[UPDATED] Firm helping Davis Media Access assess local news needs
Also, a new big-name retailer is on its way to The Davis Collection, and Arden Fair Mall may get a Dick’s House of Sport
CORRECTION: The link to Impact Architects, provided by Davis Media Access, was incorrect in my initial post. It has been updated. The firm is from Boulder, Colo.
Davis Media Access on Monday announced a partnership with Impact Architects, an nationally recognized firm that will help DMA understand and address the decline of news and civic information in Yolo County.
Based in Boulder, Colo., Impact Architects works with nonprofits, philanthropists and businesses “to address complex challenges on a global scale,” a news release said. It will provide the framework, methodology and data analysis to determine what our community desires as far as news and information. They call the project Yolo Local.
The firm has worked with public media outlets and universities to evaluate the impact of their programs, and with large foundations including Ford, Knight and the Walton Family to measure the effects of supporting engaged journalism. One of its most recent projects looked at the need for reliable, quality information sources in Wyoming.
Executive Director Autumn Labbé-Renault said DMA is not a typical client for Impact Architects but its approach – brokered by Davis resident jesikah maria ross – yielded an opportunity to be the pilot for a new hybrid model.
Lindsay Green-Barber, founder of Impact Architects, said, “Over the past five years of doing (these) assessments, we’ve learned that the work is best when we have strong, engaged, local partners. In this hybrid model, we’ll bring our research expertise and strong assessment model, and our local partners will bring their relationships, deep knowledge of people and place. Together, we hope to deeply understand the opportunities, needs and gaps in information across Yolo County.”
DMA manages multiple media projects out of its Davis facility, at 1623 Fifth St. These include Davis Community Television, DJUSD.tv and community radio station KDRT 95.7FM, and works with public and private partners throughout the county. With its funding in decline, the nonprofit has been exploring its future direction. Labbé-Renault said one of the project’s goals is to create a process that other community media centers could replicate.
In late 2023, she began exploring how DMA’s infrastructure, expertise and community connections might improve community access to local information, the news release said. With the backing of DMA’s board and staff, she talked with nearly 50 community leaders, raised $25,000, including support from the city of Davis, and Yolo County supervisors Lucas Frerichs and Jim Provenza (former), and branded the project Yolo Local. I was among those she met with, at a meeting that included former Davis Enterprise editor Debbie Davis and columnist Bob Dunning.
Labbé-Renault began the process before the community’s newspaper of record, suffered a sharp decline in subscriptions following its botched layoff of Bob Dunning in early May. The Enterprise’s most recent paid circulation numbers, published in August, show it had 3,077 total paid print and electronic subscribers, down from 4,354 the year before. In the early 2000s, circulation hovered near 10,000. (Though we prefer not to get specific, Dunning and I now have more combined paid subscribers here than our former paper does.)
Working under IA’s framework between now and September, DMA will form a working group to lead surveys, focus groups and listening sessions throughout the county.
“Ultimately, Impact Architects will deliver a comprehensive, data-driven report that details how our Yolo community views its information needs, which in turn will drive the next phase of Yolo Local,” Labbé-Renault said. “We know it’s critical to take the time to listen to people in an inclusive way, and to get good data. The opportunity to work with IA levels up our project in multiple ways, and we’re most grateful for the opportunity to explore this collaboration.”
Labbé-Renault said DMA needs to raise another $25,000 to complete the assessment phase. She is actively pursuing funding opportunities. Reach her at autumn@davismedia.org.
