Saturday, October 11, 2008
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 |  Revolutionizing how we source our stories: Public Insight Journalism When a reporter wants to do a story on any given topic, where does he or she begin? Minnesota Public Radio is developing a groundbreaking answer to that question: by tapping the expertise of the audience. Public Insight Journalism is one of three programming initiatives being funded by The Next Standard. Its goal is to create a conversation that informs the newsroom. The idea for Public Insight Journalism was born of a simple truth: that on any given topic, someone in MPR's audience knows more than our smartest reporters and editors. Bill Buzenberg, Senior Vice President of News, and Michael Skoler, Managing Director of News, are developing ways to tap the wisdom of the audience. Both men were formerly at National Public Radio. Buzenberg spent 18 years at the network, the last seven as news vice president. Skoler served as NPR's science correspondent from 1988-1992, then spent four years in Nairobi as NPR's Africa Correspondent. "Public Insight Journalism is a way to strengthen our journalism and our programming," states Buzenberg. "It's better, more accurate." Skoler concurs. "It's about revolutionizing how we source our stories," he adds. "It's about a give and take with the audience." A model is being developed to establish a systematic way to facilitate that give and take, then bring that knowledge to the editorial process, resulting in deeper, more relevant coverage. "At the simplest level," says Skoler, "we announce on air or via the Web that we're doing a story and ask people with knowledge, not opinions, on the subject to contact us. At the most complex, we conduct an interactive simulation on the Web, such as the Budget Balancing game. We received 11,000 responses. The results influenced story assignments and helped us design a poll that uncovered surprising trends in thinking about taxes." Opening up a range of sources that normally wouldn't be found Filtering the information gathered is a critical component of Public Insight Journalism, resulting in the creation of a new category of positions: analyst. Analysts talk with reporters about the stories they want to do, target the appropriate individuals, then assess and organize responses. MPR is building contact repository software to help manage this process. To date, it contains a database on approximately 7,000 individuals who have participated in Public Insight Journalism. "It can take weeks to find the right people for a story," says Andrew Haeg, currently the sole analyst at MPR. "Now it's a matter of minutes." Additional analysts will be added as resources allow. Another benefit of Public Insight Journalism is the ability to convene individuals with specific expertise. "We'll call in a subset of our database, for example, surgeons," states Skoler. "Our reporters will meet with them to discuss specific issues to ensure that our reporting is as relevant as possible." These meetings will be held The Forum, a broadcast-ready venue considered the most important space in the new headquarters. The Forum, which will accommodate up to 120 people, is central to the strategy of strengthening MPR's news and information programming. It will become a premier center of debate and discussion on major regional, national and global issues. Ultimately, Public Insight Journalism will be tested nationally, both as a model for other newsrooms and for content for national shows. "Minnesota Public Radio is the only one doing this," states Buzenberg. "We're leading the way, and eventually journalism will change because of this." | |
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