Code, Culture, and Leadership Convenings

Code, Culture, and Leadership convenings were cohort-driven events where small groups come together to work and problem-solve on a common theme.

Starting in 2017, we held events where two-person teams from several newsrooms assembled, each with an open-source project that needed last-mile development and documentation to be ready for release, as well as events around themes that helped newsrooms build new and stronger leadership, and more resilient, inclusive culture.

Over six code convenings, teams shared projects like Pym.js, the California Civic Data Coalition, and Lunchbox, Klaxon. At documentation-driven events, the community created a playbook for open-source development in the newsroom and a curriculum for peer training on digital security for journalists. Other cohort-driven events have focused on leadership and community allyship, emerging from a session at SRCCON, and on training and collaboration for “local coders.”

During these events, we got to see how teams working on separate projects are able to build relationships with each other, and how working side-by-side strengthens everyone’s projects. Our convenings grewe to emphasize relationship-building and cohort support even more explicitly as participants came together to take on projects and questions.