We are pleased to announce that Dr Luke Dickens from Goldsmiths, University of London, has prepared a paper for the Institute of Community Reporters introducing the Outcome Framework that has been co-produced by People’s Voice Media and the  Storycircle team. The Outcome Framework is a new approach to monitoring and evaluating the Institute of Community Reporters programme.

The paper explains the research collaboration behind the framework, what an outcomes approach involves, and the wider reasons for its development. It also outlines what the new ICR outcomes are, how they relate to the aims of the ICR programme overall, and how PVM will be implementing the framework alongside its partners in the future. It also clarifies how social licence holders can get involved in the implementation of the framework.

Background:

Over the past year, PVM have been working in collaboration with the Storycircle research team based in the Media and Communications Department, Goldsmiths, University of London, who specialise in conducting multi-disciplinary and participatory ‘action research’ with industry partners designed to explore the relationships between narrative exchange, digital technologies and citizenship.

The decision to create this framework was driven by PVM’s desire to undertake evidence-led, strategic reflection on the ways it might address a number of challenges that many similar organisations are facing in the current period:

• the need to sustain the skills and networks of local groups after their initial training experience
• the need to support public engagement with community reported content in ways that align with the fast moving technologies and trends of the web
• the need to position programmed activity in a climate of reduced funding and increased competition in the wider sector

Goldsmiths, for its part, was interested in conducting sustained research with (and not just about) a nationally focused community media organization as it undertook a process of reflection and adjustment in response to the development of digital infrastructures, methods and tools. Goldsmiths’ aim was to produce parallel research findings about the nature of narrative exchange, digital technologies, and connected modes of citizenship and civic organisations in this context.

The implementation of the Outcomes Framework and production of parallel research findings are therefore hoped to offer key benefits for PVM, its partners in the sector and the growing body of community reporters in the UK and beyond who operate under the ICR programme. Internally, the framework will allow PVM to account for the strengths and weaknesses of the programme, and crucially, reflect this information back to itself as an organisation in a way that will enable the effective targeting of future activity. Externally, it will help establish a robust national evidence-base in order to demonstrate the potential impacts of the community reporter programme to public audiences, funding bodies, policy makers, and the digital economy research community.

To read the paper in full:

Download a copy of the Outcome Framework Paper here.
Read a copy of the paper online here.
Email a request for a copy of the paper to be sent to you here.