Barriers to the Beach Collaboration: Editorial

What was the Barriers to the Beach Project?

01 October, 2025 – CAPE COD, MA – Over the past several months, CapeCodNews.org, The Enterprise, and LowerCapeTV, worked together on a regional reporting project, “Barriers to the Beach”.  Alone, no one organization could have created the multimedia reporting that explored how 35 years of ADA has impacted the accessibility of Cape Cod public beaches – but together we were able to explore a topic that crosses town boundaries and impacts so many.

The collected five-part series incorporates video, written word and resource links as it reflects challenges shared from one end of the Cape to the other.  The question of how to enable everyone, regardless of physical ability, to enjoy our public beaches reaches far beyond the Cape, of course – but with so much of our regional identity tied to our hundreds of salt and freshwater beaches, the topic seems especially close to the heart on our peninsula.

Why did we collaborate on Barriers to the Beach?

The project arose from conversations among current and former journalists on Cape Cod, who realized there were stories that touched the entire region, needed time to report, would benefit from multiple forms and formats of reporting, and could only be possible by adding more “feet on the street” to dig into the story. Could we try and experiment? They wondered.

It also arose from the generosity of dozens of donors spearheaded by two local journalists who gathered together funds to enable a process of collaboration across organizations, including reporting and editing time, the addition of freelance talent and project management.  This fund enabled us to carve out space for a different way of working and thinking.

The specific series topic sprouted from a story Lower CapeTV reported in 2024, about two sisters in Brewster. One had significant physical challenges but loved the water; the other was dedicated to helping her sister enjoy the water. The story shared their challenges.

As the collaboration emerged, we realized the summer of 2025 was the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and that the challenges faced by the Brewster sisters were not unique. And despite some well-intentioned efforts at universal access,  the overall “Barriers to the Beach” remained high, even after more than three decades of ADA. We wanted to ask: What are those challenges? What solutions break the barriers? Why do these barriers remain?  What has worked? And – are any Cape Cod public beaches truly universally accessible?

How did the collaboration work?

We began exploring the reality of a collaborative process.  As the conversation rolled out, we realized it involved more moving pieces than originally anticipated. Few media organizations remain on Cape Cod; all are severely understaffed and working on shoestring budgets. Thanks to the modest set of funds, we were able to add freelance reporting and editing talent, and together we learned how to manage as a group.

We also realized the core value of project management, in addition to editorial direction. With many forms and formats of reporting and several different organizations, lots of cats needed herding. We learned a great deal from this process – skills we hope to carry forward to future collaborations.

We met weekly, in virtual format, discussing both special reporting and the overall story series arc.  We made new connections with each other and learned more about different towns on the Cape. What was Dennis doing in its budgeting? What made the Sandwich Boardwalk an accessibility success? How do Yarmouth, Wellfleet, and Barnstable use their mobility mats? How did an Eastham mother make a difference? Towns, we quickly realized, struggle with the same questions – because universal access is a universal question.

As we worked, we remembered how strengthening it felt to have many peers – to not have to operate as the “one-man band,” to have a group of editors and reporters working together to share, question, expand and enhance the process. The collaborative process improved both the storytelling and the skills of individuals. Teams do make a difference – something we once knew, but we often seem to forget in the navel-gazing era of influencers coupled with limited editorial budgets.

What lessons did we learn?

We had bumps and lumps of learning along the way. We are excited about the possibility of using a collaborative approach again in the future, to focus on other challenges shared across the Cape, and there are a few things we’d work to improve upon.

We were all very polite and maybe a bit cautious of each other’s space – which was good, but as we wrapped and looked back on the process, we also realized we might want to tighten the project management process and think of the series flow as well as its components.  Based on this first learning, we would also talk more explicitly about the ways video, text, audio, and graphics might intertwine.

Although we received feedback throughout, in hindsight, we can see how having a more formal community sharing cycle/post series outreach would have amplified the story and built connections across the region. In future collaborations, we would like to explore this as well.

Lastly, as we worked through the story, we realized it offered a great opportunity for building an ongoing dataset, one that, with the storytelling skill in presentation, could be an ongoing community resource. In future stories, we’d consider this element – and funding for this element – as part of initial planning.

What was the impact of Barriers to the Beach?

From the very first part of the series, people began responding. The topic matters to many residents and visitors to the Cape – it turns out that universal access touches people of all ages and encompasses many different types of challenges. The shared factor was a sense that “no one realizes this is an issue”.

We believe that the first step to solutions lies in identifying the challenges, the needs and the tools. One story – or even a series of stories – can’t solve a problem, but through this process we’ve learned that reporting together to bring a regional challenge forward can get the questions and solutions on the public agenda and start a conversation that reaches across town boundaries to shared community connections and maybe, just maybe, a few less barriers to the beach.

Thank you,

Teresa Martin

Editor, CapeCodNews.org

John Paradise

Editor, The Falmouth Enterprise