Public invited to meet Wichita journalists at weekly News Connect program

Have you ever wanted to talk to a journalist and ask a few questions of your own or chat about what’s happening in Wichita?

Now you have the chance.

The Wichita Journalism Collaborative, which includes 11 organizations that partner on news and information gathering, is hosting a weekly pop-up newsroom of sorts called News Connect.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Thursday, the Collaborative invites members of the public to the Rolland Eakins TEC-Novation Room on the main floor of the Advanced Learning Library at 711 W. Second St. to meet with representatives of the partners.

Partners include The Wichita Eagle, The Active Age, The Community Voice, KMUW, KSN-TV, Planeta Venus, The Sunflower, The Wichita Beacon, the Wichita Public Library, the Elliott School of Communication at Wichita State University and The Journal, which is published by the Kansas Leadership Center.

Though you’re always welcome to call or e-mail journalists, the idea of News Connect is to have face-to-face interactions with the people who provide the community its news.

This is your opportunity to see how journalists work, ask them why they approach news coverage the way they do and learn how they get their information.

Or you may want to ask questions about why they’ve made certain news decisions or how the news business has changed and how it continues to evolve.

Most Thursdays, the forum is meant to be whatever you want it to be.

Some days, there will be scheduled programs on particular subjects, such as this week’s on Wichita’s housing challenges, or election issues.

To find out what’s going on any particular day, follow the Collaborative on its Facebook page.

Whatever the topic, we hope to see you there.