Civic Journalism Is… True Stories from America’s Newsrooms
Civic Journalism Is…
About listening through new technology.
Bill Hanley
Executive VP, Content
KTCA, Minnesota Public Television
Civic journalism is a process by which citizens and reporters work together to understand issues and work on solutions. When it comes to public television, that’s never been very far from our mission. We’ve always had town meetings. But we’re becoming more sophisticated about it.
In the past, we might have gathered 200 people in a hall but only 20 would say anything. We started to think maybe getting people dressed up and into a TV studio was putting them off — especially Minnesotans. So we’ve started using video conferencing technology that allows us to involve citizens in more natural settings.
We’ve been finding the places where citizens gather: bowling alleys, restaurants — even people’s living rooms. We’ve started a regular series of broadcasts with the African-American “Public Policy Forum,” originating from a restaurant called Lucille’s Kitchen. Using video-conferencing technology, we brought patrons at Lucille’s Kitchen together with a group in South Africa to talk about common concerns.
So we’re airing not just the views of real citizens but also the environment of real citizens. That’s what makes a chill go up and down my spine. We are out of the newsroom, out of the studio. We are in the real world.