VIDEOS: Community engagement lessons learned with Journalism That Matters

We Create Here was an initiative within the Gazette Company to develop evolving narratives and authentic conversations throughout Iowa's Creative Corridor. read more

During the past year, the entire team at We Create Here has been honored to work with Peggy Holman, executive director and co-founder of Journalism That Matters - but this week was our first chance to meet our mentor in person. Our team was in Chicago for the ASNE/APME conference, and being there with our colleagues and kindred spirits in community engagement made it all  the more special.

Holman is the author of Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity, and is deeply versed in appreciative inquiry, community conversation formats, and how to mobilize citizens for good. She has also launched the Engagement Hub, a place for journalists and community builders to find each other and swap ideas.

Our team was part of a pilot project, with two other news organizations, using community engagement and convening techniques to host discussions about diversity. Find videos from all three sites below.

ASNE, the American Society of News Editors, is a fairly traditional journalism organization, so we weren't sure how our unconventional approach to conversation and story would be received. The hour-long session flew by, and while we did face some tough questions, we all left feeling extremely motivated about our direction.

So check out the videos below for a recap of our highlights from the past year and how other forward-thinking news organizations are having conversations around diversity:

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We Create Here:

(video by our own Ben Kaplan, of course)

Oakland Voices:

Unite Rochester: