Community Conversation: Inclusive Competitiveness Post-it Note Clusters

LISTENING:
“Listen to learn, not listen to tell | People, not projects/problems | Stories, not systems/symbols | Science (experiment, investigate, expand), not engineering (implement, apply, constrain) | Action (incremental, MVP, growth), not plans (top down, rigid, scale)”
“Don’t anticipate a story. Just listen.”
“Sharing stories with others (whether that’s by mouth, paper, online, art…) spreads awareness and change. LISTEN to the issues that communities are struggling with & LISTEN to the solutions they’ve also found. Sharing these stories can lead to different solutions that work for different people.”
“News organizations need to make the space for their journalists to really listen and reflect what they hear. And then they need to provide the information that the community really needs.”
“Journalists can set aside their agendas and listen to the people they interview. Tell the story that is already there, not the one they want to see.”
“Tell the story in front of you, and not the one that fits your narrative. Be true to the authenticity of the pieces, and remember, the conversation is just beginning when you hit ‘publish’.”

INCLUSIVITY:
“Nothing about us without us”
“We are all together in the business of creating positive change. But we cannot do it effectively without INCLUDING each other.”
“Invite journalists into rich community gatherings, acknowledge the possibility of an ongoing relationship, develop trust – outcomes of the work, share and collaborate, sustain – let the work provide a seedbed for the future.”
“Recruit people FROM the communities you want to engage to work with you. Invite people IN and go OUT.”

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
“How communities and journalism can thrive together: Wide and easy access to robust and reliable journalism is a crucial component of civic health. Civic health strengthens local economies. Strong local economies support stronger journalism. It’s a regenerative loop.”
“Doggedly insist on answers to the question: How does public sector (gov’t & philanthropic) economic development investment inure to the benefit of ALL of the public?”

FINDING STORIES:
“How can communities and journalism thrive together? When people see their lived experiences reflected in the news, when people see answers to the questions they have about their communities in the news, when people see the value of journalism and share the values that drive the best journalism.”
“Don’t just tell the stories that CAN be told. Tell the stories that SHOULD be told.”
“We don’t know what others need, familiarity can often make us unaware of the power of things close to us.”
“Authentically pursue in telling and honoring the WHOLE story.”

EMPOWERMENT:
“Empower the people/communities newsrooms cover to be involved in the process of determining what is important and newsworthy.”
“We will thrive together when journalists work as a place for community voices to be heard and shared, thereby creating a network of change wanted by most everyone.”

INTENTIONALITY:
“We need to state our intentions publicly, get clear on our goals and dreams, and invite the community along for the journey.”
“Be intentional to promote diversity that is reflective of your community to ensure all have a voice – participate.”
“By building community (intentional space/opportunity to convene and exchange insight and ideas)”
“Be clear about what we value.”

HONORING COMMUNITY VOICE:
“Appreciate the ways in which our success is linked. Work together, as if our lives depend on it. They do.”
“Communities everywhere are not level. There are those whose stories are constantly ignored or mistold. The best organizations are not the ones that abandon diversity, but lacking a disjointed power structure of advantaged and disadvantaged. As journalists we must help lift up the separated and marginalized until the community is level in its variety.”
“Respect the people and institutions on the outside – do not sanitize their experiences, but bring them in. End goal isn’t always a big change – but looking at each other.”
“Journalists inquire more from their communities about what’s happening – concerns, wants and problems – and write about them.”
“What would journalism look like if it was generated OUT of community rather than FOR community?”
“Building community from the bottom up | Sharing wisdom of place through messaging knowledge | Evoking story from within and communicating the “field” of communication within communities”
“Journalism should tap into insight of community/orgs, NOT BE comm/orgs. Do the journalism and amplify out”
“Always ask the Q: Act as though there were no boundaries. What would we accomplish together?”
“To thrive together, communities and journalists must DECIDE together. What is important?”

RESILIENCE/CELEBRATE COMMUNITY SUCCESSES:
“Good stories emerge from authentic conversation with diverse groups of people.”
“Tell stories of optimism and victory with the same passion we bring to tragedy.”
“By highlighting not only the successes of our communities, but also the efforts of those who have not yet succeeded and who are actively engaged in creating solutions to the issues in our community. If we support them, we are all more likely to succeed together.”
“Stories can help communities see the path to achieve what they thought was impossible.”
“The importance of role modeling so that communities know what is possible.”
“Journalists need community members to enlighten them about pressing issues and needs AND ALSO potential solutions that are in progress. Proven success isn’t always the best story, sometimes simple promise is.”
“Use mentorship to show real change happens incrementally.”

ACCOUNTABILITY:
“Be part of an ecosystem | Cultivate listening, learning and telling stories of what IS thriving. | Hold yourselves and others accountable for your public license to serve the community.”

EMBRACING DISCOMFORT:
“Communities and journalists can thrive through honest, authentic (though sometimes uncomfortable) conversation to creat work representational of PEOPLE not roles.”
“Create the time, space, platform, what have you that allows for people to get comfortable with the uncomfortable – the ideas and experiences they know nothing about.”
“Communities and journalism can thrive together when a journalist is both part of the community and willing to seek out the discomfort that comes with being a fair and accurate reporter.”

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS:
“Journalists need to develop/build relationships with people who live in the communities they write stories about – beyond just dealing with those in leadership roles. It is important for journalist to know the history of and experience of that community.”
“Find and collaborate in areas of mutual self interest.”
“Journalism becomes fully integrated into the greater whole community ecosystem, committed to developing thriving, regenerative community.”
“Don’t just invite communities to YOUR (media) table… get out and join their table, build relationships, share a meal, create trust. Inclusiveness is not just throwing your doors open and saying you have a safe space to engage.”
“Journalism can be an honest witness to communities as they learn how to thrive.”
“Businesses can make communities/democracy healthier by funding objective JOURNALISM in their area of interest. Journalists will need to lead.”
“Recognize we are all part of the same community and that we all are collaborators in sharing authentic stories that bring value and call us to develop as human beings.”

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