Center for Cooperative Media
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Contents
CCM research

Rosa Delacroix and Amos WhitfieldSeptember 2026

7 minute read
Individual voices. Shared public knowledge.

What connects a community?

Local news starts with people. This sample report follows the connections that turn one newsroom's reporting into shared public knowledge.

Begin reading
Scroll to follow the story ↓
What to keep

Keep these three points.

  • One newsroom reaches the people it already serves. Two newsrooms that ask one question reach more of them.
  • A shared question needs one editor who holds the schedule and one place to put the work.
  • Every number in this sample is invented. Replace each one with a result you can source.

In brief

This page is the sample report of the CCM report template. It shows each part of a report in the order a reader meets it: the points to keep, the argument, a stage that changes as you scroll, a figure, a table, the results, a chronology, the terms, the method and the sources. The subject is invented. Use the page to judge the shape of a report, not the evidence in it.

The question

A story is only the beginning.

A reporter asks a question. A resident shares what they know. An editor connects the account to a wider story. Each exchange gives information a place to go.

A newsroom that works alone answers the question for its own readers. A newsroom that shares the question answers it for a region. That is collaborative reporting, and it is the subject of this sample.1

This sample follows a small set of imagined newsrooms. Scroll to see the drawing change with the story. The marks are a picture of an idea. They do not measure reach.

Notes

  1. Invented example. The drawing holds the same twelve marks in every layout. The count is a decision about the picture, not a result. Back to the text
Follow the connections

From one newsroom to a shared network.

1 of 4

Start with the people doing the work.

Each mark stands for one imagined newsroom. At first, the marks sit apart. Each newsroom has its own sources, routines, and readers.

12 imagined newsrooms, working independently

2 of 4

Make room for a shared question.

A common reporting question brings newsrooms into small groups. Partners can compare records, share translation, and identify gaps in coverage.

Three groups, each convened by one newsroom

3 of 4

Build connections that last.

As partners exchange work, individual projects can become a network. The lines show possible relationships, not measured information flows.

A connected network of 12 imagined newsrooms

4 of 4

Keep the community at the center.

The shared work matters when people can find and use it. A report should explain who benefits, what changes, and what the evidence cannot tell us.

Shared work returns to a common public purpose

A matter of scale

The audience beyond the usual circle.

Fictional example · not a measured population

Program reach, in perspective
GroupValue
Regular participants420 people
Occasional participants1,680 people
Reached, not participating7,900 people
Not yet reached40,000 people

Entirely invented figures for demonstrating the storytelling template. These are not results from a real program, organization, or community.

The four example groups are mutually exclusive and total 50,000 people. Replace all figures and narration with your own validated data before publication. “Not yet reached” should only be used when the full target population is known.

Example figure

The invented partner count rose in each year of the set.

Measured in newsrooms.

The invented count rose by 24 newsrooms across the four years. Every value here is invented for this sample.

Invented for this samplecenterforcooperativemedia.org

Show the data
CategoryValue
202318
202424
202531
202642
Example table

Invented partners and shared stories, by county

Every value in this table is invented. Select a column head to sort the table.
Essex1134
Hudson827
Passaic619
Bergen922
Union815

Example findings

Give the evidence space.

42From 18 to 42 over 4 points.newsrooms

Partner newsrooms

An invented count. Replace it with a verified result and name the source beside it.

Invented count for 2023 to 2026.

117From 21 to 117 over 4 points.stories

Shared stories

State what the number counts and the period it covers. A story counts once, whatever the number of newsrooms that ran it.

Invented count for the same four years.

5From 2 to 5 over 4 points.counties

Counties reached

Use one short sentence to connect the number to the question the report asks.

Invented count, from the table above.

Example chronology

How the invented work moved.

  1. March 2023

    Four newsrooms agree on one question

    Invented event. The partners write the question down and name one editor to hold the schedule.

  2. November 2023

    The first shared story runs

    Invented event. Each partner publishes the story on the same day, in its own voice.

  3. June 2025

    The group adds a translation desk

    Invented event. Two partners share the cost of one translator, so the reporting reaches readers in three languages.

  4. September 2026

    The partners report on the result

    Invented event. The group publishes what changed, what did not, and what the evidence cannot show.

What comes next

Leave the reader with a clear next step.

Explain what the results mean for the people who can act on them. Connect each recommendation to evidence in the report, and say who has to do the work.

A group that shares a question can also share the parts that cost the most. A shared beat spreads the cost of one reporter. A news commons gives the group one place to plan. An agreement for content sharing puts the finished work in front of more readers.

Use the method note to say how you gathered the evidence. Name the limits, so a reader can judge what the report supports and what it does not.

Terms used in this report

collaborative reporting
Two or more newsrooms that report one story together. Each one publishes the work in its own voice.
content sharing
An agreement that lets a partner republish another partner's story, with credit, at no cost.
news commons
A network that gives the newsrooms of one region a place to plan, to train and to share what they make.
shared beat
One reporter who covers a subject for several newsrooms at once. The newsrooms share the cost and publish the same reporting.

collaborative reporting

Two or more newsrooms that report one story together. Each one publishes the work in its own voice.

Open the glossary entry

content sharing

An agreement that lets a partner republish another partner's story, with credit, at no cost.

Open the glossary entry

news commons

A network that gives the newsrooms of one region a place to plan, to train and to share what they make.

Open the glossary entry

shared beat

One reporter who covers a subject for several newsrooms at once. The newsrooms share the cost and publish the same reporting.

Open the glossary entry

A useful report lets the reader see the evidence, follow the reasoning, and ask a better question.

Template editorial principle

Methods and sources

How we did this

Nothing on this page was measured. The numbers, the names and the marks show the shape of a report. Replace this lead with two sentences on what you counted and how you counted it.

This page is a sample of the report template. It holds no survey results, no interview evidence and no measured network data. The counties are real, and every value beside them is invented.

Replace this note with the study period, the sample, the method, the limits, the funding and the disclosures. Say what the evidence cannot show, in the same plain words as the rest of the report.

  1. Center for Cooperative Mediacenterforcooperativemedia.org
  2. Montclair State Universitywww.montclair.edu

Downloads

About the authors

Rosa Delacroix

Report editor

Invented author. She writes the sample copy that shows what each section of this kit holds.

centerforcooperativemedia.org

Amos Whitfield

Data editor

Invented author. He made the invented table and the invented figure on this page.

centerforcooperativemedia.org

Read next

Corrections

  • 14 September 2026

    An earlier version of this sample gave the invented table five towns. It gives five counties. The invented total is unchanged.

Cite this report

Plain text

Rosa Delacroix and Amos Whitfield. What connects a community? CCM research. Center for Cooperative Media, September 2026. https://jamditis.com/ccm-report-template/

APA

Rosa Delacroix and Amos Whitfield. (September 2026). What connects a community? Center for Cooperative Media. https://jamditis.com/ccm-report-template/

BibTeX

@techreport{delacroix2026what,
  author = {Rosa Delacroix and Amos Whitfield},
  title = {What connects a community?},
  institution = {Center for Cooperative Media},
  series = {CCM research},
  year = {2026},
  month = {September},
  url = {https://jamditis.com/ccm-report-template/}
}