Yvette Benavides and I recently produced an audio documentary for Texas Public Radio about childhood Type 2 Diabetes. Specifically focusing on the condition becoming more common in children and our community needing a comprehensive approach to addressing this worsening health care crisis.
In the research process, Yvette and I soon realized solid community engagement would be essential for our reporting. The voices of our community needed to be prominent in the audio documentary, quite literally. Children’s health is a sensitive topic and Yvette and I aimed to respectfully collect the stories of San Antonians who have been impacted by type 2 diabetes.
Engagement journalism, including the voices and perspectives of those being reported on, has become increasingly important. To successfully produce this piece, we practiced Engagement Journalism while drawing heavily on social sciences for authenticity that will both inform you as the listener and will also recommend action.
With the intent to engage the community in an unfiltered atmosphere, Yvette and I headed to Woodlawn Lake Park where we set up a table with TPR ‘swag’ and - talked to people. Almost everyone we spoke to had a story to share about the personal effects of type 2 diabetes, or that of their family.
Many of these stories were heart breaking. We heard about lost loved ones, amputations, dialysis and more. This experience brought us face to face with the critical need for reports on this topic and the vital importance of engagement in journalism.
TPR’s mission is to engage, inspire and inform, to empower our community to make life better. Engaging with the community keeps our reporting grounded. But this requires taking extra time and effort to develop the thoughtful journalism that Texas Public Radio is known for. Your financial support provides the means so we can engage the community in deep and meaningful ways – so we can then inspire and inform, to empower our community to make life better.
Thank you for supporting Texas Public Radio.
On more thing, right now, we are starting the ramp-up to TPR’s fall 2022 Pledge Drive. Please consider making a gift to support engagement journalism today.
David Martin Davies
