Decibel Hosts Second Sounding Board Meeting

More communication, more accessibility, and more good stories–those were just a few of the takeaways from Decibel’s most recent Sounding Board meeting.

The Decibel team met virtually with members of the Rundberg Sounding Board on May 20 to give updates on our reporting and take a look at the feedback we’ve received on our work thus far. We also discussed future projects and how we can make feedback forms easier to fill out and more accessible.

First we screened our latest story on Dobie Middle School’s nascent newspaper class, and how they had to adapt once their school became the story. Attendees were then polled on the story’s content. We asked them ‘how would you rate the storytelling on this project;’ ‘did this story discuss topics important to the community;’ and ‘does this story accurately represent some of the community in Rundberg?’ Attendees gave us overwhelmingly positive feedback. One Sounding Board member said it helped him better understand how students were dealing with the tumultuous semester.

“Dobie is my neighbor … and that has kind of been weighing on me, because I'm sure there's a tremendous amount of pressure on them as students as a school right now,” the attendee said. “The timeliness of the story couldn't be more relevant.”

Next, we dove into the data. After each story is published, the Decibel team sends community Sounding Board members a feedback survey (anyone interested in providing feedback can do so via a survey link at the end of each article). Members are asked to rate the story. We also ask if there is anything they really liked or disliked about the story, and if there is anything we can improve upon for our next project.

The Decibel team gathered all the responses from the feedback forms submitted by the Rundberg Sounding Board to date, and collated the responses. The general outlook was positive. Rundberg Sounding Board members overwhelmingly told us the stories we’ve done so far are important to Rundberg (92%), that we have accurately represented the neighborhood (96%). They also rated our storytelling as either Excellent (72%) or Pretty Good (28%). So far none of our stories have been rated Neither Good Nor Bad, Poor or Very Poor.

The feedback has been positive, but we want to make sure we’re capturing as many responses as we can. Our response rate has dropped over the past few months, going from roughly 72% to 30%, with an overall average response of 41%. We feel like it’s on us, as the reporters and leaders of this project, to make sure that it’s easy for community members to give us feedback and share thoughts. Board members suggested sending follow-up emails with reminders. We’ll be implementing that into our workflow.

Aggregate data from Rundberg Sounding Board feedback form response rate to date.

We also talked about future projects. Over the next few months, viewers can expect stories on safety in Rundberg, how federal funding cuts could impact local food banks, and continued highlights of local eateries. Attendees voted on what other topics we should spend time on. Stories that focused on local entrepreneurs were the top choice, followed by immigration and homelessness.

Finally, members got to help us pick a winner in our first photojournalism contest. Earlier this year we partnered up with the Dobie Roadrunner newspaper staff. We gave them disposable film cameras and told them to give us a look at the world through their eyes. They provided an insightful, endearing, and often funny, look at the world of Rundberg teens. Students then picked one photo to submit for the contest. The Sounding Board, along with members of the Rundberg Alliance, selected a winner and two runner-ups. Attendees got to vote on their favorites. Those who couldn’t make it were able to vote through an online form sent out with a post-meeting follow-up email.

As always, the meeting gave us valuable insight into how our reporting reflects the community, and how we can strive to improve our work. Our staff will meet again with the Rundberg Sounding Board in the fall.

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