GSNC Delays Roll Out of New Project to Tackle COVID-19 Coverage

The Granite State News Collaborative had planned to announce its latest project--Live Free and Thrive--on March 17. But a worldwide pandemic has changed that plan. 

Instead, The Collaborative--a collective of more than 20 New Hampshire-based media, educational and nonpartisan community organizations-- has agreed to work together to share coronavirus coverage in order to help inform communities across the state.

“Any way that we can work together to connect New Hampshire with trusted and accurate information is a good thing,” said Dawn DeAngelis, vice president and chief content officer at NHPBS, a founding partner of The Collaborative. “The Covid-19 worldwide outbreak is putting us all in uncharted territory. We all want to be prepared and keep our communities safe and informed.”

Collaborative members will be sharing updates as well as reporting on solutions to this health crisis coming from each region of the state. Partners will also be distributing online surveys in order to gather experiences, thoughts and questions from the public to help shape Coronavirus coverage going forward.

“Leveraging the reach and reliability of New Hampshire's news professionals to localize coverage when an international health story emerges is what the Granite State News Collaborative is really all about,” said Carol Robidoux, publisher and editor of Manchester Ink Link and Collaborative co-founder. “Aggregating and updating information for all our readers across the state is one way to make sure accurate information is circulating. Taking a ‘solutions journalism’ approach to this particular story means we will seek answers to relevant questions and aim to lessen the stress a story like this can have on communities."

In the meantime, The Collaborative team members are still working on their next project -Live Free and Thrive -and will be soliciting input and help from the public on these issues beginning in April. 

Collaborative members now include The Berlin Sun, Business NH Magazine, The Concord Monitor, The Conway Daily Sun, The Eagle-Tribune, The Keene Sentinel, The Laconia Daily Sun, Manchester Ink Link, The Marlin Fitzwater Center at Franklin Pierce University, The Nashua Telegraph, NH Bar News, NH Business Review, New Hampshire Press Association, New Hampshire PBS, New Hampshire Public Radio, The Monadnock Ledger Transcript, ParentingNH Magazine, Seacoast Media Group and the Valley News. 

The Collaborative also regularly partners with community organizations on events, initiatives and projects. Current and past community partnerships include Citizens Count, Endowment for Health, Journalist’s Resource at The Shorenstein Center at Harvard, Nackey Loeb School of Communications, NH Humanities, NH Listens, Souhegan High School and Southern NH University.

Financial Support for The Collaborative comes from the Knight Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network and The NH Charitable Foundation.

For more information about The Collaborative please email melanie.plenda@collaborativenh.org or visit collaborativenh.org

A year of growth: Granite State News Collaborative adds partners in 2019

Over this past year, the Granite State News Collaborative added several new partners and community engagement members signaling support of and commitment to solutions journalism in the state.

In 2019, we added the following partners: The Concord Monitor, Keene Sentinel, Monadnock Ledger Transcript, Nashua Telegraph, the New Hampshire Press Association, Parenting NH, and Valley News.

One of the Collaborative’s founders, Carol Robidoux  of Manchester Ink Link, says the growth of the Collaborative means it is fulfilling its mission,  “You know the way we work now, we’re by ourselves. We don’t get to have these brainstorming sessions like you could in a newsroom. That is why we need this collaborative. This is where the best reporting and best ideas come from.”

Additionally, Citizens Count, a NH civic engagement nonprofit, is our newest community engagement partner.

“In the era of social media and “fake news,” it’s easy for people to be overwhelmed and disengage from what’s really going on in their state.  Together with the Granite State News Collaborative, we can reach audiences at the local level and demystify what’s going on in Concord, which is far more likely to impact daily life than what’s going on in Washington, D.C.,” says Anna Brown, director of research and analysis at Citizens Count.

Our other partners are: The Berlin Daily Sun, Business New Hampshire Magazine, The Eagle-Tribune, Franklin Pierce University, The Laconia Daily Sun, Manchester Ink Link, New Hampshire Business Review, New Hampshire Press Association, New Hampshire PBS, and  Seacoast Media Group.

The Collaborative’s community engagement partners also include Dartmouth Hitchcock, The Marlin Fitzwater Center at Franklin Pierce University, Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, New Hampshire Listens at UNH’s Carsey School of Public Policy, Penmen Press at Southern New Hampshire University, The Pierce Arrow at FPU, Souhegan High School, and The Student Journalism Coalition.

For more information about Collaborative partners or how to join, please email melanie.plenda@collaborativenh.org.

GSNC One of Three Collaboratives in Country to Receive Knight Foundation Funding

The Granite State News Collaborative is one of three collaboratives across the country to receive up to $100,000 each year, for the next two years from The Knight Foundation.

This money will go towards operation expenses, reporting, travel, engagement and impact tracking of an overarching topic chosen by The Collaborative media members beginning in 2020, according to Melanie Plenda, director of the GSNC.

" This grant is an incredible opportunity for our Collaborative to better inform our audiences, but to do so in new, bold and innovative ways,” Plenda said. “We are already thinking big and the prospect of all that is possible now has been a jolt of adrenaline to an already excited and invested group of partners."

Most of the funding for Granite State News Collaborative comes from the Solutions Journalism Network, which administers the Knight Foundation grant and provides training and technical assistance to the Collaborative.

“The funding is a reflection of the great work the Collaborative is doing in the state and its ability to grow its members. The Solutions Journalism Network believes in the GSNC’s vision,” says Leah Todd, New England manager of the Solutions Journalism Network.

Last year, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced it would double its investment in strengthening journalism to $300 million over five years, with a focus on building the future of local news and information, which are essential for democracy to function.

Building on Knight’s previous work to address the rapid spread of misinformation and promote accurate news, other investments will support news literacy initiatives, community engagement, and tools that help people become better consumers of news. This included $5 million to the Solutions Journalism Network to expand a model that advances community engagement and civic dialogue to produce rigorous reporting that highlights solutions, rather than problems.

Solutions Journalism Network while supportive of the Collaborative does not have any editorial control over what is produced by the GSNC.

“Solutions Journalism Network, in all of our relationships, acts as the iron curtain between the funders and the news organizations. SJN has no influence over the news product,” Todd says.

For more information about SJN, please visit https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/

GSNC Sponsors Media Training Event on How to Combat Information Disorder

Journalists, publishers, researchers, and media and journalism educators took part in a day-long workshop on Oct. 30 called “Trust and Truth in the Digital Age: A Journalist’s primer on Combating Information Disorder” at the Manchester Campus of Franklin Pierce University.

In an age of rumors, viral social media, and agents of misinformation, lead trainer Clair Wardle of First Draft News showed participants can they build a toolkit to help spot and combat misinformation and led a hands-on demonstration of the latest news verification technologies.

A panel discussed what local journalists have in common with a campaign consultant and a legal expert on the First Amendment. The panelists were:

• Kevin Landrigan, journalist, Union Leader

• Carol Robidoux, journalist, Manchester InkLink

• Cori Princell, managing editor, NHPR

• Greg Sullivan, Esq., Malloy & Sullivan, First Amendment expert

• Jiore Craig, campaign consultant, GQR

Granite State News Collaborative was one of the event sponsors.

"Misinformation and disinformation is not going away anytime soon. It's just part of the landscape we live and work in now as journalists,” said GSNC Director Melanie Plenda. “At the same time, we can't just throw up our hands and not do anything about it. We are obligated as journalists to make sure that the public has the most accurate and fair information it needs to be informed and make decisions. That is the only way we can combat this trend and get the public the accurate information it needs and deserves. We owe that to them."

The event was also sponsored by Franklin Pierce University’s Marlin Fitzwater Center, Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, the New Hampshire Endowment for Health and the New Hampshire Press Association.

For more information about the Collaborative, its partners or how to join, please email melanie.plenda@collaborativenh.org.

Community Solutions Journalism Featured at Radically Rural 2019 in Keene

Community Solutions Journalism will be a featured topic of Radically Rural, which is a national two-day summit focused on issues and opportunities in small cities and towns.

This year, Radically Rural opens Sept. 19 and is expected to attract 800 people from the Monadnock Region, the Northeast and throughout the country.

The Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship and The Keene Sentinel, a member of Granite State News Collaborative, partnered to present Radically Rural, which provides a uniquely rural point-of-view for community building, news coverage, entrepreneurship and economic development. Radically Rural includes program tracks on entrepreneurship, arts and culture, community journalism, Main Streets and downtowns, working lands and renewable energy.

Leah Todd, regional manager of the Solutions Journalism Network in New England, will present a session called “Solutions Journalism – Helping Communities Take Next Steps.”

The session will feature Todd and Amy Maestas, the digital editor at the Salt Lake Tribune, and explores how news consumers can come away from the experience feeling depressed, disengaged, powerless, and hopeless. Solutions journalism envisions a more productive experience, one that builds engagement, trust and a renewed hope in democracy, by reporting rigorously on the responses to social problems — in addition to the problems themselves. Participants will discover how this is being done in rural places, the training behind it and the encouraging results from this disruptive approach.

The summit builds upon impressive success from last fall’s first Radically Rural summit. Some 500 engaged, locally focused attendees from 21 states gathered and shared the advantages and opportunities of rural living.

 “Last year’s event exceeded all expectations in attendance and the quality of programs. More is planned this year, and we are delighted with our slate of speakers and panelists,” said Terrence Williams, president and chief operating officer at The Keene Sentinel.

To learn more about Radically Rural, visit https://radicallyrural.org/

Granite State News Collaborative Sponsors FPU’s The Presidency and The Press Program

High school and college journalists and teachers from across New England converged at the Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University from July 15-19, 2019. They came for “The Presidency & The Press” summer program, supported by the Granite State News Collaborative.

Melanie Plenda, director of the GSNC, was the Professional-in-Residence for the week. She worked with student reporters to address the week’s theme, “The Intersection of Politics and Press in the 2020 Election.” She introduced the concept of solutions journalism adopted by the GSNC, a collaborative approach by media to delve deeper into successful approaches to issues that are common across communities.

“I’m excited to work on projects I’m passionate about. I love to learn and write about both sides of a controversial issue, and let people decide for themselves what they think,” said Magnolia McComish, a FPU incoming communications/political science major and Fitzwater Scholar.

Participants worked with Franklin Pierce faculty, as well as journalists from WMUR-TV, New Hampshire Public Radio, the New Hampshire Union Leader and Fox News. They made three road trips across New Hampshire. They visited news outlets, the New Hampshire State House, candidate events, and non-partisan policy organizations Citizens Count of New Hampshire and No Labels.

Student journalists experienced a full range of campaign coverage, taking a more active role at each stage. They met Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper in Laconia and met with staffers for candidate Michael Bennett. Later, they joined the press corps to interview audience members and campaign officials at Julian Castro’s Town Hall event in Nashua, according to Dr. Kristen Nevious is the director of the Fitzwater Center and the Presidency & the Press program.

At the end of the week, students wrote and produced a live broadcast, “Meet the Student Press: Solutions & the Presidential Election.”

To learn more about The Presidency & The Press summer program and the Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication, contact Dr. Kristen Nevious at (603) 899-1039. 

For more information on GSNC contact Melanie Plenda at Melanie.Plenda@collaborativenh.org.

The NH Charitable Foundation Awards Strategic Planning Grant to Collaborative

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation has awarded the Collaborative a $25,000 grant for strategic planning and capacity building.

The Granite State News Collaborative breaks down barriers of competition among news outlets in favor of collaboration, the NHCF said in its announcement. The collaborative formed in response to the hollowing out of the traditional news-gathering industry and share reporting duties and content across its 16 member media outlets. Since 2001, approximately 60 percent of newspaper jobs in New Hampshire have disappeared.

"Local support is going to be key to our long term sustainability as a collaborative,” said GSNC Director Melanie Plenda. “We are so grateful that NHCF sees that and is willing to show their support for what we are doing. The funds from NHCF will allow us to the do the planning necessary to make sure we are able to remain a resource to the communities we serve and the journalists in the state for years to come."

A Charitable Foundation grant for core mission support will help the collaborative as it launches its first statewide reporting project on behavioral health and expands its member base. The funding will also help pay for leadership training for Plenda and steering committee members.

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation is a statewide community foundation, founded in 1962 by and for the people of New Hampshire. The Foundation manages a growing collection of 1,900 funds created by generous individuals, families and businesses, and awards more than $40 million in grants and scholarships every year. For more information, visit www.nhcf.org or call 603-225-6641.

For more information on GSN, contact Melanie Plenda at Melanie.Plenda@collaborativenh.org.

GSNC partners with Student Journalism Coalition

The Granite State News Collaborative is proud to announce it has partnered with the newly formed Student Journalism Coalition.

In the fall of 2018, Max Karpawich ‘19 of the Derryfield School did a research survey of high schools in NH that reported having some kind of student journalism program at their school — “student journalism” being any student-led publication whose purpose was to inform the student body. According to his study, “With over 100 private and public high schools in New Hampshire, less than five percent report having a successful student journalism program in terms of trends in readership.” Karpawhich and Souhegan High School student Seth Facey decided instead of allowing student journalism to die, they would take steps to revitalize it. To do that, Karpawich and Facey began putting together the Student Journalism Coalition with a mission to bring together present and future generations of students through journalism that is both credible and consistent.

In order to inspire and provide incentive for students to pursue journalism at their schools, Karpawich and Facey, are creating a collaborative publication between New Hampshire high schools with the purpose of getting the student perspective on news in NH. By getting the student perspective, they hope to encourage students to read and care about content composed by their own generation so that student journalists have a reason to write, they said.

“High school journalism in New Hampshire has been kept in the dark for too many years,” said Karpawich. “With the help and experience of the Granite State News Collaborative, we are launching our own collaborative for students so that high school journalism programs around New Hampshire can thrive once again by working together to produce a relevant and state-wide publication.”

Their first step is to create a student led board to direct the organization and content. With that in place, students from around the state will work on projects aligned with content that the GSNC is working on, but reported from the perspective of students, by students.

"I am very excited to pursue a major goal of ours to improve journalism in New Hampshire with the guidance and support of the Granite State News Collaborative,” said Facey. "I believe that this partnership will jump start our organization as we seek to better student journalism as well as provide the student perspective in New Hampshire on an important issue such as behavioral and Mental Health."

Karpawich and Facey are not stopping at New Hampshire. As they grow, they hope to connect with students across the country to build a nationwide student journalism collaborative.
Meanwhile, Karpawich is also working on a second phase of the project.

From his perspective, Karpawich said that while the student collaborative might give students incentive to pursue journalism at their high school, it does little to help them with the actual process behind that journalism. So, independent of the collaborative, they are developing software for student journalism which would help low-budget programs by giving them the infrastructure necessary for success.

Karpawich explained that by simply using the software, students would engage in best practices for journalism that have been proven to boost productivity in either student or corporate journalism work spaces. For example, an editor could ask for a photographer to add a photo to a reporter’s article, assign a deadline, and then their software would handle the legwork of sending out reminders, updates, and other communications to each of the three students involved depending on their role.

Melanie Plenda, project manager for The Granite State News Collaborative said of the partnership, “We are so impressed with the initiative, drive and passion of these students. Moreover, this is an incredible opportunity for reporters and editors in this state to get real insight into what a younger generation is feeling and experiencing. We are committed to not only elevating these voices that have been missing from coverage generally for too long, but we also are committed to offering mentoring and support to anyone who is curious or interested in journalism. We need that next generation of highly trained journalists.”

For more information on the GSNC or to connect with the Student Journalism Collaborative contact Melanie Plenda at melanie.plenda@collaborativenh.org.

The Keene Sentinel Joins The Granite State News Collaborative

The state’s oldest and one of its most respected newspapers has joined the Granite State News Collaborative team.

The Sentinel is the fifth oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States, having operated under the Sentinel name since its founding in March 1799. It is known for its community engagement work as well as its stellar, award winning journalism.

“The Keene Sentinel is delighted to join the impressive partnership of organizations in the Granite State News Collaborative,” said The Sentinel’s Digital Content Editor Cecily Weisburgh. “We believe there is strength and innovation in collaboration, and we look forward to bringing a solutions-focused look at the behavioral health issues affecting our state to our readers in the Monadnock Region. Most especially, the areas of mental health and opioid addiction touch our communities, and we are pleased to have the resources of the collaborative to bring in-depth, quality reporting on such important topics.”

As for the GSNC, its members look forward to and very excited by the prospect of adding The Sentinel’s institutional knowledge and investigative reporting acumen to its roster of resources.

“We are very excited that The Sentinel has lent its tremendous stores of talent as well as its time, talent and energy to this project,” said Collaborative project manager Melanie Plenda. “We are so glad they are a part of the team.”

For more information on partnerships with The GSNC contact Melanie Plenda at Melanie.Plenda@collaborativenh.org

The Collaborative Hosts its First Community Engagement Event on Behavioral Health Issues

On May 22, the Granite State News Collaborative hosted its first community engagement event, “Solutions From the Frontlines:  A Community Behavioral Health Conversation” at the Franklin Pierce University campus in Manchester.

More than 70 people gathered to hear stories from people who faced the challenges with mental illness and substance use disorders and their journeys to find solutions. Journalists, policymakers and mental health, substance use recovery and treatment leaders from around the state heard first-hand accounts of what it’s like to navigate New Hampshire’s behavioral health system and engaged in a conversation about fixes to the challenges in that system.

“Our goal was to elevate the voices of people with first-hand experience in the discussion about solutions to these issues,” said Melanie Plenda, project manager for the Granite State News Collaborative.

Participants also heard from a panel of practitioners and officials on the frontlines of these dual crises.

“This event went beyond the usual suspects you've seen on panel discussions before on behavioral health, according to Plenda.  “Every journalist said they met a new source and left with a story idea. There was a strong consensus amount the attendees that the event inspired people to get involved with behavioral health in their community and motivated people to learn more about GSNC.”

For more information on partnerships with The GSNC contact Melanie Plenda at Melanie.Plenda@collaborativenh.org