Things on Source Recently

We’re powered by our contributors, and really proud to be a place for documenting and sharing how you work and what you believe in. Some recent things:

• How a Community Engagement Editor Can Transform Your Newsroom’s Work—We’ve heard a lot lately about engagement, but what does that really look like? And who do you need to hire to do it? Here’s our Q&A with Derrick Cain of Resolve Philadelphia.

• How Would You Like Leadership in Journalism to be Different?—At SRCCON:LEAD this week, we learned so much from participants about their visions for the future of leadership in journalism. Before the event, Erika Owens summarized those visions of leadership: more diverse, interdisciplinary, and intentional.

• Spotlighting SRCCON:LEAD’s Talks and Speakers—If you missed the talks by Stacy-Marie Ishmael, André Natta, and Bryan Mercer, you can find all the links to their transcripts right here.

Things You’ve Been Making

We’re always on the lookout for new work and things we can learn from each other. This week, we’ve collected projects that ask what it means to be a local.

Long Island Divided

(Newsday, Nov 17, 2019)
A massive investigation into discrimination by real estate agents, when dealing with potential homebuyers on Long Island.

Sizing up NC’s proposed US House maps

(WRAL, Nov 7, 2019)
WRAL explores how votes would break down, under several proposed new legislative maps.

A Crowded Field

(St. Louis Public Radio, Nov 11, 2019)
From St. Louis Public Radio data visual specialist Brent Jones: When plans for a new MLS stadium near downtown St. Louis were announced, one of the things we kept hearing about was the potential for a “stadium district”. The new stadium is planned for about a half-mile from the home of the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues, which in turn is about a half-mile from Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. So we wanted to find out how common it is for a city to have multiple stadiums grouped closely together. Among the 24 cities in North America with at least three stadiums built or planned, distances between them range from less than half a mile to more than 20 miles.

Teach Me How to Texas

(The Texas Tribune, ongoing email series)
From Texas Tribune chief audience officer Amanda Zamora: Last year, The Texas Tribune published a strategic vision for the next five years, including an ambitious goal to double and diversify our audience. Part of meeting that goal is making our journalism more accessible to “Texans who’d like to be engaged in what we cover but struggle to find a way in.” The Teach Me How to Texas project is all about making it easier for new Texans and new-to-politics Texans participate in the 2020 election. It’s designed to be a light lift for subscribers — just five emails over five weeks exploring Texas’ past and culture; how Texans vote; how candidates raise money; how to spot a good poll from a bad one; and how to decode your November ballot. Teach Me How to Texas is meant to be an escape from the daily onslaught of horse-race coverage, providing subscribers a space to learn more about the fundamentals of Texas elections so that come November, they feel better prepared at the ballot box. We’re on a mission to get as many Texans subscribed as we can between now and then — and with 800 subscribers in the first five hours, we think we’re off to a good start!

More Things from Around the Community

Chemical & Engineering News just made a game based on the periodic table! From editorial director Amanda Yarnell:
To file under cool things we’ve made: 2019 is the International Year of the Periodic Table, and to celebrate the team at C&EN built this cool Periodic Table Challenge game. If you’ve got a minute (literally) see how many elements you can remember – some of our readers have gotten more than 100 (!!!)

Do you have an annoucement or project to share? Send it on over to source@opennews.org.

Even More Things

How can you do a large-scale investigation without burning out? Keep your clips from vanishing with savemy.news. So much Vermont data, made public, via data reporter Erin Petenko. A dive into security questions for journalists around G Suite, by Martin Shelton. Your newsroom needs more veterans. How Radio Ambulante created a language-learning app. Get yourself an emdash any ole time—right now, even.

P.S.—This Roundup Also Comes in Email Flavor

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