Arleta: A Proposal on Community Engagement
As we pass the one-year anniversary of COVID-19’s historic downfall on our way of life throughout the U.S. and worldwide, it’s interesting to see how our communities have changed within a span of a year. For this proposal, my focus will be on how other minorities in my community have been affected by COVID, as well as a reflection on the kinds of changes they have seen in our community this past year.
When looking at examples of engaged journalism projects, there were two that came to mind that I would like to imitate in terms of the way that the project was reported. To further explain, Cicero Independiente and The City both focused on their communities on a personal level as they shared the experiences of the people in their communities. As for my project, I will be focusing on highlighting specific people in my community to share their experiences during this pandemic and I will include a small background on each person, just like the one that was done by Cicero Independiente.
In doing additional research for this project, I have also found an article from LA Times, as well as a local news site in Wadena, Minnesota that both emphasizes their community and what their residents have experienced during the pandemic’s one-year anniversary. One aspect of the Wadena Pioneer Journal that I would like to include in my proposal is their use of an infographic that shows what the year has been like in numbers.
Arleta has a predominantly Latino population, however, the news tends to overlook other minorities that are living in the area as well. It is this lack of coverage that I would like to address for my project. In making sure that I represent the racial dynamics of Arleta, I will be highlighting the 14% of Arleta’s population that is non-Hispanic.
The key question that I will be asking for this project is, “What kinds of changes have you seen in your community ever since COVID occurred?” With this question, I’m making the community a focal point for people to share their experiences on the changes they may have seen over the past year of being in a pandemic. It would be interesting to see how the people who have been heavily active in this community would respond to this question as it deals with something that has played a role in their lives. Using the Listening Post Playbook’s tactics, I will be interviewing my community’s local leaders, essential workers, business owners, local organizations, and other people who are involved in the community.
The news gap in my community that I will be responding to is making sure that the minorities in my community are being represented. Coverage for my community, as well as those that are nearby, tends to focus on the population that has the majority. In doing so, it groups the entire community under a specific category, which undermines the other groups of people that are living there.
In terms of format for this project, I will be implementing Google Maps in the way that we used for our class, which is the vaccine labyrinth activity. For my map, I’ll be putting down a point for every person that has shared their story, as well as a supplemental image to go along with it. I will also be including photos of the community as well as videos and audio if possible.
