Community Engagement & Trust

The Houston Chronicle created small-scale experiments that tested how strategically work with a creator while navigating potentially thorny issues around ethics, control and impact. In this series, they walk you through what they did.

Every community has a commons — a park, a library, a garden — a shared space that only thrives when people care for it together. Our local information ecosystems are no different. At our recent Local News Summit, we asked the room: What does it mean to be gardeners, guards and stewards of the local information commons?

We know psychological safety might feel like a ‘nice to have,’ but what if the failure to create that safety is silently stalling your best ideas and alienating your next generation of leaders?

As research continues to inform this slice of the news industry, we’ll continue learning, too. Who gets to be called a journalist in 2025 and beyond? What is the future of trustworthy information, especially considering the access to and trust for online content creators? How might journalism adapt to the rise, or co-opt the styles, of news influencers?

The methods that worked for Boyle Heights Beat may not work the exact same way in every neighborhood, but we know that trust begins with community listening and authentic engagement, and that’s true everywhere. We are building a framework that relies on partnerships, mentorship and genuine care.

Welcome to July’s Special Edition, where we feature essays from four attendees of the API Local News Summit on Local Identity, History and Sustainability on [...]

We've asked five people outside of journalism with experience in engaging and working with people of all ages how they approach their work. What practices do they use to engage young people that news organizations can adapt and apply in broadening their audiences?

The plans — each supported by a $3,000 grant from API and refined with API's help — will build connections with new audiences and serve communities by prioritizing storytelling and positive impact.

This initiative will help participants develop influencer collaborations around their journalism, including co-hosted Instagram reels to share reporting and promote products, explanatory reporting, ongoing partnerships and live events.

Steps news organizations can take to set up their own community advisory committees based on lessons from the Pittsburgh Inclusion Index cohort.