Fort Worth Report to give residents the mic at January community listening session

When the Fort Worth Report and TCU researchers invited Fort Worthians of all ages and backgrounds to a listening session last January, the response was overwhelming. 

“People really enjoyed the opportunity to make their voices heard and have a more open-ended discussion about what really mattered to them,” Chris Cobler, CEO and publisher of the Fort Worth Report, said. “It was so successful that we want to keep that conversation going.” 

Residents will have another chance to discuss crucial issues facing Tarrant County at a Jan. 10 community listening session co-sponsored by the Report and SteerFW, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization promoting civic engagement among young professionals. 

At this event, journalists will lead roundtable discussions on topics ranging from local government, business and education to health, faith and the environment. Attendees will examine solutions for improving listening between community members and local leaders. 

Beyond informing the Report’s approach to stories in 2024, the feedback will determine the topic of a December 2024 “Candid Conversations” event with community leaders, Cobler said. 

“We want the topic of that event to emerge from this discussion — whatever we hear the most or seems the timeliest,” Cobler said. 

The listening session’s format is based on research conducted by TCU professors Ashley English, Jacqueline Lambiase and Julie O’Neil. After former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson in her home in October 2019, community members responded with grief, outrage and protests. The professors wanted to know how Black residents felt their concerns were heard by local leaders. 

Their 2020 study found that many Black community members felt left out, ignored and blocked from giving meaningful input on government policy. They were also frustrated by the gap between officials listening to their concerns and taking action on that information. 

One solution to the problem, the professors found, involves “no-agenda listening” — the practice of laying down power and control to hear the perspectives of others and work toward solutions. 

“When we stop viewing everyone as other, we create the space to start listening and respecting the rights of others to speak, then I think we get further down the road of transformational change,” Lambiase said. 

Through a partnership with SteerFW and an evening start time, Cobler hopes the 2024 event will attract new audiences to participate.

Wesley Kirk, co-chair of SteerFW’s civic engagement and arts and culture committees, said the Venn diagram of Steer’s mission and the listening session are essentially a circle. 

“A listening session to really dive in deep with people who might not normally be heard from and make sure that their voice will carry out, that’s a perfect mission for us,” Kirk said. 

Brenton Bridges, president of SteerFW, wants participants to have open and honest conversations with people they normally wouldn’t be in the same room with. 

“Our mission is to make Fort Worth a diverse and vibrant city by engaging emerging leaders to forge positive change,” Bridges said. “We can’t be diverse and vibrant if you don’t have people of different backgrounds having open conversations and honest conversations.” 

In addition to the January listening session, the Report will expand its community engagement efforts this year so that more residents feel seen and heard in the news organization’s work, said marketing and events manager Jamese Branch. 

The Report has an existing collaboration with the Miles Foundation to connect with parents who use the foundation’s Parent Pass phone app. Meeting with Fort Worth parents has led to several story ideas and greater understanding of communities around the city, Cobler said. 

Branch and the audience team are now exploring new opportunities for engagement, including tabling at local events, partnering with more community organizations and conducting additional feedback surveys and focus groups. 

“So many news organizations are great at output — publishing stories and posting to social media,” Branch said. “But the Report strives to be just as great at input.”

Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.