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WHYY’s Bridging Blocks held the first day of its third annual Civic News Summit Friday, bringing together journalists, students and community leaders. During the event, titled “Trust, Truth and the Future of Local News,” panel discussions examined how news outlets can better engage with the communities they cover and how journalists can face modern challenges presented by artificial intelligence and misinformation.
Empowering the next generation of journalists
WHYY’s director of educational programs, Craig Santoro, led a panel of Philadelphia youth leaders in a discussion about their media experiences.
Ethan Rodriguez helped produce “Run, Hide, Fight: Growing up under the gun,” a PBS documentary about the impact of gun violence on young people.
“So to have an opportunity to talk about the lived experience of Philadelphia and growing up around gun violence was a unique opportunity,” he said.
Rodriguez, who was one of 14 student journalists involved in the project, also emphasized the challenges of telling a story so personal.
“It was also vulnerable to talk about my hometown, especially my neighborhood, having to film my home, interview my mom,” he said. “And I love Philly, right? But to just say, Philly’s got some problems, it’s also true.”
Ewdi Rosario talked about his involvement in POPPYN, or Presenting on Perspective on Philly Youth News.
“This is a youth news media organization that strives to present their perspective on Philadelphia news, which is a perspective that’s often lost in media, in my opinion,” he said.
POPPYN is produced by the University Community Collaborative.
Santoro said that the “Philly youth media scene is really strong” and pointed to the Philadelphia Youth Media Collaborative which includes 25 organizations, including WHYY, as well as WHYY’s own youth media labs and freelance opportunities with the station.
Getting diversity right in media
Another panel focused on how journalists can better represent and serve underrepresented communities, led by Shawn Mooring of the Lenfest Institute. The panelists represented media outlets with primary audiences among Philadelphia’s Latino, LGBTQ+ and Black communities.
Mooring said diversity is more than staffing.
“It isn’t just about who’s in the room, but who is heard, who is trusted and who is truly served,” he said.
Panelists emphasized that trust starts with being present in communities. Nemesis Mora, of Dos Mundos Media, said reporters do more than “parachute in” for quick interviews.
“We really need to connect with the community, because they are the owners of the story,” she said. “So we usually try to understand better the needs and try to be with the community.”
Gabriela Watson-Burkett, a filmmaker and journalist who leads Inti Media, an independent producer that centers around the experience of people of color, agreed that trust is earned “on the ground” and that outlets have a responsibility to create strategies to get diverse journalists in the door.
“And then, when they’re in your organization, create pathways to success and to evolving their career,” she said. “Invest in your talent, really, truly, and listen to your talent.”
WURD Radio host Solomon Jones added that the real way to measure success is “in how the community is impacted” and not just “how the outlet is affected.”
“Can we bring about change in how people live?” he said. “Can we bring about change in how government serves? Can we bring change about in how people’s economics are lived out in their everyday lives?”
Jeremy Rodriguez, editor of Philadelphia Gay News, added that newsrooms have to avoid just checking off boxes. He pointed out that, as a “white-passing, biracial” Hispanic, “I don’t feel comfortable representing the Latino community in that way.”
“I have entered spaces myself where many people in charge would say, ‘Oh, thank God we have diversity here because we have a Latino on staff,'” he said. “It’s just a matter of just making sure that the person that you’re getting to represent that community fairly represents that community and can actually speak to them.”
Mora said that many mainstream newsrooms don’t have resources such as bilingual journalists to adequately cover the communities she covers. But that actually presents opportunities for partnerships and collaborations with journalists that do, she said.
