Without a community, there would be no newsrooms and without newsrooms, communities would be misinformed. This is why “Engaged Journalism” is vital when trying to bridge the gap between journalists and citizens. One way this could be done is through a method called Co-production. This technique involves asking audiences to help with the production of content, whether that be through pitching ideas for journalists to follow up on or for audiences to actually contribute material.
I feel as though first person reporting from people engaged in their own communities can be one way to attract readers and viewers who aren’t too fond of traditional news that is presented by reporters. This method has the potential for not only growing a more personal audience, but also motivating community members who are interested in topics in their neighborhoods to actually do deep research and learn more about such issues.
For example, if a neighborhood resident is interested as to why there are so many people living and using drugs openly under bridges in Kensington, giving an outlet for this person to openly express his/her ideas makes he/she more involved as a community member. This can lead to he/she learning more about what caused the issue and presenting an opportunity for the person to showcase the information in a way that is more relatable to people in his/her neighborhood, ultimately leading to a more informed community.
Austin Ampeloquio is a senior journalism major at Temple University who was born and raised in Danbury, Connecticut. He is the Temple volleyball and women’s basketball beat reporter for the Temple News and has interned with Philly Sports Digest since 2015 covering high school and college sports around Philadelphia. Austin also contributes content to The Empire, a blog about Philadelphia college basketball. From 2015 to 2017, Austin was an editor at Clutchpoints for KnicksNation.net where he edited, produced and published articles about the New York Knicks and other NBA related content before the company reformatted its website. Austin has recently been more involved in producing visual content by shooting and editing videos for journalistic work and for fun as well.
Other than journalism, Austin has a passion for music and boxing. He has been the pianist for the Temple University Newman Center during masses since his freshman year and is currently training to be an amateur boxer. He plans on using his diverse experiences and interests in helping him understand different approaches for presenting his work. Contact Austin at [email protected].
In this special topics course, a group of students from Temple University’s Department of Journalism in the Klein College of Media and Communication spends a full semester reporting on addiction solutions. Click here to see the syllabus for the Spring 2018 semester, and here to see the syllabus for 2017.
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