How The Courier Journal connected with people through its 2023 mobile newsroom and events
You could see the frustration on Julio Rodriguez's face when he walked into the Shawnee Library on a hot July day and asked to speak with someone from The Courier Journal.
Rodriquez said he had been trying for years to get the water turned on at E. Leland Taylor Park in western Louisville's Shawnee neighborhood, and he was upset that no one seemed to care that children were playing there in sweltering heat with no water.
I was working at the library that day along with two other colleagues as part of The Courier Journal's mobile newsroom. After hearing Rodriquez's concerns, I immediately contacted reporter Stephanie Kuzydym, who had written about inequity in our parks. Kuzydym called and emailed Metro Parks and city officials, and in less than an hour, the water was on at the 8.8-acre park.
It's one of the ways The Courier Journal had a positive impact in 2023 through community engagement and public events that included everything from a forum on how to make sidelines safer for student athletes, to a community discussion on equitable housing, to an awards ceremony honoring top workplaces.
The mobile newsroom, which The Courier Journal started in 2022, is one of our biggest engagement efforts. It brings our journalists to your neighborhood to listen to you about the issues you care about and the stories you think we should be telling. It is a way to make The Courier Journal more accessible to our readers and to increase our understanding of the diverse neighborhoods that make up our hometown.
We have partnered with the Louisville Free Public Library for the mobile newsroom and worked out of its various branches. Last year we worked from the Shawnee, Jeffersontown and Fairdale libraries. We also worked with the Oldham County Public Library, setting up our traveling newsroom at the La Grange branch. Butchertown was also one of our locations last year. The good people at Work the Metal in Butchertown Market let us work from their lobby.
We held events in connection with the mobile newsroom at a couple of locations, including a Meet the Editors night in La Grange and a Free Family Photo Night in Shawnee.
If you would like us to come to your neighborhood, send an email to vmorgan@courier-journal.com.
Here are other community events The Courier Journal held in 2023, often working hand in hand with other organizations:
Safer Sidelines Event
On May 17, The Courier Journal partnered with Spalding University to host a free event that brought attention to efforts to keep student athletes safe on the field. We held the event at Spalding after a Courier Journal investigation into sudden death in high school sports.
The investigation by reporter Stephanie Kuzydym revealed that at least 200 students nationwide have died playing high school sports in the last 10 years, with the majority dying from head trauma, cardiac arrest or heat illness. Between 2009 and 2020, four Kentucky athletes died of sudden cardiac arrest.
The event focused on gold standard policies, life-saving equipment and training and legislation that could help keep young athletes alive.
Top Workplaces
In October, The Courier Journal hosted its annual Top Workplaces event at the Muhammad Ali Center to honor the best of the best among Louisville’s business community.
Hundreds of employees at various companies around the metro area anonymously filled out questionnaires about their jobs and their employers, many of which were honored for giving employees the training they need to succeed, adding value to their community and allowing employees to enjoy a hybrid work environment for better work-life balance.
Additionally, numerous managers were honored for the work they do to support their employees, keep them engaged and create a positive environment where others can thrive.
Family Court Judicial Forum
In 2022, all 10 Family Court judges ran unopposed on the ballot. Then, Judge Tara Hagerty retired from Division 5 of Family Court on June 1 due to a stress-induced medical crisis.
The Courier Journal, together with the League of Women Voters of Louisville and the Louisville Bar Association, hosted the Jefferson Family Court Judicial Candidate Forum on Oct. 25 at Seneca High School.
'Just Action' for Equitable Housing Solutions
The Courier Journal partnered with the Louisville Free Public Library to welcome housing policy expert and author Leah Rothstein on Oct. 25 for a discussion at the Main Branch library about her new book, "Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law," co-written with her father Richard Rothstein.
The book is a follow-up to her father’s bestseller, "The Color of Law," which examined institutionally created segregation in America. Just Action lays out ways our society can undo this institutional segregation – including housing reform. Also joining the conversation was Marilyn Harris, director for the Louisville Metro Office of Housing and Community Development.
Better Derby Betting
Horse racing, even for Kentucky, is a niche sport. And betting has its own language. That's why we once again hosted our popular Better Derby Betting event to help people take the guesswork out of the betting game and hear from experts on how they should bet the horses at the 149th Kentucky Derby.
The Courier Journal's lead horse racing reporter, Jason Frakes, hosted the ticketed event April 26, alongside a panel of experts including Ed DeRosa of Horse Racing Nation; David Levitch, a former University of Louisville basketball player who is involved in thoroughbred racing through the DC Racing ownership syndicate and as a handicapper; and Travis Stone, the track announcer at Churchill Downs Racetrack.
The 90-minute discussion at Ten20 Craft Brewery in Butchertown was sold out. Guests were treated to expert tips and were able to ask questions of the panelists.
Opioid Forum
The Courier Journal hosted an online opioid forum Dec. 12 that included an expert panel answering readers' questions about opioids and clearing up misconceptions about how to safely treat pain without risk of addiction and how to use naloxone to aid a person who has overdosed.
The event was held amid the deadliest drug epidemic in American history. The opioid crisis, largely fueled by drugs from Mexican cartels, resulted in more than 109,000 deaths last year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC stresses increasing access to naloxone as one of several strategies to prevent overdose deaths and medication-assisted treatment to aid addiction recovery.
Watch a recording of the event on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5L839OeBBg.
Op-ed Workshops
Opinion editor Bonnie Jean Feldkamp hosted workshops around the city to help residents understand the difference between letters to the editor and op-eds or guest columns and how to submit one for consideration in the opinion section of The Courier Journal. She spoke to university students, nonprofit organizations and small business groups and at area libraries. If you’d like to invite her to speak to your school or organization, email BFeldkamp@Gannett.com.
Volunteering
The Courier Journal also volunteered with organizations throughout the community. We baked cookies, cakes and other goodies for families at Ronald McDonald House. We mulched trees at Preston Park and Shelby Academy. We participated in a cleanup effort at Chickasaw Park, and we helped with food, clothing and diaper giveaways at La Casita Center.
Our Diversity and Inclusion Committee organizes our volunteering efforts. If your organization is looking for volunteers, please email Olivia Evans at oevans@courier-journal.com.
Veda Morgan is the senior director for engagement and diversity at The Courier Journal. Contact her at vmorgan@courierjournal.com or 502-582-4215.
Kathryn Gregory and Bonnie Jean Feldkamp contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: The Courier Journal's mobile newsroom and community events had impact
