Maine Citizens Campaign ’96, Portland, ME 1996
Partners:
Portland Newspapers Inc.
Maine Public Broadcasting Network
WGME-TV (CBS)
The “Maine Citizens Campaign” followed a group of about 40 residents of Sanford, ME, a neglected mill town as they deliberated the issues and interviewed candidates in the 1996 campaign. Conceived as a way for the partners to get more citizen voices into their election coverage, the project took on a life of its own as the citizens became empowered by the process and tried to become an action group.
The partners chose to base the project in Sanford after studying past elections and demographics that suggested the town would be representative of the state. They then surveyed 300 residents and followed up with phone interviews of 70 respondents to form the core group. Members met 16 times – eight all together and eight in smaller groups – to become educated on issues and develop questions for candidates.
The partners had hoped to attract all or most of the presidential candidates to meet with the group but only Republican hopeful Senator Richard Lugar appeared. The citizens also interviewed senate and congressional candidates.
Stories about the group’s meetings ran in the paper and on TV and radio from November 1995, when the group first began to meet, through the November 1996 election. The partners also used the Sanford citizens to get voter comments into routine election coverage.
When the election was over, the citizens decided to continue meeting with the goal of starting a project of their own. The paper continued to provide assistance and occasionally cover activities. WGME produced a half-hour documentary on the group’s second anniversary. The group eventually dissolved but individual members went on to participate in local government.
The project led the newspaper to hire a full-time community coordinator, Jessica Tomlinson, to connect with citizens for civic journalism efforts.
Contacts:
Jeannine Guttman
Editor and Vice President
The Portland Newspapers
390 Congress St.
Portland, ME 04104
Phone: (207) 780-9000
Email: jguttman@portland.com
Jessica Tomlinson
Online Community Organizer
MaineToday.com
50 Monument Square
Portland, ME 04101
TEL: (207) 822-4072
FAX: (207) 879-1042
EMAIL: Jessica@mainetoday.com
Facing our Future, Binghamton, NY 1996
Partners:
Press & Sun-Bulletin
WSKG Public TV and Radio
WBNG-TV (CBS)
SUNY-Binghamton
With the Binghamton economy severely depressed and public spirits virtually crushed by the loss of jobs and services, the partners in 1996 launched “Facing Our Future,” a solutions-oriented journalism project with a built-in action component. Two years later, citizen action teams were still meeting and the economy was rebounding. Then-Press & Sun-Bulletin editor Marty Steffens gave the media partners at least partial credit for the turn-around. “We weren’t just lucky,” she said.
The partners’ ran three, three-part series – in January, February and March 1996 – on the economic history of the region, the impact of the downturn and ideas for revitalization, including ideas offered by citizens through clip-and-send coupons in the newspaper and a television call-in show. Then, on April 18, they sponsored a town meeting attended by an overflow crowd, where more than 200 citizens signed up to take part in one of 10 action teams for addressing the economic crisis.
The citizens met over the summer with organizational help from a community coordinator hired with Pew Center support. In September, the media partners reported an extensive list of recommendations the teams had developed for improving the region’s prospects. A 500-page final report, issued in October, contained more than 100 ideas.
Many of the ideas were implemented in 1997 as the project, renamed “Building Our Future,” moved into the action phase. The region’s Chamber of Commerce, initially resistant to the initiative, also offered to house it. The Community Beautification and Morale Team planted a neighborhood garden and held a “National Night Out” event that won an award from the National Town Watch Association. The Consolidating Government Team worked to streamline the county 911 system. The Youth Team produced a television show for both TV partners and raised money for a teen recreation center. The local airport was improved and a local highway was taken over as an interstate.
The media partners covered developments but stepped back from active involvement in the project. The Pew Center for Civic Change provided funds for the community coordinator to continue to facilitate citizen action. A 1996 Pew Trusts study of civic journalism projects found that fully half of Binghamton area residents were aware of the project and three-quarters of those felt more positive toward the media partners as a result.
Contact:
Martha Steffens
Professor, School of Journalism
University of Missouri- Columbia
134-B Neff Annex
Columbia, MO 65211-1200
TEL: (573) 884-4839
FAX: (573) 884-1372
EMAIL: steffensm@missouri.edu
Leadership Challenge, Peoria, IL 1996
Partners:
Journal-Star
WMBD-TV (CBS), WMBD-AM
WCBU-TV (PBS), WCBU-FM (NPR)
Illinois Central College
Bradley University
Noting a decline in civic leadership and community involvement, the partners embarked on “Leadership Challenge,” a project that met its ambitious goal of inspiring citizens to take leadership roles in the community.
Designed from the beginning to become a community effort, the media partners invited civic institutions to join the steering committee that framed the project. Through a series of targeted mail surveys, a random sample telephone survey of 509 Peorians and four community roundtables involving some 50 people, the partners were able to document the reasons people were becoming less involved in community activities.
They included a lack of time, a feeling of being unwelcome and a fear of being criticized. But the surveys also showed that getting involved gave people a sense of satisfaction and more people would get involved if asked by a relative, friend or employer. A series of stories laying out and exploring the findings began on Jan. 21, 1996.
The series included weekly profiles of ordinary Peoria residents who took on leadership roles. It culminated in a Nov. 18 town meeting, in which 120 people participated in a search for solutions and generated 147 ideas for reversing the trend. Some of the ideas were picked up and put into practice, as hoped, by a member of the steering committee, the director of the Center for Non-Profit Excellence at Illinois Central College (ICC). ICC received funds from the Pew Center for Civic Change to extend the work of the journalism project and trained several neighborhood activists in skills needed to lead organizations. The resulting Neighborhood College continues to train emerging leaders.
The series also inspired a local businessman to run for mayor and, when he took office, prompted him to develop a Neighborhood Development Commission that tapped new segments of the community for leadership roles.
Contacts:
Jack Brimeyer
Managing Editor
Journal Star
1 News Plaza
Peoria, IL 61643
Phone: (309) 686-3121
Email: jbrimeyer@pjstar.com
Terry Bibo-Knight
Columnist/Special Projects Director
Journal Star
1 News Plaza
Peoria, IL 61643
Phone: (309) 686-3121
Commuter Chronicles, San Francisco, CA 1996
Partners:
San Francisco Chronicle
KQED-FM (NPR)
KRON-TV (NBC)
The partners in the two-year-old “Voice of the Voter” project decided to join forces for a non-electoral effort in 1996 and took on the issue of traffic congestion in “Unlock the Gridlock.” Some 1,500 people participated in five public forums held between May 1996 and April 1997, exploring the various factors in the Bay Area’s choking traffic jams. The forums gave citizens the chance to question elected officials and transportation executives about the lack of coordination in mass transit and search for solutions. Citizens could also ask questions through clip-and-send coupons in the Chronicle. Coverage also included live broadcasts on KQED and stories on KRON.
All the partners produced series throughout the year on topics related to the traffic issue, such as inadequate traffic regulation and poorly planned development that put more cars on the road. The Chronicle also conducted a poll of Bay Area residents about housing and land use and how it relates to traffic.
Results included broader public input into a new Bay Bridge design and two new pieces of state legislation. One bill gave the Metropolitan Transportation Commission authority to coordinate routes and operations, bringing a measure of organization to what had been a fragmented system. The other – passed and signed into law after a series of articles about red-light running and interviews with victims of injuries – doubled the fine for going through a red light.
Contacts:
Vlae Kershner
Regional Editor
San Francisco Chronicle
901 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: (415) 777-8858
Email: vk@sfgate.com
Raul Ramirez
News Director
KQED-FM
2601 Mariposa St.
San Francisco, CA 94110-1400
Phone: (415) 553-2253
Email: raul_ramirez@qm.kqed.org
Stacy Owen
News Director
KRON-TV (NBC)
1001 Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94109
TEL: (415) 561-8008
FAX: (415) 561-8621
EMAIL: owen@kron.com
Daniel Rosenheim
News Director
KPIX-TV
855 Battery Street
San Francisco, CA 94111-1597
TEL: (415) 765-8618
FAX: (415) 765-8844
EMAIL: rosenheim@kpix.cbs.com
Keep Us Safe: Teens Talk about Violence, Rochester, NY 1996
Partners:
Rochester Democrat andChronicle
WXXI Public Television
WOKR-TV (ABC)
The partners focused on young people – their experiences, their views, their voices – for “Make Us Safe: Teens Talk about Violence.” First, they surveyed nearly 1,800 seventh through 12th graders in the Rochester area. They found that one-third thought their life would be shortened by violence, 18.5 percent carried a weapon for fear of violent crime and a significant number wanted their parents to set more limits. Then the partners gathered small groups of teenagers for focus group discussions.
All the media partners launched coverage on Sept. 21, 1996, the one-year anniversary of the fatal stabbing of a 13-year-old girl by a 12-year-old girl outside of their school. A week of newspaper stories chronicling the problem of youth violence included contributions from 100 students who’d been given single-use cameras to document their day. The television and radio partners broadcast teen essays on violence.
The second week of coverage focused on solutions. A two-hour roundtable discussion broadcast live on WXXI and covered by the other partners generated citizen ideas for combating youth violence. The paper printed a coupon with a “Teens Pledge of Peace,” asking youth not just to sign the pledge but to offer more suggestions for curbing violence. The project shared the 1997 Batten Award.
Contacts:
Blair Claflin (former public affairs editor, D&C)
Legislative Editor
The Des Moines Register
715 Locust St.
Des Moines, IA 50304
Phone: (515) 284-8052
Gary Walker
VP of Television
WXXI-TV
280 State St – PO Box 30021
Rochester, NY 14603-3021
TEL: (585) 258-0241
FAX: (585) 258-0384
EMAIL: gwalker@wxxi.org
Elissa Marra
Director of National Productions
WXXI-TV
280 State Street
Rochester, NY 14614
TEL: (716) 258-0349
FAX: (716) 258-0384
EMAIL: emarra@wxxi.org<
Daily Civic Journalism Initiative, Charlotte, NC 1996
Partners:
The Charlotte Observer
WSOC-TV (ABC)
WPEG-AM
WBTV (CBS)
After the success of their major crime project, “Taking Back our Neighborhoods,” the media partners spent a year trying to incorporate the civic journalism principles they had learned into daily reporting. Applying such tools as polling, public forums, listening posts and community partnerships on a quick-turn-around time frame, the partners found ways to improve coverage of breaking news.
For example, on March 24, 1996, the paper and WBTV published the results of a super-quick, random-sample pool – conceived on Thursday and published on Sunday – about nudity in the play “Angels in America.” A touring production of the play stirred debate when a group of citizens demanded that an actor who appeared nude on stage be arrested for indecency. The poll found most people supported the director’s right to include the scene and the controversy diminished.
A month later, the paper joined with WPEG to cover a dispute between local residents and young drivers who cruised in a neighborhood park. The paper covered a flare-up on Friday, April 26, with a package of explanatory stories and people suggesting solutions. The following Sunday, it co-sponsored a 90-minute broadcast forum at the radio station that included WPEG reporters taking questions from cruisers in the park.
One of the most successful experiments in civic coverage of breaking news was the partners’ reporting on a new state law requiring schools to increase parent participation. In addition to the straight reporting, the paper published a graphic that listed the kinds of things volunteers could do even if they were available for short periods or only at night and a phone number to call to sign up. More than 300 people called a special phone bank, manned by local school districts, to volunteer.
Contacts:
Jennie Buckner
Editor and Vice President
The Charlotte Observer
600 S. Tryon St.
Charlotte, NC 28202
Phone: (704) 358-5001
Chuck Clark (Former government editor, The Observer)
City Editor
Orlando Sentinel
633 N. Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL 32801
TEL: (407) 420-5468
EMAIL: cclark@orlandosentinel.com
Fannie Flono
Associate Editor
The Charlotte Observer
P.O. Box 32188
Charlotte, NC 28202
TEL: (704) 358-5079
FAX: (704) 358-6166
EMAIL: flono@charlotteobserver.com
We the People/Wisconsin, Madison, WI 1996
Partners:
Wisconsin StateJournal
Wisconsin Public TV
Wisconsin Public Radio
WISC-TV (CBS)
Wood Communication Group
In the spring, a forum allowed citizens to question candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in “You Be the Judge,” broadcast from the high court’s chambers. Citizens got the chance to assess the performance, structure and financing of the state’s public university system and recommend a course for its future in “The Future of the UW System.” Town hall meetings were held on campuses statewide and citizen recommendations were given to the UW regents.
In “Campaign for Control,” citizens from across Wisconsin descended on Madison to “take over” the state Senate chambers for a live, one-hour forum that allowed them to question legislators. “Talk of the House” gave citizens an unprecedented opportunity to add their voices to congressional campaigns. About 300 citizens in three sites were linked with the Republican and Democratic candidates for three hotly contested U.S. House seats. The forum, broadcast on five commercial and public television stations and statewide public radio, was viewed by more than 100,000 households statewide.
The State Journal and WISC_TV also started their “Schools of Hope” series, which has been credited with helping to improve Madison schools and won a Batten legacy award in 2002.
Contacts:
Deborah Still
Project Director
We The People/ Wisconsin
PO Box 5534
Madison, WI 53705
Phone: (608) 833-8545
Thomas W. Still
President
Wisconsin Technology Council
PO Box 71, 615 E. Washington Ave.
Madison, WI 53701-0071
TEL: (608) 442-7557
FAX: (608) 256-0333
EMAIL: tstill@wisctec.com
Tom Bier
General Manager
WISC-TV
7025 Raymond Rd.
Madison, WI 53719
TEL: (608) 271-5171
FAX: (608) 271-0800
EMAIL: tbier@wisctv.com
David Iverson
Executive Director
Best Practices in Journalism
2601 Mariposa St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
TEL: (415) 553-2489
EMAIL: iverson@wpt.org
James B. Wood
President
Wood Communications Group
700 Regent St.
Madison, WI 53715-1233
Phone: (608) 259-0757
Soapbox: A Guide to Civic Journalism at The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA 1996
Partners:
One of the early innovators in developing and using civic journalism tools, the Spokesman-Review embarked on a project to foster their growth in other newsrooms. With Pew support, the paper hired an intern specifically to advance civic journalism outreach. During her year in Spokane, the intern worked with community groups, helped organize a forum to make the paper more accessible to citizens, helped edit contributors to the paper’s reader-written opinion pages and wrote opinion pieces herself.
A major focus of the internship was the production of a civic journalism handbook, “Soapbox,” which explained the paper’s decision to try civic journalism, the techniques it employed and the results it got. The handbook included a message from then-Editor Chris Peck about a credibility study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and examples of the way the paper tried to form closer connections to its community, such as remaking the editorial page to include citizen voices and exploring public issues through informal “pizza party” discussions among small groups of ordinary people.
The paper distributed the book to other newsrooms with a letter from Peck about what a positive change civic journalism had brought to the Spokesman-Review.
Contacts:
Chris Peck (Former Spokesman-Review editor)
Editor
The Commercial Appeal
P.O. Box 364
Memphis, TN 38101
TEL: (901) 529-2390
EMAIL: peck@gomemphis.com
Rebecca Nappi
Interactive Editor
The Spokesman-Review
999 W. Riverside Ave.
Spokane, WA 99201
Phone: (509) 459-5496
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.
In March 1996, the News-Tribune began seven-month series of stories on ways people are affected by violence, how they learn to be violent through sports, the media and in the home, and how prejudice, drugs and peer pressure influence violence. The paper also printed and distributed a resource guide showing men what services are needed and exactly how to volunteer.
WDSE featured segments on its public affairs show and produced a documentary and a 90-minute televised town forum, Oct. 8, 1996. The documentary was distributed to libraries and edited for use in classrooms, along with a teacher’s guide created for the project.
The “Men as Peacemakers” group grew from the original 50 to more than 200 and sponsored a “week without violence” that included a community fair, showcasing the news coverage and showing people how they could get involved.
Contact:
Craig Gemoules
Deputy Managing Editor
Tampa Tribune
202 S. Parker Street
Tampa, FL 33601
TEL: (813) 259-7600
FAX: (813) 259-7676
EMAIL: cgemoules@tampatrib.com
Common Ground, San Jose, CA 1996
Partners:
San Jose Mercury News
KNTV (ABC)
KPIX-TV (CBS)
KIVE and KARA Radio
Santa Clara Public Libraries
“Common Ground” was an editorial page project designed to encourage public discussion on controversial topics and create public spaces where those discussions could occur. On its editorial and commentary pages, the Mercury News editorial board would publish lists of suggested reading on topics such as affirmative action or changing the state constitution. Library officials recommended the books and magazines and ensured the lists were broad-based and not slanted toward a particular view.
Then, the paper invited readers to attend a small group discussion of the topic at a local library and distributed discussion guides that used the National Issues Forum model of choice exercises.
In 1996, more than 300 people participated in a dozen discussion groups on public education, culminating in a one-hour “Education Town Hall,” televised live on Aug. 15, 1996 by KPIX. About 300 people attended the town hall and another 300,000 people watched on TV. Phone lines were manned by library employees and more than 100 people called seeking more information.
Contacts:
Rob Elder
Former Editorial Page Editor
Email: ElderRob@aol.com
The Public Agenda, Tallahassee, FL 1996
Partners:
Tallahassee Democrat
WCTV6 (CBS)
Florida State University
Florida A&M Universities
The third year of the “Public Agenda” project ended with a hand-off to the community. Over its three-year span, the project involved more than 1,000 people in 15 discussion groups. A final poll of 353 adults in the Tallahassee area showed the project appeared to have contributed to positive changes in community attitudes and behavior. The poll found that about one third of area residents had heard of the project. Participation in some aspect of the project – whether joining a discussion group or attending a public meeting – registered at seven percent but that represented a doubling over the three years of the project, from three percent in 1995.
More than half the respondents said the project was effective in getting people to discuss community concerns, making people feel they have a voice and identifying solutions for community problems. Respondents in 1997 were more likely than respondents in 1994 and 1995 to see the community pulling together and less likely to be at odds. They were more willing to listen and work toward compromise and strongly agreed that people could make a difference by taking an active role on important issues in their community. For more details, see Year One projects, 1994.
Contacts:
Mimi Jones
Project Manager
The Public Agenda
1713 Silverwood Dr.
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Phone: (850) 942-7199
Michael W. Smith
News Director
WCTV-TV (CBS)
4000 County Rd. 12
Tallahassee, FL 32312
TEL: (850) 893-6666
FAX: (850) 668-3851
EMAIL: mike.smith@wctv6.com
Front Porch Forum, Seattle, WA 1996
Partners:
The Seattle Times
KUOW-FM Radio
KCTS Public TV
KPLU-FM, Tacoma, WA
The “Front Porch Forum” partners solidified their initiative in their third year, hiring a project coordinator and engaging more than 2,000 citizens in forums, focus groups and polling. The project focused on the gubernatorial and congressional elections. An initial poll of 570 Washington residents, conducted in April, provided the baseline for a series of features by all the partners on election issues such as job security, morals and values, money and politics and the welfare of children. To plumb the results in greater depth, the partners convened three focus groups involving a total of 33 citizens, and used the information gathered to develop a second poll of 400 residents statewide in early October. The surveys alerted the partners early on to the issues of the 1996 campaign, particularly citizen concerns about morality and family issues, so they were able to make sure candidates addressed them.
In the two most tightly contested congressional districts, the partners used voters in bellwether communities in covering the races. In each one, a group of 16 citizens representing a broad mix of ages, incomes and political leanings was recruited randomly to meet three times before the election, including a face-to-face meeting with the candidates.
In the gubernatorial race, the partners collaborated with the League of Women Voters to host two forums – one for Democratic candidates and one for Republicans. More than 400 citizens attended the Democrat’s forum and 250 participated in the Republican forum. In each, a panel of five citizens questioned the candidates for the first half and audience members asked questions during the second half. The forums were broadcast live in prime time by KCTS and attracted twice the usual viewership for the time slot.
After the November election, the partners sponsored a final public forum, “Our Schools, Our Kids,” broadcast live in December following the Times’ special section rating Seattle area high schools.
Contacts:
David Boardman
Managing Editor
The Seattle Times Co.
PO Box 70
Seattle, WA 98111
TEL: (206) 464-2160
FAX: (206) 464-2261
EMAIL: dboardman@seattletimes.com
Marion Woyvodich
1138 North 82nd Street
Seattle, WA 98103-4405
TEL: (206) 522-5754
FAX: (206) 528-5528
EMAIL: MWoyvodich@aol.com
Ross Reynolds
Radio Host
KUOW
P.O. Box 535750
Seattle, WA 98195
TEL: (206) 543-2710
FAX: (206) 543-2720
EMAIL: rar@u.washington.edu
Voices of the People, Cincinnati, OH 1995
Partners:
WKRC-TV (CBS)
The Community Press Chain of Suburban Weeklies
Q102 and WNNK Radio
An unusual partnership, with TV taking the lead and enlisting suburban weeklies rather than one large daily, “Voices of the People” sought, according to its mission statement, “to empower citizens by making sure their voices are heard and by showing their involvement does make a difference.”
Short on resources when it first kicked off in May 1995, the partners simply had staffers each call 10 people from the telephone directory and discuss their needs and issues that affected their lives. Pew support allowed the partners to hire a community coordinator to organize projects under the “Voices of the People” umbrella.
One of the first issues the partners tackled was public funding of sports stadiums, the subject of a special referendum on March 19, 1996. In the weeks leading up to the referendum, Community Press newspapers invited readers to send in their questions about the issue and answered the questions in weekly columns. Similarly, WKRC answered two to three viewers’ questions on its nightly newscast and Sunday morning public affairs show, culminating in a March 15 televised special in which citizens questioned a panel of experts on the pros and cons of stadium funding. Turn-out on the referendum was a record-breaking 49 percent of registered voters – more than double the turn-out for the 1992 elections.
In July, WKRC traveled to four communities – one each week for an exercise in public listening. Reporters spent the first three days of the week in the community simply talking to citizens. Thursday featured a live broadcast from the town, followed by a town meeting on local issues. The partners also convened six town hall meetings with voters questioning congressional candidates running in the November election.
Contacts:
Steve Minium (Former VP News, WKRC-TV)
Vice President of News
Clear Channel Television
1906 Highland Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45219-3161
TEL: (513) 763-5425
FAX: (513) 421-2873
EMAIL: minium@wkrc.com
Tom Noonan
Community Press Newspapers
5552 Cheviot Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45247
Phone: (513) 248-8600
The Sun News Asks You, Myrtle Beach, SC 1996
Partners:
The partners proposed a project on race relations but found during the planning phase that racial division was just one of the problems facing the community as a result of extremely rapid growth. Broadening the focus of the project to “reconnecting,” the paper decided to seek reader input in determining what issues the community cared about most. In late summer of 1996, the paper distributed 3,000 neon yellow postcards, asking six open-ended questions, such as: What would you change about your community? What is going well in your community? What really makes you mad right now?
One of the things that people said made them mad were the town’s tack beachwear stores.
Similar questionnaires were printed on clip-and-send coupons in the paper. More than 300 residents responded, zeroing in on five key areas of concern: traffic, growth and development, elected officials, schools and the culture of the area. The informal survey led the paper to launch its 1997 project, “Living in a Boom Town,” which also received Pew support.
Contact:
Susan C. Deans (Former Sun News editor)
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 Sun News Managing Editor)
Public Editor
Detroit Free Press
600 West Fort Street
Detroit, MI 48226-3138
TEL: (313) 222-6803
EMAIL: miller@freepress.com
Norfolk, VA 1996
Partners:
The Virginian-Pilot
The Harwood Group
For the 1996 elections, the paper completely re-imagined and refashioned campaign coverage, moving from traditional horse race coverage to the innovative (and, later, much-copied) concept of candidate as job applicant. Pew helped fund a new kind of poll that aided this coverage. Rather than a market-driven poll, the Harwood Group conducted a deliberative poll of 672 adults for the paper, one that offered a range of choices and asked respondents the “why” behind their answers. It revealed that voters were as concerned about leadership and character as about candidates’ stands on issues.
The paper did little direct reporting on the poll but used the results to frame its coverage. The theme of coverage became “What’s got to be done and who’s up to doing it?” Candidates were given unprecedented opportunity to speak directly to voters through a “job application,” where they described in their own words how they saw the office they were seeking and their qualifications for holding it, and through answers to questions on the issues voters found most important. Virginian-Pilot reporters profiled candidates and reported spot news but framed it within the theme of the campaign as job interview.
The paper explored the issues uncovered in the poll – leadership, economic life, crime, education – both through news stories and through grids that showed candidates’ responses to questions surrounding the issues. Innovative graphics were used to make coverage more useful and easier to digest. The paper reported that voters frequently expressed appreciation for the new approach.
Contacts:
Dennis Hartig (Former Managing Editor)
Editorial Page Editor
The Virginian-Pilot
150 W Brambleton Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23510
TEL: (757) 446-2126
FAX: (757) 446-2414
EMAIL: hart@pilotonline.com
Tom Warhover (Former Deputy Managing Editor)
Executive Editor
The Columbia Missourian
PO Box 917
Columbia, MO 65205
TEL: (573) 882-5700
FAX: (573) 882-5702
EMAIL: warhovert@missouri.edu
Tampa, FL 1996
Partners:
WTVT-TV (Fox)
Weekly Planet Alternative Paper
WMNF Community Radio
Tampa Chapter of National Conference
The partners sought to bring civic journalism to the Tampa Bay area through a series of four jointly sponsored town hall forums and the encouragement of smaller “kitchen table” discussions in citizens’ homes. The forums were aided by “Speak Up, Tampa Bay,” a group of citizens brought together as an advisory board on civic journalism to WTVT and the Weekly Planet. The group evolved into an independent body focused on engaging citizens in deliberative dialogue by hosting forums and small group discussions on Bay area issues and on connecting the media with citizens and their issues.
In addition to the forums, the partners inaugurated the Good Community Alliance, bringing together a group of civic organizations and social service agencies to share resources and work on joint projects. The Alliance included the partners and other media organizations and sought to improve coverage of activities and events that were the basis for much of the community’s civic life.
Contacts:
Ben Eason
President and CEO
Creative Loafing
1310 E. 9th Avenue
Tampa, FL 33605
TEL: (813) 248-8888
FAX: (813) 248-9999
EMAIL: ben.eason@creativeloafing.com
Across Generations: What We Owe Each Other, St. Paul, MN 1996
Partners:
St. Paul Pioneer Press
KARE-TV (NBC)
Wilder Research Center
Following up on the success of its “Safer Cities” project, the paper focused on intergenerational conflict with the eight-week, 14-part series “Across Generations: What Do We Owe Each Other?” First, a poll of 1,528 adults in the Twin Cities area showed some of the differences between people of different generations – young people, for example, were less likely to have a religious preference. Then a team of reporters explored the topic through “immersion reporting” – spending long periods of time with interview subjects in places such as nursing homes or day-care centers to create more trust and avoid superficial, sound-bite quotes.
The paper also invited readers to share their stories of intergenerational connections, generating more than 200 responses. A class of eighth graders was given cameras to document a special relationship with an older person. These elements were included in the package, which began running Nov. 10, 1996. The package also included suggestions for closing generational gaps – such as adopting a grandparent or creating a family history book or video – and a clip-and-send coupon for readers to pledge to take action to create connections between generations.
The paper sponsored a four-hour intergenerational dialogue at the Mall of America, attracting some 70 people of all ages. It also distributed more than 2,000 “tool kits” with tips and suggestions for connecting with different generations.
Contacts:
Walker Lundy
Editor
St. Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar St.
St. Paul, MN 55101-1057
Phone: (612) 228-5480
Email:lundy@pioneerplanet.infi.net
Brett Benson, Project Leader
St. Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar St.
St. Paul, MN 55101-1057
Phone: (612) 228-5438
Kay Harvey
St. Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar St.
St. Paul, MN 55101-1057
Phone: (612) 228-8468
Kate Parry
St. Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar St.
St. Paul, MN 55101-1057
Phone: (612) 228-5400