St. Paul, San Francisco and Portland News Organizations Win 1999 Batten Award

The St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Portland Press Herald/ Maine Sunday Telegram and KRON-TV, San Francisco’s NBC affiliate, shared the 1999 James K. Batten Award for Excellence in Civic Journalism for innovative efforts that produced in-depth journalism and paved the way for the news organizations to play new roles in their communities.

The three news organizations split the $25,000 award, presented May 3 at the annual Batten Symposium, held this year at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. It was titled: “A Citizen’s-Eye View: Civic Journalism, Civic Engagement.”

“Each of the winners courageously and thoroughly explored a sensitive subject in ways that encouraged unprecedented levels of reader and viewer response,” said Jan Schaffer, executive director of the Pew Center, which sponsors the awards.

“In Maine, the journalism gave rise to more than 70 study circles on alcohol abuse; in the Twin Cities, more than 2,500 people participated in book clubs and discussion groups on poverty amid welfare reform; and in San Francisco, thousands of people engaged in an on-line conversation about race relations, and the reporting is entering its second year.

“As a result, in each of these communities, the one-way conversation of traditional journalism became an active civic dialogue that continued long after the journalism wound down,” Schaffer said.

The Portland Press Herald/ Maine Sunday Telegram’s winning entry was triggered by an eight-part series, “The Deadliest Drug: Maine’s Addiction to Alcohol,” which delivered such startling statistics and personal stories that it prompted a year-long grassroots effort in 1998 that mobilized nearly 2,000 people to participate in study circles on the impact of alcohol abuse in their community. Their final action plans were compiled in a book as well as followed up in the newspaper.

In “Poverty Among Us” the Pioneer Press chronicled, once a month for seven months, what it was like to be poor in Minnesota at a time when the official welfare safety net was replaced by welfare-to-work programs. The paper told the story through the eyes of schoolchildren, the working poor, immigrants and others. But the paper didn’t stop there. It pulled readers into a conversation about poverty by conducting a major poll on attitudes towards poverty, by forming book clubs on the literature of poverty with the St. Paul public libraries, by publishing interviews with the poor on its web site and by providing discussion guides and tool kits for those wanting to organize discussion groups.

KRON-TV launched “About Race,” its year-long exploration of how race and ethnicity shape the Bay Area, with an unprecedented five-part series during the 6 p.m. newscast in February 1998 sweeps. The first story ran 13 minutes; total time for the week was 60 minutes. Coverage explored the genetics of race, diversity in the workplace and in schools, talking about race and a look at efforts to bridge the racial divide. KRON’s 18 stories over the year included a one-hour special, since provided to more than 90 local schools and three community access cable stations. Collaborating with KRON were the station’s long-standing civic journalism partners, the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED-FM public radio and the BayTV cable affiliate.

The winners were selected from 91 entries. Semi-finalists included: “Hunger in the Land of Plenty,” The Charlotte Observer’s look at the changing face of hunger; “A Turning Point,” the Wilmington (Del.) News-Journal’s examination of the 1968 race riots and current race relations; “Motel Children,” The Orange County Register’s saga of the one of thefastest growing segments of the poor: children living in residential motels; “Community Conversation,” the Grand Forks Herald’s efforts to engage its flood-damaged community in a rebirth; “Pottstown: It’s Do or Die Time,” The Mercury’s examination of problems and possible solutions to the plight of Pottstown, PA; “What Corporate Welfare Costs You,” Time magazine’s series on government job-creation subsidies; “The State of Secrecy,” an effort by seven Indiana newspapers to test statewide compliance with open-records laws.

The Batten Awards are named in honor of the late James K. Batten, former chief executive of the Knight Ridder newspaper chain, who pioneered some of the earliest civic journalism thinking. The awards are funded by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, based in Philadelphia.

This year’s Batten Symposium and Awards Dinner was co-sponsored by the Star Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, KTCA-TV, Minnesota Public Radio and the Minnesota Journalism Center of the University of Minnesota’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram

“The Deadliest Drug: Maine’s Addiction to Alcohol”

A courageous effort to listen to the silences in the community – not just the buzz. The newspapers used computer-assisted reporting, then put human faces on the statistics as they reported the true costs to citizens of the use and abuse of alcohol. But they didn’t stop there. They responded to reader requests to help launch study circles in 1998 that undergirded the dialogue and gave the topic a legacy throughout the state. To have thousands of people involved in an ongoing discussion is what civic journalism is all about.

Photo:Tom Ferriter, assistant managing editor, Jessica Tomlinson, community coordinator.

St. Paul Pioneer Press

“Poverty Among Us”

An illuminating look at the underclass that combined detailed reporting with strong storytelling and compelling photography. It provided some wonderful hooks (“Do the Math,” to show what people have to live on, for example). Civic participation moved to a new level with the concepts of a tool kit, discussion guides and a book club, reinforcing the idea that informed citizens are best equipped to deal with pressing public issues.

Photo of Pioneer Press staffers (left to right): Glenda Holste, editorial writer; Maja Beckstrom, reporter; Walker Lundy, editor; Vicki Gowler, managing editor; Pat Burson, reporter; Kate Parry, senior editor; Rick Shefchik, reporter.

KRON-TV, San Francisco

“About Race”

A non-traditional approach to the difficult subject of race relations that invited viewers into the conversation at every turn. The on-line impact was impressive, the collaboration with other media was strong. The station devoted enormous resources and broke all the rules regarding the amount of broadcast time that should be devoted to a single news segment. It showed that viewers do respond to thoughtful, impactful, compelling issues – even during sweeps period.