Hotline connects Valleyites with farflung neighbors
The fall election campaign sparked so much media discussion about fake news and alternative facts that one veteran reporter decided to see if there is a more transparent way to communicate.
Julie Makinen business editor took leave from the Los Angeles Times to enroll in a John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University to explore a better way to disseminate news.
“There’s such a geographical separation from the far north to the far south of the state, I was wondering if there’s anything that bonds Californians together,” said Makinen.
After becoming aware of the work of Cathy Deng, another fellow with the open lab an experimental workshop at BuzzFeed an online news/entertainment website, the two collaborated on a hotline to share stories. Deng already worked on a project for people from countries the Trump Administration had intended to ban from immigrating to the U.S., so it was a small matter to tweak the technology to allow callers to randomly hear prior messages and then have a prompt allowing them to record. The hotline was christened, California on the Edge.
“It adds a nuance to people’s idea of California, than being just one homogeneous state,” said Deng. “It’s an opportunity to hear directly from people in a part of the state you never visited.”
The hotline is in operation only a week but will remain available until the summer when Makinen completes her fellowship. To leave a message people may call 530-212-6073 or check online: www.caliedge.com
Callers are asked to talk about aspects of their town people far away might not know. Messages should be 30 seconds to two minutes. The only taboo is not to record any offensive or hateful speech directed at any individual or group.
“I thought it was a lowrisk way of getting people who are unalike to mingle,” said Makinen. “I thought people at the edges could share stories with people from big cities and find similarities. It would be wonderful if some state senators heard some of the messages and found common ground.”
Since it launched, callers talked about how important the natural environment is to their lives. One woman from the far north spoke about how wildlife could interrupt her work commute. Another woman nearby talked about her town’s isolation because of flooded roads and airports inaccessible because of fog.
“Maybe by listening I would discover a place with the best tacos, and I’d get on a train and check it out,” said Makinen. “It’s a way to break out of your digital bubble of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. So the messaging is a convenient way to learn about the state without visiting a library or a museum. Everybody has an interesting story to tell and it’s a democratic way to discover the state’s diversity.”
Makinen also solicits callers with ads on Facebook, community electronic bulletin boards and is reaching out to small town radio affiliates with popular talk-shows. When her fellowship ends she wants to turn the best messages into a podcast or a radio type program. She’s also thinking of distributing content through text messaging or cell phone photos.
Currently the public has a negative view of the media and Makinen would like to turn that around.
“The hotline is a new tool but we need a lot more new tools to reach the public since the current press platforms are overlooking a lot of people,” she said.