Why Has Home Become So Hard?
Top Story: To House or Not to House
America has become a nation of renters.
The median age of first-time American homeowners is now 40, according to a report out from the National Association of Realtors.
Once a rite of passage, homeownership is now a luxury far too many cannot afford.
This is news. It is also existential, economic, emotional, and very much in need of our attention.
To solve the housing crisis, American communities need big solutions, innovative ideas, and lots of debate. That means they also need journalists to cover the hell out of it.
Reporting Right has some ideas.
Tips for covering the housing crisis
It’s personal.
Home is synonymous with a person’s sense of well-being and their sense of self. Keeping this in mind while reporting will make your stories more compelling, empathetic, and true.
LIKE THIS: Invisible Child - Andrea Elliott, NYT
Solutions wanted.
If there was ever a topic that lended itself to solutions journalism, this is it. Tell stories that focus on solutions that are working; those that were supposed to work, but didn’t; and those that seem like placeholders for better ideas. Don’t forget ones that deserve a: “Really?”
LIKE THIS: California community colleges have a solution for homeless students: their cars
Spy on your neighbors.
Go beyond your beat. Find neighboring communities that have found innovative ideas. Report on them.
LIKE THESE IDEAS: What are they trying?
Start a conversation.
Do a story. Then hold an event. Go ahead, make it a series. Invite vested parties, experts, public officials. Help folks focus on the problem and potential solutions. Help them hold their leaders accountable.
LIKE THIS: Midcoast Villager in Maine asked its readers to join community housing experts in a conversation
Hurting not helping.
Don’t assume everyone wants to solve this problem. Some elected officials are actually making it worse, namely ones taking dollars from developers, landlords, etc. Be vigilant about this.
LIKE THIS: Wait, who funded your campaign?
Get Vertical.
Housing is inherently visual. Use vertical videos to tell some of your housing stories.
All Ears.
Don’t underestimate how much people like to hear about housing.
LIKE THIS: Housing, housing, housing
GOOD GUIDE FOR HOUSING COVERAGE
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Executive Editor Kyle Spencer
Our Board of Advisors
Alex Aronson, executive director of Court Accountability
David Armiak, research director for the Center for Media and Democracy
Connor Gibson, founder of Grassrootbeer Investigations
Maurice Cunningham, retired associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and author of Dark Money and The Politics of School Privatization.
Isaac Kamola, associate professor of political science at Trinity College, founder of Faculty First Responders and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
Nancy MacLean, William H. Chafe distinguished professor of history and public policy at Duke University and author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America
Ralph Wilson, founder of the Corporate Genome Project and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
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