Community Journalism - Our Strategy
At Cardiff, we are acutely aware of these issues, but we retain a belief in the value of good journalism. We also want to do what we can to help shape the future of news - a future that retains this spirit of idealism while addressing practical realities.
Our strategy will have five elements:
Research:
The School is leading a major hyper-local news research project, funded by the AHRC. This will allow the team to map the world of hyper-local journalism and understand what’s happening across Wales and beyond. We are also involved in other partnerships, including the Port Talbot Magnet. This project sets out to explore what happens in a community when a local paper closes and what could replace it.
Networking and advice:
The aim is to become a source of advice about best practice and community networks. We hope to use this information proactively, encouraging groups and individuals to work together and to build community news hubs.
Training:
Part of the team’s role will be to support and train community journalists across Wales in the range of skills they need to work effectively.
- News gathering techniques
- Awareness of legal and ethical frameworks including defamation, moderation and copyright
- Digital platforms
- Community and content strategy
Support will also be available to professional journalists wanting to create local news hubs.
Outreach:
Our team will be available to go into communities to support hyperlocal journalists, increase participation in community news an advise existing enterprises. We will also be working with communities interested in creating a hyperlocal hub.
Monitoring:
Over the longer term the Centre will be investigating what the new, community-based journalism landscape will look like across Wales. This monitoring will allow us develop a new understanding of the field which can then be fed back to what promises to be a flourishing new sector. These ideas and approaches will form a blueprint that can be exported to the rest of the UK and beyond.
