The Role of Non-Journalism Civic Information

What Minneapolis can show us.

For people who study journalism and track developments in the field, there has been a growing recognition that local news is being created, found, and amplified in ways that would not have been recognizable even a few years ago—the rise of the independent newsfluencer is just the latest example. At the same time, the lens through which we see the journalism field is changing from news-desert deficit to information-ocean overabundance—we are coming to see that, rather than starving for information (even in so-called news deserts), people are awash in it, and journalists are the beacons that point the way toward verified, fact-based content. This more expansive lens shows that in many places—especially in communities without local journalists—there is another category of trusted information source: civil society organizations.

As immigration raids unfolded in Minneapolis, local news outlets like the Star Tribune and Sahan Journal sprang to action, using their networks and established sources to report the story of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in their streets. Reporting has also shown that WhatsApp groups that had been dedicated to figuring out who was providing snacks at the weekend soccer game changed quickly into grassroots organizing channels. At the same time, a vast network of nonprofits, schools, and houses of worship were circulating information via their social media, websites, and newsletters, in many cases providing important supplemental details and more up-to-the-minute reporting on the movements of ICE and the countermovements of the resistance.