The Public Insight Network (PIN) Bureau at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism connects journalists to over 220,000 knowledgeable sources to find unexpected stories, broaden sources, personalize stories, and build audience relationships. Students in the PIN Bureau learn how to engage audiences, ask thoughtful questions of sources, communicate with journalists, understand different reporting approaches, and manage workflow as they help launch the startup bureau. Recent examples show sources provided by the PIN Bureau included bankers, small business owners, and people affected by gun violence and the Columbine shooting.

1. The Public Insight Network Bureau at
the Walter Cronkite School of
Journalism and Mass Communication
Teaching Engagement

2. Adapted by David Ryan (ASU) from Meg Pickard (The Guardian) via Joy

3. Source: The Lear Center Media Impact Project, adapted from Harmony
Institute’s Impact Playbook.

4. Reasons for Engagement
• Find unexpected stories
• Broaden sources
• Personalize stories
• Build audience relationships

5. The PIN bureau at Cronkite
A community
• 220,000+ sources
• A platform
• Connects journalists with
knowledgeable sources
• Expands reach, depth and
diversity of coverage
• A toolkit
• Source data collection
• Follow-up functions

6. The Pin bureau at Cronkite

7. What students learn:
• How to engage with audiences/make
reporting more personal, relevant and
inclusive.
• How to ask questions that elicit
thoughtful, helpful responses.
• How to process mistakes and setbacks
in order to adapt and move forward.

8. What students learn:
• How to communicate and develop
relationships with journalists across
the country.
• Different approaches to reporting
(investigative, feature, daily news, etc.).
• What it what it takes to launch a startup
and how to make strategic business
decisions

9. What students learn:
• How to manage workflow
• How to manage their time
• How to act professionally
• How to work together

10. Recent PIN Bureau Examples
Sources found:
Bankers
frustrated about
bonuses
Small-business
owners making
health care
decisions for
employees
People who had
experienced gun

11. TARGET DEMOGRAPHICS, TARGET
EXPERIENCE
« YOU SEE
USERS SEE
»

12. PHOTO: Morgan Spiehs / News21
Paula Reed -- a
Public Insight
Network source --
was a teacher at
Columbine High
School during the
1999 shooting.
Our reporters struggled to
find sources 15 years after
the shooting who were not
mentioned in prior
reporting. We found Paula,
as well as others in
Colorado and other states
who had direct ties to
Columbine. They included
mental health
professionals who worked
with Columbine survivors,
funeral home staff,
students and teachers.

13. Stats
Participation rates
during the first two
weeks of dicussion

14. Engagement Tool Reading List
Site Content URL
Gigaom
Analysis of emerging
technology
http://gigaom.com/
VentureBeat
"Tech. People.
Money."
http://venturebeat.com/
re/code
Tech news, reviews,
analysis
http://recode.net/
GitHub
Code
review/collaboration
https://github.com/
Mashable
Social media and tech
news
http://mashable.com/
MediaShift
Media technology,
engagement tools,
trends
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/
National Center
for Media
Engagement
Webinars, tools,
resources about
engagement
http://mediaengage.org/
Nieman
Journalism Lab
Journalism
engagement posts
http://www.niemanlab.org/tag/
engagement/
Reynolds
Journalism
Institute
News and research
about technology and
engagement
http://www.rjionline.org/blog
Columbia
Journalism
Review
News and research
about journalism
industry
http://cjr.org/

15. PIN Bureau at Cronkite
For questions and more information,
contact PIN Bureau Chief Rebecca Blatt
by email at Rebecca.Blatt@asu.edu or by
phone at 602.496.0297.