Join IPI’s Local News and Innovation Network!
Connect and share with media innovators and local news practitioners from around the world.
Help our community grow!
Existing members can recommend a new network member to IPI anytime by DMing Alina (Cristea) in the Slack Channel or by emailing: [email protected]
Report: Local Media Survival Guide 2022
Report: Reviving Local News, Globally
About the network
Looking for hands-on advice and meaningful conversations with fellow media professionals passionate about local journalism and innovation? Join our global network to find expertise, share trials and successes, and stay up to date on media opportunities!
The Local News & Innovation Network brings together news practitioners & innovators, experts, and anyone curious about the future of local journalism. At a time of unprecedented disruption in the media space, we are building a community where local journalists and innovators can share ideas, troubleshoot challenges, and project a strong voice for independent media.
To get started, learn about our participation criteria, review our code of conduct and apply following the steps detailed below.
Engage in the Local News & Innovation Network
- Join the Conversation. Take an active role in the conversations happening within various channels of the Local News & Innovation Network. Share your thoughts, insights, and experiences related to local news, media innovations and public interest media.
- Ask for Expert and Peer Feedback. Have you developed a new product in your newsroom? Would you like to hear the thoughts from industry experts? Ask for feedback and receive mentorship support from the community.
- Share your Projects, Events and Webinars. Are you organizing or have you come across the events on media innovation, local news, public interest media and other topics that are relevant to the network? Spread the word in the community and encourage others to take part!
- Stay up to date with Funding Opportunities. Stay updated on potential financial resources for your projects. Collaborate with other network members to find joint (cross-border) funding applications or partnerships.
- Learn from Country and Thematic Experts. Gain contextual knowledge on media and political developments in different countries by participating in discussions, asking specific questions about the countries and issues of interest, and getting insight from members with diverse backgrounds.
- Receive and Offer Peer-to-Peer Support. We encourage you to share your expertise, provide advice, and offer assistance to the members who seek guidance or have concrete problems to solve.
LNIN FAQ
Why did we start this network?
With the research conducted in the IPI Global Network, we found just what support publishers and innovators need to tackle the challenges of serving local audiences.
- First, we look at the emerging lessons on the conditions and actions that are helping create trusted, sustainable local news organizations in the IPI Report Around The Corner, Around The World: Reviving Local News, Globally.
- Second, we bring research-based survival strategies into our work for local news worldwide with the Local Media Survival Guide 2022. The main idea is present in multiple newsrooms: on the demand side, local communities have been information-poor, which offers vast opportunities for digital innovation; and on the supply side, digital natives are taking up the challenge by engaging local communities throughout the entire journalistic process.
The Local News & Innovation Network is one of the key ways to cross-pollinate ideas and experiences, and support innovation and sustainability in local newsrooms. Here is where we connect global and local news professionals to promote the exchange of know-how across borders.
Criteria to join the network
- You are a local news professional or a media innovator passionate about the future of local journalism. Alongside editors and journalists, our network unites media product managers, funders, experts, media researchers and analysts.
- You work in or support local journalism and advocate for press freedom and the free flow of information.
- You are deeply committed to community-focused collaborative journalism. Network members need to have a strong desire to share their stories, both successes and failures, and learn from one another.
Rules of the road
- We apply a zero-tolerance policy for harassment, bullying and discrimination.
- Be polite and respectful of other members’ work and transparent about your own.
- NO product sales or other sales spam.
- NO political debate without a journalistic angle and fact-checking.
- When learning and getting inspired from people in the network, attribute appropriately and give credit where credit is due.
- There are no stupid questions, and everyone has something useful to share. We encourage you to be open and curious about tricky questions in this exciting industry.
- All members must respect confidentiality and avoid sharing sensitive information without consent. We are especially committed to protecting the safety of peers working in politically challenging environments.
Any violations may result in the removal of the respective member from the platform.
These rules make the network better for all of us. By signing up to the network, you agree to follow them.
How to sign up to the Slack group?
- Click on the application link above and fill in the short application form.
- After IPI has vetted your application, you will receive an email invitation to the network.
- Slack will prompt you to download/open its desktop app, or open the browser version and then log in. Feel free to use the browser version if you don’t want to clutter your device with an additional app – the experience will be similar.
- Check your email for a confirmation code from Slack and punch it in.
- Accept the invitation and click “Join” next to the “Innovation and Local News Network” workspace.
Local News and Innovation Network is supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
