From June 2nd to the 4th, a unique panel of eighteen Summit County, Ohio residents were brought together to study and deliberate in conversations about the 2016 election, focusing specifically on media coverage of top public issues. Through the Citizens’ Jury model, they worked to form ideas and solutions on how to shift the traditional style of media to one that better reflects the concerns and priorities of Ohio residents.
Informed Citizen Akron Event #1 Final Report
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Statement to Neighbors
Journalism is not as easy as it looks. Media organizations have to decide which stories to cover with limited staff, time, and other resources. It can also be challenging, especially during election season, to cover many issues, opinions, and candidates while staying neutral. There are many different sources of news and platforms for distributing news. There are also many opportunities for media to engage their audience by using email, social media, SMS/text messaging, face to face conversations, and more. Ohioans can get more involved in seeking information.
Statement to Media & Journalists
Not everyone has the same opinion, but many have similar interests and concerns. We need answers to the complex questions. We’d like journalists to provide clear, concise, accurate, and accessible information and links to other resources so we can explore issues in greater depth. We’d like a greater focus on our local communities, including tying major or national issues to local events and concerns. We’d also like journalists to identify solutions to challenging issues, or if they can’t, provide resources so we can work to develop our own solutions.
Media Engagement Strategies should…
- Be inclusive and designed to reach a broad range of demographics (such as age, geography, income, gender, race & ethnicity, and education level)
- Be measurable and include metrics to determine whether or not they increase readership, increase interactions between journalists/media and their audiences, or encourage new people to read stories, listen to programs, etc.,
- Make it easy for audience or possible audience members to participate
- Be based on truthful and accurate reporting of events and data
- Empower people and enhance their role in the news cycle while diminishing the role of special interests and financial influences
- Not be too expensive or burdensome for journalists/media to pursue or implement (this includes financial resources, time, staff commitments, technology, and interest from journalists)
Top Media Engagement Strategies & Rationale
- Engaging all demographics to identify the most important issues to the community and their input to frame media coverage.
There is a great diversity of stories and interests in our community and they deserve to be heard. The inclusion of underrepresented individuals in this process is essential. Opening this dialogue helps articulate community needs and demonstrates the media’s value of these communities, which will in turn enhance the trust between the community and the media. This helps the community feel more engaged/empowered in the news/media, influencing them to become involved in the election. - Clearly organizing accurate information in a way that is easily accessible and researchable to people.
Providing easy access to accurate information helps the media earn the trust of the public. This allows a greater variety of people to make more informed decisions and establishes trust between readers and media. - Fact checking statements by candidates and others.
The media can support informing citizens by providing high-quality analyses of voting records, statements about current pertinent issues and potential conflicts of interest. Citizens cannot make informed decisions based off of inaccurate information, and must be able to trust that the information they consume is truthful e.g. a truth-o-meter analyzing candidates’ statements - Interactive engagement, such as quizzes to engage readers and test their knowledge.
Journalists can use interactive engagement to understand knowledge deficits in the community and use that information to shape coverage; as well as compelling the audience to see what they do and don’t know, in order to encourage them to become more informed on the issues at hand. - Text-based engagement to receive news.
Reaches a younger, larger audience at low cost and is convenient and quick. - News as a conversation between readers and journalists.
It empowers the readers to become more involved in the process and shaping media coverage to be more relevant, interesting, and engaging.
Expert Presentations
(Listed Chronologically)
- Doug Oplinger, Managing Editor, Akron Beacon Journal
- Michelle Henry, President, Center for Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR), see the full presentation here
- Jake Batsell, Associate Professor, Southern Methodist University, see the full presentation here
- Fiona Morgan, Journalism Program Director, Free Press, see the full presentation here
- Dr. Michelle Ferrier, Associate Dean, Scripps College of Communication, Ohio University, see the full presentation here
- Ellen Mayer, Community Manager, Hearken, see the full presentation here
- Andrew Haeg, Founder & CEO, Groudsource. See Groundsource in action at The Listening Post and The Listening Post NOLA