November 6, 2015
Local Fix: Journalism + Design, Nostalgia, and Libraries
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: Get Inspired by 15 Amazing Local Projects
We try to feature one smart, proven or inspirational newsroom project at the top of the newsletter each week, but this week we wanted to share 15 ideas with you. On Monday the Association of Independents in Radio announced grants to 15 independent journalists to work with local newsrooms around the country on creative projects to cover underserved communities. The Localore project is superb and will fill you with ideas for experiments you might want to try in your community.
Good Journalism Deserves Good Design
Last month the Society for News Design announced that they were expanding their training program with a grant from the Knight Foundation. The announcement coincided with a number of interesting posts on the importance of online news design for audience comprehension and loyalty. Use the posts below to give your site a design assessment, and consider some small changes you could make to build affinity and engagement with your readers.
- Study: Good design causes the brain to pay more attention to news stories. Read about it at the Washington Post and Reynolds Journalism Institute.
- The Home Page Isn’t Dead – And Its Design Matters – by Katie Steiner
- Understanding what makes a visualization memorable – by John Wihbey
The Power of Nostalgia
“Nostalgia, like sex, sells,” writes Megan Garber in “How the Internet Uses Nostalgia.” Whether it’s Buzzfeed quizzes about our favorite toys and tv shows, or Spotify recommendations of songs we loved in high school, accessing these memories make us feel *good* and it makes us buy stuff. Nostalgia is also a terrific way to engage people in conversation around shared experiences and add value to local reporting. This week, we came across three compelling examples that we think you could build on:
- 25 Things You’ll Never See in Indianapolis Again (note the hundreds of comments, driven primarily by Facebook) – by Ben Kerns
- 1024 Elmwood: A Look at Columbia’s History Through the Lens of One Address – by Thad Moore
- Local new site Morristown Green partnered with the The North Jersey History & Genealogy Center for a series of articles about their town’s 150th anniversary.
Journalism + Libraries = Awesome
Ever since we saw this terrific library phone Kickstarter project we’ve been mulling over how journalists could adapt the idea for sharing community stories. And then in the wonderful Hearken newsletter Jennifer Brandel highlighted a few great links about the intersection of journalism and libraries, which I’m passing along here with a few additions.
- What people asked the New York Public Library before Google – by Laura C. Mallonee
- Four ideas journalism can borrow from libraries – by Melody Kramer
- At the crossroads of journalists and librarians, we find community engagement – by Joy Mayer
- Should librarians (and journalists) learn to code? – by Laurie Putnam
Tis the Season for Fellowship Deadlines
From restorative narratives to science reporting here are a range of great fellowship opportunities:
- John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford – Deadline, Dec 1
- ivoh Restorative Narrative Fellow – Deadline, Nov 16
- Knight Science Journalism Fellowships – Deadline, Feb 28
- Nieman Fellowship – Deadline, Dec 1 (international) Jan 31 (US)
- Joan Shorenstein Fellowship – Deadline, Feb 1
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: Get Inspired by 15 Amazing Local Projects
We try to feature one smart, proven or inspirational newsroom project at the top of the newsletter each week, but this week we wanted to share 15 ideas with you. On Monday the Association of Independents in Radio announced grants to 15 independent journalists to work with local newsrooms around the country on creative projects to cover underserved communities. The Localore project is superb and will fill you with ideas for experiments you might want to try in your community.
Good Journalism Deserves Good Design
Last month the Society for News Design announced that they were expanding their training program with a grant from the Knight Foundation. The announcement coincided with a number of interesting posts on the importance of online news design for audience comprehension and loyalty. Use the posts below to give your site a design assessment, and consider some small changes you could make to build affinity and engagement with your readers.
- Study: Good design causes the brain to pay more attention to news stories. Read about it at the Washington Post and Reynolds Journalism Institute.
- The Home Page Isn’t Dead – And Its Design Matters – by Katie Steiner
- Understanding what makes a visualization memorable – by John Wihbey
The Power of Nostalgia
“Nostalgia, like sex, sells,” writes Megan Garber in “How the Internet Uses Nostalgia.” Whether it’s Buzzfeed quizzes about our favorite toys and tv shows, or Spotify recommendations of songs we loved in high school, accessing these memories make us feel *good* and it makes us buy stuff. Nostalgia is also a terrific way to engage people in conversation around shared experiences and add value to local reporting. This week, we came across three compelling examples that we think you could build on:
- 25 Things You’ll Never See in Indianapolis Again (note the hundreds of comments, driven primarily by Facebook) – by Ben Kerns
- 1024 Elmwood: A Look at Columbia’s History Through the Lens of One Address – by Thad Moore
- Local new site Morristown Green partnered with the The North Jersey History & Genealogy Center for a series of articles about their town’s 150th anniversary.
Journalism + Libraries = Awesome
Ever since we saw this terrific library phone Kickstarter project we’ve been mulling over how journalists could adapt the idea for sharing community stories. And then in the wonderful Hearken newsletter Jennifer Brandel highlighted a few great links about the intersection of journalism and libraries, which I’m passing along here with a few additions.
- What people asked the New York Public Library before Google – by Laura C. Mallonee
- Four ideas journalism can borrow from libraries – by Melody Kramer
- At the crossroads of journalists and librarians, we find community engagement – by Joy Mayer
- Should librarians (and journalists) learn to code? – by Laurie Putnam
Tis the Season for Fellowship Deadlines
From restorative narratives to science reporting here are a range of great fellowship opportunities:
- John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford – Deadline, Dec 1
- ivoh Restorative Narrative Fellow – Deadline, Nov 16
- Knight Science Journalism Fellowships – Deadline, Feb 28
- Nieman Fellowship – Deadline, Dec 1 (international) Jan 31 (US)
- Joan Shorenstein Fellowship – Deadline, Feb 1
Since relaunching the Local Fix a week ago we’ve seen a surge in subscribers. [Hello all you new folks – glad you are here.] We just wanted to take a minute and say thanks for reading, for sharing and most of all for doing great things in your newsrooms and communities. Keep it up!
Have a good weekend,
Molly and Josh
The Local Fix is a project of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation’s Local News Lab, a website where we are exploring creative experiments in journalism sustainability.
