This media organizer and educator is joining our team to build collective power across local media ecosystems.
By Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel
Portrait taken by Max Resnik
We’re excited to introduce Sierra Sangetti-Daniels as City Bureau’s first Future of Local News (FLN) Network coordinator! The FLN network is an independent, peer-led community of newsroom leaders, community organizers and media researchers working to reimagine local news as a more participatory, and truly public, media.
Sierra brings many years of experience in journalism and education to City Bureau and the network. Currently based in New York, Sierra is passionate about shifting power in media and is energized by the challenge of bringing big ideas to life. She is a co-founder of People’s Perception Project where she designs civic engagement programs for middle and high school students, and previously worked as an Assignment Editor for Spectrum News.
We asked Siera to share a little bit about her experiences, her background and what she’s bringing to the role. Here are some of the highlights, edited for length and clarity.
Can you share how you came to journalism?
My journey probably starts when I decided to study journalism in college. I wasn't a “good, traditional student,” so I felt like I needed to find a program where I could succeed. Lucky enough, I found it in broadcast journalism and radio.
During my time in trade school I realized that I didn't really like to be on-camera, I more liked the behind-the-scenes production. So I switched from studying journalism to communications. That helped me develop my love for all things conversation: facilitating conversation, being engaged in conversation, learning through conversation.
Fresh out of college, I was super excited to be involved in media production, especially cable television. It felt very fancy and exciting with the fast pace and bright lights. But within six months of the position, I very clearly saw the disparities that existed in media. I then started a journey to figure out how it could be done better. I launched my own independent project, the People’s Perception Project, a civic education company that shifts power with middle and high school students. At the time, I didn’t even know about City Bureau even though there’s so much overlap in how I wanted to create better media.
City Bureau’s work re-imagining journalism really aligns with the work you were setting out to do as you left your newsroom. How did you learn about us?
I’m someone who follows the money, so I started following the money behind local media initiatives. That’s how I found City Bureau. I was watching some of the Knight Media Forum programming on YouTube and Darryl Holliday was on a panel about the relationship between funders and people. I just loved the conversation so much because they were talking about the risk that it takes, but also the importance of giving money to organizations without strings attached. I could see that the folks on the panel really believed in the future of journalism that City Bureau was trying to build and I was super motivated to join and be part of that work.
As the Future of Local News coordinator, there’s much opportunity to bring in your own experiences of building a better, more equitable media ecosystem. What excites you about your role here at City Bureau?
What excites me most about the role is the fact that the Future of Local News is new and getting built right now. FLN is a peer-led network, working to build collective power and develop this emergent system of civic media and civic information. I feel very fortunate that I got brought into this very early on in the development of the network because I’m someone who loves to be part of the process of building something out. There’s so many possibilities of what the network could look like, how we could shape it, how we could grow it. Those are all the questions that I love answering in my work.
Another thing that is very exciting is the talent and the community that exists in the network. Our network members have all gone on their own personal journeys within the journalism field and many have started their own organizations. My journey of navigating this field was very, very lonely. I devoted all my time and energy to building expertise just to learn the industry is actually really harmful. It can be kind of jarring. If you don't have anyone to talk with about that experience, you’ll probably end up leaving the industry. The network has presented a place of community not only for me, but also for others who also understand why I feel so passionately about what I do.
To connect with Sierra, feel free to reach out at sierra@citybureau.org.
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