Drafting Principles and Practices for a Healthy News & Information Ecosystem

What we did

At the close of day 2, participants spent a few minutes reflecting on their experience of the last two days and did some writing about what had emerged for them as essential to a healthy news and information ecosystem.  They shared their thoughts in groups of three and identified 1-3 statements that named key ideas. 

Once the statements were shared with the whole group, people literally took a stand by moving to a statement. That resulted in three clusters of statements.  The first cluster was the most frequently selected.  The second cluster garnered some people.  The last cluster is statements that no one selected .

Most selected statements

  • Nourishing community engagement is journalism’s bedrock purpose.
  • We are committed to putting engagement at the center of our work.
  • We choose to produce diverse, healthy, fresh news that nurtures community to conversation or action.

Selected Statements that were also selected

  • We collaborate in the interest of our communities.
  • Community matters; professionals matter.
  • We foster collaboration among the community of journalists covering local issues.
  • We will be open minded in pursuing truth despite personal beliefs or existing societal story lines including dissemination of existing story lines and a willingness to be surprised and dig deeper.
  • As we head home, we are continuing the conversation together on JTM’s new platform by creating opportunities to participate in online live meetings, web forums and a collective question bank to tap into our synergistic energy and shape the future of our news ecology.
  • Readers are first citizens and community members, then consumers.

Statements not selected

  • We are mapping our news ecosystem
  • A health news ecology is engaged and collaborative.
  • Make curiosity endure.
  • Train anyone who will listen.
  • We encourage media practictioners who will engage themselves in all segments of their communities (however defined) in varied ways to strengthen the fabrics of those communities and a democratic society of making informed decisions.