The Community Correspondent program provides opportunities for local residents to be trained in the basics of journalism. As local media leaves communities, the journalists that worked for them also find other careers and jobs. Community correspondents help fill some of those roles, and more importantly connect engaged citizens by amplifying their voice in their community as they cover news through solutions journalism.
The goal is to tell the previously untold stories that are taking place within their community and raise up resident voices as an important part of the work. IMG also sees this as an opportunity to engage residents in a meaningful way while laying the foundation for sustainable relationships between the publication and local neighborhoods.
At the end of the workshop, the community correspondents each produce a feature article for the publication where the community is based. The goal is that after the workshop ends, the correspondents will continue writing stories for the publication.
8 correspondent programs have taken place at IMG between 2018-2019 and more are planned for 2020.
34 residents have gone through the community correspondent course so far.
Correspondent programs