July 21, 2017
Local Fix: Time for Dinner, Vacations, and Leadership Tips
Welcome to the Local Fix. Each week we look at key debates in journalism sustainability and community engagement through the lens of local news. But first, we always begin with one good idea…
One Good Idea: Where do Ideas Come From?
A solitary lawn chair. A person smelling a book in a library. A brainstorming session. A lightning bolt. A yellow ball bouncing down the street. A dump truck. A YouTube video. This short video by Andrew Norton asks a variety of artists, podcast producers, directors, journalists, and more where they get ideas from. The big takeaway? “Ideas are everywhere. You just have to notice them.” (Plus, this post shares useful tips and background on the production process of the video.) Go watch.
Be Our Guest
We’ve all used donuts to get people to come to meetings, but the projects here take that idea to the next level. They use food to bring people together to talk about the things that matter to them. Thousands of Chicagoans have participated in On the Table conversations about their neighborhoods, New Jerseyans are invited to host their own “Political Potlucks,” and Atlantans talked about their city over lasagna. What conversations could you have with the community over the dinner table? Have you done a food-related journalism project? Send it our way.
- Here’s what journalists can learn from a dinner party project – Poynter
- Voting Block expands, launches statewide citizen engagement campaign; sign up to host a ‘Political Potluck’ – Center for Cooperative Media
- Discomfort food: Using dinners to talk about race, violence and America – Washington Post (ht @yukvon)
- Macon Conversation: First Edition – GPB (ht @colegoins)
- On the Table: Toolkit – On the Table
- Hidden Kitchens – The Kitchen Sisters
- Casserole Club – FutureGov
I’d Rather be at the Beach
Maybe there’s something ironic about including this in a newsletter that goes out on Friday afternoons, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Save this email for later, turn off your phone, and go on vacation. Vacations are good for you, and can help overcome burnout. The resources here share various reminders that time off, and time offline, is incredibly important for all of us, even though we know it isn’t easy to do. Local news wouldn’t exist without all the people working hard to make it happen, and it is vital those people can take care of themselves, and that their leaders take care of them, too.
- Out of Office – The Middles
- I almost let my journalism job destroy my marriage. Don’t make the same mistake. – Poynter
- Local Edition: Take Your Vacation – Poynter
- Ms. Management: Driving Our Employees Over the Edge – Source
- The Data-Driven Case for Vacation – HBR
- The Neuropsychology of Working While on Vacation–and How to Overcome It– WSJ
‘A Great Leader Never Rusts’
Our series, co-published with Poynter, from Marty Kaiser about leading during times of change wrapped up a first round this week. Each Q and A with a local newsroom leader is full of tips and things to consider about leadership. Do you have a leader to highlight or a related tip to share? Tweet to @thelocalnewslab, or hit reply to this email to share.
- How do leaders lead through tough times? Let’s get outside our own newsrooms and find out
- Sandy Banisky: Editors, stop saying ‘We’ll do more with less.’ ‘That’s never going to be true, and everyone knows it.”
- Ron Smith: USA Today managing editor for news: ‘Change is like oxygen: We need it to exist.’
- Chris Krewson: ‘Focus on your readers, start thinking about ways that you can solve their problems, and act on that.’
- Karen Lincoln Michel: Speak up more, brainstorm with everyone and don’t take that difficult boss personally
- Gregory Favre: Editors, don’t waste time reminiscing on the glory days
- Kathleen Kingsbury: New managers, ‘don’t let imposter syndrome change who you are as a person.’
- Garry Howard: What attributes are at the top of your hiring list? ‘Talent. Honesty. Drive.’
- Michael Davis: If you want your newsroom to evolve, you must, too. ‘A great leader never rusts.’
Have a good weekend,
Josh and Teresa
@jcstearns, @gteresa
The Local Fix is a project of the Democracy Fund’s Public Square Program, which invests in innovations and institutions that are reinventing local media and expanding the public square. Disclosure: Some projects mentioned in this newsletter may be funded by Democracy Fund, you can find a full list of the organizations we support on our website.
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