Understanding the practice and attitude of community engagement by journalists at American nonprofit newsrooms

Abstract

Nonprofit journalism has been heralded as an alternative business model in the time of financial crisis for the news industry. As a result, community engagement has been increasingly adopted as a strategy by journalists. Through scholars have explored engagement tactics at various newsrooms, few have focused on particular nonprofit newsrooms. In addition, past studies have not thoroughly investigated how journalists can implement engagement efforts consistently and sustainably to bring benefits to their respective newsroom. This study addresses these gaps in scholarship. Using a national survey (N = 144) coupled with interviews with nine journalists working at nonprofit newsrooms across the country, this analysis emphasize the importance of building a two-way interaction between journalists and the community, in which nonprofit journalists should be aware of the mutual benefits by such an engagement and bring local concerns into the heart of their coverage. This kind of engagement will help cultivate trust and confidence from the community and possibly lead to brighter business prospects for newsrooms.