Information Needs Assessment for the City of Hermiston

The goal of this report is to understand the existing information ecosystem in Hermiston and Hermiston residents’ information needs. Recommendations emphasize how the City of Hermiston and other local entities can improve information flow. The Engaged Journalism class conducted a survey, led four facilitated conversations, and visited the site to better understand and meet the needs of Hermiston residents. Overall, residents report feeling well informed about their community, with an average rating of seven on a scale of one to 10. The local Facebook group “What’s Happening in Hermiston” is the first place many residents look to find information on the community, and some residents mentioned that the Facebook group posts important events faster than the local news outlets do. In regards to local news outlets, the Hermiston Herald is the most popular. More than half of all survey respondents said the newspaper is where they find local news. Finally, the Hermiston Public Library was not as popular among respondents. Less than 20% of respondents indicated that they found out about local events from the library, and less than 10% considered it a physical gathering space for community members. Based on these findings, students compiled seven categories of suggestions that could help Hermiston better meet its residents’ information needs: enhancing the Hermiston Library with physical upgrades and more events, translating more text and media into Spanish, taking advantage of online information sharing platforms, fostering physical gathering spaces such as at the Food Pods in Hermiston, creating a community advisory board, and sharing communication platforms.