When looking to answer the question: “Should I use empowerment journalism in my work?” we encourage you to say, “yes!” every time. In this guide, there are universally applicable journalistic principles like relationship and trust building, power dynamics, and reporting ethically in communities. But we acknowledge that there are some suggestions that may not work for a variety of reasons: timelines/deadlines, resources, newsroom policies, among others. So with this in mind, we suggest you consider the following questions and how they can inform your approach.
By asking yourself who this story is for, and how it serves the communities you are reporting in, you can begin the work of avoiding extractive storytelling.
Building and maintaining trust and lasting relationships within communities can be difficult—above all, it takes time.