Terry Parris Jr.
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terryparrisjr.bsky.social
Terry Parris Jr.
@terryparrisjr.bsky.social
Currently a JSK Fellow at Stanford riding my bike. I'm also founder of the Library Newsroom Project. I'm also a teacher and librarian. Fmr: Public Square Editor at Headway, New York Times; Deputy Editor at ProPublica; Engagement Director at THE CITY; WDET.
Pinned
My @jskstanford.bsky.social year at Stanford centers on one question: What grows when you build a community newsroom inside a public library? I've been testing it in Brooklyn neighborhood. It's works.

We can do this in the 16,000+ library buildings in the U.S. Seriously.

medium.com/jsk-class-of...
I Have An Idea To Open 16,000 Newsrooms In The U.S.
What happens when journalism lives inside the public library?
medium.com
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
A promising approach!
My @jskstanford.bsky.social year at Stanford centers on one question: What grows when you build a community newsroom inside a public library? I've been testing it in Brooklyn neighborhood. It's works.

We can do this in the 16,000+ library buildings in the U.S. Seriously.

medium.com/jsk-class-of...
I Have An Idea To Open 16,000 Newsrooms In The U.S.
What happens when journalism lives inside the public library?
medium.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
this is the way.
My @jskstanford.bsky.social year at Stanford centers on one question: What grows when you build a community newsroom inside a public library? I've been testing it in Brooklyn neighborhood. It's works.

We can do this in the 16,000+ library buildings in the U.S. Seriously.

medium.com/jsk-class-of...
I Have An Idea To Open 16,000 Newsrooms In The U.S.
What happens when journalism lives inside the public library?
medium.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
i love this idea so much
My @jskstanford.bsky.social year at Stanford centers on one question: What grows when you build a community newsroom inside a public library? I've been testing it in Brooklyn neighborhood. It's works.

We can do this in the 16,000+ library buildings in the U.S. Seriously.

medium.com/jsk-class-of...
I Have An Idea To Open 16,000 Newsrooms In The U.S.
What happens when journalism lives inside the public library?
medium.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
I love this idea so much
What if we thought of journalism as community service?

@terryparrisjr.bsky.social is doing exactly that with his project to set up journalism practices in local libraries. This is exactly the experimentation we need to increase civic information and public accountability.
My @jskstanford.bsky.social year at Stanford centers on one question: What grows when you build a community newsroom inside a public library? I've been testing it in Brooklyn neighborhood. It's works.

We can do this in the 16,000+ library buildings in the U.S. Seriously.

medium.com/jsk-class-of...
November 22, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
What if we thought of journalism as community service?

@terryparrisjr.bsky.social is doing exactly that with his project to set up journalism practices in local libraries. This is exactly the experimentation we need to increase civic information and public accountability.
My @jskstanford.bsky.social year at Stanford centers on one question: What grows when you build a community newsroom inside a public library? I've been testing it in Brooklyn neighborhood. It's works.

We can do this in the 16,000+ library buildings in the U.S. Seriously.

medium.com/jsk-class-of...
I Have An Idea To Open 16,000 Newsrooms In The U.S.
What happens when journalism lives inside the public library?
medium.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:30 PM
My @jskstanford.bsky.social year at Stanford centers on one question: What grows when you build a community newsroom inside a public library? I've been testing it in Brooklyn neighborhood. It's works.

We can do this in the 16,000+ library buildings in the U.S. Seriously.

medium.com/jsk-class-of...
I Have An Idea To Open 16,000 Newsrooms In The U.S.
What happens when journalism lives inside the public library?
medium.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
As a librarian working in a newsroom, this is super cool!
Love the Library Newsroom Project by my old partner in journalism crime @terryparrisjr.bsky.social www.librarynewsroom.com This is the way.
Your Newsroom at your library
www.librarynewsroom.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
Love the Library Newsroom Project by my old partner in journalism crime @terryparrisjr.bsky.social www.librarynewsroom.com This is the way.
Your Newsroom at your library
www.librarynewsroom.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
Libraries are the best, and I love projects that get them and more community members involved in reporting and sharing the news that people need most. Proud my students in the engagement journalism program at CUNY helped plant the sees for the Sunset Park Sun!
October 30, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Exciting to see our work in the lead image!
In attacking libraries, Donald Trump is waging a war on public knowledge. Such pressures make the core mission of libraries harder, yet rather than retreat, libraries can push outward, enlarging the commons through new configurations of civic and creative life.

From @shannonmattern.bsky.social:
Extralibrary Loan: Making the Civic Infrastructure We Need
Amid a war on public knowledge, libraries are pushing outward, enlarging the commons through new configurations of civic and creative life.
placesjournal.org
October 29, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
The anger and despair can feel all-consuming, but I'm hoping that this can be a source of encouragement — a reminder that we can support and defend these local institutions and their broader networks of solidarity
October 29, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
"But we also lend ourselves to the library — committing our attention, our time, our presence at board meetings, our tax dollars and donations — enlarging the commons and participating in the political project of making an informed society." 💕
October 29, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Honored that the Library Newsroom, and the work we're doing in Sunset Park and beyond, was featured in such an important piece of work. Thank you @shannonmattern.bsky.social!
October 29, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Here’s a nicely reported piece from Ellie Brown about how public libraries are under growing political and financial threat—especially under the 2nd Trump admin—but remain essential, deeply trusted community institutions.

She also highlights the Library Newsroom Project!

medium.com/advanced-rep...
What The White House Doesn’t Understand About Libraries
As IMLS grants dwindle, public libraries are having a harder time facilitating interlibrary loans and filling holes in staffing. Still…
medium.com
June 12, 2025 at 6:37 PM
"Blanche has no experience working in libraries or archives, according to his public profile. Now he will be running the largest one in the world."

Experience: No record on file

www.npr.org/2025/05/12/n...
The President has named a new Acting Librarian of Congress. It's his former defense lawyer.
Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer for President Trump, is now acting Librarian of Congress. According to his public profile, Blanche has no experience working in libraries or archives.
www.npr.org
June 3, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
Gun violence is preventable. Journalists can make a difference. The Survivor Connection is a new service intended to help those reporting on gun violence take a more informed approach by centering the survivor community.
The Survivor Connection | Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting
The Survivor Connection is a new tool that helps reporters put the survivor at the center of their coverage.
survivorconnection.org
May 31, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Just finished my MLIS at Pratt (on May 20). I’m officially a librarian now (!). Didn’t expect the Open Newsroom I launched in 2019 would lead here: LIS theory, oral history, youth civic work, neighborhood bulletins—even some urban planning. Grateful for the ideas, approaches & people I met.
May 31, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
Streetsblog's social media team, led by Engagement Editor Emily Lipstein, received the Deadline Club's award for digital video reporting on Thursday night! buff.ly/IG9d2qD
And the Winner Is...: Streetsblog's New Video Team Honored with Deadline Club Award - Streetsblog New York City
Streetsblog's social media team, led by Engagement Editor Emily Lipstein, received the Deadline Club's award for digital video reporting on Thursday night.
nyc.streetsblog.org
May 16, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Three things:

1. Excited to spend time thinking about how journalism and libraries can come together in deeper ways (beyond just tabling).

2. IMO this is especially timely, given the threats facing both journalism and libraries.

3. I really need a new headshot.

So grateful for this opportunity!
Meet Terry Parris Jr., Public Square editor at Headway, a longform journalism initiative from The New York Times. He has also launched several journalism projects, including MISSING THEM, ProPublica’s first engagement team, and the Library Newsroom Project. Welcome to JSK, Terry! buff.ly/Y0dhqDv
May 14, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
lol. she thinks it's a town lending library?
Reporter: The president fired the Librarian of Congress. Why? 

Leavitt: There were quite concerning things she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children.
May 9, 2025 at 7:35 PM
We had another fun — and productive — evening in Sunset Park! We talked assignments, field guides, design, reporting. We laughed, ate dinner, and planned June’s issue.

More to come.

Thanks for swinging by, @shannonmattern.bsky.social!
Another Library Newsroom meeting tonight — so heartening to hear how everyday folks navigate local bureaucracy, tap local contacts to investigate their stories (when will the rec center re-open?!), and to watch them translate their neighborhood identity into a graphic design
May 7, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Reposted by Terry Parris Jr.
What do these 16 journalists working on some of the biggest issues in media have in common? They’re all part of the 2026 JSK Journalism Fellowship. 👏👏 Please help us welcome them to Stanford! buff.ly/8efUD6V
May 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I'm so grateful and so excited and can't wait to meet everyone!

More to come, and more to say about what I’ll be thinking about over the next year. But yes, it will involve libraries, something I’ve been thinking about for the last *five* years.

jsk.stanford.edu/news/jsk-nam...
JSK names 16 journalism fellows for 2025-26
Journalism leaders and innovators will pursue individual projects as well as opportunities for collective action that responds to accelerating threats to independent media.
jsk.stanford.edu
May 6, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I have this dream of creating a puppet show based on our community district needs assessment reports here in NYC.

Maybe this summer in Sunset Park? We need more puppet-forward journalism.

shelterforce.org/2025/04/29/a...
Art: "The Parade," Works of Social Commentary by Philly-Based Spiral Q
Puppets, banners, and more—the Philly-based group Spiral Q helps organizations respond to social issues with art.
shelterforce.org
May 6, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Public space matters.

In East Harlem, safe and welcoming places like community centers played a role in reducing violence.

"Experts say the community centers and resident cooperation are just as crucial in driving down shootings as law enforcement is."

gothamist.com/news/how-com...
How community activists, police and residents drove down shootings in East Harlem
A yearslong collaboration has helped reduce gun violence in the neighborhood to its lowest level since 2019, city data shows.
gothamist.com
May 6, 2025 at 3:45 PM