Richard attends the Knight Media Forum

Last week, I was in Miami for the Knight Media Forum, where I joined over 1,000 community, media, and philanthropy leaders for conversations about the future of local journalism, civic leadership, and how we strengthen our communities. I was excited to be on a panel called Filling Critical Coverage Gaps in Our Communities, alongside leaders from The Baltimore Banner and New York Amsterdam News, where I shared about CivicLex’s civic education work and how it connects to our city hall coverage. I also moderated a panel on how communities can better support young, emerging civic leaders alongside two young people from Akron and Philadelphia.

One of the most powerful moments of the conference for me was hearing from former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. During his keynote, which you can watch here, he laid out what he think we should seek to repair ourselves and our communities, which he calls “the triad of fulfillment”: relationships with those around us, service to others, and purpose, giving us a sense of direction and meaning. It felt so close to the core of what we do here at CivicLex: help people build stronger relationships with their city and each other, create opportunities for meaningful civic engagement, and helping people find their sense of agency — or their civic purpose — in the decisions that shape their lives. If you have an hour, I really recommend you give it a watch.

Beyond that, I sat in on conversations about the Press Forward initiative, AI’s impact on media, and the growing pressures of censorship on civic institutions. There’s a lot happening in this space, and it’s clear that the work we’re doing in Lexington is part of a much bigger national effort to rethink how communities stay informed and engaged. I’m excited to bring these ideas back home.