Community Journalism

Mensagem is deeply ingrained in the community of Lisbon, collaborating with and producing a wide range of projects and stories for the people in its neighborhoods. This involvement extends beyond individuals to include local businesses. The newsletter serves as the main channel for dialogue, with people directly responding via email and sharing ideas with the journalists.

The café serves as a meeting and event space, where Mensagem hosted numerous neighborhood meetings in the beginning to learn about people’s lives, ideas, and concerns. They've also established a book club focusing on books about Lisbon and hosting readings and conversations with authors.

Readers also volunteer to write for Mensagem, sending in stories based on their personal experiences and opinions, which don't require fact-checking but contribute to the sense of community in Lisbon.

One of their current grant-funded projects, called "Undesert the News," involves establishing pop-up newsrooms in three of the least-covered areas within the metropolitan region: Chelas, Mem Martins in Sintra, and Amadora. Journalists work with young people in these communities, assisting them in telling their own stories while enhancing media literacy. With this project, Mensagem directly contributes to one of their main impact goals: cultivating understanding and empathy by amplifying voices that would usually be overlooked. These stories have been collaboratively produced with cultural groups in the communities.