Public voting set to begin for ‘2011: Assignment Youngstown’

Staff report

youngstown

Public voting begins this week for “2011: Assignment Youngstown,” a project of Youngstown State University’s TheNewsOutlet.org that allows citizens to have a voice in deciding what stories and issues matter most to them and to the city.

The NewsOutlet team has assembled plans for six stories it believes should be told and carried by Mahoning Valley media organizations. The story ideas were developed after NewsOutlet staffers, consisting of YSU students, attended community meetings in the city and talked to residents about their concerns and what they are noticing happening in their neighborhoods.

But TheNewsOutlet wants more input and is now launching the next step in its “2011: Assignment Youngstown” project. Citizens can rank the six story packages that TheNewsOutlet has developed. Those rankings will then be tabulated and used to guide which stories are pursued.

Once reported, written and produced, the stories will then be carried by Mahoning Valley media, including The Vindicator and WYSU FM – two founding partners of TheNewsOutlet.org. The stories will be made available, free of charge, to any interested media organization, including bloggers or others. The only requirement is that the NewsOutlet be given credit for the work.

Voting is taking place online at www.thenewsoutlet.org as well as on paper at all branches of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.

TheNewsOutlet.org, funded by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Raymond John Wean Foundation, is a joint venture among YSU’s journalism program, WYSU-FM, The Vindicator, the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative and the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.

Launched last September, TheNewsOutlet.org has produced dozens of stories examining such issues as a malfunctioning city crime-watch network, illegal dumping on the city’s East Side and life in a drug rehabilitation program. Todd Franko, editor of The Vindicator, said he believes the work of TheNewsOutlet already has played an important role in the community.

“Students gain valuable experience that will help them when they are looking for permanent positions,” said Tim Francisco, co-director of TheNewsOutlet and a journalism faculty member. “The media organizations who pick up our stories get valuable content and, most of all, citizens get information that they need in order to make decisions about their lives.”