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Roaming The Media Desert

July 2, 2015 by Denise Clay

By DENISE CLAY

Change in newspapers by zip code

Change in newspapers by zip code

When you look at places like the states of Colorado, Hawaii and Oregon, the word “desert” doesn’t usually come to mind because of the lush forests, sparkling water and snow capped mountains in those states.

But a new report says that while these states aren’t home to widespread expanses of landlocked sand, they are deserts nonetheless.

They’re media deserts.

A new report from The Media Deserts Project at Ohio University shows that when it comes to getting good local news, a lot of places around the country are wanting. Like food deserts, places where access to healthy food or in some cases an actual grocery store, are hard to find, media deserts are geographic areas where the fresh local news and information needed to keep the public informed is hard to come by.

This report includes a set of maps that illustrate where the media deserts are in relation to the areas where local news and information is more plentiful. That maps are the medium being used to is no accident,  said Dr. Michelle Ferrier, associate dean for innovation at Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communication.

Daily newspapers and the zip codes they serve

Daily newspapers and the zip codes they serve

“Maps tell stories and the story we hope to tell with The Media Deserts Project is that local journalism is dying in communities across the United States,” Ferrier said. “We want solutions to focus on those communities that are underserved — those that have never had access to fresh, local news and information and those that have become media deserts because of the downturn in the revenues for commercial media. We should focus our solutions on models that don’t rely on advertising and build up local appetites for local news through partnerships with local stakeholders.”

Many of these media deserts were formed when news organizations started cutting staff and in some cases closing their doors, according to the report. About 33,000 journalists have lost their jobs since 2008 and 120 newspapers have been shut down in communities that had no replacement information source. The combination of a brain drain in the form of the loss of journalists, the knowledge they brought and the loss of the news and information functions that these journalists performed has played a large part in forming news deserts, the report said.

The two maps that anchor the report are a map that shows a change in the number of newspapers around the country by zip code and the number of daily newspapers serving a zip code.

For more information on the report or to get copies of the maps, please go to The Media Deserts Project.

Filed Under: Featured, JOURNALISM, NEWS Tagged With: journalism, media deserts, Michelle Ferrier, news coverage, newspapers, research

PBS MediaShift hackathon aims to deliver news to underserved communities

February 19, 2015 by Raisa Habersham

The ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism is a world class facility that includes the latest in journalism and media technology, plus access to major-market media organizations in close proximity and even inside the building.

PBS MediaShift, in partnership with Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, will host its second annual Journalism School Hackathon later this month, which will focus on solving the problem of media deserts– communities that receive little to no news or information about jobs, economic development or local government.

Mike Alonzo

Mike Alonzo, a founding partner at User10 and Chief Operating Officer at Storybyte, a mobile platform that turns photos on smartphones into web stories, is a featured speaker.

“It’s a big problem for journalism,” said Mark Glaser, executive editor of PBS MediaShift. “How do you reach an audience that doesn’t have as much media or coverage?”

Most hackathons focus on coding, but Glaser said the Cronkite School wanted to combine entrepreneurship and journalism to solve a problem.

More than 120 newspapers have shut down since 2008, according to a June 2014 report in StreetFightMag.com.  Newspapers that have survived continue to cut back coverage and layoff staff as the business model for legacy news organizations implodes. Those impacted most by the information divide include the poor and and less educated, said Dr. Michelle Ferrier, dean for innovation, research/creative activity and graduate studies in the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University.

“… media deserts tend to form primarily in areas without a marketplace for goods and services, with high concentrations of people of low to lower income, who generally don’t have college educations,” Ferrier told StreetFightMag.

Student participants, who will gather on the ASU campus Feb. 27, will break off into teams guided by faculty members. Each team will be charged with creating projects that expand news reach in underserved communities, Glaser said.

Teams will have roughly two days to come up with their approach to solve the problem of news deserts, and pitch the ideas to a panel of judges, Glaser said. Teams will be judged on feasibility, desirability and viability. Projects must also involve an aspect of either data journalism, audience engagement or gaming, he added.

Last year’s hackathon took place at UNC’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication and attracted 65 participants, including 40 students. About 90 participants – 50 students – are already registered for this year’s event, said Glaser. The Ford Foundation is covering travel for students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend.

Retha Hill

Retha Hill, executive director of the New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is a featured speaker.

Organizers also put forth extra effort to ensure a greater mix at this year’s hackathon, Glaser said. “We wanted to have a mix of people– women and people from smaller schools, especially those that don’t have journalism programs,” he said.

The hackathon will take place Feb. 27 through March 1. Mike Alonzo, a founding partner at User10 and Chief Operating Officer at Storybyte, a mobile platform that turns photos on smartphones into web stories, and Retha Hill, executive director of the New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, are among scheduled featured speakers.

Registration, which covers food, drinks and the cost of producing the hackathon, is $129 for faculty and professionals and $69 for students. For more information, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: BUSINESS, Featured Tagged With: Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, hackathon, media deserts, Mike Alonzo, news deserts, PBS MediaShift, Retha Hill

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