If you are a newsroom thinking about running a live event, you can now apply to partner with our newest Impact Grant – and former Magic Grant – Local Live(s).
Local Live(s) is a project by Back Pocket Media funded through an Impact Grant from the Brown Institute for Media Innovation. The goal of Local Live(s) is to help newsrooms build trust in their communities through live virtual storytelling events that feature journalists telling the stories behind their reporting. They will partner with 30 papers around the country and produce two events with each publisher. After a year of events with newsrooms (VTDigger, Chicago Sun-Times, WFAE and more) Back Pocket Media is now accepting applications to join its second cohort of newsrooms.
These events have been extremely successful: after a year of shows Local Live(s) noted an average of ~130 virtual tickets (zero ad-spend) and acquired ~100 new email subscribers per-show. They retained 90% of their audience – meaning only 10 people left the show before it ended – and everyone else stayed until the end. Even more, 35% of participants stayed after the event to chat with journalists in breakout rooms.
Who should apply:
- News organizations of any size who are eager to experiment with novel ways of engaging their audience.
- Ideal partners should be committed to community building, humanizing the reporter’s process, and strengthening their event infrastructure.