Welcome to the Local Fix. Every other week we look at key questions in journalism sustainability and community engagement through the lens of local news. But first, we always begin with one good idea…

One Good Idea: Make an FAQ

Any good investigation starts with a good question, right? The Seattle Times’ investigative team decided to back up their reporting and start with ten of them. This allowed them to be transparent in their process and to answer some of their readers’ most frequently asked questions in, you got it, an FAQ. Trusting News highlighted how engagement editor Taylor Blatchford got the whole team to contribute answers and the response from readers so far. Check out the list of questions (and answers!).

Five things inspiring us in February

Breaking news: February can be … kind of bleak, as this St. Louis reporter showcased in a viral TV segment. So, we pulled together a few things that have been pulling us out of our wintery doldrums and inspiring us this month. We hope they inspire you, too. 

1. “During times of massive collective loss, let us rebuke apathy by reimagining social justice organizations and formations as vehicles to metabolize and transform grief into agency. This requires resilient infrastructure and embodied methodology” — Malkia Devich-Cyril, Grief Belongs in Social Movements. Can We Embrace It?
2. The new results from the Center for Community Media’s study of how New York City government advertising dollars supported community and ethnic media, based on the mayor’s executive order: “In fiscal year 2021, 30 of 33 city agencies spent at least 50 percent of their print and digital advertising in community and ethnic media.” 
3. “Ecosystem building is a long game,” Stefanie Murray of the Center for Cooperative Media in New Jersey shared in Current’s Local That Works webinar. She and Rashad Mahmood of the New Mexico Local News Fund talked about their experiences building connections across their statewide local news ecosystems. (And you can watch it here!)
4. Last week, our team played a version of Pictionary (yes, on Zoom) where we listed buzzwords and jargon we keep using. We took turns trying to draw — and then explain — them!
5. When you want lasagna but you also want soup: this recipe is your next go-to.

Reads on Our Radar

• How competing New Hampshire news outlets started — and stayed — working together — Leah Todd Lin, Solutions Journalism Network
• Boulder Reporting Lab, a new nonprofit newsroom, finds its footing in Colorado — Sarah Scire, Nieman Lab
• Racial Equity in Journalism Fund Field Report: Looking Back, Building Forward — Alicia Bell, Borealis Philanthropy 
• Black Reporters in Conversation: Karen Jacobs — Sabrina Adams, PEN America 
• We asked journalism leaders: How does your newsroom serve communities of color? — Emily Roseman and Vignesh Ramachandran, Institute for Nonprofit News
• Resources and recommended reading on hiring — members of the DEI Coalition For Anti-Racist, Equitable, And Just Newsrooms

Opportunities on Our Radar

• Manager, portfolio success, American Journalism Project, base salary $100,000; no deadline specified
• Events and membership manager, Online News Association, $67,445-$75,000; no deadline specified
• Chief operating officer, Institute for Nonprofit News, $130,000-$150,000; application review began February 7
• Enterprise journalist, North Dakota News Cooperative, based in Bismarck, salary $60,000-$75,000; deadline February 18!
• Community representatives, Wichita Beacon; $20/hour for approximately 5 hours/month
• Summer internship,10-12 weeks, Ida B Wells Society and various news organizations, pay rate set by each news organization; deadline March 4

Have a lovely weekend,

Christine and Teresa
@heres_christine and @gteresa

The Local Fix is a project of  Democracy Fund’s Public Square Program, which supports work that aims to transform journalism so everyone has access to information they need to participate in our democracy. The Fix was started by Josh Stearns and Molly de Aguiar.

Disclosure: Some projects mentioned in this newsletter may be funded by Democracy Fund. You can find a full list of the organizations here.
Follow us on Twitter at @TheLocalNewsLab.

Sign up to get this newsletter in your inbox on Fridays: bit.ly/thelocalfix