WHYY News Civic News Summit shines light on connecting local communities through journalism and media

The second day of the WHYY News Summit featured several panels and discussions on the role of community in effective journalism.

By Jensen Toussaint. April 23, 2025.

Photo: Jensen Toussaint / Inti Media

On Saturday, April 5, WHYY hosted day 2 of its second annual WHYY News Civic News Summit: Connecting Local Communities. 

Each of the sessions, conversations, and panels throughout the day highlighted the importance of that theme. The day got rolling with an exercise allowing attendees to discuss their connection to the media industry. This exercise is the foundation for WHYY’s Bridging Blocks program. Bridging Blocks is a partnered effort between WHYY and the Free Library of Philadelphia “to foster civil newsroom dialogue and understanding between diverse households.”

Later in the day, attendees witnessed a fireside chat between Rebecca Neuwirth, chief strategy officer at Documented, and WHYY’s vice president of news & civic dialogue, Sarah Glover. Documented is a New York-based newsroom reporting on immigrant communities, produced in partnership with the people who are part of them. 

It was launched in 2018 by journalists and former overseas correspondents Mazin Sidahmed and Max Siebelbaum.

“They really wanted to do something different. They wanted to create a media source that would be about immigrants, and first and foremost, for the immigrants that they were covering,” Neuwirth said during the chat. When the co-founders first launched the publication, they went out into the community to hear directly what issues they cared most about.

A key driver in the success of the publication, which is now seven years old and counting, is the fact that New York City’s immigrant communities (a significant percentage of the city’s population) are part of the discussion. They aren’t just the subject—they are the intended audience.

“It takes a lot of discipline,” Neuwirth said. “I think it’s a completely different way of thinking about how to pick your stories editorially.”

Over the years, the Documented team has strived to find ways to continue engaging the city’s immigrant communities. This effort has included publishing its articles in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Haitian Creole. These are among the most common languages spoken in New York City.

“Our work is only effective if we’re actually genuinely reaching the people who we’re working with,” Neuwirth added.

Given that the team of journalists at Documented have ties to immigrant communities, they are often just as impacted by the challenges they are reporting on. That dynamic creates a level of sensitivity, care, and quality that can be seen in their coverage, which is the essence of true and effective journalism.

The Every Voice Every Vote initiative was launched to facilitate collaboration between newsrooms, community organizations, and Philadelphia residents in their efforts to address the city’s most pressing challenges.

“One of the things that we’ve been really encouraging — and not in a forceful way — [is that] we try to provide a platform for collaboration,” said Shawn Mooring, head of Philadelphia programs at the Lenfest Institute for Journalism. 

To move this effort forward, Lenfest and its other funding partners have invested about $2.8 million in 71 media and community organizations throughout the city.

Representatives from four of these organizations — The Trace, Green Philly, The Philadelphia Citizen, and WURD Radio — took part in a panel discussion during the next part of the summit, each stressing the value of collaboration. 

Afea Tucker, community engagement reporter at The Trace, noted that collaboration between newsrooms often comes naturally.

“I’ve learned that we have a lot in common, and some of our goals are the same,” she said. Although the specific issues may vary, Philadelphians want a city that is safe, clean, and prosperous.

“Our media landscape is fractured and changing from where it was 20 or so years ago,” said Julie Hancher, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Green Philly. “[There are] a lot of reasons for that, but I think we are stronger when we are collaborating.”

She added that these collaborative efforts help fill the gaps between where and how audiences consume media.

Ashanti Martin, general manager at WURD Radio, added that collaboration also breeds opportunity for organizations and journalists of different areas of expertise, which can lead to more trust.

“The trust factor in journalism is everything,” Martin highlighted.

For Olivia Kram, digital media marketing and community manager at the Philadelphia Citizen, the collaboration is also a deviation from the notion that all news and media organizations have to compete.

“I love that we’re able to look at it as not a competition, but how we can boost each other’s work,” she said. 

The summit concluded with a panel featuring independent journalists and media makers who are part of WHYY’s News and Information Community Exchange (N.I.C.E.).

Lateef White, show host and operations manager at WJYN, and fellow panelist Mike James of Uptown Radio, spoke about the importance of ensuring that people have a platform to speak and be heard.

“Many times when we are out in the community, covering different events and talking to people, we often hear that they feel like their voices are unheard,” said Lauren Settles, entertainment reporter at We Talk Weekly. “So, we’ve always felt like we need to be a voice for the voiceless.”

Joe Blake, a veteran journalist who served as the moderator for the panel, likened journalists to essentially being activists.

“For some reason or another, that’s always seen as a word that antithetical to journalism in its purest form, but in actuality, all journalism is activism because you’re creating a story based on truth, fact, and the fact you know what you’re talking about, and you have credible sources to bring that truth out,” Blake said. 

This project is a part of Every Voice, Every Vote, a collaborative project managed by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. The William Penn Foundation provides lead support for Every Voice, Every Vote in 2024 and 2025 with additional funding from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Comcast NBC Universal, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Henry L. Kimelman Family Foundation, Judy and Peter Leone, Arctos Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, 25th Century Foundation, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, and Philadelphia Health Partnership. To learn more about the project and view a full list of supporters, visit www.everyvoice-everyvote.org. Editorial content is created independently of the project’s donors.