It also showed us that there is a way to have a conversation about sensitive topics via reader comments, which wasn’t something we were really optimistic about beforehand.ĭid you find any stories using Ask that you followed up on for subsequent reporting? Most impressive was the first day, where we asked people the overarching question of the series, “Does Boston deserve its racist reputation?” We received over 700 replies. We received hundreds of responses that really reinforced how important an issue this is for the city. I liked having the writers and editors involved, because they had been digging into racism in Boston for so many months that talking about it was so natural for them. The reporters and editor put together 2-3 options for each story and then we talked about which ones seemed like they would encourage the most conversation. I asked the Spotlight Team to think of the thing they’d want to know from readers after the readers finished the story. How did you decide what questions to ask using Ask? As an organization, we are committed to covering the issues that are affecting minority communities, and in this group - which is now monitored by me, some on the engagement team, and our race and social justice reporter - we have a space where people can talk about news, their experiences, or give recommendations on navigating the city. We started a Facebook Group that now has almost 4,000 people. Lastly, we wanted this to be an ongoing conversation. We, of course, also wanted the series to reach as many people in the area as possible, and hopefully get it into the hands of people who aren’t already Boston Globe subscribers. The series specifically focused on black people’s experiences, and we wanted to make sure that we had a welcoming place for all minorities to discuss their experiences without having to defend their humanity. We wanted to enhance the conversation about Boston and racism that people of color have been having since forever, but that has also been in the news a lot over the last year. What were your goals around engagement for the series? Importantly, our comments on the site are for subscribers only, and we wanted this to be open to everyone. The Coral Project seemed to have the tools to do this. We wanted a guided interface so that we could focus the conversations on productive suggestions and feedback, and give people of color a welcoming space to share their experiences, rather than an open-ended free-for-all that we feared would delve into defensiveness and attacks. We’ve found that the comments sections on stories about race are often not productive, and even occasionally become abusive. Why did you reach out to The Coral Project for the Racism series? We asked Heather Ciras, Senior Editor for Audience Engagement at the Boston Globe, to share the team’s experiences in using Ask for such complex and potentially difficult themes. The series received a huge number of thoughtful responses, and the Boston Globe has continued to use Ask for other investigative projects, so far including such topics as sexual harassment and gun control. It was named as one of two Finalists this year for the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting.Īt the heart of the series’ engagement was seven of our Ask forms and galleries, which they used to invite and share pre-moderated stories from across the city. In December, the Spotlight team at the Boston Globe ran an extremely powerful series on racism in Boston.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |