My Engagement Story
I've stood on the sidelines of political and public debate all of my adult life because I convinced myself that's what a good journalist does. In my case, it's also been a cop out. There are lots of ways for trusted journalists to be engaged on issues they care about. I just didn't want to find that path for myself and, instead, spent years producing content that encouraged other people to lean into the hard work of becoming "better citizens, kinder neighbors and more effective advocates." (That's literally the tagline of my BYUradio podcasts Top of Mind and Uncomfy.) All the while, I was feeling more and more hopeless and cynical about the state of things (polarized political gridlock, dehumanizing rhetoric, algorithms amplifying outrage and rewarding contention, etc.)
And finally - finally - I decided to take my own advice and do something productive. I don't have the temperament to run for office, so that's off the list. I did some canvassing for a local candidate and discovered I enjoyed walking around Provo and talking to strangers more than I did the actual campaigning. Feeling ill-prepared to talk in-depth about local issues while knocking on those doors drove me to start attending Prov City Council and Planning Commission meetings regularly.
And then, sitting in an Engage workshop led by George Handley, it clicked. To engage productively, he said (or I understood him saying!) you need to marry your skills, resources and interests with community needs. And moments later, he lamented how little Provo citizens knew about the actions he and his City Council colleagues had taken during his 8 years in office because so few people attended their meetings and no local journalists reported on them.
The pieces clicked: (1) I'm a trained journalist with a lot of experience making boring stuff more interesting; (2) I'm already going to these meetings for my own benefit; (3) I'm convinced that more informed citizens = more productive dialogue = better decisions for ALL of Provo.
And that's how Julie's Provo Notes came about. I write free, unbiased, easy-to-read previews and recaps of Provo City Council and Planning Commission meetings. It won't win any awards for writing or journalism. It's not even particularly enterprising, because it's purely a volunteer thing so I don't have time to go out investigating leads and interviewing sources. But, my summaries are being read by thousands of people on social media and Substack. People seem genuinely grateful for the information and surprised that it's possible for a journalist to write an even-handed summary they can trust. I've been disappointed at how the comments on my Facebook posts are lacking in civility or humility. That's led me to wonder if I'm just giving people more things to complain or fight about.
But I know for sure that my posts have prompted at least a few Provo residents to email the Council or attend a meeting when they otherwise wouldn't have. And I'm a lot more engaged and informed, which was the whole point to begin with. So, maybe George is onto something with the whole skills+resources+interests thing. ;)
Julie Rose, journalist, podcast host, author of ProvoNotes.substack.com