With just over two months until the June 22 primary elections, the City Elections Initiative is offering one more way for New York City community media to engage the many candidates running for elected office across the city on behalf of their readers. In partnership with THE CITY’s Civic Newsroom, CCM is coordinating a new effort to connect New Yorkers with candidates in this year’s citywide and local elections. This form allows New Yorkers from all over the city to ask specific questions of any candidate for any elected office, or on elections and voting in general. Community media outlets are publishing this form on their pages, and CCM will compile both the questions and answers in a searchable database. This new project is just one of the many ways CEI is working to deepen civic engagement across the five boroughs. You can see the full scope and reach of the city’s community media in the interactive CEI map.
NYC Elections Reporting Fellowship
The 2021 City Elections Fellowship is approaching its halfway point, and the 30 inaugural fellows have begun publishing in-depth stories. They cover a sweeping range of topics, and speak to the concerns of intimate communities, often in languages besides English. Some of the first pieces offer analysis of how COVID-19 is impacting the city’s Black vote, a close look at the democratic socialists taking Brooklyn by storm, and reportage on how candidates are reaching out to the city’s growing Nepalese community. Follow us on Twitter, where we are sharing these stories as they are published, with the hashtags #NYCElectionsInitiative and #CityReportingFellows. Save the Date: Latino Media Summit 2021
We are delighted to invite you to join us for the Latino Media Summit 2021, which will take place virtually this coming June 3-5. Read more on the summit and sign up for updates. The LMS is an annual convening of journalists, entrepreneurs, innovators, experts, artists, and industry leaders focused on Latinx audiences in the U.S. Unique among journalistic conferences, it covers topics specific to a broad spectrum of Latinx audiences and communities, including media and technology innovations; business models; race, gender and class issues relevant to Latino news media coverage and culture; challenges in bilingual reporting, and Latinx representation in newsrooms.
La LMS es una convocatoria anual de periodistas, emprendedores, innovadores, expertos, artistas y ejecutivos enfocados en audiencias latinas. Única entre las conferencias periodísticas, abarca temas de interés específico para un amplio espectro de audiencias y comunidades latinas, incluyendo innovaciones tecnológicas en medios; modelos de negocio; cuestiones de racialización, género y clase relevantes para la cobertura noticiosa; los desafíos de las coberturas bilingües y la (falta de) representación latinx en las salas de redacción en los Estados Unidos.
CCM Events to Watch
If you missed our town hall event, Asian Media Respond to Hate Crimes, you can watch a recording of the thoughtful, moving, and eye-opening conversation here. This Thursday, April 15, the City Elections Initiative will host a specialized training workshop for New York City community media on The Ethics of Political Advertising, led by Anita Varma, assistant director for journalism and media ethics at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. The session will include practical guidance for making ethical decisions about political advertising and sponsored content, how to maintain credibility with your audience and distinguish your outlet from counterfeit and unreliable information sources. Register to attend here. CCM’s next mayoral candidates forum will take place on April 29. To receive updates about this and other upcoming CCM events and training opportunities, sign up here.
Inside the Community Media Sector
Winners, Finalists, Leaders
A very special congratulations to the cohort of 20 media leaders selected for Newmark J-School’s Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership, and to the program’s inaugural CCM Fellow, Maritza Félix. Read about all the leaders here. We also extend our heartfelt congratulations to the team at THE CITY, Newmark J-School, and Columbia J-School, who together won the Punch Sulzberger Innovator of the Year Award, as part of the 2021 News Leaders Association Awards, for Missing Them, memorializing the many New Yorkers lost to COVID-19. Read about all the award winners here.
Congratulations as well to the community media journalists who have been selected as finalists for The Deadline Club’s 2021 Awards, including those writing for Documented and The Forward. Winners will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony on May 17. Read about the finalists here and register to watch the awards ceremony here. We are also thrilled to see so many excellent independent and community media outlets selected for the inaugural cohort of the GNI Startups Lab, a new initiative of the Google News Initiative and LION Publishers, including Borderless Magazine and Enlace Latino NC. Read about the initiative and all 10 outlets here. And a hearty congratulations to the forty-four 2021 Maynard 200 Fellows. Many excellent community-based journalists are included in this fellows class. Read about them all here.
Finally, congratulations to Rhina Valentin, who has been named one of the Citizens Committee for New York City’s “New Yorkers for New York.” A Bronx native, Valentin is the longtime host of BronxNet’s OPEN Friday and founder of La Reina del Barrio, Inc. We applaud her on this recognition of her many years of service and leadership!
New Projects and Moves
Sahan Journal, serving communities of color and immigrant Minnesotans, has created a resource page on how to support the people of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota in the wake of Daunte Wright’s murder. You can find it here. The Polis Project, serving South Asians and progressive New Yorkers of color, will be hosting its Reflections on Representation conversation series in partnership with CPB Learning Lab throughout the month of April. Four different photographers and visual practitioners – including CCM Border Network member Laura Saunders – will discuss power, representation, and relationship image making. Read more and register here.
The Wave, serving the Rockaway community in NYC, has compiled a 2021 Rockaway Almanac, a 44-page guide to all things Rockaway, from the community’s emergency services to houses of worship to recreation and libraries and more. Read the almanac online here. The Wave also bids farewell to the almanac’s chief designer, Paula DiGioia, who has been its weekly columnist and lead graphic designer for the past two years. Read their farewell note here. Congratulations to Pamela Turrentine, the new editor-in-chief of Berkeleyside. Read the announcement here. Congratulations as well to Jennifer Sahn, the new editor-in-chief of High Country News. Read the welcome letter here.
Best Wishes and Condolences
A warm congratulations to Cierra Brown Hinton, executive director and publisher of Scalawag, on your engagement! We wish you and your partner a lifetime of joy together. We were very sorry to learn of the passing of Kurt Wimmer, a member of The Media Institute’s board of trustees. Read the institute’s statement here. We wish both Stacy-Marie Ishmael and Millie Tran, who are leaving their leadership roles at Texas Tribune, all the very best in their future endeavors.
Offer Your Skills and Input
The South Asian Journalists Association is launching a new mentorship program. In its inaugural year, it will select five mentors and five mentees. Read more about the program, and submit your name for consideration by April 16 here. NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists is preparing for its 2021 convention, and is inviting workshop proposals. Read more and submit your proposal here. The National Association of Black Journalists is conducting a survey of Black journalists covering politics. Submit your responses here.
Resources
Fellowships & Opportunities
The Institute for Citizens and Scholars is accepting applications for the 2021 Higher Education Media Fellowship. Fellows will receive $10,000 to participate in a symposium and complete a reporting project. Deadline to apply is May 28. Learn more and apply here.
The USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism is accepting applications for its 2021 National Fellowship. Fellows receive reporting grants ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 and six months of mentorship to report on health and welfare through the lens of COVID-19 and systemic racism. Deadline to apply is May 17. Learn more and apply here.
Training & Events
April 15: Public Narrative is hosting a paid listening session with Chicago community media journalists on what you need to better cover health stories. Participants will receive a $150 gift card. CCM partner Chicago Independent Media Alliance will be leading a breakout session. Read more and register here. April 15: The SAG-AFTRA Native Americans Committee is hosting IllumiNative to discuss Re-Centering Native Americans in the Media. RSVP to attend here. April 16: Native American Journalists Association is hosting a roundtable to provide legal support for Indigenous journalists. Register here. April 21: Poynter is hosting a live webinar, The Words We Use to Cover Criminal Justice, Jails and Prisons. Register here.
Through April 25: The Knight Center is offering a course, Covering the COVID-19 Vaccine: What Journalists Need to Know. Register here. April 29: The Northwest Science Writers Association is hosting a panel on Inclusive and Bias-Free Language in Science Writing. Register here.
April 26-30: The International Symposium on Online Journalism will be fully virtual and free to attend this year. Two sessions of particular interest to community media journalists are a discussion on collaboration in local news on 4/29, and race and equity in the news on 4/30, both featuring community media leaders. Register for the full symposium here. April 28-May 8: Journalists for Human Rights and First Draft are offering a series of free, online, 90-minute workshops, Fact-checking Misinformation for Journalists. Read more and register here.
SembraMedia is hosting its annual festival on independent journalism & sustainability throughout 2021. All sessions are virtual and held in Spanish. Register here.
Jobs & Paid Work
Bushwick Daily is hiring a senior managing editor. Bilingual Spanish-English speakers preferred. Apply here. Scalawag is hiring a manager of audience growth and engagement. Apply here.
The City Bureau is hiring a senior editor and fellowship manager. Apply here. Block Club Chicago is hiring a part-time podcast producer. Apply here. Civil Eats is accepting applications for its 2021 Indigenous Foodways Fellowship, a year-long, part-time, paid position. Apply here.
A full-time reporter covering the media industry in New York City is sought for a new Subscription newsletter. Apply here.
Grist is hiring to fill a job and two fellowship positions. Browse and apply here.
Futuro Media Group is hiring a senior editor for Futuro Studio. Apply here.
WBEZ is hiring a metro reporter, audio. Apply here. The Marshall Project is hiring a staff reporter. Apply here. Black Women Radicals, Asian American Feminist Collective, and Asian American Writers Workshop are seeking pitches and submissions from a Black or Asian American writer for a collaborative on Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities. Read more in this thread.
YES! Magazine has issued a call for submissions on the theme, “What is enough?” Read more and submit here. Climate Storylab US South is looking for a writer/journalist to attend its virtual lab 4/26-4/29 and write an impact report. Send queries and rates here. Free Press is hiring a campaign manager for Media 2070. Apply here. IJNet is hiring a managing editor. Apply here.
The International Center for Journalists is hiring a program manager. Apply here. The News Product Alliance is hiring a program director and a community moderator. Apply here.
International Funders for Indigenous Peoples is hiring to fill several positions. Browse and apply here.
Tools & Tips
The Climate Lexicon is a brief explainer of the terms most commonly used in discussions of climate change policies, targets, and actions. Read it here. Trans Journalists Association has compiled a list of best practices for a trans-friendly workplace. Read it here. A list of pro-bono mental health resources for frontline and essential workers (this includes journalists in most states) can be found in this Twitter thread.
Food for Thought
There are many valuable insights for community media in El Tímpano’s first impact report, outlining how it grew by engaging and amplifying communities most impacted by COVID-19 in Oakland, California. Another valuable report for community-based newsrooms comes from Election SOS, sharing insights from 21 journalists across the country on engaged, trust-building elections and politics coverage. We agree that immigration coverage needs more nuanced language, and turn to members of the Border Network for guidance on accurate, community-centric language and framing of cross-border migration. We also appreciated this discussion of language used to cover incarceration.
We think journalism funders, especially those interested in investing in Native-owned and other community media serving Indigenous people communities across North America, would appreciate this landscape scan on Indigenous-led funds. And we’re looking forward to reading the new monthly column at Poynter from Newmark J-School’s chief librarian and research methods professor, Barbara Gray, which will undoubtedly be chock full of valuable research methods and tips for community-based journalists and newsroom leaders.
Share with Us
We’d love to know what’s making you think about community media in new ways too, so we encourage you to share any reports, databases, opportunities, or visualization projects you want us to know about. Please send them to our newsletter editor, Kavitha Rajagopalan, and be sure to follow us on Twitter!
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