Health & Wealth: Final Presentation

Garrett BergquistAustin Fax

Project Overview

• “The desk will produce on-air and online stories, news series, panel discussions and community outreach on the quality of life, economy and health of the mid-Missouri region.”

• “This project is similar to Harvest Public Media, a successful collaboration between newsrooms in the Midwest that received significant online and organizational support from a convergence capstone team last fall.”

Executive Summary

• Helped launch KBIA “Health & Wealth Desk” web page and weekly newscast

• Reported on initial stories• Launched @HealthWealthDSK Twitter feed• Compiled guidebook for future use, including

source contact information

Twitter Feed

The H&W Desk Web page

Web Page Analytics

Audience Research• Talked to passersby in downtown Columbia, Jefferson City

– Did not know at the time we were focusing on rural community

• Very few people knew what we were talking about• Those who did said they wanted to see fewer talking

heads, more policy analysis• Planned on posting video of these interviews, but not

enough wanted to go on camera (sensitive subject?)• KBIA audience data doesn’t match rural demographics at

all

Eric Mattingly

• Columbia resident• “There’s no news analysis out there. It’s all

sound bites and clips”• Feels better analysis could help people make

more informed decisions

Mary Beth Doerr

• Jefferson City• Wants to see more regular people, fewer

talking heads• “There’s a lot of regular people with a lot of

very good opinions”

Interview Video (10 min)

Source Research

• Talked to– Legislators– Healthcare professionals– Large and small business professionals

• All said they wanted to see more policy, less politics

Sen. Maria Chapelle-Nadal

• Health, Mental Health, Seniors and Families Cmte.

• Says constituents usually never hear about issues unless media report extensively on them

• “Many times, in the media, what we hear is the politics.”

Sen. Scott Rupp

• Chairman, Small Business, Insurance and Industry Cmte.

• Local media don’t dig deep enough on effects of businesses coming or leaving

• “Yeah, they’re gonna create 249 jobs, but what does that mean to the average person?”

Bill Morrisey

• President, Kilgore’s Pharmacy• Local media cover same companies over and

over again• More comprehensive coverage could end up

supporting local businesses

Setup

• H&W page created during KBIA.org redesign• Fenston looking for “audio blog posts,” not

necessarily standard packages• Twitter launched in early November• Facebook page considered, nixed

Reporting Work

• Audrain Voters Plump for Public Health• Rural Post Offices Hoping for a Break• Pursued other stories, but these ideas

ultimately fell through

Problems

• Communication– Left out of loop, and we didn’t make strong enough effort

to get in– Not told of rural focus until about a month into semester– Fenston: Not sure what his role, expectations should have

been• Other reporting commitments– Newsy– KOMU

• Proximity, availability of sources

Sustainability

• Created guide for anyone working on H&W in future

• Includes contacts, Twitter info, etc.• Possible partnership with Harvest Public

Media?

What have we learned?

• Very low awareness in these communities about issues

• KBIA audience demographics don’t match communities at all– 67% of KBIA listeners have Bachelor’s or higher,

versus 17% of Mexico– Twitter unlikely to be a major news source

• Need more physical outreach, should have spent more time on this

Conclusions

• Extremely worthwhile endeavor• Should be sole reporting commitment for

future students (no KOMU, no Newsy)– Could be good for students in B3 or J4806

• Outreach could be good follow-on capstone project