Louis Lyons (right) participates in a conversation at a meeting of people who participated in the Tri-C community journalism program.
Louis Lyons (right) participates in a conversation at a meeting of people who participated in the Tri-C community journalism program. Credit: Cole Goins / Journalism + Design

What do you want elected leaders to know about your community? That’s one of the questions that four Clevelanders will be asking residents over the next few weeks as part of a new community news fellowship organized by Cuyahoga Community College, the Journalism + Design lab at The New School in New York and Cleveland’s Neighborhood Media Foundation and supported by Signal Cleveland.

The fellows — Louis Lyons, Diana Sette and Cleveland Documenters Christina Easter and Charlestine Randle-Pride — will survey people at and in the neighborhoods around four sites, three of which are Tri-C Access Centers:

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The questions are designed to gauge residents’ feelings about the upcoming election and also about the city races that will occur in 2025.

  1. Are you planning to vote in November 2024? Why or why not?
  2. Is there any information that would help you feel more confident in voting or participating in the electoral process?
  3. Where do you get information you trust about things that are happening in your community?
  4. What do you want elected leaders to know about your community?
  5. There will be several local offices up for election in Cleveland in 2025. If you were an elected official in Cleveland, what would your first act be?
  6. Why would that be your first act?

The responses will be shared with the local news organizations that are part of the Neighborhood and Community Media Association of Greater Cleveland and with Signal Cleveland for guidance about coverage.

The fellowship is modeled on a similar effort in Oakland, California, led by Journalism + Design, which promotes innovation in local news. The Cleveland effort grew out of the community journalism certificate program launched last year by Tri-C, Journalism + Design, Neighborhood Media Foundation and Signal Cleveland. That program will resume in January 2025.

“We want more people equipped with the tools to participate in their local news ecosystems,” said Cole Goins, managing director of the Journalism + Design lab. “We hope that this is the first of many community news fellowship cohorts.”

Erika Bell, director of Tri-C’s Access Centers, said the school is excited to be part of the program.

“In the era of social media, access [to information] is already an issue, so for it to now be the main avenue for news leaves those without access at a disadvantage,” she said. “Just as the Access Center was created to extend access to education and workforce training, the Community Journalism program teaches students about what is news, but also how and where to access information that will allow the community to make informed decisions.”

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Associate Editor and Director of the Editors’ Bureau (he/him)
Important stories are hiding everywhere, and my favorite part of journalism has always been the collaboration, working with colleagues to find the patterns in the information we’re constantly gathering. I don’t care whose name appears in the byline; the work is its own reward. As Batman said to Commissioner Gordon in “The Dark Knight,” “I’m whatever Gotham needs me to be.”