Resolve Philly Co-Founders Win Prestigious ONA 2023 Impact Award
Resolve Philly co-founders, Jean Friedman-Rudovsky and Cassie Haynes were recently recognized by the Online News Association with the 2023 Impact Award for their trailblazing work building Resolve Philly, a local newsroom designed for community impact. Jean and Cassie accepted the award at the 2023 Online Journalism Awards; below is a redacted version of their acceptance speech.
Thank you to the ONA board, and our Resolve Philly team — staff and board — who are doing the work day in and day out.
Some of you may be wondering: Who are we? What’s Resolve? Resolve Philly is an unconventional newsroom, one that we believe is a model for the future of local news. Our work revolves around three core pillars: editorial products based on participatory and community-responsive journalism, a steadfast commitment to bridging the information divide by meeting people where they are with news and information, and rooting all our work in deep collaboration. We in journalism can no longer afford to pretend that any local news organization can serve its community without figuring out ways to do these three things well.
When we started this work more than five years ago, we could have never imagined we’d be on this stage today, or any day. In the beginning, the most common response to the things that we did was raised eyebrows; and not eyebrow raises in the “ooohhh, impressive” way, but rather in the “really, so that’s what you’re gonna do,” skeptical way.
Our predecessor initiative, the Reentry Project, brought together 13 Philadelphia newsrooms to do solution journalism about one single topic, at a time when this was virtually unheard of and in a city that was known as one of the most competitive local media markets in the country. When we started that project, we got some eyebrow raises.
Then, the two of us joined forces. Jean from journalism, and Cassie from a myriad of other places, and that prompted some more eyebrow raises. Then, rather than carving out separate roles, we decided to share leadership by being co-Executive Directors, something that was, at the time, an uncommon model. Again, eyebrows raised. The most frequent question we heard at the time was, “but who really makes the decisions…”
We kept on paving our own unorthodox way. We built a team that now comprises a tapestry of professional and life experiences. We partnered with community organizations rather than just reporting about their constituents. Instead of us deciding what to report on, we asked people what information could be useful to their lives, and then we figured out how to get it to them. We grew the largest, longest-standing, most dynamic local news collaboration in the nation, and it’s still going.
In building Resolve Philly, we refused to uphold workplace policies, practices, and structures rooted in white supremacy. We looked to other models or, more often, invented our own. In the end, our organization is a place where people feel safe bringing their whole selves to work. We did this not only because it’s the right thing to do but also because when people feel valued and respected in their jobs, they are able to show up more authentically and joyfully in their work, which leads to greater community impact.
We are not the only ones doing many of these things. We were surrounded this week by allies and allied organizations who are as deserving of this honor as we are. So, as we accept this award, we want to acknowledge and celebrate those out there who are doing things that raise eyebrows. We see you.
Whether your entire organization is challenging norms or you are pushing boundaries within a large, seemingly intractable institution, what you do matters. Keep on keeping on, no matter the response. Let them raise their eyebrows. Let them question your every approach. Because that’s how change — and impact — happens.
Resolve Philly is an unconventional journalism organization that challenges our industry to be more equitable, collaborative, and based in community voices and solutions. Resolve’s work centers on improving how misrepresented communities are covered — and served — by the media.
