November 10, 2009
Jan Schaffer, Maria Ivancin
What people are saying:
“Community journalism is evolving as an exercise in participation, not merely as observation.”
J-Lab’s New Media Women Entrepreneurs Initiative undertook this study to understand how women are interacting with news, participating in the news, creating the news and consuming the news. Funded by the McCormick Foundation, the study explored perspectives and behavior with regard to both new and traditional media. Using focus groups and in-depth interviews among women news consumers and news creators, the research lends important insights into the impact the changing media landscape is having on how journalism is being practiced and how it is being consumed.
The study included four focus groups, three among women news consumers and one among women news creators (primarily traditional news creators, but with some who are creating in new media) and 11 in-depth interviews among new-media news creators who are founders and editors of online news sites serving geographic areas. The research was done between April and July of 2009.
