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:  Brush up on copyright before using photos from social media
The First Draft News Coalition has a good guide to 5 points to remember about copyright and breaking news which is a handy review of some key copyright issues around eye witness media and user generated content. (Disclosure: Josh is a founding member of the First Draft News coalition) 

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A Human Centered Approach to Journalism

In two weeks we’ll be presenting at the Knight Foundation’s Media Learning Seminar in Miami on how human centered design practices can help support more community-driven journalism and philanthropy. The Media Learning Seminar is May 1-3 and will be streamed live at knightfoundation.org/live, the hashtag is:  #infoneeds. Here are a few things to read before then:

• Design Thinking and Journalism Go Together. Here’s How. – Jennifer Brandel 
• How we used design research to launch The New York Times en Español – Juliette Melton 
• How Connecticut’s largest public media outlet worked with IDEO to reimagine its future – NiemanLab 
   

At the Intersection of Trust and Ethics

Two new reports out this week from the American Press Institute take a close look at ethics and trust. The first is a major study of how trust between audiences and newsrooms is built and broken. API also looked at how nonprofit newsrooms and foundations are approaching ethical questions around grant funded reporting. Both reports are worth your time. Also at the intersection of trust and ethics, ONA has released an ethical code for social newsgathering and Joy Mayer is publishing a study of newsroom trust and social media practices. 

• A new understanding: What makes people trust and rely on news – American Press Institute  
• Charting new ground: The ethical terrain of nonprofit journalism – American Press Institute 
• Common ground: A social newsgathering ethics code from ONA – Online News Association 
• Three newsroom guides to earning trust on social media – Reynolds Journalism Institute 
   

Breeding Disdain for Our Audience

Jennifer Brandel and Andrew Haeg caused a good stir this week when they wrote that too often “the culture of journalism breeds disdain for the people we’re meant to be serving, i.e., the audience.” The piece tackles big questions about how newsrooms relate to their audience in ways that resonate with the trust and ethics issues raised in the articles above. As a complement to Brandel and Haeg’s piece, here are two good posts with concrete advice and ideas for supporting and expanding engagement in your newsroom:

• Tools and tips for engagement and crowdsourcing stories – Journalism.co.uk 
• Try, Try Again: Community Engagement Lessons From Our First Cycle – City Bureau 

Also, the deadline is approaching for this terrific paid fellowship opportunity for people working in people-powered reporting:

• Apply by April 29: Fellowships for people-powered reporting – IL Humanities Council 
   

Defending the First Amendment for All

The Columbia Journalism Review recently reported that 20 months after protests in Ferguson, journalists Ryan Reilly and Wesley Lowery are still facing charges. Lowery, who works for the Washington Post, tweeted, “if this is how the system jerks us around, imagine what it’s like for those without top flight legal teams?” That question seemed prescient  given a new study released this week from the Knight Foundation which found that half the editors surveyed agreed that newsrooms increasingly don’t have the resources to fight First Amendment battles in court.  These issues are part of what inspired us to support a new journalism law project in New Jersey, with funding from the Knight Foundation. It is a model that could be replaced elsewhere. 

• In Defense of the First Amendment – Knight Foundation 
• How a new campaign is trying to strengthen the rights of student journalists – Columbia Journalism Review
• 2016 World Press Freedom Index – Reporters Without Borders 

Disclosure: The Knight Foundation is a Local News Lab funding partner.

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.