What
Open editorial meetings are when media open up the editorial process and invite the audience to have a say in how the media should cover a specific topic. They can offer ideas and opinions and lead you in the direction of good sources.
Why
To expand your idea-pool by involving the audience in your work, and to be transparent on how the editorial decisions are made. Also, if you want to test directly with the audience the story ideas that you pitch .
When
You can open up your editorial meetings to gain new ideas or to gain or increase your knowledge-base on a specific matter.
Be aware of
Be clear on what you want the participants to give you input on. Frame the meeting in a way so you actually let people talk, but on the other hand don’t let them take over. You are the host of the meeting. Additionally, in the long run there is a risk of having the same participants with the same topics turning up at every meeting. You may want to vary the weekday or invite specific people from your audience.
Tips for students
Even though you don’t have a media and a big audience, it can still be valuable to invite experts, community members or stakeholders to an informal off the record meeting about the topic you are about to dive into.
Possible tools
You can host open editorial meetings in real life or online using Teams, Zoom or other services. Facebook Live or YouTube are also possible tools, but you will be dependent on their algorithms.
Who
Omroep West – Henk Ruijl
