The Two Report Strategy

by Heather Krause | Aug 12, 2022 | Communication & Distribution

So many amazing, equity-centered data projects trip at the finish line. We take the carefully collected, analyzed, and interpreted data — centered around creating meaning for the people from whom we collected the data — and report it in a way that prioritizes someone else.

We generate reports that are designed for academics, for our funders, for our bosses, or for the media, etc. I get why we do this; those kinds of target audiences can be crucial to the success of our projects. We want to get re-funded. We want to share knowledge in expert circles. We want to generate attention and awareness beyond our immediate project community.

However, when we only create one product — one way to communicate our information — we often do a disservice to the people that matter most to us.

Frankly, I see a lot of cases where a project team claims to be prioritizing the community they are engaging with, but when it comes down to it, if they only make one report with only one goal, it’s usually designed and written to be best appreciated by people above them in the power structure, not below them.

I often get asked how to create an “equitable and universal” report. This happens when I ask a team of researchers what their most important target audience…