5 lessons learned: Improving civic engagement through a local news site

Four years ago a team of communication scholars, researchers and journalists set out to create a community news website that would increase civic engagement and cross ethnic barriers in a predominantly Asian and Latino immigrant city. Since Alhambra Source launched in 2010, it has grown to more than 60 community contributors who speak 10 languages and range in age from high school students to retirees. Their stories have helped shape local policy and contributed to a more engaged citizenry within a diverse community.

Below are five lessons we’ve learned about creating a community news website that fosters civic engagement.

1. Investigate your community’s news and information needs before you launch.
2. To effectively build a community contributor team, hold regular meetings, play to contributor strengths, and remember they are volunteers.
3. When it comes to community contributions, a personal perspective is often crucial to a story.
4. Crossing language and ethnic divides cannot be achieved through multilingual content alone.
5. Use feedback loops as engagement and learning tools.