News Creator Corps first summer class was specifically designed for rural creators who serve communities often ignored by large media organizations, or within news deserts. The class spanned from single-person newsrooms to visual creators to live events, showing the depth of communication mediums it takes to get information to rural audiences.
Beyond topics and beats, the spread of information in places that might not have strong wifi, or where neighbors are sources, is a top consideration. With that in mind, we focused on citing and identifying a variety of sources, public records requests, beat memos and ethics.
Here’s some of my favorite homework assignments from our five weekly sessions.
During a community class where we challenged ourselves to think about what our audience really wants to know, Amy Peterson asked E’ville Good readers about the oppressive heat they’ve been experiencing.
It’s going to be hot again. Here’s what I know, what I don’t, and where I need your help.
Carey Bunker crafted an ethics policy that lives both on a website for people to check back on, and on Instagram as a post pinned to the page.
Neshobe Current Content Policies
Courtney McGill made a similar, very clear and transparent ethics policy for Black-owned Brunswick.
Dean Osborne laid out what a FOIA request is for his audience, and how he will be using them to obtain and document information.
Triston Black wrapped up all of his work in a letter to the Navajo Times community that makes effort to bring people together over collective information sharing.
Letter | Vote together
Kristin Hugo wrapped all of her learnings up into a post that explains what audiences will see more of in her work post-journalism classes, and what funding means for a creator like herself.
There are so many more examples to discover how journalism skills can work in rural settings. Check in with the rural creator class here and follow their work to support indie creators in rural settings.