There is no communication without community. This is the simple logic that guides the Center for Community-Engaged Media's transformative work.

Journalism is an essential tool for keeping communities informed about matters of great importance to their daily lives. Indeed, as the recently departed scholar Jürgen Habermas suggested, journalism is “the preeminent institution” of the public and can quickly provide necessary, factual information to diverse populations. Sustaining the ability of journalism and journalists to serve the public is, and remains, an important goal, particularly as we see more and more newsrooms collapse due to changing market conditions.

But now more than ever, it is imperative that people invested in the future of news understand that journalism, however important it may be, represents only one way modern communities stay informed. People communicate by gathering, be it at a community center, a coffee shop or a street corner. Organizations that serve communities, such as libraries, houses of worship and government centers, often help spread information. Key people—today we refer to them as influencers—have also played, historically, a role in connecting people together, be they community leaders, community historians or simply community members who like to share gossip with others. Most importantly, technology has transformed how we can communicate. With a cellphone alone, a person can talk, send texts and emails, share messages on social media, watch and listen to videos and make transactions that support causes that inform their local community.

It is this understanding of the depths of the media ecosystem that makes our center different. In our work, we aim to holistically serve the information needs of communities. This certainly involves journalism. Since the summer of 2025, our center has hosted the Philadelphia Journalism Collaborative (PJC). One of the oldest collaboratives in the nation, the PJC works with more than two dozen newsrooms to bring community-centered, solutions-oriented news to the public. Currently, PJC members are working on a series focused on economic mobility. We are also working with journalists in South Jersey on a series of community engagement efforts.

We do not merely focus on newsrooms, however. Powered by the philosophy behind Communication Infrastructure Theory—which you can read more about it in a separate piece from our center—we make an effort to understand the totality of media ecosystems, with an emphasis on understanding communities and their information needs. This involves ecosystem research that centers communities, as well as endeavors that work directly with community media makers. Our largest effort to date, which is mapping the news ecosystem in Delaware County, has involved community asset mapping, a survey and interviews with community members. It is our hope that, when finished, our efforts will help improve how communities stay informed by connecting not only newsrooms but also other people and organizations involved in keeping communities informed about important topics.

Communication cannot exist without communities. We hope that our work, which centers communities, can make this clear to journalists, researchers and others concerned with the future of news and democracy in America.