When we think of how news impacts our lives, we often think of information: We learn about road closures, legislation that will affect our community, or even residents of interest who we want to know more about. But sometimes, lightning strikes and the impact of a news story is immediate and concrete. That’s the case with one particular story from Charlotte, North Carolina’s WFAE, a local FM radio station.
News stories don’t have to be deep, investigative reports or articles that create legislative change to make an impact. It’s true that communities need watchdogs, but impact can be created by stories of all kinds, from notices of local road closures to human-interest stories about unknown neighbors and vibrant local residents.For Evergreen, Colorado’s Canyon Courier, its stories of local kids and teens felt the most impactful.
In Newton, Kansas, less than 3 percent of teachers are non-white, while the student body is 38 percent non-white. For reporters at The Newton Kansan, this discrepancy is an essential story for their community – and one they believe every community newspaper should be tracking.
On April 20, 1999, Columbine High School suffered a tragedy unlike anything most people had experienced at that time. What happened in that small Colorado town reverberated across the country and around the globe, making people everywhere stop and pay attention. Twenty years later, Columbine feels like the start of an epidemic to many people – but to those still living there, the only option is to continue moving forward every day. When the anniversary approached last year, the editors at the Canyon Courier knew they couldn’t let the 13 innocent people who lost their lives that day be forgotten by their neighbors.
Challenging authority to ensure an informed and engaged citizenry is the bedrock of the journalistic profession. For Sidney Herald editor Amy Efta, that task came all too soon after taking her position at the local Montana newspaper.
Focusing on the impact journalism has doesn’t only affect the community, but the newsroom, as well. Guest blogger Anjanette Delgado discusses how a focus on impact can create new roles for journalists, and new ways of thinking about how we run our newsrooms.
While all journalism makes an impact, not all journalism is designed with impact in mind. Guest blogger Anjanette Delgado explored what would happen if journalists considered their impact during the process of researching and writing their stories, and how that can play out for the reporters and the community they serve.
The News Media Alliance today launched its News Impact Project, including a News Impact Index of local news stories that have made a positive impact on their local communities.
When Detroit Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd and his wife Ashley started a charity, Kingdom House, to help young girls in Uganda avoid sex slavery, it was news. But the Detroit Free Press story about the Boyds’ efforts overseas did more than tell a story — it drove donations and support for the new foundation.
Golddigger stadium had been a landmark in Idaho Springs since 1958, also being recognized nationally on the high school football stage. When Michael Hicks, executive editor for Evergreen Newspapers and the local newspaper, the Clear Creek Courant, learned the stadium would be sold to help curb the school’s financial woes, he knew that the community would mourn the loss and that it was up to the Courant to memorialize the stadium’s sixty-plus years as a cherished landmark, and bid it a fitting farewell.
