9. Tips for Personal Community Outreach
(NOTE: This post is part of a series. Series index.)
Accept the need to earn credibility. In many communities, mainstream US news orgs aren’t perceived as very credible—and they may even be viewed with suspicion or anger. This is especially true if your news org has been covering these people poorly or not at all. If you’ve been ignoring or misrepresenting them, why should they respect or listen to you?
Here’s how you can adapt to this situation…
- Be patient. Give them time to give you a chance. Ideally, commit to at least one year of concerted outreach and inclusion effort.
- Wear asbestos underwear. They’ll probably need to vent and criticize first, and it’s important to face that calmly. Feelings matter, especially when building relationships.
- Acknowledge and apologize for skewed or missing past coverage.
- Find REAL community leaders, on the community’s terms. They may not come from conventional established hierarchies, like politicians, organization leaders, or other officials. In many communities, elders, shopkeepers, teachers, parents, volunteers, and even some outspoken teens wield considerable influence. Gaining interest and respect from key individuals has a ripple effect. Ask people whose opinions they respect in their community.
- Plan how to take their suggestions for angles, issues, and stories into account. Point out these changes not just to the target community, but to your entire audience. (Foster understanding between communities.)
- Address loaded issues frankly and directly—class, race, prejudice, etc. Don’t dance around them.
- Avoid polarizing, especially when tackling loaded issues head-on. Writer Michael Kirk (who’s black, and whose girlfriend is Latina) told me: “As long as polarizing people who don’t speak for everyone get all the print and TV exposure, [regaining credibility for news orgs in minority communities] will be a tough road. All my girlfriend’s people have is the Ask a Mexican guy. And all my people have is Tavis Smiley. And you never see them on Hardball, LOL.”
