6.3: Hashtag relatable - community news reporting and writing
- Page ID
- 294397
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Rasheed Ajamu is an editor and reporter at Germantown Info Hub (GIH) in Philadelphia. GIH is a community journalism project focused on sharing news and stories about the Germantown neighborhoods of Philadelphia. The project is a product of the Resolve Philadelphia newsroom, which defines itself as a new kind of local newsroom designed for community impact.
Resolve Philly focuses on three strategic areas of focus: "We center three principles in our work that allow us to cultivate more informed and engaged communities and demonstrate how news can better serve those communities when rooted in solutions and community voices. We strongly believe this is a model for the future of local news."1
Ajamu writes: GIH is a hyperlocal, community-centered newsroom producing news for the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. By community-centered, we mean being engaged with the community we report on and centering solutions, not just the problem. We primarily produce digital web content, but we also tell stories through many media, including our biweekly radio show and social media.
This work is invaluable to me. It is the antithesis of what I learned in journalism school, where relationships with the communities and people you report on were discouraged. In our reporting style, you are encouraged to lean into those relationships and see the neighbors around you as experts on their environment and the issues that affect them.
While reporting doesn’t only have to look like digital news stories, writing is still a vital part of these things.
Our radio show requires a script and the formation of questions ahead of an interview, a social media reel needs storyboarding ahead of time with scenes and thoughts brainstormed ahead, and prepping for a community event needs plans and strategies to be drafted.
So, while writing may not feel centered within these things, writing certainly is a lot of the backbone.
Ajamu's bio on Resolve Philadelphia includes a quote that explains their love for the work:
(Note that Ajamu purposefully varies her use of pronouns.)
"As Germantown Info Hub’s editor and reporter, Ajamu is endlessly fascinated by the neighborhood’s people, culture, small businesses, and history.
'It’s a place of magic; there is a certain level of surprise almost every day,' they said. 'It’s probably to me one of the most organized neighborhoods in Philadelphia.'
Ajamu grew up across the neighborhood — first on Duval Street and later on Price Street, close to Waterview Recreation Center. She’s seen lots of changes over the past two decades, such as school closures, including Germantown High School, more expensive development, and the disappearance of many family-owned businesses rooted in the community.
At the same time, 'I do think that there is a certain level of neighborliness that I have always felt from Germantown,' Ajamu added. 'When I see articles about social isolation on the rise, I specifically can’t relate because I’m in a place where there is always something happening, and people are always communicating. There is always something going on.'
1. Resolve Philadelphia. "Germantown Info Hub Archive." Accessed November 14, 2024. https://resolvephilly.org/gih/.