👋 Hello Shawn. Welcome to Future Community.
And thanks to all of you for being here! Join us at Newsletter Nerd Club, check out the new stories and jobs below, and hit reply or set up a call if you want to talk.
Join us at the next Newsletter Nerd Club on Wednesday, June 24th. It's a free hour conversation held over zoom.
We'll talk about growing your audience and any other questions you want to share.
We don't record these. They're a conversational space for questions, ideas, and sharing challenges. We do share notes back with participants–along with any slides, links, resources.
Bright Ideas
Gateway aesthetics: how far-right design systems work is a fascinating look at how design, not ideology, is for many people the pathway into right wing and extremist communities. It makes sense if you consider the primacy of imagery and "vibes" in Hitler's Germany or the (for most) head scratching aesthetic of Trumpy social media.
Rishad Patel's conversation with Dr. Ashton Kingdon is probably more interesting for Kingdon's take that you can't counter-meme your way out of this. It's what most of us are trying to do, of course.
Looking for a useful case study on how small orgs can punch above their weight in the fight for attention? Read How Praxis & Rally Delivered Big Digital Impact On A Shoestring via Paul de Gregorio.
Narrative Infrastructure: Hiding in Plain Sight from Brett Davidson offers a useful compilation of resources and (better yet!) analysis of what's needed/possible for narrative change. I especially appreciate that Brett's lens expands beyond the usual US/global north scope.
In The Fall of the Hero, and the Rise of Listening Paul j Lynch makes a case for the Chief Storytelling Officer in social impact organizations. A consistent ability to coalesce around a shared narrative, tell great stories, and distribute them to audiences that can create impact is a missing ingredient in so many organizations. [ht Erin Eberle]
In AI is inevitable? Nah. These better, cooler things are the future! Vu Le points out that there are big collective policy wins in the wings and most are inevitable because the fragility of old white man competitive authoritarianism can't hold back change forever.
More people are getting news from social and video networks. Less from news websites and other "owned" sources. (the "why" of this isn't really addressed)
People aren't necessarily happy about it. (is anyone happy about anything? Especially on the Internet?)
More people are getting news from AI chatbots. (what could go wrong?)
Chatbot users are motivated by the speed of info delivery and the fact they can ask follow up questions. (people want what the want when they want it)
This seems extra important: YouTube is the only platform where the majority of users intentionally seek out the news. For the majority of Instagram and TikTok users, news just happens to come up in the feed. (if you're an org that could benefit from delivering newsy updates to your audience you should think about YouTube first)
Creators aren't replacing news/journalism but play a growing role in summarizing news and making it accessible on platforms.
There's been no growth in people paying for news. It's fallen in many countries. (the "how do you fund actual journalism" problem isn't getting solved and if Google, Meta, and TikTok don't want to play journalism funding ball then journalism access will get more and more inequitable)
Most all radio news and newspaper audiences are dying if not already dead. Ouch. (the statement “the social reproduction of newspaper and radio news audiences may have broken down altogether” is not fooling around)
Events and Training
- From viral content to narrative infrastructure: How movements can build power is happening from 1-2pm BST on Wednesday, July 8th.
- Want to get your event or training out to the Future Community network? Click reply and make sure we know about it.
Future Community Jobs
These are jobs spotted in the last few days. The full Future Community job list is always on and always fresh.
Audience, content, journalism and news roles
- Senior Writer : Redwoods (ClimateWorks Foundation) [San Francisco preferred / Remote possible]
- Director of Publishing Operations : Boston Art Review [Boston]
- Senior Editor : Mill Media [Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, London, Sheffield, Liverpool or Leeds] ⏱️ July 5
Communications
- Communications Lead : Sovereign Tech Agency [Berlin] ⏱️ July 15
- Strategic Communications Officer : Union of Concerned Scientists [Remote / Eastern US work hours]
- Director, Web and Digital Strategy : Central Park Conservancy [New York] ⏱️ June 30
- Associate Director, Executive Communications : Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) [New York City or Washington, DC] ⏱️ July 6
- Director, Digital Advocacy and Engagement : The Innocence Project [New York City]
Nonprofit organizations
- Chief Operating Officer : Protect Our Winters [Hybrid in CO, WA, OR, VT, and NH preferred. CA, UT, NV, AK, and MT will be considered]
- Research Manager or Senior Research Manager : Detention Watch Network (DWN) [Remote in the US] ⏱️ July 9
- Director of Finance and Operations : New Roots Institute [Remote in North America]
- Executive Director : Plastic Ocean Project [Wilmington, NC] ⏱️ July 15
- Director of AI Policy : The Federation of American Scientists [Washington, DC]
- The Senior Partner Success Strategist : Action Network [Remote in the US]
Fundraising and Development
- Chief Development Officer : The Pulitzer Center [Remote in the US]
- Digital Fundraising and Growth Strategist and Director of Major Gifts, Individual and Family Giving : The Center for Countering Digital Hate [Remote in the US] ⏱️ July 10
Foundations and Philanthropy
Nothing new. Here are a couple we shared earlier this week. More on the full list.
- Vice President, Programs : The Barr Foundation [Boston, Massachusetts] ⏱️ August 7
Agencies, data, politics, products & more
Nothing new but these are from last week:
- Senior UX/UI Designer (6 month contract) : Teal Media [Remote in the US]
- Communications and Business Development Manager : Potrero Group [Remote]
- Senior Engineer, Digital Products : National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) [Remote]
Hey. Ted here. I run Bright+3 where we give changemakers the ideas, inspiration, and tools to create content that builds stronger communities.
I also write this newsletter (aka Future Community) and run the Future Community Jobs list.
Thanks for being part of Future Community. Help make this work possible (and get some extra support) by becoming a supporting member.