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In Memphis, a Lab Experiment for Local News

James Fallows

November 08, 2019 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Memphis, Tennessee

Over the past dozen years, The Commercial Appeal, once the top morning newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee, slowly succumbed to the same ownership changes and downsizing that has plagued numerous other local papers across the country. Hungry for local news after The Commercial Appeal had left a gap, Eric Barnes and Andy Cates created the Daily Memphian. The paper is an online-only, subscription-based service owned by a new 501(c)3 non-profit, Memphis Fourth Estate Inc., which has no editorial control over the paper's content.

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How the Texas Tribune, one of local journalism's greatest success stories, really got started

Barbara Allen

November 08, 2019 |

Poynter |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Austin, Texas

Non-partisan, watchdog journalism has formed a financially healthy platform for Texas Tribune in its first decade, filling a public-interest gap left by shrinkage in the number of statehouse reporters from 95 in 1989 to about 30 in 2008. By hiring an aggressive team of journalists and diversifying its revenue streams, the Tribune turned seed-money grants into a self-sustaining online publishing business whose serious coverage of neglected policy stories inspired Texas lawmakers to coin the term "the Trib effect" for the changes in capitol behavior when it's clear "someone is always watching."

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Investigative journalists combat Colombia's muzzled press with The League Against Silence

Megan Janetsky

November 06, 2019 |

Poynter |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Colombia

La Liga Contra El Silencio is an alliance of 16 news organizations and hundreds of journalists in Colombia. It protects journalists against threats, which have the effect of censoring reporting on certain topics. La Liga pools resources for in-depth investigative reporting on stories many journalists fear covering and publishes them using the organization’s name in the byline to protect journalists. About 70 stories that brought to light violence and corruption were published in 2018 and 2019, yet the group has not faced any major threats. It could offer a model for how to report under threat worldwide.

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‘We're Doing It for Love of Community'

James Fallows

October 16, 2019 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Harvard, Massachusetts

All over the country, budgets for local newspapers are drying up and these small institutions are dying with them. But in Harvard, Massachusetts (which has no connection with the university), one local paper may have found a solution for survival. The Harvard Press operates on a shoestring budget with borrowed and donated equipment and a volunteer labor force. The paper also trains students and young people from the community in order to increase its presence throughout Harvard.

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Spread the word: the Iraqis translating the internet into Arabic

Olivia Cuthbert

October 08, 2019 |

The Guardian |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Iraq, Mosul

Disseminating knowledge means making websites, articles, and books available in more languages beyond English. A partnership between students at the University of Mosul and the nonprofit, Ideas Beyond Borders (IBB), is working to make more content available to Arabic speakers. IBB partners with several universities across Iraq and since launching in 2017 has expanded from translating Wikipedia articles to books and now includes languages such as Farsi and Kurdish.

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Purpose-driven publisher writes new chapter of Brazilian literature

Pedro Lira

July 26, 2019 |

Pioneers Post |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Brazil

Promoting more diverse and inclusive narratives takes a publisher interested more in social purpose than profits. Vira Letra, and independent publisher in Brazil, has employed a cost and profit-sharing business model aimed at amplifying the voices of women, LGBT, and other marginalized authors. With the vast majority of books in Brazil published by white males, who make up less than 45 percent of the population, Vira Letra focuses on adding new voices to the publishing market.

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In Philadelphia, a radical idea for journalists: talking to human beings

Chip Scanlan

July 23, 2019 |

Columbia Journalism Review |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Inquirer reporter-columnist Helen Ubiñas launched a series of pop-up newsrooms to talk to people in neighborhoods that usually only attract fleeting news coverage over violence and other problems. Ubiñas' mission: to find hidden stories, and in the process of that inspire trust among the people journalists are supposed to serve. From city pools to barbershops, schools, and a criminal record expungement clinic, Ubiñas found people willing to open up about their lives thanks to the rare face-to-face interaction.

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Evidence of a solution: Using data to report more than just bad news

Brent Walth

June 27, 2019 |

DataJournalism.com |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Fact-based, data-driven, and solution-oriented journalism can shift the media paradigm from asking “what” to asking “how.” Solutions journalism, known also as constructive journalism in Europe, focuses on data and evidence to shift discourse from political advocacy and ideological debates to problem-solving and productive discussion. Using this approach, students in Eugene, Oregon, brought accountability to municipal administrators who had previously obfuscated the effectiveness of a program to reduce court caseloads.

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California: Epicenter of Mass Incarceration Reform

Abbie Vansickle Manny Faces

June 04, 2019 |

News Beat |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Stockton, California

Following a Supreme Court mandate requiring California to address prison overcrowding, the state has taken numerous initiatives to reduce sentences, relocate inmates, set higher accountability measures for law enforcement, and allocate more funding for re-entry programs. While these measures have been implemented across the state, the city of Stockton has been a leader after electing the nation’s youngest – and Stockton’s first African American – mayor, Michael Tubbs. Since then, the city has adopted reforms such as universal basic income and mentorship programs and has witnessed a 40% drop in homicides.

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Finland is winning the war on fake news. Other nations want the blueprint

Eliza Mackintosh

May 18, 2019 |

CNN |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Finland, Helsinki

Teaching students to fact check encourages resilience and builds resistance to the post-truth phenomenon. In Finland, a school curriculum implemented at the national level equips elementary and high school students with a digital literacy toolkit geared toward recognizing disinformation online. In addition to specific exercises spotting fake news on social media platforms, a critical thinking curriculum is built into all subjects. Finland's success in fostering a social resilience against disinformation also draws on lessons from the country's oftentimes fraught history with its eastern neighbor.

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