This weekend I attended the Twin Cities Media Alliance Forum – we talked about the power of storytelling to raise under-heard voices. Attendance was diverse – lots of colors, several native languages, plenty of religions, ages ran the gamut, lots of viewpoints – although most of them urban. Today I wanted to share what I learned through a rural-focused lens, including lessons to help amplify the rural stories and advice for reaching the under-heard (minority) voices in a rural community.
Social media is a powerful tool for sharing stories
“Social media is a powerful tool for sharing stories,” noted Nekima Levy-Pounds, a lawyer, advocate for racial & social justice and a pretty amazing speaker. The conference happened the day after “Pointergate” – where Minneapolis Mayor was accused of flashing gang signs by a local news station and social media went wild questioning the accusation. Pointergate was a clear example of how the general public used social media to tell their story and get at least as much attention as the original network news story. It was the ultimate in crowdsourcing!
And this idea of crowdsourcing to tell a story, or respond to a story, is pretty new. OK Thomas Paine had the pamphlet – but that required a printing press, which means money, and pamphleteers. Even today to paper a neighborhood with pamphlets or campaign literature can be too costly for most people and requires effort that makes an immediate response (like sending a Tweet) very difficult. And those pamphlets represent a voice, maybe even a team of voices, they aren’t voices of individuals.
Social media is available to anyone with a computer (device or smartphone), Internet connectivity and the skills to use them. Access and adoption are important. Rural areas lag behind urban areas in access and adoption. It makes it more difficult to crowdsource a rural area. Or more importantly, because rural communities are not all the same, if your community is lagging with technology, your voice is hushed. You can’t respond to accusations made in traditional media; you can’t get your stories to policymakers.
Increasing access and adoption raises the voice of your community. That’s an investment worth making!
No one can tell your story for you
“Someone else telling your story may be true but it’s incomplete when it isn’t your voice!” noted Nancy Musinguzi, a photojournalist who takes pictures of difficult subject with an infusion of humor. Musinguzi is a young woman who is working to tell her stories and makes a good point. It speaks again I think to the role that technology can play in giving voice – to those who use it. And again research shows that folks disproportionately on the far end of the digital divide include rural and elderly residents. And here’s the thing – with photos and videos telling your story couldn’t be easier – when you have access to the skills and the technology. (I applaud the intergenerational projects (such as Lake County) that pair seniors with youth to develop the skills.
Can you imagine a more powerful story that the voice of experience framed and amplified by tech skills of youth?
The story is more than the quote
Much as I love Twitter, a story is more than 140 characters. Good journalist take the time to get the story behind the quote. However that is getting increasingly difficult to do because of money. Few reporters have the luxury of time/money to do the legwork required to tell the whole story. Part of telling the story is painting a picture of what a community looks like on a good day – a regular day. In the context of the conference one example is, tell me about the life of the recent immigrant before something happens so that I can have a better understanding of what it means when something does. For a rural community, this is an opportunity through the local media, chamber or other community entity to start to tell the stories of the local residents. Because you don’t need a printing press – you need an online presence to represent life in your community, to attract residents (especially youth) and businesses to help people appreciate your story.
Make it easy for journalists and others to know your story – tell it online. You focus on the lens.
The loudest voice can’t be the only voice
We also talked about the loudest voice. For better or for worse, the loudest voice does get the attention. Sometimes that voice is just loud, sometimes it’s best connected, sometimes, I think especially in rural areas, it’s the voice you’ve know forever, sometimes for generations. Just like good journalism takes legwork, so does good community building. And some legwork needs to be spent looking for the under-heard voices. It may be the elderly, the youth, the new immigrants. The first voice you find may or may not be the best representative for their “constituency.” I think of this because what I often hear with digital inclusion programs is – we can’t fill the seats. Bernadine Joselyn is famous for saying – go slow to go fast. I think it makes sense to go slow to make the deep connections. Storytelling is a good first step – everyone has a story. Use that as entry to a new community that strengthens your own community.
The bet community story is the one that amplifies all voices just as the best community policy is the one that listens to all voices.
