This paper reports on a multi-modal case study of the journalism of The Local, a new journalism start-up with a health equity mandate, during six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings indicate that The Local’s reporting had a concrete, meaningful impact in improving health equity outcomes in COVID-19 public health efforts in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) during the time period studied. The Local accomplished this using a unique approach. The Local’s Code of Ethics and its Race, Representation and Equity Commitment shaped the magazine’s structure, which in turn influenced reporting. The Local applied a health-equity lens to its pandemic data journalism. It followed up on the health inequities which surfaced by having racialized journalists, representative of the communities they serve, pursue deep features, often with a solutions journalism approach.
Read the article in the Spring 2025 issue of Facts & Frictions