Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Noon ET / 11 a.m. CT / 10 a.m. MT / 9 a.m. PT
Shaw Media created the Joliet Focus app — a locally-driven platform to share content from the underserved Black community of Joliet. With a focus on easy uploading and sharing, it encourages a user-generated discussion through photos, stories and videos that will amplify previously underserved local voices and foster meaningful discussion and viewpoints about what makes Joliet a positive community to live in, what can be improved, and what the future holds. Shaw Media launched the app, the promotion of which centers around a local pop-up art gallery in downtown Joliet which will showcase photo submissions from the community, and is holding town halls for community listening and feedback for development. Chief Product Officer Tom Shaw will share progress from the project and how the news organization is incorporating learnings.
QNotes and qnotescarolinas.org provides an online platform for LGBTQ Carolinians to amplify the struggles and needs that are often underrepresented in mainstream press. It is a hub of online engagement with pilot programs in the Charlotte region and Central North Carolina with a goal to be be community-sourced, community-involved and hyper-local. Qnotes has carried out and analyzed an initial survey of 500 individuals and launched its website. Project manager Chris Rudisill and team will share more about what they’ve learned in standing up this project and how local LGBTQ news media can thrive with the model QNotes is creating.
Winnipeg Free Press has launched its Reader Bridge, a specific space for readers to voice their questions and connect with journalists and editors more personally. Manager Shelley Cook will share how the Winnipeg Free Press Reader Bridge helps get the stories that connect with new audiences, and delivers the understanding and connections that will enable continuation of funding for the independent journalism the city and province demands. The deeper the connection developed with the readership, the more loyal they will be, and the more willing they will be to sustain the digital future.
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