Twelve News Organizations Picked for 4th Harwood Civic Mapping Seminar

 in Press Releases  tagged civic mapping

Washington, D.C., October 8, 2001 — Twelve news organizations will take part in the fourth Harwood Civic Mapping Seminars. The weekend workshop, Nov. 9-11, in Washington, DC, is designed to improve reporters’ and editors’ capacities to understand their communities better and tell untold stories.

Co-sponsored by the Pew Center for Civic Journalism and The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, the mapping seminars are designed to help newsrooms tap into new places and develop alternative sources of news.

Participants will learn approaches and skills to literally map the civic layers of either geographic communities or communities of interest. The approach was first outlined by Richard C. Harwood, president of The Harwood Institute, in “Tapping Civic Life: How to Report First, and Best, What’s Happening in Your Community,” a workbook based on research in various newsrooms and supported and published by the Pew Center.

“Reporters tell us again and again that with a little bit of mapping, they have discovered scores of new stories in their communities,” said Jan Schaffer, executive director of the Pew Center.

“A Journalist’s ToolBox” a four-part video series produced by the Pew Center will also serve as a training tool for the newsrooms.

“In order for newspapers to report on their communities, they need to understand those communities deeply,” says Harwood, who will lead the seminar.

“Tapping into civic life is an important part of that process.”

Harwood has spent more than 10 years studying the relationship between citizens, public concerns and the news media – and how these relationships can be strengthened. He has worked with major news organizations and he led the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Journalism Values Institute.

The news organizations were selected based on proposals they submitted. The participants and the areas they seek to map include:

  • The Day, New London, CT – the sprawling suburb of Waterford.
  • Duluth News Tribune, MN- neighborhoods most affected by impending school closings.
  • The Orange County Register, CA – Santa Ana’s Hispanic community.
  • The Herald, Everett, WA – the Lynnwood community and communities of young people, seniors, poor and minorities.
  • The Bismarck Tribune, ND – newly formed communities, many of which have no official representation.
  • Press Journal, Vero Beach, FL – the education community, with a focus on parents, students, schools, test scores, subjects and sports.
  • The Asheville Citizen-Times, NC – a newcomer community and the fast-growing Fletcher area.
  • The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH – Shaker Heights, an upscale suburb.
  • The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS – Madison County growth and development.
  • Tulsa World, OK -the Hispanic community and a rapidly changing inner-city neighborhood.
  • The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN – K-12 public schools and education system.
  • Herald & Review, Decatur, IL -communities impacted by the local Bridgestone/Firestone plant closing and other manufacturing layoffs.

The Pew Center for Civic Journalism is a research and development center for better ways of reporting the news so that it helps to re-engage people in public life. It supports innovative journalism and shares the results through workshops, publications and videos. The Center was created in 1993 as the centerpiece of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ initiative to stimulate citizen involvement in community issues.