Planning a Project

In Kansas City, the Star enlisted 12 prominent citizens — including academics, theologians, and physicians — to choose the “core values” important to raising the community’s young people. (IMAGE 38K)

Civic journalism doesn’t just happen. Involving citizens in the coverage of community issues takes planning, allocation of scarce newsroom resources and a commitment to the long haul. Consequently, most efforts are neither cheap nor easy.

The process usually begins with a perceived community problem: persistent crime in particular neighborhoods, young people who seem to be morally adrift, jobs that have evaporated.

From that perception comes an idea for a newspaper’s coverage, an idea that treats readers as participants in the process and not just as passive spectators. To begin, the idea is tested with the citizens themselves (“Is this a problem and do you want to help us search for solutions?”) and then framed in terms readers can best relate to.

Citizen involvement at every stage characterizes the coverage. Not only does the newspaper put forth its best reporting and writing covering the “problem,” it also encourages and covers extensively citizen input and participation. How the community responds becomes an essential part of the story.

ASSESSING A COMMUNITY’S NEED

How do editors decide whether a local issue is worth the commitment required of a civic journalism initiative? Most begin by asking their readers. “Asking” can be done in many ways: polls, focus groups, panels of experts, panels of citizens, community forums, solicitations printed in the newspaper. In the end, the decision is the editors’, but citizen input is essential from the very beginning.

In covering “courage,” the Kansas City Star profiled children who had overcome adversity; wrote about their “heroes;” talked with teens, and then did stories about various kinds of courage, such as the courage to try for a dream, to make new friends, to face a bully, and to overcome obstacles.
The paper also provided a “toolbox” of additional readings on courage.
In Sioux Falls, the Argus Leader identified the problem itself: the economic threat to rural communities in South Dakota. Its project concentrated on “solutions,” first by profiling success stories in three communities…
…then by inviting communities to declare their need and apply for a citizen-involvement initiative called “Community on the Rise.” People in the town selected (Tyndall, population 1,200) worked for more than a year with a specialist in rural entrepreneurship from the University of South Dakota.
Identifying community needs doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate. In Binghamton, N.Y., the Press & Sun-Bulletin used a coupon in the paper to solicit comments from readers.
In Myrtle Beach, S.C., the Sun News distributed neon-yellow post cards asking residents about the community. The results helped shape questions for a more formal poll that followed.

TESTING THE IDEA

Crime was the topic in St. Paul. To help its reporters and editors better understand how attitudes and experiences differ from place to place across the Twin Cities, the Pioneer Press conducted an extensive telephone poll (2,853 adults) that provided data not only for the region and its two largest cities, but also for six specific neighborhoods. This initial research enabled the newspaper’s reporters to analyze important neighborhood differences.

As part of their election coverage, The Portland Newspapers with WGME-TV (CBS) and Maine Public Broadcasting conducted a series of statewide polls to help discern voter attitudes about the issues in the 1996 campaign and to help frame year-long discussions for a group of Sanford citizens.

As a result, the newspaper goes back to the readers in many ways — to field test the premise, to gather more data, to deepen the understanding of the journalists by putting them in closer touch with citizens. The objective is not to “solve” the problem; it is to use citizens to help produce better coverage as the news organization works toward reporting the problem in ways that will connect with citizens.

In Rochester, N.Y., the Democrat and Chronicle and WXXI-TV documented its “Make Us Safe” series with a poll about teen attitudes toward violence, especially in schools. Key elements of the information gathered from the poll and the panel could be found on the newspaper’s Internet site. The media partners supplemented the poll with a panel of four experts who answered parners supplemented the poll with a panel of four experts who answered parents’ questions about how they can raise non-violent children. FRAMING THE COVERAGE In Charlotte, The Observer constructed “resumes” for each gubernatorial candidate. And it framed the races for governor and senator as hiring decisions for the voters. How you frame a question often determines the nature of the answer. If you see a story in terms of a contest, with two sides of an issue squaring off in public view, the narrative will fill that adversarial frame. But often other voices need to be heard. In Norfolk, The Virginian-Pilot asked senatorial candidates to “apply” for the job by submitting a resume and application letter outlining their qualifications. Civic journalism seeks to broaden the frame on many news stories, to give other parties a voice on an issue, and to give readers and viewers a sense of what their role is. Adjusting the framing usually requires adjusting the master narrative; often it ends up less conflict-driven. Election campaigns, for example, also can be covered as job interviews with the candidates, not just as contests that some will win and others will lose. Doing so helps citizens more clearly understand their role in election campaigns and see the overall process in a slightly different way. Pausing to think about framing can help shape coverage of a breaking story that otherwise might be driven by opponents on an issue. In Charlotte, a tax supported theater company produced a play containing frontal nudity. It didn’t take long for battle lines to form. The mayor and a coalition of conservatives were offended by the performance and wanted it closed; civil libertarians defended artistic freedom. The Observer polled 400 readers to put some different players into the drama — citizens of Mecklenberg County — whose views on nudity and tax-supported works of art helped inform and elevate the community dialogue. Effective framing sets a direction and tone for a project by bringing key stakeholders — parents, teenagers, voters, the community’s disenfranchised — into different focus. Telling the story from a particular point of view can make a difference. In Duluth, Minn., the News-Tribune chose to frame a series on violence by concentrating on men, especially how they learn and sustain violent behavior. In Detroit, the Free Press told the story of teen violence through the eyes of the teens themselves. In Kansas City, the Star framed the challenge of raising children around key values.   New information from polls can also help to reframe stories. In “Across Generations: What we owe each other,” the St. Paul Pioneer Press used an extensive poll to report a series on the polarization dividing Generation Xers, baby boomers, the “silent” generation, retirees and the so-called “old-old.” Here, poll results helped to debunk prevailing stereotypes about today’s young people. The Wichita Eagle tries to focus readers’ attention on core values when covering such debates as federal spending on education or a name change for a high school sports team. The paper also outlines for readers the consequences of various choices.   EXPLAINING THE PROJECT In St. Paul, editors and reporters on the “Across Generations” team published a list of their goals for the project. Among them, to “demonstrate that we do owe something to each other and to show readers how they can fulfill obligations.” The team also invited readers to “let us know how you think we’re measuring up.” Charlotte Observer Editor Jennie Buckner used her news pages more than once to personally explain the “Taking Back our Neighborhoods” project to readers. This hard-working box in the Seattle Times invites readers to address specific questions to candidates on health care reform, explains the “Front Porch Forum” election project, and describes how to get in touch with the three partners in the media alliance. BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS  |  BACK TO INTRODUCTION  |   READ THE NEXT SECTION