Building the Open Newsroom: A Q&A with The City’s Nic Dawes

COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW— December 22, 2021 — In 2019, New York City saw the launch of THE CITY, a local nonprofit news platform built with considerable foundation and donor funding; one of the publication’s goals has been to engage with New York communities underserved by legacy media outlets. The City’s Open Newsroom initiative, a program dependent on a series of listening sessions in partnership with local libraries and community centers, plays a part in aiming to meet this goal.

Nic Dawes, The City’s executive director, spoke with CJR about the Open Newsroom, how The City imagines its audience, and the importance of integrating community engagement as a core function of a newsroom.

Read the full conversation here