How do you get your news?
Maybe from a newspaper, or online, or even the radio?
For decades, these have been the traditional news sources. But more and more people just aren’t tuning in anymore. This can create a gap between the information that gets shared through traditional sources and the information people receive.
About 10 years ago, the Waco Foundation, a nonprofit focused on improving quality of life, started hearing about this information gap happening in Waco. So they commissioned a landscape study from the American Journalism project.
Natalie Kelinske, Senior Director of Communications and Donor Services for the Waco Foundation said the study helped show how people in Waco consume media.
"What’s being reported, who’s reading it, who’s receiving the information and where the gaps [are]," she said. "We really used that as the basis for continuing the conversation with our board and the community."
Those conversations led to a few different suggestions, including a startup newsroom of their own.
"So a standalone organization was an option, but we realized a potentially better wat to do that would be a kind of shared services model"
So the Waco Foundation started looking for organizations that already had experience working in community-based, nontraditional journalism.
Enter the Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, digital journalism organization based in Austin.
The Texas Tribune is known for its investigative work and government reporting, but the company also works closely with the community across Texas, helping to fill that information gap through events, live blogs and community conversations.
Earlier this month, The Texas Tribune announced a new vision for local news, starting with a newsroom in Waco launching early next year.
This adds to Waco’s current news sources, including: local newspaper, The Waco Tribune-Herald; Waco Public Radio, KWBU; and TV stations KWTX, KXXV, KCEN and KWKT.
Ayan Mittra, senior managing editor for the Texas Tribune, said filling that information gap drives their mission for the community newsrooms.
"What’s so critical about local news is that it provides information for residents, for communities to be empowered to have agency to make decisions about their lives," Mittra said. "And local news is about things that impact people on a regular basis."
He said they plan to not only partner with local media, but also community organizations in Waco to help facilitate those non-traditional ways people might get their news.
"We want to be creative about it. It could be partnering on events or on community conversations. It could be partnering on certain types of projects that are really targeted to a community need," Mittra said.
Natalie Kelinske said the Waco Foundation is hopeful for what the The Texas Tribune partnership means for Waco.
"I think that what we’re seeing in communities that have done this successfully is pulling people together, pulling organizations together and really going at things in a more collaborative way," she said.
The Texas Tribune is planning to release more information about their Waco newsroom on Monday, September 23. They plan to hire 2 to 3 reporters, a local Managing Editor and an Audience Engagement Editor.
