Boom Town Faces its Future, Myrtle Beach, SC 1997

Partners:

The Sun News
Cox Broadcasting

After the results of an informal Sun News survey showed serious community concern about rapid growth, the paper launched an 11-month project, “Living in a Boom Town.” The paper had asked readers to respond to six open-ended questions about the Myrtle Beach area. Some 300 responses showed five main areas of concern: traffic, growth, elected officials, schools and culture. A five part series exploring each of these topics began April 27, 1997. Each package included a “primer,” giving background on the issue, comments from readers and additional resources for more information. The paper also set up a phone line for more reader comments and started a discussion forum on growth issues on its Web site. It followed people’s concerns through ongoing coverage of one neighborhood, Socastee, which was wrestling with all of the issues involved.

In November, the paper sponsored five focus groups, each with members who represented different segments of the community: newcomers, retirees, parents, young adults and Socastee residents. Despite the differences in the groups’ make-up, the paper found broad agreement on growth issues. The focus groups guided a second series of stories, published in February and March of 1998. For instance, the focus groups showed strong support for impact fees on developers, and the paper wrote about how impact fees worked in other areas. The focus groups voiced disillusionment with elected officials, and the paper reported on what elected positions were open and how to file to run for public office.

The project culminated in a “Boom Town Civic Fair,” March 28, 1998, which attracted about 400 people. The paper also began two weekly features: an informational graphic that showed the goals of a particular government body were and the status of work toward the goal and a column, “Speaking Up/Boom Town Forum,” for reader comments.

Contacts:

Susan C. Deans (Former Editor, The Sun News)
Asst Managing Editor/Weekends
Denver Rocky Mountain News
400 West Colfax Avenue
Denver, CO 80204
TEL: (303) 892-2386
FAX: (303) 892-2841
EMAIL: deanss@denver-rmn.com

John X. Miller (Former Managing Editor, The Sun News)
Public Editor
Detroit Free Press
600 West Fort Street
Detroit, MI 48226-3138
TEL: (313) 222-6803
FAX: (313) 222-5981
EMAIL: miller@freepress.com