Last October, the Agora Journalism Center mapped Oregon’s local news and released a study titled “Assessing Oregon’s Local News & Information Ecosystem: Connecting news, information, and civic health.” Our findings are deeply concerning. The loss of trusted news sources should be troubling as information gaps are where misinformation breeds, and accountability goes to die. But we see hope.
As University researchers, we’re convening journalists and community members to better understand how people engage with trusted information during considerable changes in the media ecosystem. What issues are most important? What tools and sources do people use for reliable news and information? What challenges do people face in getting information that helps them make decisions and take action in their local communities?
While we’ll review some table-setting baseline information on the health of our state’s media system, most of our time together will be in conversation on how to better fill our community’s information needs and re-imagine what truly engaging, informative, and inclusive local news would look like.
We’re hosting two community conversations and hope you can attend one of them:
- Friday, March 3, from 4 to 6 pm
- Saturday, March 4, from 10 am to 12 noon
Refreshments will be served.
