Journalism shouldn’t worsen the lives of people in peril. When PublicSource’s entire team set out to chronicle the strengths of Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood, with its high concentration of immigrants including some who are undocumented, the nonprofit newsroom had occasion to think carefully about the risks some interviewees were taking.
Thought turned to action.
Along with Define American, a nonprofit resource and voice for storytelling about immigrant experiences across mediums, PublicSource is this week releasing a resource that journalists everywhere can provide to immigrant interviewees to take some of the risk out of the journalistic process. “Talking to Journalists: What You Need to Know” explains clearly the process and terminology of interactions with a reporter, so both sides know the rules.
“Most people are not familiar with their options when choosing to engage with a reporter,” said Jose Antonio Vargas, Define American’s founder and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. “Especially members of immigrant communities for whom the stakes of sharing their full identity in a news article are extremely high. We hope that this resource will aid people in making informed decisions when speaking with a reporter, and that reporters will feel more confident that they are protecting their sources and subjects from risk.”
“For conscientious reporters, this takes the guesswork out of the interviewing process,” said Rich Lord, managing editor at PublicSource. “We can ensure that the interviewee is aware of the stakes, the process and the terminology, and then report confidently with their informed consent.”
In Beechview, PublicSource reporters talked with undocumented college students, families with health challenges, entrepreneurs and their workers, among others. The last thing the team wanted to do was spur harm to the people and programs in the neighborhood.
The nonprofit newsroom tapped a variety of resources in search of best practices for interviewing and followed an in-house set of guidelines for checking whether people being quoted were vulnerable to adverse consequences.
Language barriers made it tough, though, to communicate those guidelines and apply them as transparently as desired.
How do journalism outlets bridge the power differential between reporters and people unfamiliar with the norms of American news gathering?
PublicSource was inspired by a business-card-sized resource titled “Talking to a reporter?” used by Resolve Philly.
Our Pittsburgh-based nonprofit newsroom and the Philadelphia-area media collaboration have worked together through the American Press Institute, which has been promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in local outlets.
The Pittsburgh newsroom decided to build on Resolve Philly’s work.
After publication of “Beechview: Points of Pride,” PublicSource reached out to Define American in hopes of improving its processes. In May, Define American conducted a virtual training, conversation and brainstorming session with the PublicSource team. A key takeaway: Both journalists and the people with whom they interact need a simple explainer of each side’s rights and responsibilities — and it should be available in multiple languages.
Since May, PublicSource and Define American have been working on that resource, a postcard-sized handout. It will be available first in English, Spanish, Nepali, Pashto and Dari.
“It was inspiring to see our initial meeting with PublicSource evolve into a brainstorm on what resources are still needed to best support journalists and immigrants, and how we might work together as partners to develop and provide them,” said Vargas. “PublicSource and other local newsrooms are invaluable to their communities, especially in today’s media landscape, and Define American is proud to partner with PublicSource to demonstrate our core belief that innovation and public service aren’t mutually exclusive.”
Reporters anywhere are welcome to use it. Define American and PublicSource are reaching out to outlets and organizations involved in journalism to share it.
“Our hope is that others will make this resource their own and continue to translate it into additional languages that will best serve their communities,” Vargas said. “We are also engaging with potential print sponsors who will underwrite the cost of reporters who want to print copies for use in the field. Ideally this tool will become a given for any reporter engaging with members of immigrant communities, especially those who are undocumented.”
“While this resource was designed with immigrant interviewees in mind, we believe it reflects best practices for interacting fairly and responsibly with all people, especially the most vulnerable,” said Lord. “It’ll become part of our newsroom’s toolkit, and we hope it proves useful to other outlets, too.”
To download the resource, click here.
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