Men as Peacemakers, Duluth, MN 1996

Partners:

Duluth (MN) News Tribune
WDSE-TV public television
Violence Free Duluth organization 

The project “Men as Peacemakers” reversed the normal tendency to let men stay on the sidelines while women lead efforts to end violence and attracted the efforts of hundreds of Duluth men.

A community organization approached the media partners after a series of particularly gruesome incidents in Duluth, asking for help in promoting violence- prevention strategies. Initially, the partners agreed to finance a retreat, where about 50 men planned strategies for curbing violence. Impressed with the results, the partners launched a civic journalism project to explore the issue more fully.

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A Collision Course, Idaho Falls, ID 1998

Partners:

Idaho Falls Post Register
Lewiston Morning Tribune
Idaho Spokesman-Review
Idaho Public Television 
KTVB (NBC, Boise) 

This unique partnership sparked a statewide conversation on Idaho’s runaway prison spending with “Collision Course,” a five-part series that revealed the hidden cost of building more jails and engaged hundreds of people in the search for alternatives.

As a point of comparison, the partners chose declining state spending on higher education to illustrate how escalating prison spending was affecting Idaho’s quality of life. A poll of 804 residents in October 1997 showed 73 percent disagreed with the state’s spending priorities. A series of focus groups in six communities explored the reasoning behind the opinions the poll surfaced. 

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Safer Cities, St. Paul, MN 1995

Partners:

St. Paul Pioneer Press
KARE-TV (NBC)
Wilder Research Center

Breaking out of the daily police blotter routine, the paper commissioned a poll of 2,853 Twin City residents that explored public attitudes toward crime and safety and assigned a team of four reporters to look at crime in the context of race, age, gender and geography. They also explored the media’s role in public perceptions of crime.

The 10-part series began in the Pioneer Press on Sept. 24, 1995 and ran Sundays through Nov. 26. With interactive features, such as a risk quiz and a neighborhood audit, the series guided readers through a psychological evaluation of their own fears, a reality check about the dangers in their lives, the best ideas from around the country for fighting crime and a look at the most promising local efforts, including a map of resources and lists of safety tips. The paper also sponsored two public forums – each with about 40 people – on crime issues and reported the results.

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Taking Back our Neighborhoods/Carolina Crime Solutions Charlotte, NC 1994

Partners:

The Charlotte Observer
WSOC-TV (ABC)
WPEG-AM
WBTV (CBS)

Pew funds supported the hiring of a community coordinator, Charlene Price-Patterson, who was instrumental in organizing town meetings and focus groups and coordinating reader response.

Reporting started with a computer-assisted analysis of two years of crime statistics that helped the partners select which neighborhoods to focus on. They then polled 400 neighb orhood residents about what they believed to be the root causes of the crime rate. The partners also asked residents of each neighborhood to join an advisory panel that would help frame coverage and define what they saw as the causes and solutions.

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