The Diversity Source Network and Methodology
Developing new reporting methods with the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression's Bob Carty Fellowship
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We journalists tend to reach out to sources who are accessible to us, like those who are in positions of leadership or that participate in online forums like Twitter. The result is that the lived experience of Canadians who are less likely to communicate through these channels is not expressed in the national discourse.
Our project in partnership with the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) is an effort to make it easier for journalists to make these perspectives heard through their reporting. With the support of the Bob Carty Fellowship, we are developing an online platform to seed a network of sources who are willing to share their experiences and engage in a two-way dialogue with journalists.
“Police should engage with youth, to try to gain a relationship with them. There are bad feelings on both sides. Youth have this very generic idea of cops—that they’re just out there to get them. But if police would engage more, that might change.” — Shiloh Chief, 18
What we’re working on
Developing reporting methods rooted in community voices
We are currently producing resources exploring ethics and best practices for applying community-based reporting methods. We have been piloting these methods in collaboration with Nancy Macdonald, associate editor at Maclean’s, in order to contribute to her ongoing investigation into systemic discrimination impacting Indigenous people in Canada.
We are focusing on the ethics and methodology of surveying large networks of underrepresented communities for use in journalistic reporting. Our findings and best practices will be published in collaboration with CJFE. The results of the pilot project contributed to Macdonald’s investigation, published in February 2016 in Maclean’s.
Helping journalists obtain access to data missing from public discourse
When reporting on racially charged issues, such as racial profiling, we benefit from statistics that help us shed light on wider trends and gain a systematic understanding. But police data related to race is either systematically suppressed or not collected in the first place. We are currently investigating why this data is so difficult for journalists to obtain. Our experiences submitting Freedom of Information requests to the Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Regina police departments are informing our reporting.
We are also exploring how collaborations between journalists and academic researchers can facilitate access to rigorous data that is in the public interest and would help fill these kinds of gaps. By working closely with experts on social research and survey design, we piloted a community-based research project with Macdonald. By applying academic research methods to the reporting process, we aim to collect data that provides a statistical basis for investigating whether racial profiling is occurring and what it might look like on the ground.
Learning how we can scale our approach for deeper reporting
We are applying our methods to other journalism collaborations, including an upcoming investigation into access to energy in isolated northern communities; Possible Canadas, a collaboration with student journalists reporting on young Canadians’ views in the run-up to the federal election; and an ongoing partnership with 8 80 Cities and the Knight Foundation that focuses on engaging citizens in city-building processes.
