To cover politics and democracy, re-engage with your community, including people who don't trust the news media

One of the "Pints and Politics" community listening sessions held by WABE, a public radio station in Atlanta.

In the third part of her series on covering politics and democracy, Jane Elizabeth of the American Press Institute urges news outlets to repair their relationships with their communities, including people and groups who don't trust the traditional news media, and she offers examples.

"In September, a group of North Carolina news and journalism organizations, organized by the NC Local News Workshop, held a community dinner in rural North Carolina, inviting residents to 'share your views about local issues that matter to your community and tell news and information organizations how you want to be informed.'

"For help in engaging communities, news organizations have turned to collaborations with local civic groups, a partnership that can be complicated but not impossible. The Richland Source newsroom in Ohio launched a series of community conversations last year and worked with the North End Community Improvement Collaborative on one of its largest sessions." Brittany Schock, the newsroom’s engagement editor, advised against duplicating civic education efforts: Instead, “find people who are already doing this work. They understand that elections matter very much.”

What about "people who believe conspiracy theories, righteously share misinformation, and profess to hate the media?" Trusting News "has a list of questions that can help guide those tense, complicated conversations. An important tip: If you begin with questions that acknowledge the lack of trust in media ('What do journalists often get wrong about you or things in your life?') you can gradually build to the issue you’re there to cover." Avoid politically charged words and phrases; saying "the big lie" in discussing the 2020 election makes people who believe it stop listening, says Sharon McMahon, a former government teacher who has a non-partisan podcast with 1 million Instagram followers.

Other ideas:

• "Opinion pages that include reader-submitted letters and regular local guest columnists."  Here is advice from API on how to make your opinion pages completely local.
• “Pints and Politics” gatherings, which can include trivia contests, focusing on facts. Elizabeth cites The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, WABE in Atlanta and The Post & Courier in Charleston, S.C., as examples.
• "Expand your definition of community leaders and think in terms of influential residents. A community’s most knowledgeable and effective representatives could be a local store clerk, a grandmother, a middle school teacher or a librarian."