Engagement journalism has become more popular with local news outlets, as well as those that specialize in climate and investigative journalism. These outlets recognize the value of co-creating stories with their audiences, both for improving coverage and for building trust and stronger relationships between journalists and their audiences.
This hybrid interactive session, which will take place in Raleigh at ScienceWriters2024 and will be streamed for virtual-only registrants, will bring engagement journalism strategies — and a frank discussion of the opportunities and challenges they present — to science writing. Participants will gain an understanding of what it means to co-create a story with their audience, how to identify when these strategies are worth time and resources, and discuss how to implement them.
The session will highlight examples of engagement journalism on science, health, and environment topics. By building on input gathered from conference-goers and survey respondents who have worked with the public in the process of reporting, it will provide hands-on practice working with audience questions and comments to shape the exploration of an issue. Following a brief presentation, participants will discuss potential engagement approaches and stories in breakout groups.
This special session, supported by the Rita Allen Foundation, is part of the CASW Connector Chat series.
The live session, either in-person for streamed, will be available only for registrants of ScienceWriters2024. A tip sheet and recording of the session will be available at a later date on the Connector website. To view the program and to register, visit https://sciencewriters2024.org/.