Civic Journalism Is… True Stories from America’s Newsrooms
Civic Journalism Is…
About making ordinary concerns compelling.
Rosemary Goudreau
Managing Editor
Cincinnati Enquirer
A lawyer friend of mine recently told me why he doesn’t read newspapers anymore. He said journalists always focus on conflict and seek out people who have extreme points of view. He thinks we leave out the people in the middle because “they’re boring.”
Experience tells me he’s right. Journalists do shy away from people who aren’t clear in their convictions, who don’t deliver powerful quotes.
Yet most people find themselves somewhere in the middle on issues. Before making up their minds, they like to hear what thoughtful, diverse people have to say — people the newspaper can introduce them to.
For me, civic journalism is about enlarging the range of voices on stories, bringing to the surface the values behind peoples’ opinions, helping citizens see possible common ground and giving information on how, if they choose, they can play a role in shaping solutions.
Our challenge is to do so in engaging, compelling ways. Like The Enquirer’s “Dear Mr. President” package. When Clinton came to Cincinnati four days after Ken Starr released his report on the president’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky, we invited readers to send us the questions they would ask Clinton if they had the chance. Surprisingly, many of the 1,500 readers who responded didn’t mention sex. They talked about China, unemployment and the environment.
Then again, a lot of them talked about sex — and their thoughts on the presidency and what should happen next.
Boring? Ha!