Communities of Hope
Civic Media
Your Community. Your News. Your Voice.
1 Old Ferry Road
Bristol, RI 02089
Goals and Missions
We aim to provide communities who are out of the mainstream access to media platforms as well as training in journalism and multimedia production so that they may develop their own local media platforms, gain control over their narratives and data, and obtain redress for historical harms caused by wrongful media representations.
Our goal is to work with vulnerable populations to produce news, features, investigations, and media art to improve their quality of life and bring them into the decision-making process involving their communities. This will be done through training, employment, and collaboration.
Civic Media
We work with Roger Williams University students, high school students, local media organizations, non-profit organizations, and groups of people who need our work the most. Our main publics are those who can benefit the most from education, training, and consistent work. They include, but are not limited to: refugees, formerly and currently incarcerated people (adults and youth), ethnic communities, Black communities, Latin-American communities, immigrant and diaspora communities, Indigenous Nations and groups, disabled and chronically ill communities, trans people, other marginalized queer communities and persons, the houseless and other economically marginalized groups.
Who We Are
We engage students, faculty, professionals, and community members in collaborative civic media projects to benefit the most vulnerable communities in the state of Rhode Island and beyond. We cover topics related to social justice in all areas, including services to specific groups such as immigrants and refugees, LGBTQIA+ individuals, disabled and chronically ill people (including mental health issues), wards of the state (people in the carceral or foster care systems), environmental justice communities, poverty, food insecurity and homelessness, discrimination based on race/ethnicity/gender/nationality/language/faith and any other social-cultural-economic statuses, and all things related to the social determinants of health in our communities. We do most of this work in collaboration with many other RWU and external organizations and individuals in multiple projects and programs, including but not limited to: a weekly 2-hour magazine-style radio show with a mix of community news, investigative journalism, live interviews, and feature stories on WQRI, newsletters, apps. combining databases, gaming tools and AI chat bots (for service, connection with resources, and education), podcasts, documentaries, research, educational campaigns, workshops, webinars, classes (both for RWU students and for external publics through RWU Extension) and other training programs
Our Partners and Collaborators
Communities of Hope is part of the Rhode Island News Collaborative
The Providence Eye
Ocean State Media
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I get involved with your work?
Local community members in Rhode Island can get involved with Communities of Hope’s work in many ways:
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Are you a local journalist and need support to produce community-driven solutions journalism projects? Check our programs and contact us to learn how we can help you.
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Run an educational program and want to have students learn and practice community-driven solutions journalism? Check our programs and contact us to learn how we can help you.
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Do you run or participate in a local newsroom or civic organization and would like to collaborate? Contact us and we will get back to you promptly.
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Do you want to support us financially? Contact us!
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Is there something else you want to do or have no idea where to star? Lets talk about it!
What is community-driven journalism?
Community-driven news is a form of public service journalism that works with and for the community rather than merely telling stories about the community.
We engage in conversations with community members, hold listening posts, and conduct community and information needs assessments to make sure we are providing a service that directly answers the questions and addresses the needs of the communities we work with. We don’t tell communities what is important, we ask. We obtain the information they need and bring it back to them.
We don’t publish our work on platforms that are not accessible to the communities. We ask how they prefer to receive information (online, radio, TV, print, at meetings, through face-to-face conversations, podcasts, social media, etc.) and provide information using multiple formats that best suit their needs.
We don’t parachute in and leave with the information from the communities, we bring the information to them and work alongside them to address issues. We bring capital and resources into the community, instead of removing it from the communities.
What is solutions journalism?
The best answer is simple: solutions journalism is a complete form of investigative reporting that not only exposes problems, but also investigates available solutions for those problems.
Solutions journalism does not propose solutions; it allows the public to evaluate what has worked or not in other situations and places.
Learn more, get connected, and/or get trained on solutions journalism with the Solutions Journalism Network. Their answer to “What is Solutions Journalism” involves four ingredients.
What is transformative and transformational journalism?
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