Lilly Chapa

Richmond

Editorial Manager at American Press Institute

Writer and Editor at Freelance

Editorial manager @ampress | Writer, editor, lizard enthusiast | TX - OK - DC - Baltimore - RVA | Opinions my own

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Articles

Maintaining momentum in the newsroom

1 month ago | americanpressinstitute.org | Lilly Chapa

A major goal of the Inclusion Index is to have newsrooms build infrastructure around their efforts to better serve communities, including systems for accountability — especially from the communities these news organizations seek to serve. Following the Pittsburgh community advisory committee, several stories have been produced because of the conversations and engagement work the participating newsrooms did during the project.
Building bridges with a community liaison

1 month ago | americanpressinstitute.org | Lilly Chapa

The structure and leadership of a community advisory committee can make a big impact on the effectiveness of the effort. And because these types of committees are organized by and for news organizations, community member participants require extra support and advocacy to ensure the experience is beneficial for them, too.
Convening a community advisory committee

1 month ago | americanpressinstitute.org | Lilly Chapa

Over the last three years, the American Press Institute engaged the Pittsburgh media ecosystem in measuring and improving inclusion efforts, both within the newsroom and through coverage of the community. This endeavor, guided by the API Inclusion Index, included two learning cohorts, a dozen community listening sessions and a six-month local news advisory committee.
Convening a community advisory committee: Structure and moderation

1 month ago | americanpressinstitute.org | Lilly Chapa

A structure to empower participants Putting together an advisory committee seems like a simple process, and it can be, but API took a nuanced approach in Pittsburgh. To ensure a diverse array of voices throughout the city, we selected 11 individuals representing nine different neighborhoods. In taking this approach, we adapted a model developed by Oaklandside, a hyperlocal newsroom that has used advisory committees for years.
Assess the value of the experiment

2 months ago | americanpressinstitute.org | Lilly Chapa

Once API’s influencer cohort ended their experiments last fall, they were encouraged to expand their retrospective beyond assessing what worked and what didn’t, instead considering value creation questions. Was the experiment was valuable for the newsroom? Their community? The influencer? How could similar campaigns be more valuable in the future? Below are some ways to approach a retrospective on an influencer partnership, and examples of insights the 2024 cohort walked away with.
Project checklists for a smooth campaign

Mar 24, 2025 | americanpressinstitute.org | Lilly Chapa

Editor’s Note: The American Press Institute invites U.S. local and community-based media to apply for our Influencers Learning Cohort 2025. Participating news organizations will receive $3,000 to establish connections and collaborate with local influencers or trusted messengers. This program builds upon the work of a 2024 cohort that fostered local media collaborations with trusted messengers and influencers on nonpartisan journalism related to the elections. Learn more and apply by March 31.
Finding an influencer with impact

Mar 17, 2025 | americanpressinstitute.org | Lilly Chapa

Partnering with local influencers enables news outlets to reach highly engaged, trusted voices within specific communities to foster greater trust. These influencers play a key role in bridging the gap between journalism and local communities, offering newsrooms the chance to connect with relevant audiences in ways that traditional — or transactional — engagement can’t.
Partner with influencers: Navigating ethical implications

Mar 10, 2025 | americanpressinstitute.org | Lilly Chapa

Editor’s Note: The American Press Institute continues to build on our influencer partnership work. Last week, we shared a detailed step-by-step process to navigate influencer collaborations. We are also excited to share that API will fund and facilitate a second influencer learning cohort. Up to 12 participating newsrooms will receive grants to conduct an influencer collaboration experiment and participate in learning calls in May and July 2025.
Develop your influencer strategy: A step-by-step process to demystify influencer collaborations and enhance community outreach

Mar 6, 2025 | americanpressinstitute.org | Ariel Zirulnick |Lilly Chapa

In 2022, when I was the senior editor for community engagement at LAist, we conducted a citywide survey to find out what Angelenos were most focused on as Mayor Karen Bass took office. We knew that if we distributed the survey only on our owned platforms, we wouldn’t reach as diverse an audience as we wanted. If we were going to use the survey to help make decisions about how to focus our reporting on the new administration, we needed to cast a wider net.
Partner with influencers

Mar 3, 2025 | americanpressinstitute.org | Lilly Chapa

Welcome to API’s March Need to Know Special Edition, where we’ll walk you through what it takes for your news outlet to experiment with influencer collaborations. The insights and resources we’ll share are largely informed by the experiences of newsrooms that participated in our recent Election + Influencers Learning Cohort for the Knight Election Hub. Americans face increasing news fatigue. But that doesn’t mean they spend less time online or that people care less about their communities.