Engaged Cities

Engaged Cities is a community of practice for news organizations with engagement-first approaches to serving U.S. cities.

Engaged Cities is a learning community for news organizations committed to putting community engagement at the center of journalism in their city.

Created by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism in partnership with THE CITY in New York, Engaged Cities brings together newsroom leaders to tackle shared challenges, test new approaches, and serve as thought partners to each other. The community helps pilot and spread collaborative solutions that support deeper public service and long-term sustainability.

The Lenfest Institute supports members by:

• Facilitating working groups to address business and organizational challenges
• Leading data benchmarking and research
• Offering micro-grants to fund experiments and collaborations
• Publishing best practices and field insights

Member organizations are required to meet the following criteria:

• Independent, digitally focused news organizations that have already launched (all business models and media types are welcome)
• Primary audience and coverage area is a city in the United States
• Demonstrated history of a community engagement-first approach and an innovative, collaborative spirit through their work
• Primary participants have senior-level roles and buy-in from top leadership
• Participants are willing to share actively and maintain confidentiality in the spirit of mutual benefit