The Community Journalism Playbook: Reporting on Urban Planning in your Detroit Neighborhood

Abstract

The best, most equitable and community-responsive urban planning is inseparable from local journalism. A cornerstone of democracy, local news outlets promote information access and provide a public platform for community voices while holding government officials accountable. These stories document a city’s history and promote deep listening and relationality among neighbors and community leaders who are envisioning a city’s future. Community voices, accountability, and vision: Urban planners need these features to be able to listen to, design with, and create opportunities for communities. However, access to local news – especially news written by and for a community – is rapidly declining. Communities across the United States are being left without critical information around planning issues and have lost an opportunity to learn about and participate meaningfully in the dialogue happening around them. Despite these figures, cities like Detroit are filled with qualified storytellers with on-the-ground perspectives and decades of lived experience who can fill this gap: community members. Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media and participatory journalism, can help to generate the benefits and knowledge of participatory planning and can become a tool for encouraging community engagement and capacity building at an individual level. Informed by Detroit-based planners and journalists, the Community Journalism Playbook: Reporting on Urban Planning in Your Neighborhood (Detroit) was developed to train everyday Detroiters in amplifying the planning stories they hold around the places they know. No journalism experience is required to navigate through this tool – all that is required is curiosity and a commitment to contribute in new ways to the narrative and future development of Detroit.