Carrie Brown-Smith | Nieman Journalism Lab

Articles by Carrie Brown-Smith

Carrie Brown Smith is an assistant professor in the Journalism Department at the University of Memphis.

Engaged journalism: It’s finally happening

“As news organizations become increasingly dependent on subscriptions or memberships and the kinds of trusting relationships those require, engaged journalism becomes more and more of an economic imperative as well as a moral one.”

Advocating a healthy civic life is no journalistic crime

“If we want people to trust us, we need to recognize that objectivity is complex and that instead of prostrating ourselves blindly at its altar, we need to instead look harder at all of the subtle biases we have, how they affect our work, and how we can be more transparent about them.”

Transparency finally takes off

“Having been called ‘enemies of the people’ by our highest-ranking public official, reporters are starting to recognize the importance of not just a knee-jerk defense of their work, but one that shows exactly how they work to uncover wrongdoing and check facts.”

We won’t do enough

“We’ll debate and have panels, and talk past each other.”

Invest in people

“The tech tools that we rely on to engage and grow our audiences are powered by people, and dedicated, hard-working staff are our most important asset.”

Startups need to address real needs

“The startups most likely to succeed will be those that are closest to their communities and that have an intimate understanding of their readers’ information-seeking behaviors and motivations.”

Journalistic skills are still marketable

“There remains widespread resistance in newsrooms to a more active audience.”

Carrie Brown Smith: The social media bubble may burst, and more predictions for 2012

From local TV to journalism co-ops, 2012 may be a banner year for the local news ecosystem.