Reading and Berks County residents – You are invited to take part in a community survey to share your valuable insights as Spotlight PA explores the opportunity to create a potential new journalism bureau for Reading and Berks County. Local community input is a crucial part of this study – your voice matters!
This survey will only take a few minutes of your time, and your feedback is crucial in understanding local media needs and preferences. Your responses are completely confidential. Click the link below to start the survey; you can toggle the language at the top of the page to participate in English or Spanish.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SpotlightPABerksProject
Please share this survey link with your friends and networks. We’re not predetermining the outcome of this project or how to best serve the region. We’re putting the community in charge, and we would love to hear from as many people as possible in Berks County.
In Berks County, the severe decline in local reporting in recent years has stifled transparency and accountability at all levels and has made it hard to understand what is happening. To address this issue head-on, Spotlight PA is exploring the creation of a potential new journalism bureau dedicated to covering Reading and Berks County. The bureau would be independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit, with no opinion, endorsements, or political ads. This would be Spotlight PA’s second regional bureau; the newsroom launched its first in 2022, based in State College and covering north-central PA.
Thanks to a planning grant from Berks County Community Foundation, Spotlight PA is working with a host of community partners in Berks County in 2023-4 to build a blueprint for revitalizing local news and investigative journalism. Heather Adams of Berks Community Television is serving as Spotlight PA’s Berks County Project Lead, guiding the planning process through June 2024. Her work involves assessing community needs in Berks County and studying the feasibility of a bureau through conducting listening sessions and research, exploring content distribution methods, and developing the local bureau strategy with the input and direction of local voices.
