Go In As a Human

Week 2 in Social Journalism.

An epic city at the end of an epic week.

This week in Social Journalism broke my mind. Starting with Jesse Hardman and his post Listening is a Revolutionary Act. Jesse said several things in class that caused me to rethink my plans in life and more importantly what journalism can be if we push ourselves.

I am still picking up the pieces but here are some notes I want to keep asking myself over the next year and half/forever:

1. Can we spend a month with a community without trying to extract a story?

2. How do we get communities to participate in the process?

3. How do we ask a questions so people don’t feel excluded?

4. How do we ask questions so people want to share their experiences?

5. How do we foster a kind of journalism that is a two way conversation or flow of information?

Some Ideas:

1. People are the experts of their own experience. Ask them questions that make them feel that way.
2. Create trust by letting people represent themselves.
3. Ask them: What do you want to know more about in your community? What are you experiencing from the news events that are being reported in your community?

And finally, it is now our duty to make a case for Journalism. If our success metrics are “likes” and “clicks” we may be delivering people the candy they want in that moment, but we are not making the case that journalism matters to their lives. That is on us. It’s not a given anymore that the work we do is valuable. We can’t helicopter or spaceship in (whichever large metal metaphor you prefer.) We have to go in as humans hoping to connect with other humans.

. . .

DESIGN THINKING…

Source: Make Use Of

We also returned design thinking work we started in orientation, which to be honest is torturous for me.

My aversion to the process is rooted in years of product testing in Silicon Valley type incubators where millions of dollars are spent on chasing product/market fit... I watched companies (including my own) half ass the “empathy” phase of design thinking. Most had a revolutionary idea, would fundraise, build a prototype, and then interview some people to see if they liked it. There was also the fundamentally flawed and lazy tactic of asking people what they need in the listening/empathy phase.

Filmmakers for instance, will tell you lots of things they think are wrong with the film industry and solutions they think would work. Some of those ideas are viable but many are too small and too focused on working within a broken system or hanging on to outdated metrics of success. So I am wary of hours sitting in a room with a white board brainstorming ideas of what a community or customer could need and then have the pressure of being multi-million dollar apps or platforms that need exponential growth week on week to justify their existence.

But I can feel my resistance beginning to wane. The beauty of Social Journalism’s approach to design thinking is the simplicity and somewhat low tech solutions of the end products: a listening post in a public library, a couple of questions sent out via text message once a week, and a zine printed and distributed to inmates.

I am still fighting the start-up mentality that a service that only affects a couple hundred or even thousand people can be considered a success. I have preconceived notions and a bias that leaves my mind blank when I try to brainstorm ideas. Jesse Hartman’s Listening Post in New Orleans didn’t reach millions but that also wasn’t the goal. Also the tactic Jesse deployed in New Orleans can be used in other communities around the country. That’s a different kind of scale. That’s a system that can be repeated which makes sense to me.

But then I catch myself, this is all too theoretical at this point to make any judgments or brainstorm any solutions. I realize I am already trying to short circuit the empathy phase.

SO good thing this week’s assignment is to go to Mott Haven in the South Bronx and LISTEN. I cannot go with an agenda other than listening and observing and really trying to wipe most of my preconceived notion of the problems facing this community. I am going to have to shut off my producer/problem solver brain and just listen without a clock ticking. That feels exciting and scary and right.

Oh, and I’m not a spy anymore. I am officially a complete convert to Social J:

Dear [Powers that Be,]

I am respectfully requesting to fully switch over to the Social Journalism program. I’ve discussed this at length with Carrie and she with Jeff and I have their support and encouragement to make the change.

In choosing to return to school, I wanted to add journalistic skills to my film production and start up experience that have focused on helping underserved communities. I see now that the engaged form of journalism that Social J teaches is what I have been searching for in my career and next phase in my life.

Originally, I thought I could get what I wanted from Social J by taking extra courses, but I am seeing now that the benefit of the program and the approach to journalism is not something I want to dabble in- I want to be all in. I wish I had made the switch during Orientation when I first had the impetus, but after focusing so much on the MA program for the last year, it has taken me a couple of weeks get clarity on what I want.

I recognize that this will take some administrative maneuvering, but I am hoping with your help and support it would be possible.

They said yes.