Fall 1995
What’s Happening in Pew Projects
The Public Agenda
TALLAHASSEE, FLA.
PARTNERS: TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT, WCTV (CBS), FLORIDA STATE AND FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITIES
The Democrat’s editorial board advanced “The Public Agenda” project with a series on teen pregnancy that ended with a forum Aug. 28, featuring the young people interviewed. A Quality of Life seminar, “Seeking Solutions: How can we break the cyle of teen pregnancy,” is scheduled for Oct. 23.
The Democrat’s Comment page plans a curtain-raiser for an Oct. 11 forum on race relations, to be sponsored by one of “The Public Agenda’s” discussion groups. Meanwhile, the partners expect to receive in November poll results with feedback on citizens’ level of involvement in the effort. The partners finished reporting on their eighth community, Reid Park, in August. Media blitz Sunday on Enderly Park, the last of nine neighborhoods to be profiled by the partners, will be Oct. 29. Meanwhile, The Observer’s editorial board has contracted with Grassroots Leadership to conduct a day-long leadership workshop on Nov. 11 for five residents in each of the neighborhoods covered.
Results from the two-year effort have been impressive. So far, more than 700 people throughout Charlotte have volunteered to help by donating time, items or services. And there are signs of change in the individual neighborhoods. In August, the ribbon was cut on a new recreation center for Seversville, made possible by a local bank after the neighborhood was featured. In Lakewood, a local church has received a grant for a pre-school program. And the Commonwealth-Morningside community has received a matching grant for a park. About 100 citizens attended a “Citizen Inquiry Panel” on Sept. 27, where project participants questioned current and former legislators about campaign finance reform and the influence of special-interest money in the California legislature.
Citizens sitting in the county supervisors’ seats grilled a legislator who had served jail time on corruption charges, two legislators who had tried to introduce reform bills, and a legislator who had led successful reform efforts in Kansas. KNTV will be airing a one-hour special on the session on Oct. 7 and KQED-FM, which was invited to broadcast the session, will produce a special on it. Meanwhile, the project has demonstrated how citizen involvement and research has triggered some good journalism. One catalyst was a citizen who, in researching legislative bills on the Internet, came across a “shell” bill, often introduced so that special-interest amendments later can be tacked on. Her research led to some spirited questioning of legislators about the bill when the participants spent a day in July in the state Capitol. And it later led to several news stories, after journalists picked up on that questioning and learned that Gov. Pete Wilson had received a $100,000 campaign contribution from Seagrams, the bill’s beneficiary, only days before he signed it into law. The bill’s sponsor has promised to introduce reform legislation. No sooner did The Record finish its North Jersey School Book project, in which five staffers were detached for six months to evaluate schools, then the paper did its Quality of Life Poll. One result, said project director David Blomquist, is that, like Clinton said of the nation: “People in New Jersey are in a funk. They voted out a Democratic legislature, governor and congressmen and they are still after blood.”
“People are still concerned that their lives lack stability,” he said. There are plans to try to chart out different “types” of citizens for polling in hopes that these typologies will enable the paper to give voices to competing agendas. There have been overtures from a couple of commercial television stations about getting involved. Meanwhile, The Record continues its successful civic journalism cable venture with TCI. A public hearing and citywide block party is planned for early November as a forum for citizens to discuss the city’s future. The partners plan to focus on the four key topics identified in the “Community Conversation” project – crime, getting a good job, family activities and better streets. They will divide participants by the town’s 11 elementary school districts and invite citizens to come up with solutions. Computer operators will gather results throughout the event and they will be broadcast on the evening newscast.
Tim Fought, the Herald’s Opinion Team Leader, says he thinks the project has had a lot of positive impact in the community and led to some good journalism. For instance, the Herald followed up on citizens’ concerns that some minor crimes were not getting enough attention by spending 24 hours with a police dispatcher. The result: a story that identified 40 instances in which people were victims of crime – from bike theft to not paying at the gas pump. Coming soon: a database story that can serve as a benchmark on what various jobs in the community pay. After more than 70 stories, five television shows and four radio talk shows, the partners are following up on the “Grading our Schools” project by renaming it “Upgrading our Schools.”
The newspaper has already done some follow-up stories, including articles that interviewed students on what they think should be expected from them in the classroom and on whether vocational education can be a more attractive option to some students. The newspaper and WXXI also did a six-part series on violence that culminated in a Sept. 13 town meeting attended by about 250 people. That forum included an on-line chat session. More coverage is planned. And the partners have had an overture from a commercial television station that is exploring getting involved. At a rate of one a month, the partners have tackled binge drinking, neighborhood organizations,local health concerns and student housing. While the community forums have been well-attended, editor Bill Felber has been frustrated that the usual activists keep showing up. How do you engage other people?
Felber is going to make that his next topic: People’s detachment from the process. The Mercury is reporting on some suggested solutions to problems previously discussed. For instance, citizens proposed neighborhood co-op arrangements to address child care concerns so the Mercury will do a story on how one could set up such a co-op.
Taking Back our Neighborhoods/ Carolina Crime Solutions
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
PARTNERS: THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER,
WSOC-TV (ABC), WBAV AND WPEG RADIO
Your Voices Count
SAN JOSE, CALIF.
PARTNERS: SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, KNTV (ABC), CALIFORNIA VOTER FOUNDATION
Quality of Life
HACKENSACK, N.J.
PARTNERS: BERGEN RECORD, TCI OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY, WJUX-FM
A Community Conversation
GRAND FORKS, N.D.
PARTNERS: GRAND FORKS HERALD,
WDAZ-TV (ABC), NORTHERN LIGHTS PUBLIC RADIO
Grading our Schools
ROCHESTER, N.Y.
PARTNERS: ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE AND TIMES-UNION, WXXI PUBLIC TELEVISION
Manhattan, Kan.
PARTNERS: THE MANHATTAN MERCURY
KQLA-FM.