If you’re like me, a journalist at a small publication, you likely have a mental list of deeper stories you’d like to go back and write someday — ideas that have built up over months or longer.
It’s challenging to ever get around to any of them.
In Las Cruces, New Mexico, we’ve worked to build a collaborative model in recent years that’s allowed our newsrooms to tackle some big projects, including a recent, solutions-focused investigation of our community’s inadequate behavioral health system.
Here’s what I’ve learned from those collaborations:
You need a diverse team of partners. Plan a project that has defined and important roles for each participant to increase participation, and set clear expectations to ensure that everyone is committed to the project and sees it through.
Building a multimedia team — including print, online, radio and television — will force you to consider new storytelling techniques and to learn from each other. A team with diverse areas of expertise will spark creativity and build camaraderie. It is also critical to ensure that your team has racial and gender diversity in order to bring different perspectives to the table, which makes for a better team, and better journalism.
You need money. In order to accomplish a months-long collaboration, you may have to work outside your day job, but you shouldn’t do extra work without getting paid. If your employers can’t — or won’t — pay for your time, find a grant to ensure that everyone who is working extra hours gets extra money. The Fund for Investigative Journalism and Solutions Journalism Network are among the groups that offer small grants for big projects.
You need a project editor and coordinator. Mid-