Deep Participation in Underserved Communities: A Quantitative Analysis of Hearken’s Model for Engagement Journalism

ABSTRACT

Hearken is a proprietary news engagement platform growing in popularity. Under the Hearken approach, audience members are invited to participate in the newsmaking process. Hearken strives to assist news organizations in providing local and hyperlocal content that meets audience needs and demands while preserving elements of the journalist’s role as gatekeeper. Hearken has also worked to help news organizations reach underrepresented populations with mixed results per its own anecdotal analyses. This study employs a quantitative content analysis comparing one year’s worth of coverage at four different local NPR affiliates in the United States to provide a breakdown of Hearken content versus traditional reporter-driven content in the following four categories: emphasis on hyperlocal coverage, story topic prevalence within local and hyperlocal coverage, emphasis on coverage of underrepresented communities, and story topic prevalence within coverage of underrepresented communities. Findings reveal listener-driven Hearken content favors hyperlocal news on lifestyle issues while reporter-driven stories emphasize state-level governance and politics as well as local crime. These indicate a stark contrast between the content audiences want and that which journalists tend to report. The nuanced normative implications, possibilities and limitations of Hearken’s model of “deep participation” are addressed in some detail.     

Evidence-based digital literacy class for older,low-income African-American adults

Based on our community engagement project involving 47 older, low-income African-American adults from a senior community center, this study analyzes how an underserved population acquires knowledge and skills related to digital technologies. We discuss the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of a weekly, four-month long computer class for members of the senior community center. Our mixed-method research shows the importance of taking into account both the multidimensional nature of adult learning and the social and cultural contexts in which learning occurs when working with underserved adult populations. Findings from our formative and evaluative research offer insights into changes in the computer class participants’ attitudes toward and perspectives on key digital literacy issues including security and privacy online and online information verification. Scholarly and policy implications are discussed in the context of digital competency and adult learning for marginalized populations.     

Moving Beyond the Lecture: Inspiring Social Justice Engagement through Counter-Story Using Case Study Pedagogy

Abstract

The paper examines participant perceptions of the effectiveness of using case studies with college students (undergraduate – doctoral) to teach social justice and educational equity. Findings indicate that participants who identified with the characters in the cases were able to draw connections between the case and their own personal experiences. They felt the cases broadened their understanding of the topics and increased their sense of empathy and their commitment to principles of social justice.     

Beyond Disciplines: Providing Outreach to Underserved Groups by Demographic

As more students, faculty, and staff from traditionally underrepresented groups enter universities and colleges, academic libraries must find ways to reach out to these groups in order to better meet their unique educational needs. In this article, librarians from two large public universities describe how they used data about their communities to determine which underserved groups might need additional outreach, and then marketed library tools and services to student veterans, students with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students.     

Community Technology and Community Building: Early Results from the Creating Community Connections Project

As community technology and community-building initiatives move toward greater synergy, there is a great deal to be learned regarding how they can be mutually supportive, rather than mutually exclusive. This article sheds light on the possibilities inhered at this nexus. The project that constitutes the basis for this paper is the Camfield Estates-MIT Creating Community Connections Project, an ongoing effort at Camfield Estates, a predominantly African-American, low- to moderate-income housing development. As part of this project, we worked with residents to establish a technological infrastructure by offering every family a new computer, software, high-speed Internet connection, comprehensive courses, and a web-based community-building system, the Creating Community Connections (C3) System, that I codesigned with residents. This article presents an overview of the Camfield Estates-MIT project, theoretical framework developed in relation to this work, research design and methodology, project methodology and timeline, and early results. It concludes with a set of recommendations for the community technology and community-building movements.     

Transferring Personal and Social Responsibility of Underserved Youth to the Classroom

This report is an evaluation of an in-school mentoring program for 16 underserved elementary youngsters. The goals of the program are related to a Personal and Social Responsibility Model (Hellison, 1995), which focuses on the following: (1) self-control and respect for the rights of others; (2) effort and participation; (3) self-direction; and (4) helping others. Teacher and mentor journals, and student exit interviews, constituted the data sources. Data sources were reviewed and a program-goal matrix was developed to determine the level of performance of each participant. Results of the study indicated that the youngsters were able to apply the goal of effort to learning tasks in the classroom. The club members struggled, however, to transfer some of the other values to the classroom. One particular problematic area was the club members' inability to set personal goals in the classroom setting.     

FreeForAll: Free Articles to Those in Need

FreeForAll is an international collaboration of libraries whose mission is to provide underserved nations with health science journal articles for free and to foster lending between nations through the creation of a database of international libraries’ (non–North American) holdings.     

Hill Street Blues： Are you serving your underserved population？

Academic prowess is not necessarily the hallmark of the college bound individual. As increasing numbers of high school graduates come to realize that a higher degree is necessary to ensure an adequate standard of living, university faculty often faced with academically unprepared populations. This paper provides participants with methods to motivate and encourage academic success in populations that have previously not had access to higher education.     

Integrating Digital Literacies into Outreach Services for Underserved Youth Populations

New competencies are required for communication in the digital environment. However, technology and training disparities prevent many young people from obtaining these competencies. Outreach services can help bridge technology and training gaps. This article describes outreach services for students who are underserved in information and digital literacy skills training. Services are provided by an academic library in an effort to provide students with a portable skills toolkit that, once developed, can travel with them in whatever space or place they may be—the home, library, school, or community center.     

Community Technology and Community Building: Early Results from the Creating Community Connections Project Special Issue: ICTs and Community Networking

As community technology and community-building initiatives move toward greater synergy, there is a great deal to be learned regarding how they can be mutually supportive, rather than mutually exclusive. This article sheds light on the possibilities inhered at this nexus. The project that constitutes the basis for this paper is the Camfield Estates–MIT Creating Community Connections Project, an ongoing effort at Camfield Estates, a predominantly African-American, low- to moderate-income housing development. As part of this project, we worked with residents to establish a technological infrastructure by offering every family a new computer, software, high-speed Internet connection, comprehensive courses, and a web-based community-building system, the Creating Community Connections (C3) System, that I codesigned with residents. This article presents an overview of the Camfield Estates–MIT project, theoretical framework developed in relation to this work, research design and methodology, project methodology and timeline, and early results. It concludes with a set of recommendations for the community technology and community-building movements.