Strengthening democracy through community-based journalism

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Newmark J-School alums

At the start of October, we announced Twitter Write’s support of scholarships for the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program (EJCP) at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, City University of New York. We also spoke to Jeremy Caplan, the program’s director, in a Twitter Space (check out the recording here — no, really, check it out. It was very good).

Recently, we spoke to three alums of the program — all of them founders of local journalism initiatives — about their writing tips, their motivations, and how the EJCP helped them along the way. Read on for interviews with Dana Amihere, Alex Enășescu, and Alexandra Haderlein.

Tip: You can also read this newsletter issue as a Note.

read + write + inspiration

@write_this_way

Our first guest is Dana Amihere. Dana is the founder of AfroLA, a news site that covers Los Angeles through the lens of the Black community. She also leads Code Black Media, a digital media consultancy at the intersection of data, design, and equity. She’s taught data journalism across the US, and currently teaches at UC Berkeley.

📸: Luke Morris

What’s the thing you read when you want to remember how to write?

Honestly, I think of things — great passages, beautiful quotes, interesting messages — I’ve read before. I try to remember why I thought they were important enough to remember, and why others think they’re noteworthy, too. That thinking, that reflection, helps me put pen to paper.

What’s the best thing you read in the past month?

I finished All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda a few weeks ago. It’s a thriller about a young woman who leaves her past behind only to find herself wrapped up in it again. I related to the protagonist and saw many of Miranda’s characters in my own life. Highly recommended read.

Who’s the Twitter follow that hasn’t let you down, since the beginning?

@michaelharriot has never let me down. I’ve been following the self-proclaimed “wypipologist” for years, and I love his humorous takes on Black history, politics, people, and culture. Many times he says things we’re all thinking, but won’t say out loud.

What’s a piece of writing advice that’s held true for you?

Write what you feel, even if you’re too scared to say it out loud yet. Pour everything out on the page — hurt, brokenness, joy, beauty. Figure out how the pieces fit together later.

What drives you to write for your local area/community?

I write for people who are too scared to share their voice, for those whose voices have been silenced and for those who haven’t unlocked the power of their own voice yet. I use my voice to amplify the voices of my community.

Tell us a way the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program helped you develop in your career?

It made me reflect upon what I want out of @afrolanews, the community newsroom I founded. I know how I want to serve others, but I needed to examine my personal relationship to the work.

How would you describe your relationship with your readers? (especially if it’s evolved)

I think that my writing has grown more intense, more open and honest through the years. I’ve become even less afraid of how I’m perceived by readers and more interested in sparking conversations with them.

@alexenasescu

Our second guest is Alex Enășescu. Alex is the editor of the Saturday newsletter published by PressOne, a Romanian news site, and has his own local journalism newsletter, Iașul Nostru, focused on the Romanian city of Iași.

📸: Paul Pădurariu

What’s the thing you read when you want to remember how to write?

Just about anything by C.S. Lewis. Despite being one of the most erudite scholars of his generation, his prose is a reflection of his adherence to clarity of thought and plain language.

What’s the best thing you read in the past month?

‘The Summer of David’ - an intimate chronicle of how a 17-year old Romanian teenager, David Popovici, came to be the fastest 100m swimmer of all time.

It is written by Andreea Giuclea (@andreeagiuclea), a trusted sports reporter who was given access to his inner circle.

Who’s the Twitter follow that hasn’t let you down, since the beginning?

What I look for on Twitter is high signal vs. noise accounts. Andy Crouch (@ahc) is a brilliant intellectual and curator who helps me make sense of modern culture from a Christian worldview, without the usual partisanship.

What’s a piece of writing advice that’s held true for you?

“No one will ever complain because you have made something too easy to understand.”

It is one of the commandments by former Guardian editor Tim Radford, whose ‘manifesto for the simple scribe’ is a witty guide to the craft of journalism.

What drives you to write for your local area/community?

I’m born and bred in Iași, Romania, a city that in my own lifespan went from a typical industrial communist city to a vibrant tech and cultural hub. I want my city to flourish and I think local journalism is a vital part of this process, but legacy local media tends to over-focus on traffic accidents and politics.

For us to thrive as a community, I think we also need constructive reporting about complex issues such as urban infrastructure, as well as uplifting stories about local artists, NGOs, and businesses.

Tell us a way the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program helped you develop in your career?

The EJCP helped me appreciate that editorial is just one component of building a sustainable digital publication. The biggest insight I took from the program is the importance of product thinking in news.

Even at a local level, “if you build it they will come” is not a viable strategy. You need to be quite methodical in understanding and solving your audience’s needs.

How would you describe your relationship with your readers?

I’m slightly introverted and what I love most about newsletters is the one-to-one format of interactions, which removes the performative aspects of social media.

This creates space for candid conversations, much like in real life, which I rather prefer to viral posts and threads.

I got married last month and asked my readers if they had any meaningful relationship advice to share. The replies I got were all genuine and thoughtful, which I feel is quite rare online.

@alehaderlein

Our third guest is Alexandra Haderlein. Alexandra is the founder of Relevanzreporter, a local journalism project focused on the city of Nuremberg. Before founding Relevanzreporter, she worked as a freelance journalist, and as an editor and reporter for Verlag Nürnberger Presse.

📸: Thomas Geiger

What’s the thing you read when you want to remember how to write?

I’m a big fan of the constructive journalism of Perspective Daily, and the way @Krautreporter speaks to its members. All their articles are a great joy.

What’s the best thing you read in the past month?

One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey (in German: Der Minuten Manager und der Klammer-Affe) by Kenneth Blanchard, William Oncken, Jr. and Hal Burrows. It provided a mind-blowing perspective for me as a young founder faced with overwhelming tasks. I liked the analogy of tasks being like monkeys…

Who’s the Twitter follow that hasn’t let you down, since the beginning?

I use Twitter mostly as a social listening tool, to get a feel for the atmosphere and thoughts around specific topics or events. But @elhotzo is an account which 100% matches my sense of humor.

What’s a piece of writing advice that’s held true for you?

If you, as a journalist, don’t understand the whole topic, how will you explain it to your readers?

What drives you to write for your local area/community?

There is a huge need for constructive journalism on a regional level. I wanted to play my part here, because I didn’t want to accept the trend of filter bubbles which foster the disruption of societies. My team and I are strengthening democracy through community-based journalism.

Tell us a way the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program helped you develop in your career?

The input of the other creators and speakers at CUNY helped me find my way — not in writing, but in figures and numbers: what our business model should look like, how to build teams, how to develop a funnel and revenue streams. I also learned more about how journalism works elsewhere in the world, and I will try to adopt ideas from there in my startup, Relevanzreporter.

How would you describe your relationship with your readers? (especially if it’s evolved)

Relevanzreporter doesn’t have readers. We are a news-community with members. This is a big difference for us: members are part of the project, building journalism with us. We’re keen on their feedback and participation. I believe this approach is the only way to bring back trust in the media and therefore strengthen democracy in the long-term.

wrap up

Thank you for reading, and thanks to our guests for their inspiring answers.

For more important and fascinating discussion between local journalists, check out the recording of our October 27 Space with @joshi, @jabberingjourno, and @IamKingWilliams.

Until next time,

Anna

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