Public Good

how you provide value, support and engage communities

Public Good is about the value a newsroom provides to the communities it serves: how it informs, supports, and brings people into the conversation. For a media organization, this is the reason for existing beyond producing content. A team might pause here to ask who actually benefits from the work and how.

Questions to explore

// use these as prompts in a workshop or on your own. There are no right answers.

Who in our community relies on us, and for what?
Where does our work create value that no one else is providing?
How do we give people a way to take part rather than only consume?
Which communities are we serving well, and which are we missing?
How would our area be different if we were not here?

Expert voices

// notes from the journalists and AI experts who helped shape this kit

“Algorithms want outrage; journalism must show what society needs. The real test is balancing algorithmic demand with civic importance.”

Walid Al-Saqaf, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Things to consider

Serving the public means listening to it, not only publishing for it.
Value to a community is easier to claim than to show, so look for evidence.
The people who need you most are not always the ones who reach you first.

using this card

Pull Public Good when it is relevant and set it aside when it is not. Pair it with the other Organisation cards, lay them out on a table, and use the questions above to get everyone on the same page. Capture what you discuss on sticky notes or in a shared doc.