One voice at a time

Liza Gross has spent 40 years in journalism doing almost every job there is. Reporter, newsroom manager, publisher, Executive Director of the International Women's Media Foundation, VP at the Solutions Journalism Network, and today Senior Advisor there and Director of the Collaborative Journalism Resource Hub at Montclair State University.
And she loves journalism more than ever.
In this conversation, Liza traces the arc from wanting to win a Pulitzer to becoming convinced that journalism's survival depends on something less glamorous: trust, collaboration, and the willingness to show up in communities rather than parachute in. She is frank about where journalism went wrong, why audiences tuned out, and shares what she observed inside the 50 to 70 newsrooms she visited while working with the Solutions Journalism Network. And she makes the case that solutions journalism and collaborative models are not soft alternatives to hard reporting but the sharpest tools journalism has left.
This is a conversation about what it takes to love journalism more, not less, the longer you do it.
one voice at a time is aidóni's monthly podcast; conversations with the people who understand, in a very real way, how journalism shapes lives.

Resources and people mentioned in the episode:

• Emilio Salgari - Italian adventure author who inspired Liza's love of storytelling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Salgari
• Tina Rosenberg - co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-rosenberg
• Craig Newmark - founder of Craigslist, cited for disrupting the classified advertising model that sustained legacy newspapers. craigslist.org
• John Oliver - mentioned as a non-conventional but rigorously sourced journalism resource. https://www.youtube.com/@LastWeekTonight
• Jon Stewart - mentioned alongside John Oliver. https://www.cc.com/shows/the-daily-show

• SJN story archive: https://solutionsjournalism.org/stories
• SJN training and resources: https://solutionsjournalism.org/for-journalists

Organisations & Initiatives:

• Solutions Journalism Network - https://solutionsjournalism.org
• International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) - https://iwmf.org
• Collaborative Journalism Resource Hub, Montclair State University - https://hub.montclair.edu
• Resolve Philly (grew out of the Philadelphia collaborative Liza described) https://resolvephilly.org
• Aspen Institute — https://aspeninstitute.org
• Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism - annual news avoidance survey https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk
• Knight Foundation - major funder of collaborative journalism https://knightfoundation.org
• Philadelphia Inquirer - named as a legacy newsroom in the Philadelphia collaborative https://www.inquirer.com
• El Bus TV - the Venezuelan initiative delivering news on buses with cardboard TV screen frames, founded by Claudia Lizardo and Laura Helena Castillo in Caracas in 2017.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elbustv
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ElBusTV
Longer read on the initiative: https://latamjournalismreview.org/articles/venezuelans-turn-city-buses-into-newsrooms-in-order-to-fight-disinformation
• The Bulwark - recommended by Liza as a source she reads regularly https://www.thebulwark.com
Further reading on solutions journalism

• SJN story archive: https://solutionsjournalism.org/stories
• SJN training and resources: https://solutionsjournalism.org/for-journalists

Did you enjoy this conversation?You can support aidóni’s work by making a donation here: ⁠https://www.helloasso.com/associations/aidoni/formulaires/1⁠

Host: Méline Laffabry

Concept: Méline Laffabry

Producer: Shriya Roy

What does it take to rebuild trust between communities and the journalists who cover them? In this first episode, Derrick Cain takes us from a comment section that made him decide to take control of his own narrative, to community events in Philadelphia's libraries, to building houses. We talk about what happens when someone finally asks: what do you love about your neighbourhood? Turns out, that's how you really connect with people, and find the stories that weren't getting any attention.

Derrick Cain is a community engagement specialist, consultant at Temple University, and founder of Cain Capital Group, a real estate company focused on affordable housing in Philadelphia.

* Resolve Philly - the nonprofit newsroom where Derrick worked as Director of Community Engagement
https://resolvephilly.org
* Modifier - Resolve Philly's practice change and professional development arm, which Derrick consulted with
https://modifier.resolvephilly.org
* Broke in Philly - the collaborative reporting project on economic mobility that Resolve Philly led, mentioned in the episode
https://brokeinphilly.org
Did you enjoy this conversation?
You can support aidóni’s work by making a donation here:
https://www.helloasso.com/associations/aidoni/formulaires/1

Host: Méline Laffabry

Concept: Méline Laffabry

Producer: Shriya Roy

What does journalism actually do to people? How does it shape societies, influence wars, and affect the lives of communities in crisis and conflict?
One Voice at a Time is aidóni's monthly podcast: one-on-one conversations with people from communities whose stories are too often told without them, agents of change trying to make things better, researchers studying how narratives shape societies and vice versa, and journalists asking harder questions about what this work is actually for.
No easy answers. One voice at a time.

Host: Méline Laffabry

Concept: Méline Laffabry

Producer: Shriya Roy