Community media continues to outperform traditional media

This contribution note was originally published in English by the Nieman Lab at Harvard University, as part of a package of predictions they solicit each year from visionaries and thinkers in the American news media.

Here is the original post and all the journalism predictions for 2022 .

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After not one, but two challenging years of the pandemic , we’ve learned that journalists and media creators immersed in their audiences and communities are the ones who have been leading the journalism industry in the United States during this time of uncertainty , particularly when it comes to producing work that serves the public and meets their immediate information needs .

Just read some of the findings in the investigations conducted by the Center for Community Media at CUNY’s Newmark School of Journalism over the past 18 months :

A report released in October , which analyzed coverage in Black-focused media outlets during the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide protests against racial injustice, found that these community outlets published up to six times more work on issues important to Black communities than mainstream outlets, including racism, health inequities, and voting rights. It also noted how Black media outlets provide historical context for current challenges, connect news events to broader issues of injustice (such as policing and mass incarceration), and center people in their coverage, humanizing individuals and groups in the news.

In its report, “Asian Media on the Front Lines ,” the Center for Community Media noted how home-language reporting and community relationships helped journalists and media creators achieve impact and intimacy when reporting for and about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, the nation’s fastest-growing and most linguistically diverse population. These skills were especially useful when covering the crises of the pandemic, hate crimes, political polarization, and misinformation. The report, released in May 2021, also noted how these media creators have kept their communities informed through military coups, natural disasters, and COVID-19 surges in home countries, while connecting them with local resources on immigration, education, healthcare, and more over the course of a year.

And a year-long study of digital media outlets serving immigrant populations highlighted how these outlets have become unique sources of information for diverse communities, sharing perspectives rarely covered by traditional news outlets. The June 2020 report explained how these tireless journalists have been using social media and other platforms as public communication hotlines to listen to their audiences’ questions and complaints and to provide vital support and information day after day. It also noted that the financial pressures created by the pandemic have pushed these (fairly resource-strapped) outlets to the point of overcrowding.

Jean Pierre Photographie, 2021.

During these times of crisis, community media have been the primary source of news and information for marginalized groups in the U.S. Their connection to people’s realities and the engagement and participation tactics they employ have paid off in their efforts to deliver high-impact, public service journalism . Despite the resource challenges they face, community media have been serving these groups far better than traditional media, which leads us to question whether “traditional” media are the most valuable for those who live in these ecosystems and news cycles.

As legendary media outlets have faced the worst of the cultural and racial reckoning in newsrooms across the country, for community journalists and media creators, the experience, storytelling, and journalism of their people have taken center stage for a time that will stay with us for generations.

In 2022, these media creators should receive the long-overdue recognition for their pioneering work and for becoming widely respected sources of news, knowledge, and expertise, especially for their community journalism. Established media outlets must evaluate their role in American journalism and begin to credit community media creators by highlighting their work.

Media sponsors, donors, and funders will shift their standards and priorities to first support less established media creators, who aspire to greater person-to-person impact than legislative changes. Established media outlets will open up to collaborations and partnerships with other community media outlets, and these projects will be led by community journalists , with community input.

Community media creators will organize to strengthen their skills and build social capital. Legendary media outlets will hire specialized journalists to engage with communities at their levels and realities, to redesign newsroom narratives and develop strategies that go beyond telling stories about Black, Indigenous, and immigrant communities that lack nuance and are oblivious to the small details that matter to people.

We’ll see more learning opportunities for community media creators to master topics such as innovation, financial sustainability, and branding , as well as more training so journalists can better listen to people’s issues and interests. Established media outlets must create the internal structures and policies necessary for community media and community journalists to thrive.

The year 2022 will further propel the movement that ignited the new American media wave—one that will be organically diverse, increasingly inclusive, and evidently equitable for generations to come. It is the year in which the transformation continues , as all journalists hold the powerful accountable while spreading purposeful perspectives —perhaps one that builds a sense of belonging and highlights the people in this complex, interconnected world.