You may have heard — journalism has a bit of a class problem.

We’ll spare you the not-all-news-is-in-New-York and some-people-can’t-afford-banks soapboxes. (But if you want them, you know where to click.) Just think about the question Heather Bryant posed to the audience at one session during ONA’s conference on Saturday:

For every story you write or run, think about what is the version of this story for which this one is not relevant. So if you’re going to run a story about the newest iPhone, where is your story about cellular service or payment plans for low income individuals? If you’re going to run a story about how sitting all day is harmful for your health, where is your story about the number of people in your audience who are in physical pain because they work in an industry where they don’t allow it? If you’re going to do a story about high school graduation rates, where’s the one about how to navigate FAFSA and all its complexities? What’s the opposite story where the common stories just aren’t applicable or don’t match your circumstances?

There are tens of millions of Americans living in poverty according to the Census Bureau and figures from Pew Research indicate that nearly 1/3 of Americans live in low income households. #ONA18poverty

— Heather Bryant (@HBCompass) September 15, 2018

Why does it matter to reach low-income individuals when your advertising base wants more lucrative eyeballs? If you’re asking that question, here’s some required reading before you proceed. One of the researchers featured in that Q&A, Stanford economist Jay Hamilton, joined Bryant, Outlier Media’s Sarah Alvarez who mass-texts local residents about housing records, and the Membership Puzzle Project’s Emily Goligoski joined forces to start discussing that problem. (Hamilton’s co-researcher, journalism consultant Fiona Morgan, was beaming from the audience.)

You can rewatch the full panel here or below.

In addition to writing this guide on covering people in poverty for Journalists’ Resource over at our neighborly Shorenstein Center, Bryant compiled a list of resources highlighted during the talk. And here’s what the panelists recommended for starting to address this problem (with some recommended reading along the way):

"It’s known but not discussed that certain audiences get more news about their community than other communities do…. We see more attention to luxury products and stuff that’s easier and cheaper to produce, like crime coverage" https://t.co/qsjsGGQagj #ONA18Poverty

— Christine Schmidt (@NewsbySchmidt) September 15, 2018

Think about the radius of a story, Hamilton says — the people impacted by it and the advertisers who are going to get their eyeballs. "The high impact stories are less likely to be generated for those communities." #ona18poverty

— Christine Schmidt (@NewsbySchmidt) September 15, 2018

Being straightforward about the advertising business (and the needs that it serves for news orgs) presents a new opportunity for talking with your readers, @emgollie says #ona18poverty

— Christine Schmidt (@NewsbySchmidt) September 15, 2018

“I try to provide info that people can use to hold others accountable on their own”, says @sarahalvarezMI. But – “don’t just be asking what people need, you also need to figure out” what the gaps are #ONA18Poverty

— Mădălina Ciobanu (@madalinacrc) September 15, 2018

Info needs vs info gaps: "An info need is just that, it’s anything that you want to know, but it’s not a gap unless you can’t find the information". Info gaps are where to target your coverage, @sarahalvarezMI says #ona18poverty https://t.co/6Tw2req5Ic

— Christine Schmidt (@NewsbySchmidt) September 15, 2018

Here's how @BrokeinPhilly, the collaboration highlighted by @hbcompass just now, is straightforward about their language in covering poverty: #ona18poverty https://t.co/uuCTFVRhar

— Christine Schmidt (@NewsbySchmidt) September 15, 2018

.@HBCompass: How do our storylines contribute to low-income stereotypes? We focus on victim narratives & hero narratives. What details are we sharing (fast food, kids wearing dirty clothes, etc) and are those details needed for the story? #ONA18Poverty

— Rachel Schallom (@rschallom) September 15, 2018

4 uses for the newspaper when you're living in poverty:
– police blotter
– obituaries
– job listings
– if @HBCompass is on the honor roll #ona18poverty

— Christine Schmidt (@NewsbySchmidt) September 15, 2018

“We’re covering poverty for people with money. And until we change that our journalism is reinforcing those buckets.”

– @sarahalvarezMI on journalism’s poverty problem #ONA18poverty

— Harry Backlund (@hdbacklund) September 15, 2018

"If you want to find low-income people in search of information, go to your local library." — Jay Hamilton @StanfordJourn #ona18poverty

— Christine Schmidt (@NewsbySchmidt) September 15, 2018

"What about your life makes you feel most like you? How do you want to be represented?" Questions for visual journalists to consider from @hbcompass when depicting low-income individuals #ona18poverty

— Christine Schmidt (@NewsbySchmidt) September 15, 2018

Parting thoughts from @emgollie: #ona18poverty
– the number one thing to read on your flight home: https://t.co/KDJHXGFizp
– frame @bechang8's quote: "If you have never gone into a community to give to it rather than extract from it, you shouldn't be writing about it"

— Christine Schmidt (@NewsbySchmidt) September 15, 2018

From the queen of the panel, @HBCompass herself: When you publish a story about the new iPhone, think about the story on inexpensive phone payments. When you publish about the health of sitting at work, think about the people who stand all day at work. #ona18poverty

— Christine Schmidt (@NewsbySchmidt) September 15, 2018