Assessing Collaboration in One Media Ecosystem

This case study explores relationships among news organizations in one media ecosystem to determine how willing journalists may be to form a more collaborative information network. A three-step, mixed methodological approach is employed: the ecosystem was “mapped”; an ongoing dialogue with journalists was initiated, and in-depth interviews were conducted with journalists and community storytellers to understand existing news flow in this region. Preliminary findings suggest a willingness to collaborate; however, legacy media may have more reservations about collaboration than journalists at community newspapers, public broadcasting stations, and entrepreneurial startups.