News Fix #45: A plan for news I can get behind

Later this week I have one more final exam to administer, and that will be a wrap on my first year in a journalism school.

I have a deep appreciation for the experience so far, but my skepticism about journalism school remains. I don't want to ask students to spend time, effort, and money on very specific job training at a time when those jobs are rapidly decreasing in both number and quality.

Journalism schools can be, and must be, stronger centers of value creation for students and the towns and cities these schools call home. Plenty of my colleagues see this too and are working hard toward that goal. I'm still trying to learn the ropes and figure out how to do my part. I just keep reminding myself that it's possible, that I'm willing to do the work, and to keep my head and heart open.

One of the things I struggled with this year was a lack of coherence. Classes, faculty, frameworks, and centers were like separate satellites students were asked to travel between, all with wildly different ideas about the value and practice of journalism. There were no pedagogical versions of the “In this house we believe...” yard signs. It requires a lot of navigation for students and anybody new, like me.

Next year I plan to be more clear from the jump about what I believe journalism's function is, what its relationship to power should be, who it should serve, and how. I want students to be able to see immediately a vision for how they can develop and hone a worthwhile craft regardless of what the job market may offer. My plan is to open the semester in each class teaching City Bureau's new strategic plan.

Reading any strategic plan ranks just barely below putting sand in my eye on a list of things I want to do. But this thing is great.

Everything about the plan for the organization's next two years, from its focus to its coherence to its audaciousness, is a compelling case vision for journalism that is possible, desirable, and urgently needed, but still far too rare.

From a page one clarion call that “journalism is an everyday civic act for everyone.”

To the theory of change:

"Existing journalism practices cannot provide the foundation of civic information our democracy needs. To meet this moment, we need to radically reimagine journalism as an everyday civic act rooted in communities and practiced by everyone."

To defining journalism skills as:

"The core competencies used to gather, verify, contextualize, and share information in the public interest. These include research and evidence-gathering, interviewing, fact-checking, clear communication, critical thinking, data literacy, ethical reasoning, and civic and cultural literacy.

But adding an important and clarifying caveat:

"While traditionally associated with professional journalism, these skills can be better understood as practical civic competencies that anyone can develop and apply, whether or not they work in a newsroom."

City Bureau is explicitly trying to increase civic health by increasing the number of people who can use journalism's tools and skills to create real-world impact. The specific goals are to equip Documenters with skills beyond record creation, and to expand the focus of their fellowship program to “continue to equip people with essential journalism skills, but prepare them to apply those skills far beyond the newsroom in many other roles in public service, community organizing, and beyond.”

Chicago's affordability crisis will be the focus of their journalism for the next few years: “resources that help Chicagoans navigate it, investigate the conditions that drive it, and host events and convenings to help people learn, connect, and organize for solutions.”

A plan is just a plan, but I trust these people to be able to pull this off. We all could do some version of this work in the places where we live. Redistribute our skills and expand our vision of what information can and should do and who we should work alongside. It's possible if we're willing to do the work and we keep our head and heart open.

One new/ancient idea

Just quickly. I was at Harvard a few weeks ago for only the second time and stopped by The Memorial Church. I have many grievances with how religion has been and continues to be wielded, but still find myself wanting to be inside an empty church. When I sat down in a pew at the back there was a prayer request card tucked into the bookrack. It was just a simple card with the prompt, “Please pray for:” followed by a few lines to write an intention. I don't really pray, but I was touched by the invitation to one small act of care. A friend of mine who was really hoping for a new opportunity had that door closed to them this week. I'm sending out a little prayer for acceptance and better things ahead with their name on it. Whatever your version of a prayer card is, go for it. It's a beautiful gesture.

What I hope to read

I have a backlog! My tabs are open to this paper by Francesco Marconi about AI breaking the news ecosystem into three distinct businesses: intelligence, attention, and public good. Damon Kiesow's The Ethics of Journalism Tech, and What The Comfort Class Doesn't Get, by Xochitl Gonzales was recommended to me twice last week. These aren't exactly summer reads, so send some recommendations my way.

Until next week, take care.