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University students present News Lab and Documenters pilot to council as civic journalism initiative
Summary
Students from the University of Evansville presented News Lab’s research on local news needs and outlined a Documenters pilot program to train and pay community members to cover civic meetings; the project is seeking local partners and plans a pilot by May.
Students and project partners presented an update on News Lab — a University of Evansville civic journalism initiative — and asked the Common Council to consider partnering on a pilot program to recruit and train community “documenters” to attend local meetings and produce verified, accessible meeting coverage.
Chloe Campbell and Emily Palmasano, University of Evansville seniors and News Lab members, summarized two years of research including a community survey, focus groups and listening sessions that found uneven local news coverage, limited non‑English resources and gaps in follow‑up reporting. They said roughly 40% of survey respondents check local news daily while about 25% rarely or never do.
Rashida Ajabadi and other News Lab team members described the Documenters program, a nationally used model in which community members are paid and trained to attend government meetings, take notes, photograph and document proceedings, and then submit verified summaries for publication. The program emphasizes workforce development, civic engagement and nonpartisan, edited outputs. News Lab said it has secured grants from Press Forward and the Lumina Foundation to support building a pilot newsroom and training materials and aims to pilot the program by May.
The students said partners on the project include City Bureau, Our Times newspaper, the Immigrant Welcome Resource Center, local libraries and neighborhood organizations. They distributed a report and one‑page briefing to council and offered to hold listening sessions with the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council, Joshua Academy and other groups to refine outreach and translation needs.
Council members praised the work and signaled interest in partnerships and a listening session with the council to discuss how documenters could serve civic leaders and the public. News Lab asked councilors and staffers to register interest via a QR code and provided contact materials for follow‑up.
Implications: If launched and sustained, the program would add capacity for meeting coverage across city boards and agencies, translate content for non‑English speakers as resources allow, and create paid training and entry points into journalism for local residents and students.
