Methodology: Research Questions

All of this leads to the following questions about the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service:
  • How does it imagine its work?
  • Given this conception of itself, what kinds of work has the news service produced and from what kinds of sources and places is its content most often drawn?
  • How have others in the community and elsewhere discussed or endorsed its work?
  • Who is doing the work and what have they learned about journalism and community? 
These questions will guide my research. But they will also lead to more specific observations related to how NNS’ work is done and appreciated. By way of foreshadowing, we shall see how transparent NNS, as an online-only medium determined to publish professional and objective reporting, is when it comes to correcting mistakes; what types of stories draw NNS its largest audience and whether it makes allowances for such given its desire to focus on hard-hitting concerns as opposed to entertainment; and, given the news service’s quest to give voice to the voiceless, what do people quoted in stories posted on www.milwaukeenns.org say about community once given the chance.