PAY IT FORWARD PROJECT
Mission Statement: To counteract chartbeat centered journalism, my team and I have created a contest we call, Pay it Forward. There is a fee to enter that can be paid either by an individual, or their outlets based on outlet size. Paying a fee might be difficult for some, which is why there will also be waivers awarded on a need basis, made possible by donations. The competition itself includes categories for print, broadcast, and multimedia type journalism, which will be judged based on their impact on the community, prioritizing topics normally brushed over in traditional media. Reward amounts, and number of winners is based upon the number of participants, and rewards are to go towards furthering research into the winning projects.
The screenshots of the front pages of these articles show that impeachment, an issue that has very little impact within communities, is dominating the national news narrative to the point where other, community based stories are likely being overshadowed by it. Pay it forward eliminates this phenomenon by offering stories that appeal to groups beyond boomers. Our initiative presents community based stories written by people within those communities, allowing members to shape the narrative of the issues they face everyday.
Audience impact: Whilst anyone can submit work to Pay it Forward, it is designed as a medium for the communication of community based stories. Specifically, stories that don’t get heard in the popular press. By freeing journalism from the for-profit model we commit to a model of reporting that ensures a broader, more accurate portrait of the news is put forward daily.
Statement of change: Bringing back the true meaning of journalism, where the ideas come from real everyday community actions and not just some mainstream headline. Making real news and real stories that deter and counteract the mainstream stories you see every morning in your emails. Finding the story that will draw you in for the reason of just being good, not just focusing on Politics but the people in your communities.
Resources:
- Wix.com
- Google News Tab
Outtakes
Topic 1: Deep Fakes
Problem: Deep fakes, while not used for this now, have the potential to be used to disseminate fake news and be more convincing than current fake news, as it seems to have a reputable source.
Topic 2: Sensationalism:
Chartbeat centered journalism
Problem: Due to profit-driven models, content covered by news outlets is whatever will garner the most clicks, not issues that affect communities.
Three Solutions:
- Yearly federal grants given to journalistic outlets that do substantive, meaningful work on a topic, to be spent over the next year on more investigation into that topic
- Supporting alternative news outlets like DigBoston that cover topics ignored by mainstream news and making them more accessible
- Encouraging more news outlets (particularly on a local level) to operate as community-based nonprofits that make editorial decisions based on how these decisions will inform readers or help the community
Topic 3: Demographics:
Problem: Particularly on a local level, news is oriented toward an older audience both in content and structure, which can alienate younger viewers. Local news, unlike national news, is typically unavailable in a form that applies to young audiences.
Three Solutions:
- Create a newspaper that presents content from local colleges
- Include younger writers in local newspapers
- Encourage journalism students to participate in local news, not just larger news networks.
Question: Do you believe that news is targeted more so towards individuals your age, or an older generation?
Created by: Madison Murillo, Cat Bixler, Max Gersten, Destiny De Barros, Sabrina Sun
