How to Build an Effective Partnership

Many stations and their community partners found a new respect for partnerships and collaborations as a result of the Sound Partners project. Station representatives remarked that they gained a new understanding of their role as a respected entity in their community. "I never knew the power of our station in the community," wrote one participant, "it's important that we do more projects like this." Many people wrote about how participating in Sound Partners improved their ability to trust others, let go of responsibility and work within a group. Several community partners mentioned the value in working with the media, learning how radio is produced and knowing that "radio people are not always after bad news." Radio station participants learned to see their communities in a new way, as networks of agencies and entities willing to collaborate.
Representatives reported that their partnerships allowed them to reach the goals of the project and in many cases to go beyond those goals. Reporters noticed how much more feedback they received on stories. Community organizations stated that partnerships allowed for improved treatment of their clients.

Even though most stations and their community partners received positive results, some station representatives expressed difficulty in getting used to working with partners. One partner commented on how the gap in knowledge about the topic - reporters were just discovering things that the partner knew a great deal about - affected the project planning. Nevertheless, both stations and partners agreed that keeping the project simple and focused enabled them to have valuable and effective partnerships.

Community Organizations' Point of View

Community organizations participating in Sound Partners suggest that limiting the number of community partners involved in a project and keeping the vision simple and targeted helped build a strong foundation for the partnerships. Participants felt that having too many agencies, especially those with a different focus on the topic (i.e., education versus advocacy), reduced the group's effectiveness.

Community organizations stated a need to define each partner's complementary strengths and to set boundaries for the stations and their community partners. Participants warned of difficulties drawing geographic boundaries for the project. If they used the station's broadcast area, it was often too large, spanning county and state lines. Many found it more effective to target a specific geographic area and ignore the broadcast boundaries when selecting partners and planning activities.

They all agreed that clearly delineating the responsibilities of the project among the partners was key to having a successful effort. Participants also talked about the inevitable dance that went on in the early stages of the partnership where it was determined who would lead and who would follow. The community organizations felt this "dance" sometimes went on too long into the project and hindered the process of making decisions and overcoming the organizational differences in the partnership. In some projects, a sharing of responsibility worked well, while in others there were problems. Community organizations struggled to understand the concept of civic journalism and how a station's involvement in an issue was sometimes limited by the desire to remain an impartial news-reporting service. In certain cases, there were differing opinions concerning what the project was about - some stations were only interested in broadcasting, not outreach to the community. There were other instances where the station was hesitant about going forward with activities of the project because they bordered on advocacy. This led to some friction, because, as one participant put it, "It's all in how you look at it; one person's definition of 'advocacy' is another person's definition of 'education.'"

Many community organizations felt that the stations were reluctant to share the leadership and direction of the project with them. They suggested that the station leadership role be clearly stated from the beginning. In other cases, for example, one community organization felt that, "We had very good communication - regular weekly meetings that we rotated the location for - it was a genuine partnership."

Stations' Point of View

Many times the participating station's size and market affected its comfort level with its community partners. For the most part, small-market community licensees easily recognized the value of their partner. They were totally comfortable working with community partners on programming and taking a position on the issues they were dealing with. One station, for example, wrote "Our partners brought expertise and deeper knowledge to the project. They had great contacts." Larger stations with established news operations were more cautious when involving community partners in programming and less comfortable with taking a position on issues. In either case, it is important that the station make its partners aware of the boundaries outlined by its broadcast mission early on in the project. One station, for instance, suggested to, "Keep roles clear. We found it important to make sure no one person was spread too thin. Keep everyone in their area of expertise. Keep the team working as a team. The health care professionals need to set the health agenda, the radio people do the radio part." Stations also suggested that future applicants need to be very aware of their station's broadcast mission and their comfort level with practicing advocacy journalism before they begin their projects.

Like the community organization, stations had a hard time defining civic journalism. Some participants saw civic journalism mainly as a way of reporting news that involves using the voices of everyday people to explore issues. Their perception of civic journalism did not include the concept of outreach or connecting with community groups. Using this definition, some stations did not see any real need to involve their community organization. One way stations included outreach activities was by having the project housed in the programming or public affairs department rather than the news department. This distinction made many stations more comfortable in carrying out more extensive programming and outreach activities.

A few stations talked about areas of conflict with their community partners that grew out of very different expectations of the project and misunderstanding of boundaries. There were instances where the community partner did not understand why the station did not feature its partner organization more prominently in the programming. In another case, a community partner asked to preview news stories. One group member mentioned the problem that their community partner had goals for the project that went far beyond the station's willingness and/or capability to deliver. Had these partners talked more extensively about their visions, goals, expectations and boundaries, these conflicts might not have come up.

Nevertheless, stations reported that working with local community partners helped the stations gain a better understanding of the issues and how they affected their communities. Many stations reported, as one station put it, "Maintaining a high-quality partnership was more difficult than we anticipated; however, relationships were one of the most rewarding aspects of the project." They were better able to bring to their air the voices of everyday people touched by the issues. The grants also changed the way participants and their organizations viewed themselves and their communities. While grantees found managing the partnerships and promoting the results of their local projects challenging, grantees experienced personal and professional growth, as well as a better understanding of how they could work effectively in the community.

Tips for Effective Partnerships

• Talk about boundaries and clearly define roles early on in the project;
• Consider naming one person as project coordinator, especially when you have multiple community partners involved in a project;
• Decide early on in the partnership who is comfortable leading the call-to-action part of the project; and
• Limit the number of community partners to avoid difficulty in scheduling/attending meetings and moving the project along.

Special Tips for Stations

• Look beyond the community organization's mission statement to find its modus operandi and see if it fits your own;
• Include community partners when writing the proposal for Sound Partners participation;
• Give community partners a better technical and budgetary understanding about what goes into producing radio programming; and
• Help community partners understand the difference between news and public affairs.