Description

Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication has become a pioneer in working with neighboring communities to address their information needs. Dean David Boardman, a former executive editor of the Seattle Times, has observed that media deserts exist not only in rural America but in large cities like Philadelphia. Although Philadelphia continues to boast a daily newspaper, that media outlet does not devote much attention to the city’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Under Boardman’s leadership, Temple began incubating community news initiatives. The first two—the Kensington Voice and the Germantown Info Hub—have now “graduated:” the first is an independent news organization and the second has become a program of a larger Philadelphia non-profit. Temple aspires to institutionalize this news incubator, working with other communities to develop solutions to their information needs and sharing the lessons learned with the field. Luce funding will help Temple to launch the incubator.