This year, My Group Chat – an NJ.com newsletter, WhatsApp group and Instagram account – won a National Headliner Award and was a finalist in the NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards, Publishers Newsletter Awards and ONA Online Journalism Awards. But for its creator, columnist and NPF Widening the Pipeline alumna Daysi Calavia-Robertson, the awards would mean nothing without the community behind it.

Calavia-Robertson was joined by another award-winning NPF Widening the Pipeline alumna, Sabrina Sanchez, an LAist engagement producer focused on education.

‘How do I actually use journalism to serve our communities?’

Sanchez loves being an engagement journalist because thinking about the needs of the audience – in her case, parents and families – is the “compass” by which she works.

“How do I actually use journalism to serve our communities? … How do we work with communities instead of talk about them, and how do we use that communication when we’re working with them to really inform our reporting?” Sanchez asked.

This took on new meaning when ICE raids ramped up in Los Angeles and parents were worried about their children’s documentation at school, how much to tell them about what was happening and what to say or do if approached. Journalists are “trying to be very responsive to the times and think through what is in the local news ecosystem and what hasn’t been,” Sanchez said.

Face-to-face meetings matter

Sanchez starts by gathering data, looking at top questions in Google Trends, then moving on to dissect conversations on Reddit and other social media platforms.

However, Sanchez also encouraged reporters to go out into the community, including tabling at libraries and festivals and provided printed versions of online guides.

“Right now, a lot of – understandably – immigrant communities are not out and about, but their families are still,. who are documented,” she said. Family members as well as aid organizations can help journalists get in touch with others who might be willing to talk.

My Group Chat holds events for members that have nothing overtly to do with the news, such as group yoga, because it helps people feel more engaged and committed to the community.

“That just comes from really being tuned in and listening to what is it that your audience wants and what is it that they care about?” Calavia-Robertson said. “Is it national, local politics, culture, community building? And then really lean into that and give them what they want next. These are other things that we really have to pay attention to when we’re writing for a specific targeted audience, culture, demographics, and language.

Be authentic – really

“What I’ve learned from this experience is that you can be yourself and succeed in this industry … that’s my number one lesson from this project,” Calavia-Robertson said. “If you are writing about something that you really care about and you’re very passionate and you’re putting all your heart and energy into it, people are going to notice.”

Access the full transcript here.

This fellowship is funded by the Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation. NPF is solely responsible for the content. To support the 2026 program, contact rjones@nationalpress.org.