting key media and information to prison populations.
Even the One Laptop Per Child program got the memo about the importance of reaching prison populations and how much they stand to benefit. According to a Feb. 3 OLPC news release: “It’s not only children that need an education. There is a whole other constituency that needs access to education and the skills that XO exposure can bring: prisoners.”
OLPC makes the point that US prisoners rarely have sufficient access to retraining and education that can make re-offending less appealing. But even worse, currently they have very little access to the kinds of networking opportunities by which much of the free population finds work. OLPC wants to provide prisoners with positive networking opportunities—in addition to reading, math, and life skills that a person re-integrating with society might need.
...Meanwhile, in several US prisons, prisoners have been creating their own news media for a long time. The 2001 book Jailhouse Journalism, by James Morris, explores the history of newspapers and magazines managed and published by US prisoners over more than a century.
By providing media for prisoners, your news organization could do far more than tap a “captive audience.” Publishing news and information for prison populations could help address the thorny effects of crime on communities. That might earn loyalty and respect from not only current and former inmates, but also their families, employers, and society at large. What are you doing to reach prison populations in the communities you serve?
