“Journalism often has a negative impact on people’s lives, rather than a positive one” is not a message you often hear at industry conferences. But it’s true.

You also rarely hear from actual citizens – the audience that journalism is supposed to be serving – at these events. But they’re the people whose opinions should matter most in our work.

Arguably, these two facts form a big part of the explanation for the crisis that the journalism industry finds itself in.

With Media Cymru’s News for All project, we’ve tried to put some of our most marginalised people and communities at the centre of discussions on the future of journalism – rather than on the outside – with exciting results. Our eight months of participatory research sessions were designed and led by Rhiannon White and Amira Hayat, who are themselves members of the community they convened. So, when we were asked to speak about our work at the iMEdD International Journalism Forum in Athens, it made sense for Rhiannon and Amira to have a leading role in Media Cymru’s contribution.

Both of them spoke about their own experiences of how journalism has had a profoundly negative impact on their own lives – for Rhiannon through the historic stigmatisation of St Mellons, where she grew up, and for Amira in the representations of her identity as a Muslim woman, which routinely associate her hijab and beliefs with extremism and terrorism.

For Rhiannon, the most striking thing which came through in the work was just how universal distrust of journalists is. “We had many different experiences in the room, and at times, it felt like everyone could relate to that feeling and give real examples of quite serious harm caused by approaches to journalism and telling stories”.

Rhiannon and Amira were both proud of the innovation that emerged from the sessions and, as Amira reflected, there is cause for optimism. For her, that was evident in “the sense of passion, dedication and hope for better futures for our communities” that grew across the News for All project.

That reinforced their view that journalism conferences, and the industry in general, need to hear more from real people. As Amira puts it, “Citizens should have a central role in these conferences, so that journalists can hear directly from their audiences and understand exactly why they may choose to disengage from news and media.

Rhiannon, whose day-job is as a theatre maker, acknowledged that this isn’t a problem unique to journalism, “We don’t hear from audiences at theatre conferences, but we’ll talk all day long about audience development – it’s really odd and also quite polarising. The best work we’ve made has been in collaboration with our audiences and, importantly, the people whose stories we’re telling. This often leads us to tell a different story to what we started with, one that’s more authentic and of use to the people whose story we’re telling.”

Of course, Rhiannon’s thoughts about theatre map directly onto journalism, and the importance of reflecting the reality of situations, as opposed to a set of preconceived narratives or ideas.

As Rhiannon acknowledges, change is sometimes difficult for journalists used to working in a particular way. “I wasn’t sure how popular we would be at the conference. Perhaps it was a bit marmite for people – we might be challenging them in ways they haven’t thought about before or that they have but don’t know how to change or apply to their context. I was really aware of not knowing or understanding how the internal structures of journalists and newsrooms work, so we tried to have a really open conversation, encouraging people to take what they need from it.”

For both Rhiannon and Amira, all this points to the need for a fundamental reassessment of the practice of journalism. In Rhiannon’s view, that means “Journalists should co-create deeply with citizens. Journalists need us to exist, and we could mutually benefit from their work. It has to not be exploitative or extractive—that’s the point, though. So, for journalism to exist – for it to be useful, credible, relevant, and useful – journalists should look to understand, collaborate, trust, and be inspired by the citizens they seek to exist for. It should be in service to our communities. This shift would be so powerful.”

They both left the conference with a renewed sense of just how important these conversations are. Rhiannon reflecting that “There’s an incredible urgency for journalism to adapt, shift and transform. It’s at a pivotal point – and if it listened, really listened and responded to the needs of the people it could be very powerful. If it doesn’t, though, it could be detrimental to society’s future.”

For Amira, knowing that there are journalists prepared to listen feels positive. “It gives me hope knowing that people and journalists are willing to learn and develop, that communities are passionate about creating journalism that’s more accurate and inclusive.”

Thanks to the iMEdD team for creating the space for all of us to listen and learn, and to Cristian Lupșa for hosting our conversation so kindly and thoughtfully.

Watch back our session at the International Journalism Forum.