Applications are open for the second round of ONA Community Circles, small groups gathering virtually to tackle a specific issue in digital journalism. ONA matches journalism peers who are working on the same problems, and provides trained hosts and other resources to facilitate collaboration on a shared resource for the community. Participants will select from topics that resonated with the ONA community during the last round of Community Circles gatherings.
Two new groups will each take on one of two questions:
Project 1: How might we better handle misinformation around public health issues?
Facilitators: Smitha Khorana, Newsroom Outreach Lead at Data & Society, and Fergus Bell, ONA Board Member
This group aims to create a shareable playbook of resources for newsrooms on tackling misinformation with an intersectional lens. The group will work to collect the many existing resources and case studies about news organizations’ digital strategies around public health crises to create a shared resource document, summarizing what we’ve learned in the past six months about how public health misinformation spreads, what newsrooms should look out for and how they can respond and prevent misinformation from spreading in their communities. Members of the Circle can also fill gaps they find in their research with original content based on their experiences, and should consider intersectionality in evaluating the strategies and best practices and look for gaps where existing resources haven’t addressed the impacts of misinformation on marginalized communities.
Project 2: How might we ensure information access equity in our communities?
Facilitators: Vanessa Maria Graber, News Voices NJ Manager at Free Press, and Anita Li, ONA Board Member
This group aims to create a guide for news organizations to ensure equitable information access in their communities, including how to identify gaps in access, how to consider access across languages, technology/delivery, coverage and more. The Circle will develop a central equity and accessibility hub where newsrooms can learn more about the factors they need to take into consideration, and find case studies and existing resources relevant to the topic.
Learn more about Community Circles and sign up by Oct. 23 to get involved. Participants will join an hour-long kickoff meeting the week of Oct. 26, and three to four 30-minute check-ins through Nov. 20.