Online news projects that raise new voices?

[Steven Clift]

I am not sure if you saw the Pew report last week, but it essentially
says those who already show up and now showing up online.

My analysis: http://bitly.com/pewcivic

Somebody out there is doing far better than that! Please share your
examples or toot your horn.

We know (or at least it seems) most online news commenting is by angry
white men. So what have online news sites done to create spaces where
new and diverse voices feel welcome and safe enough to be raised?

(It could be that things would be a lot worse with equitable civic
participation online if not for lots of great proactive opportunities
online. So what is working and how do we make online civic engagement
a positive force rather than one an apparent path of fostering a
greater divide based on the numbers.)

Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com
Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/democracy
Tel/Text: +1.612.234.7072

[Susan Mernit]

Oakland Local has always done a strong job of including "new" voices, including people of color and those under 35, but we're especially proud of the intense engagement around our series of essays on gentrification (see http://oaklandlocal.com/tags/gentrification). Discussion has raged on the site, on Facebook, and at reddit.

Susan

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Susan Mernit

Founder, Oakland Local, news & community hub
Knight Community Information Challenge Circuit Rider
Personal site
House of Local consulting

Learn more here: Oakland Local key programs 2013-2014 -  http://bit.ly/17tivQ3
Hey! Help support non-profit independent coverage of Oakland, CA: http://bit.ly/dPU5NZ

[Tracy Record, WSB Editor]

Didn't see this till Susan's reply. I challenge the contention that "angry white men" are the bulk of the commenters. Our readership is more female than male. And many of the commenters, no matter what their demographic, hadn't as loud a voice till the creation of a community site that welcomed it. Or, their voices were not amplified by being present for a six-digit readership. So I say MANY voices are "new" voices, in their own way. We try our best to welcome conversation by moderating it as aggressively as is needed. We do not stand for racism, sexism, sizeism, sexual-orientation-based criticism, etc. We also do not allow commenters to attack each other - "criticize the comment, not the commenter" is how we put it.  Commenters SO often add more to the story that I or any other reporter could ever bring. It is a more organic way to bring in information and "voices" than sitting around trying to find people from whom to seek comment and desperately scouring a rolodex, or as with my former career field, looking for "person on the street" soundbites. One example of an excellent comment thread (and you will see our moderation in action) is the one that's under way now following a deadly bicycle crash this morning. "Bikes vs. drivers" flame wars are sadly par for the online course in big cities. They are strictly forbidden on our site. And that helps take the discussion to a different point - the big issues - instead of "all drivers drive like maniacs" vs. "all bicyclists run red lights and take stupid risks." http://westseattleblog.com/2013/05/bicyclist-killed-in-crash-east-of-west-seattle-low-bridge#comments (My next challenge is our version of Susan's gentrification issue ... how to get the development discussion to a constructive level ... we are in a somewhat suburban neighborhood close-in to the big-city downtown and the density some areas have long been zoned for is finally starting to happen, with anger and grief often voiced.) P.S. Comment discussions on our site have led to action. Wish I had the time to go fish out more examples. You don't always have to form a separate group or e-mail list. Bottom line, I believe having strong rules, and daring to enforce them, is a major step toward truly constructive and useful online comment discussion. No site can be perfect but I believe it is SCANDALOUS that, in particular, some legacy-media organizations just allow their comment sections to become sewers of empty anger and many of the -isms I mentioned earlier. No, you don't need a whole staff of moderators to keep that from happening. Make discussion participation and moderation a part of the job for those who produce content of all types. As it is mine. thanks Tracy @ West Seattle Blog --- On Wed, 5/1/13, Susan Mernit <mer...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Steven Clift]

Point well taken.  

The stereo type tends to apply to political news stories on metro sites and site like the CNN blog.  I can tell you from our many immigrant and people of color staff, the idea that they would venture into online news comments as they are today on most sites and subject themselves to ridicule is something they dismiss as not viable or worth their time. I am seeing some greater diversity with Facebook comments on for example a tragic story about double murder suicide in the Hmong community on the PioneerPress, but not on general civic news.

Thank you both for your amazing work.

I do encourage folks to check out the Pew study - http://bitly.com/pewcivic - if more online news sites intentionally reached out to immigrant voices for example, we could make a dent in the divide. Our experience is that being "open to all" isn't enough.

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