![]() ![]() The focus on solutions “also appealed to funders” who care about impact, notes Kieta. “So we’ve taken that into a number of projects that we’ve done with the Solutions Journalism Network.” A number of the Bee’s education stories are featured in SJN’s popular Solutions Story Tracker. “One of the things that we really wanted to center our content and journalism around is solutions journalism, not just something that’s pointing out all the flaws, but showing what’s working and how it can be amplified,” Kieta said. Kieta also attributes the success of the Education Lab to The Bee’s intentional choice to report not only on the problems around education but also the effective responses to those problems. Focus on responses and what’s working, not just the problems Kieta said key elements of the Education Lab were conceived, and the need for the initiative was validated, through the effort to engage with the community. And that’s where we realized that we were on the right track with what we wanted to do with the Education Lab, and some of the issues that we would then be able to surface in the community.”Īnother big takeaway from the community listening event, Kieta said, was the decision to hire at least one reporter as a dedicated engagement reporter - “somebody whose sole job really would be to do that listening, to do that deep dive, to hold events and to really get into places where we hadn’t been before, and who would be able to speak Spanish and speak other languages and be able to help better-inform our journalism, even if they weren’t the reporter who is on that story.” “We wanted to reflect that (diversity) in that meeting, and we were able to get some great feedback. I mean, this is a very diverse community,” Keita said. “One of the things that The Bee, I don’t think, has done a particularly good job of through the years is showcasing, and also listening to, the diverse communities that we have here. ![]() Kieta believes it was key to the success of the Education Lab. Community listening and engagement is key to successĮarly on, The Bee gathered community stakeholders for an in-person session to gain feedback. The Bee’s Education Lab was about “unlocking the door to try to improve the socioeconomics of Fresno and raise the level of education in this community where we will be able to diversify our economy and change things,” he said. He cites the example of Apple not having operations locally because Fresno doesn’t have people who have the training to do the type of jobs that they would locate in their community. Educational attainment is what holds our region back,” Kieto said. Kieta attributes much of The Bee’s funding success to the choice to focus on education. Kieta Identify and understand the core challenge facing your community Here are six lessons relevant to any news organization developing funded journalism projects. Joe Kieta, executive editor of The Fresno Bee, spoke to the publishers in the lab recently about the launching of the Fresno Bee Education Lab, and the opportunity around journalism funded by philanthropy. The Fresno Bee, like the Seattle Times, is considered a model for what’s possible when journalists and funders partner to serve their communities. The LMA Lab for Journalism Funding regularly features guest speakers who share their insights and lessons. Led by LMA, with coaching and curriculum developed from the success at The Seattle Times, 20 publishers have already raised nearly half a million dollars for their journalism. This fall, LMA launched a second cohort of the Lab, with continued funding from Google and additional support from the Lenfest Institute for Journalism. In 2020, 200-plus newsrooms raised more than $1.7 million through the COVID-19 Local News Fund later that year, 16 publishers in the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding, made possible with support from Google News Initiative, raised $5 million in nine months to fund journalism projects. Philanthropy has emerged as one pathway to funding essential local journalism as news organizations seek to adapt to disrupted legacy business models. Sustainability for Publishers of Color / Diversity, Equity, Inclusion.Donate to Local Media Foundation programs.2021 Local Media Digital Innovation Awards.6 lessons from The Fresno Bee on funding journalism: A conversation with Joe Kieta, executive editor - Local Media Association + Local Media Foundation Close ![]()
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