by Amani Channel

If you’ve been following my tweets today, you’ve been getting an inside glimpse at the future of public media (I hope this is the future at least).

When I worked as a reporter, one of my biggest issues was the constant battle to cover community stories and issues.

This is the daily routine: Every morning, station’s have editorial meetings where news ideas of the day are discussed. A reporter has little chance to cover a story if management and producers don’t think the pitch has news value. It’s a very subjective process to say the least.

CNN’s anchor/reporter TJ Holmes summed up the situation in this popular MyUrbanReport interview (Google TJ Holmes and see the results). Since management and the powers that be usually don’t come from diverse backgrounds, they usually “don’t get” stories about diverse communities. If it doesn’t involve blood, crime, or flashing lights… good luck.

It could be argued that mainstream outlets aren’t generally trying to serve diverse communities anyway. The fact remains that this nation is rapidly changing, and soon the minority will be the majority. I digress.

Similar diversity issues exist in digital media ventures as well, as former NABJ President Bryan Monroe points out.

There are, however examples of bloggers and traditional journalists who have worked collaboratively to raise awareness of issues like the Jena 6, and Shaquanda Cotton stories.

What happens when traditional journalists, social justice, and investigative reporters don’t have a mainstream outlet to work for?

These are just some of the issues being discussed in Atlanta as public media advocates share ideas and possible solutions.

This is the second workshop that Public Media Corps had organized to develop strategies to engage, and help diverse communities participate in the information conversation.

This group is discussing everything from user-generated content, gaming, to creating a fellowship program to help train community storytellers.

It’s a very inspiring discussion.