Knight News Challenge: Creativity Goldmine for Reaching Communities of Difference

The Nov. 1 application deadline for the Knight News Challenge is fast approaching. As a former News Challenge grantee, I’ve been mentoring several current applicants, helping them hone their proposals. Through this, I’ve discovered that the News Challenge Garage and the list of already-submitted public entries are a potential gold mine of talent and ideas for innovative projects that could serve all kinds of communities of difference…

The Knight News Challenge provides grants for experimental digital media projects that build or bind a sense of geographic community. Anyone, anywhere can apply. You don’t have to be “in the media business,” or part of a nonprofit or educational institution, or in the US to apply. This opens the doors for a level of creative thinking about media that goes beyond what I’ve seen elsewhere.

The Garage is an online community where News Challenge applicants can engage in public discussion about their proposals. This helps them sharpen their ideas, question their assumptions, and figure out the resources they’ll need before they finalize and submit their entires.

If you’re trying to figure out creative ways to use online or mobile media to connect with underserved communities in your coverage area, you really should take the time to peruse the Garage and the list of submitted entries. Even though only a few of these projects will receive News Challenge grants, many of them are very good ideas that could benefit your community and your news org. Also, many of the people behind these ideas might make good additions to your team as staff, freelancers, or consultants.

From a Total Community Coverage standpoint, here are a few News Challenge ideas that caught my eye:

• Rural Information, Practices, & Peer Learning Exchange (RIPPLE). This existing online network seeks funding to expand. They currently offers rural communities “virtual tools to share ideas, find answers, and connect with experts on hosted discussion forums.” They wants to expand their services to rural Hispanic and tribal communities. Whether or not RIPPLE gets a News Challenge grant, if you want to reach rural communities of difference, you might want to explore working with or learning from Ripple.
  
• Success Through Storytelling (STS). This project would establish “a central online hub for education news with five satellite sites operated by students attending four targeted under-served high schools and one school for adults in Stockton, CA. ...[We will] establish operating newsrooms in each school ...to cover the surrounding community, telling stories that are over-looked by traditional news organizations. Stockton is a widely diverse community with four main high schools with majority populations of Hispanic, Black and Filipino students.”
  
• CultureSurfer.com. Another existing site seeking to expand, CultureSurfer.com explores St. Louis arts and culture with the goal of enhancing cross-cultural appreciation and understanding. This includes highlighting “the talent within St. Louis’s untapped Asian, African, Bosnian, and Latin communities.”
  
• Mobile Crimesourcing in Mexico City. Sounds like something that might also apply to many urban inner cities in the US and elsewhere…
  

These are just a few intriguing projects that could serve communities of difference that I found in a quick search. Who might be hatching News Challenge ideas in your backyard—or that could benefit communities in your backyard? Might it make sense for your news org to get involved?

You can apply, too! Journalists and news organizations also can apply for News Challenge grants. If you have an idea that might meet their criteria, this could be an option to get the seed money needed to make it happen—no small matter in these tight economic times. I strongly recommend that you post your idea in the Garage today so you can benefit from the expertise of this community before finalizing your entry.

MySpace and Facebook: Gateway to Youth, Latinos

If you have (or know) teenagers or college students, you may have noticed that they’re MySpace and/or Facebook junkies. These social media service are powerhouses of online visibility. According to Alexa, right now MySpace is the Web’s third most popular site, after search giants Google and Yahoo. (YouTube currently ranks fourth, but then Facebook is fifth.) These services are not just for kids, struggling musicians, and attention-seekers. They’re actually direct conduits to the next generation of many important groups and communities that are often underserved by mainstream news…

If you’re not familiar with MySpace and Facebook, they both work in similar ways: You create a free account, and then collect “friends” (other users whom you know, want to know, or find interesting for some reason). By collecting friends, MySpace and Facebook users create their own unique virtual communities. They can communicate with their “friends” individually or en masse, and via groups that self-organize on either site.

Social media is geared toward individuals, but organizations and groups can have a presence there too. And many do, from companies and nonprofits to informal communities and clubs. This allows them to reach as many people at once as they care to have friends.

For example, many political campaigns (including Barack Obama and John McCain) have MySpace accounts—ostensibly to reach the younger voter base. Interest groups such as the Save Darfur Coalition are there, too. Even The Onion is on MySpace, which expands its readership and fan base considerably. The Orlando Sentinel is on MySpace, too. You’ll find a similar array of organizations and groups represented on Facebook, too.

Does your news org have a MySpace or Facebook presence yet? If not, you can sign up for free. It’s probably best to be on both services—but if you don’t have time for both, ask young people in your community (and especially youth from communities of difference) which service they prefer, and go with that first.

Once there, who might you “friend?” (Yes, on social media sites, “friend” is a verb.) You can friend whoever you wish. On MySpace, use the “find people” function to search for potential friends according to interests and more. Check for a city or neighborhood group near you. In Facebook it’s harder to search for friends or group by geography—but if you find a few local users or groups, check who they’ve friended for more leads.

Keep in mind that you’ll need to spend some time reaching out to people and groups on these sites in order to entice people to friend you. In social media, “If you build it, they will come,” almost never works. You’ll need to start engaging these users where they already are—by leaving comments on their pages, participating in forum discussions, etc.

If there’s a Hispanic presence in your region, consider also creating a presence for your news org on MySpace Latino. This Spanish-language site offers the same deep, rich, personal experience of MySpace, plus some extra interests highlighted (such as Latin music). If you want to reach millions of Spanish-speaking MySpace users all at once, consider advertising on MySpace Latino. You could have thousands of fresh eyes on your organization by this time next week.

How Diverse Is Your County? Census Maps Tell Stories

Who’s in your coverage area, and how is local diversity changing? Some useful maps from the US Census can help you bring your local demographic picture into focus, and spot current and emerging trends that could help you hone your community coverage and outreach strategies…

First, in 2001 the US Census published Mapping Census 2000: The Geography of US Diversity. This 114-page pdf file puts county-level US Census data on diversity into sharp focus and context. Here are some good places to start your local explorations. (All page numbers refer to the numbering in the pdf file; page numbers shown on the printed version of this document are different.)

• Overall diversity. Page 29, “Diversity 2000,” shows which counties were more or less diverse according to the US Census diversity index (the probability that two randomly selected people in that county would be of different races). Page 30 shows how much diversity changed at the county level since the 1990 Census.
  
• Which counties are more/less white? People who identify as non-Hispanic white comprise the majority of the US population. Page 33 shows which counties reported an increasing or decreasing percentage of white people from 1990 to 2000. The most notable drop runs in rural counties in a straight line from Montana and North Dakota down to west Texas. Page 34 shows the white population percentage by county. (This Census publication offers similar analysis according to several other racial identities—but knowing trends with the local majority sets the context for understanding emerging minority demographic trends.)
  
  
• Interracial families. This is one of the potentially most intriguing angles for your coverage and outreach. Page 94 indicates that in 2000, only a small percentage of people in most counties reported being of more than one race. But that percentage skyrockets for most counties in page 95, which shows how many people 18 and under (in 2000) were of more than one race. A basic fact of demographics is that the younger the generation, the bigger the population—so the 2010 Census will probably reveal an even bigger shift to bi- or multi-racial identification. Might this be a kind of community in its own right worthy of closer attention from your news organization?
  

Also, earlier this year the US Census released the Census Atlas of the US, which (with a little tweaking) can help news organizations see opportunities for demographic outreach and engagement:

The Atlas was packaged as a 300-page large-format print book containing over 800 maps that illustrate the data from the latest US Census (2000). The complete contents of the book are available as free pdf downloads from the Census site. The downside is that, for some reason, this valuable document was electronically encoded in a way that is not searchable—that is, each page (including all the text) has been captured as an image. So you can’t search the raw pdf files for keywords, etc. However, you can download the book chapter-by-chapter and process the pdf files using optical character recognition (OCR) software to create a reasonably searchable version.

Today I was browsing chapter 3 of the Atlas, on Race and Hispanic Origin. Page 9 of this pdf file offers the story of bi- and multiracial American couples in greater detail: Who’s marrying (or living with) whom, racially speaking, in particular counties? Meanwhile, pages 10 and 11 look at the demographic distribution of bi- and multiracial children as of 2000. (Note that since the 1990 Census did not gather data on mixed-race families or individuals, it’s harder to look at local changes on this front. But the 2010 Census will offer change data.)

What do the maps in these documents say about race demographic trends in your county or region? How might this context relate to your stories, marketing, or strategies? Please comment below.

Go Mobile: Serving Youth as a Long-Term Strategy

Where will your news audience come from in five, ten, or twenty years? If your future news audience clearly prefers mobile media (and they probably do), then go mobile, you must!…

Young people are perhaps the largest demographic that’s currently under-served by news organizations. But they are perhaps the most important community to engage. For any news organization considering its long-term prospects, shifting media preferences are a crucial concern. People generally develop news and information preferences early. And in any business, it’s much easier to adapt your offerings to work with people’s evolving preferences—rather than to try to convince them that they should keep wanting whatever you’re accustomed to offering.

In our Total Community Coverage series earlier this year, we mentioned recent research from the Pew Internet and American Life project about US demographics on mobile media use. According to Pew, 75% of Americans currently own cell phones—and 31% of all US cell phone owners are aged 18-29. On a typical day, 73% of cell phone owners aged 18-29 use their phones for something other than voice calls (sending or receiving text messages, taking pictures or video, instant messaging, accessing news or information, etc.)

That Pew study only polled adults, so their data do not take teens, “tweens,” or younger children into account. However, Frank W. Baker has created an excellent roundup of current research into the media habits of children. There I found:

• Deloitte & Touche 2007 study: 84% of US “Millennials” (people aged 13-24) send and receive text messages on their cell phones, and 46% of Millennials use their cell phones as an entertainment device.
  
• J-Ideas 2007 study: A total of 53% of US teens currently get news online at least weekly. Furthermore, 15% of teens use mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs to get news several times weekly.
  

Plus, CBS News reported in 2007 that by 2009, “over 10 million US kids will get cell phones.” Like I said: Media preferences start young!

For a potentially humbling but valuable experience, try accessing your favorite news sites (including your own) via your cell phone. If you don’t have a “smart phone” that can browse the internet, then sign up for whatever text messaging services those sites offer. Keep an eye out for these issues:

• Auto-detection of mobile device? When you accessed the site’s main URL, did it automatically serve up a mobile version of the site? This is an important part of mobile usability, since pages typically take longer to download, and since mobile users might not have time or patience to try again. For a good example of mobile auto-detection that works for almost every smart phone, check out the Houston Chronicle’s site. Just go to their regular URL, Chron.com, on your smart phone. The Fox News site also auto-detects mobile devices. The mobile version of the Drudge Report offers this list of mobile-friendly news sites.
  
• Special URL needed for mobile devices? Some news sites require mobile users to visit a special URL to access their mobile-friendly version. For instance, if you want to see the mobile-friendly version of ABC News, you must visit m.abcnews.com. (Except on an iPhone, which currently cannot download that site.) This is a reasonable halfway step for your mobile news audience—but it’s still a significant potential barrier. Mobile visitors who don’t already know your mobile URL will have to search for it via search engines or on your site. If your mobile site currently has a separate URL, make sure a link to your mobile site appears near the top-left corner of your regular site, for easy mobile access.
  
• Text messaging services. Most cell phone users don’t own smart phones—which cost much more to buy, and for the carrier contract. However, virtually every cell phone in use today can send and receive text messages. So in addition to offering a mobile-friendly version of your site, it’s a good idea to also offers free text-message alert services that mention top headlines and breaking news in a variety of categories. Well, at least “free” to subscribe—cell owners do pay for text messages they receive. That’s why it’s important to allow mobile users to customize their text alert preferences, and to never send them more than a few messages daily at most. Check out the offerings from Bakersfield.com and Reuters.
  

What mobile options are your favorite news sites offering—or missing? Please comment below. Need some guidance on making your site mobile-friendly? Check out the Newspaper Association of America’s new development guide for mobile sites (reviewed here by the Houston Chronicle’s online operations manager David Herrold).

White and Male Privilege Meets the 2008 Election

Yesterday on BlogHer, Maria Niles posted a must-read primer on the privileged status our society tends to accord whites and males, and how this might affect the current presidential race and beyond. Squirming yet? Don’t worry, you’re not alone…

In Racism and the race: What’s white privilege got to do with it?, Niles notes that race and gender privilege is a thorny, taboo topic in our society—not generally deemed fit for polite conversation. Even in many newsrooms, where the white male-concocted culture of traditional journalism often persists despite increasing diversity, raising the issue of privilege is an easy way to start a heated, emotional argument.

No one likes to admit that they may have benefitted from social privilege. This acknowledgement stirs strong emotional reactions, from guilt to defensiveness to denial to penitence, and more. That makes talking about privilege—and learning to recognize and address it—much harder.

Niles’ essay includes links to many seminal resources, including Tim Wise’s Sept. 13 essay, White Privilege, White Entitlement and the 2008 Election; and Peggy McInTosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.

Here’s a quote from McIntosh that nails the essence of what it means to have privilege:

“I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege. I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was “meant” to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools , and blank checks.”

Meanwhile, Wise offers a litany of sharply-worded examples of how white and male privilege is manifesting in current campaign coverage and discourse. Although he’s obviously denigrating the Republican candidates, he does make some good point regarding the effects of privilege on the questions that people (including journalists) choose to raise and the assumptions they make. Here are just a couple:

“White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because ‘every family has challenges,’ even as black and Latino families with similar ‘challenges’ are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

“...White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t [roll about] with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re ‘untested.’”

Niles notes about the resources mentioned in her essay: “Privilege is not just afforded to whites, however. It is something that in this country benefits men, Christians, heterosexuals, able-bodied people, ... I am including a reading list on privilege for those who are open to learning more about the concept and not just interested in staking out a defensive, so-called color blind position. The more that we open up and engage in these discussions, the closer we inch towards eliminating racism (and sexism and every other ism out there).”

Seems like a good place to start.

Have you noticed white or male privilege in action in your newsroom or community? Does it get acknowledged or addressed? What role can or should news organizations play in clarifying this issue? Please comment below.

Do “Hispanic-Fluentials” Like Your News?

What are Hispanic bloggers saying about your news and info?…

An Aug. 28 article by Jose Villa in MediaPost’s newly launched Engage:Hispanics blog begs this question. And the answer might effect your news brand more than you’d think.

Villa gives an overview of research concerning the recent rise and influence of Hispanic bloggers, as well as growing Hispanic interest in reading blogs. Some highlights:

• According to ComScore Media Metrix, “WordPress and TypePad (two popular blogging platforms and networks) generated 2.9 million monthly unique Hispanic visitors in July, surpassing the traffic of popular Hispanic destinations such as Univision.com, Terra.com, and Batanga.com.”
  
• “The latest AdAge Hispanic Fact Pack says that 5.35 percent of online Hispanics visited a blog and 2.3 percent wrote a blog in the last 30 days.”
  
• “A March 2008 Burson-Marsteller study revealed that the most influential Hispanic consumers, dubbed ‘Hispanic-fluentials,’ use the Internet to share their views about products and brands as well as to connect with friends and family. Specifically, 49 percent of Hispanic-fluentials used blogs to tell others about product experiences.”
  

Villa’s article is written for marketers and advertisers of consumer products and services. But news brands need good marketing, too. As bloggers of all kinds become increasingly findable and influential, it’s important to pay attention to what they’re saying—and to be responsive to the points that they and their communities raise.

This means that as you keep any eye on inbound links to or mentions of your news and other offerings, be sure to flag especially influential bloggers. Make sure that at least some people in charge of analyzing this information are fluent in Spanish—you don’t want to miss any nuances with this community. Are there any especially influential Hispanic bloggers (covering any topic, newsy or not) in your community, or who are popular with local Hispanics? Be sure to read them, and engage in conversation there.

If connecting with your local Hispanic community is a priority for your news org, you might want to subscribe to the Engage:Hispanics blog. (Even though MediaPost requires you to provide a surprising amount of personal information in exchange for a free membership.)

Connecting with Jewish Communities (Gefilte Fish not Required)

Learn how to engage community from the masters of this art.

It shouldn’t be surprising that Jews—whose religion and culture are as shaped by diaspora as they are rooted in traditions from the Holy Land—are particularly adept at building and maintaining community through media, both globally and locally.

For a global view, check out the media links at the Jewish Daily Forward, and the long list of links to Jewish newspapers and magazines at JewishLink. And from Jerusalem, Chareidio offers a daily audio podcast of Jewish news that can even be delivered to mobile phones worldwide.

Locally, much Jewish media centers around Jewish community centers, like the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan—which offers local community news, programs registration, and more kinds of in-person and virtual connection.

If you’re building bridges with local Jewish communities, it helps to understand a bit about the various types of Judaism. Judaism101 and About.com: Judaism are good places to start. Amidst Judaism’s diversity, learning and communication are universally prized—which is why even the most conservative, private Jewish communities can be quite sophisticated in their use of online and mobile media.

For instance, many of the Chasidim (an insular branch of Orthodox Judaism which maintains a separate and highly traditional lifestyle) are very active online—especially through the organization Chabad, which hosts the lively ChabadTalk forum.

Houses of worship are the heart and soul of many Jewish communities. You can find local Orthodox synagogues or minyans (prayer groups) through Go Daven. Here’s a searchable database of Conservative synagogues (Note: “Conservative” and “Orthodox” Judaism are not the same: Both believe Jewish law is binding, but only Conservative Jews believe that law can change.)

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.

Most US Jews adhere to the Reform movement—which, while rooted in Jewish tradition, tends to have the most tolerance on social issues such as homosexuality and grants individuals the greatest autonomy to choose which Jewish laws and practices to follow. The Union for Reform Judaism has a directory of Reform congregations. Reconstructionist Jews take the view that the Jewish people (not God’s command) are what make Jewish laws and rituals sacred and meaningful. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation offers a directory of congregations. Also, the progressive and increasingly popular Jewish Renewal movement holds many events nationwide.

But if you really want to connect with the Jewish community, dive into Jewish culture—especially the music (from traditional Klezmer to Orthodox rapper Matisyahu), food, slang and humor, holidays, and special ceremonies marking major life events. (Here’s a fascinating new trend in faith and digital media: Jewish funeral and bereavement services by phone—and now even by webcast, both live and archived.)

Perhaps the most compelling reason for news organizations to get more connected with the Jewish community is that these people really know how to “do” community—so they can offer many valuable lessons and examples on that front. Furthermore, Jewish communities tend to be very news conscious and media savvy, they have diverse and interesting perspectives, the conversation’s always good, and of course, that’s were the latkes are.

The Buddha and Your News

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.

Black Television News Channel: Coming in 2009

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.

Online Video a Hit with Youth, African Americans

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…

Audience Segments in a Changing News Environment, released Aug. 17, noted:

“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…

1. 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.
2. 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.
   
3. 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. 
  
  By Meg Spohn, 08/13/08 at 08:42 am
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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.

Covered so far:

1. The Catholic Church
2. Islam
3. Hinduism
4. Buddhism
5. Judaism

More coming soon, stay tuned!

DotSub: Breaking Language Barriers with Subtitles

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.