Convening a community advisory committee

Over the last three years, the American Press Institute engaged the Pittsburgh media ecosystem in measuring and improving inclusion efforts, both within the newsroom and through coverage of the community. This endeavor, guided by the API Inclusion Index, included two learning cohorts, a dozen community listening sessions and a six-month local news advisory committee.

The community advisory committee was a chance for participating news organizations to implement what they’d learned during the cohort by building and strengthening the feedback loop with community members. Facilitators, editors and neighborhood representatives who participated in the Pittsburgh committee shared their experiences in this essay series published earlier this year. This month, we’re going to suggest steps news organizations can take to set up their own community advisory committees based on this feedback.

A lot of intentional work should precede the formation of an advisory committee — it should be built on a foundation of deep community listening efforts, as well as introspection and goal-setting within the news organization. Using a deliberate, non-extractive approach can result in a feedback loop that can further inform coverage, challenge assumptions and cultivate trust in local news efforts.