Information access powered by a multi-channel media strategy
JMPRO Community Media
North Carolina’s news and information ecosystem grows more digital every day, with many organizations primarily communicating via social media and online publications. But as our reliance on the internet grows, so does the digital divide, the gap between those who have access to the digital world, and those who don’t. In Western North Carolina, JMPRO Community Media bridges this divide with a multi-channel distribution strategy tailored to the lives and needs of local immigrant communities.
JMPRO is a grassroots nonprofit that shares essential news and information with immigrant communities. In addition to producing print, radio, and online journalism in Spanish, Mam, K’iche, and English, JMPRO trains community members to produce their own journalism. At its core, JMPRO’s work is about listening to the community’s needs and finding ways to meet them.
JMPRO’s diligent community organizing results in more accessible information distribution, especially to those who are often marginalized by broadband access or media that is only available in English. Here are a few ways JMPRO ensures that relevant, useful content reaches the people who need it.
JMPRO distributes printed bulletins with resources and community stories.
Physical print distribution of news and information continues to be an effective channel, especially for immigrant communities in Western North Carolina. JMPRO’s solution is its Spanish-language monthly bulletins, or boletines. They include timely and evergreen resources, such as information about tenant rights, where to access essential household items, the importance of getting a flu shot, and more. JMPRO ensures community members can readily access boletines by distributing them at central gathering places, like tiendas and flea markets.
JMPRO distributes its boletines in Spanish and K’iche in churches, flea markets, and other gathering places, like this tienda in Morganton, NC. (Photo courtesy of JMPRO).
JMPRO produces a community radio program to reach listeners who commute or those without reliable internet access.
Radio continues to be a reliable form of information distribution in Western North Carolina, especially for rural communities with limited broadband access. Every morning, JMPRO’s Spanish-language radio program shares the news and information that is most relevant to immigrant communities. JMPRO also works with local governments and nonprofits to determine what resources are accessible to people who are undocumented, broadcasting this information on the air and in their other channels.
JMPRO builds storytelling and journalism skills while developing community leaders.
The majority of JMPRO’s audience works full-time while caring for their families. JMPRO provides conveniently timed training sessions and welcomes family members, including young children, to join. Accessible journalism training means more folks can build the media and leadership skills they need to do their own reporting. And when community members are reporting from within their own communities, others are more likely to listen and trust what they’re reading, hearing, and viewing.
The general operating grants issued by the NC Local News Lab Fund enable JMPRO to sustain its operations, adapt information distribution to community needs, and continue to invest in community organizing. The result is more accessible, truthworthy, relevant information, produced for and by community members.
Preview Photo: JMPRO’s community reporter interviews a woman at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church Palooza in Asheville, NC. (Photo courtesy of JMPRO).
More Impact Stories
