• May 25, Cafe Zoe, East Palo Alto/Menlo Park, 6-9pm
• May 30, Loft Bar & Bistro, San Jose, 6-9pm
• June 1, Clean Xpress, Richmond, 11am-1pm
Additional locations may be announced in the near future. More information is available at KQED.org/community and BayCitizen.org/blogs/baybridges.
“Too often, public talk about government and the issues in our communities focuses on our philosophical differences. Too often we talk past each other,” says Raul Ramirez, KQED's director of news and public affairs. “These meetups give us the opportunity to foster conversation that rejects diatribe and promotes dialogue. Conversation that helps us hear directly from local residents about the challenges they're facing.”
“The open newsroom events allow readers and listeners to connect with reporters in a way that simply can't happen online,” says community news editor Ashley Alvarado, who oversees the public engagement team at the Center for Investigative Reporting and its projects. “They are also a great way to identify stories that need to be told.”
This is not the first time KQED News or the Center for Investigative Reporting staffers have held meetings in the community to hear from area residents. California Watch, another project of the Center for Investigative Reporting, has organized several “open newsrooms” at California cafes in the past. KQED News, meanwhile, interviewed more than 150 people at San Francisco gathering spots last year for its “Dear Mayor” project.
Interested in getting involved in Open Newsroom events? For The Bay Citizen contact Marie McIntosh at mmcintosh@baycitizen.org or for KQED contact Ian Hill at ihill@kqed.org.
About The Center for Investigative Reporting
Founded in 1977, the Center for Investigative Reporting is the nation's oldest nonprofit investigative reporting organization - producing multimedia reporting that enables people to demand accountability from government, corporations and others in power. CIR's award-winning California Watch is the largest investigative team in the state. staff includes highly-skilled reporters who know how to cultivate sources and find hidden information; engineers and analysts who create sophisticated news apps, interactive maps and tools to help the public understand issues from the macro to the micro level; and radio, video and multimedia producers who create engaging documentaries, videos and animated features to demystify complex topics. The Bay Citizen, which merged with CIR this week, was launched as a nonprofit, nonpartisan, member-supported news organization dedicated to promoting innovation in journalism and catalyzing citizen engagement with the news.
