Launching a national news collaboration: Year one
A behind-the-scenes look at a national mental health journalism collaborative
It’s the first virtual pitch meeting for our new mental health news collaborative, and I’m excited to facilitate. Everyone seemed engaged in our kick-off meeting several weeks ago, and we’ve split the group of 45 in half this time for manageability. But soon, I wonder if I’m in over my head.
There are awkward silences after some people share pitches, so I quickly try to respond to fill the void. I’m simultaneously taking notes, watching the time, reading the chat, and toggling across the top looking for raised hand emojis. I wonder if my facial expressions look enthusiastic enough or if my jokes are funny. After an hour and a half, I feel exhausted and imagine everyone thinks I did a bad job. I reminisce about the days where I sat quietly in meetings, listening with a stoic expression. I think, “maybe I’m just a behind-the-scenes person,” and “maybe this job isn’t for me.”
But after a pep talk and brainstorming session with my manager about how to ease the juggling, I felt better. Partners reached out to check in and share more ideas. No one quit. At the next pitch meeting, I had additional support, and we went over time because people talked to each other — and I talked less.
This experience was one of many I had last year at The Carter Center, when I realized managing large news collaborations requires a range of roles — and types of leadership. In this position, you do need to be a “behind-the-scenes” person, overseeing day-to-day tasks, supporting other people’s work, and meeting deadlines. But you also need to be able to step up to the front, provide assurance when things get tough, and set goals to keep people engaged. Regularly shifting between responsibilities can be challenging, and at times, stressful, but it also makes the job interesting.
While each week was different, here’s what I learned in key stages of the collaboration’s first year.
Tireless recruitment
Unlike a typical application or hiring process, we sought out partners, rather than having them apply. Starting out, I wondered if there would be any interest at all, as the project was in a pilot stage. In many ways, we still had to sell people on an idea.
Luckily for me, I had a list of states to target for partnerships, per direction from the Center. We knew we wanted a diverse group of journalists who had interest in covering mental health. I searched online for outlets with health coverage in our states, and then identified specific reporters and editors in each — many more than we would need. I reviewed reporters’ clips, read their bios, and checked them out on Twitter.
When I found a reporter, I also tried to find the name of at least one editor at their outlet. Sometimes I just reached out to editors for their recommendations. Coming from an editorial background, I knew editors were critical for buy-in as they greenlight coverage and carve out time for reporters’ work.
To connect, I created and sent a concise email describing the project, and attached a two-page PDF with additional background information. I offered calls to discuss any questions the partner might have. If someone didn’t respond to my initial email, I followed up, often with success. I tracked the contact information and correspondence in a large spreadsheet.
At the same time, I worked on recruiting a national partner that would provide editorial support and resources to improve the reach of our project. We eventually formed this relationship with the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) in Washington, D.C.
The recruitment calls were crucial to establishing trust. I emphasized that we had overarching parameters, but wanted partners to have flexibility because we recognized this was an add-on to their existing, often heavy workloads. There were a few instances where I felt these calls didn’t signal a successful partnership, and I followed my gut instinct.
Unlike an admissions process, commitments were made at different points in time, which made it hard to get a full sense of the team — and where there were holes — until the end. In some instances, this required searching for alternatives. I thought it was valuable to have a mix of outlets and reporters on the team: long-form and radio; health and other beats; experienced and more junior.
After about two months of recruiting partners, we were pleased that 15 news outlets agreed to join the group, with nearly 45 participating reporters and editors.
Recommendations:
- Always keep the diversity of the team in mind as you add partners. Don’t give up easily or take “no” personally.
- Be open to partnering with smaller outlets or less experienced reporters, including journalists that cover different beats.
The setup and workflow
As the team came together, I worked on building a set of resources to help guide our work. I set up Trello, Slack, and a shared Google Drive to help with project management and communication. Our MOU, signed by each news outlet, outlined roles and expectations, and our editorial guidelines detailed criteria for stories. I also produced a PDF workbook on Canva that included bios and headshots of all the partners.
I found these resources were important for creating structure around the project — and referring people back to questions when they arose. But even with the best intentions, not everyone read the docs or used the tools.
In the future, I hope to find ways to synthesize some of this information to make it more accessible (a 13-page Google Doc full of links was not the easiest to use for a busy reporter and was time-consuming to produce).
Determining the right pace and avenues for communication after the kickoff was tricky too, and I still don’t know the right rhythm. I sent out periodic emails to the group with important updates and next steps, yet I found one-to-one communication on Slack or email often worked best.
Some partners would proactively check in to provide updates or ask questions, while others had to be tracked down.
Unlike a traditional workplace, where lines of workflow are clear (I report to you, you report to me), this role requires working with people who are employed by different organizations. Collaboration managers are no one’s boss. It can be difficult, feeling like you are nagging someone outside your office while staying true to your employer. I found it was best to be kind and flexible, but gently remind partners of the collaborative’s objectives and expectations.
Recommendations:
- Outline any specifics you can in the MOU — vague language will not be your friend later.
- Reiterate key expectations periodically, even if you feel like a broken record.
Getting to know our partners
It’s no secret that by now, most people have Zoom fatigue and feel less accountable to a virtual get-together. It’s easy to work during a group meeting or simply not sign on at all. Operating a national collaborative under these circumstances can be challenging.
From our initial kickoff and pitch meetings, we offered other opportunities for the group to come together virtually to support the one to two assignments each reporter produced. A handful of guest-facilitated trainings provided a consistent foundation for assignments and plenty of opportunities to ask questions. I emphasized that certain meetings were important but recorded them with the hope that they’d watch on their own time if they weren’t able to attend.
Going into this project, I believed that virtual collaboration would happen organically and would build over time. But after people pitched their assignments, I found the opposite was true: they were more focused on their individual work than connecting with the group. As we move forward, I’d like to identify ways to stimulate collaborative energy, such as targeted small-group meet-ups, while remaining conscious of different preferences.
The relationships we built were ultimately the most important part of keeping the project running. Quick, periodic check-ins helped identify how we could help. Peoples’ needs varied greatly, from identifying sources to having content reviewed or edited. Some of the partners just needed someone to talk to who didn’t work at their office. Sometimes I did too, and having our national partner was an invaluable gut-check and helped me troubleshoot day-to-day operations.
Recognizing the differences between partners and providing them with tailored support is integral to this role. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to help without stepping on someone’s toes. I’m still learning how to navigate these situations, but my best advice is to make sure you know what partners want, not what you think they need, while also staying true to the project.
Recommendations:
- Get to know people personally. Make small talk.
- If things seem off track, remind partners that working together across offices is bound to bring up awkward situations — everyone is learning.
- Ask for regular feedback on how to improve the project.
Surprises — and moving ahead
Every story we published last year felt like a success, and we tried to celebrate everyone in a group Slack, on social media, and on our websites, where we showcased the cohort’s roughly 30 stories.
Many people went above and beyond what I could have expected, such as a reporter who published her story days before she went on maternity leave. Or a pair who co-bylined an article and published it on their boss’s last day. There were reporters who switched pitches mid-way through the project or juggled this project with another fellowship. Some people also worked on the collaboration amid staffing changes, moves, and (many) cases of COVID-19.
I learned many things over the past year, but one of my biggest takeaways was that it’s important not to have fixed ideas of how partnerships or collaborative work will unfold. There were people that were more reserved who wrote to me later that the experience was meaningful. There were others who I expected to be “All Stars” but required more support.
At one point, I was worried that I’d lost one of our partners, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. There were long lapses in communication, so I wasn’t sure if any work was being done or if something was wrong. I felt torn about involving upper management, but as we neared the project deadline, I felt I had to intervene.
Reaching out to a supervisor actually led to several good conversations. Instead of seeming frustrated, I listened, shared my objectives, and then encouraged us to move forward. We talked through ideas for the assignment and I asked how to help.
The results speak for themselves: high-quality work, just past the deadline, along with appreciation for the support provided during a tough time.
This year we are focused on growing our news collaboration. As I buckle down to work with new and old partners, I am hoping I can keep what worked well before and adopt new strategies to mitigate potential pitfalls. But I know that this year, like last, will bring surprises too.
🔑 Tips for organizing your own collaborative:
- Keep the diversity of the team in mind as you add partners.
- Don’t give up easily or take “no” personally.
- Be open to partnering with smaller outlets or less experienced reporters.
- Outline any specifics you can in the MOU; vague language will not be your friend later.
- Reiterate key expectations periodically, even if you feel like a broken record, and keep these simplified and accessible.
- Get to know people personally.
- If things seem off track, remind partners that working together across offices is bound to bring up awkward situations; everyone is learning.
- Ask for regular feedback on how to improve the project.
📄 Sample collaborative journalism agreements and MOUs:
Nora Fleming is the newsroom collaborative manager at The Carter Center, where she spearheads a journalism collaborative of 21 newsrooms with 40+ reporters and editors focused on expanding news coverage on mental health care access and inequities in the U.S. Nora can be reached via LinkedIn and at nora.fleming@cartercenter.org.
