Community Engagement- the glue that keeps it all together
Journalism would not exist without community engagement. People are the sources of information, stories, and experiences that create the opportunity for journalists and solutions journalists to share, explore, and research the human experience. Specifically, in solutions journalism community engagement can provide evidence that the topic journalists are investigating has an impact on the community. They provide insights that data and numbers cannot express.
The article “Listing as a Revolutionary Act,” Hardman talks about how meeting the community where they are provided insights that would have not been possible without engaging the community. It challenges traditional ideas because often the community or reader is seen as separate from the process of writing and researching a story. The community, or “audience” in a traditional sense, is supposed to read about what the media is providing, not to have real engagement in shaping the story. Some traditional writers see community engagement as not being objective in their writing. Though Hardman’s article explained that connecting with the community gave him a clearer understanding of what was really going on in the U.S. versus what he perceived.
Engaged journalism projects have increased in communities’ ability to connect and share current events, challenges, and successes within their community. They have given a voice to communities that are not connected to the rest of their city. As engaged journalism projects continue there will be more data, and knowledge of what is actually going on around the U.S. versus what traditional journalism provides, a one-sided view. Through these projects we have been able to see a variety of challenges and perspectives that make communities what they are, but also to give insights to those who were not aware, to be able to help tackle these challenges.
As with any non-traditional approach, it takes time for others to begin the practice and understand the positive outcomes. Community engagement across sectors is something that is continuously talked about, but also feared, because it challenges the status quo. Additionally, since there is little scholarly research and data, it doesn’t have the same weight as other approaches.
Continuing research on the long-term outcomes of community engagement journalism projects will support the projects being implemented. Researching whether individuals play a significant role in their community because of these projects would be key. Research on the various types of projects that engage communities and what has worked best is also something that would be helpful to those that are interested in implementing a community engagement project within their own community. The more this practice continues, the more the field can explore the vast ways that community engagement impacts the way communities thrive.
