Residents Laud Mapping Project; Seek Even More Choices
The Herald's creation of a clickable online map allows Everett, WA, residents to provide input on waterfront development and sparks a community discussion on land use. By Catherine Lee.
Civic Catalyst: Practicing Civic Journalism
Series Triggers New Hispanic Weekly
Alan White, managing editor of The Eagle-Tribune, explains how the paper's exploration of the Batten Award-winning "Unrealized Assets" in Lawrence, MA, led to a Spanish-language weekly aimed at building bridges between Anglo and Latino residents.
Community Mapping Reveals Dire Needs
Executive Editor Kathy Spurlock chronicles The News-Star's "Focus on Education," a civic mapping project that mobilized the community in Monroe, LA, to respond to the needs of its schoolchildren.
Tech Tools Strengthen Civic Reporting
New technology, from Web cams to computer survey kiosks, strengthens civic journalists' ties to the communities they cover. By Dana Clark Felty.
West Virginia Partners Split Top Batten Award
The 2001 Batten Award for Excellence in Civic Journalism goes to the Huntington Herald-Dispatch and West Virginia Public Broadcasting for "West Virginia After Coal," a project that examined the effects of a declining coal industry on communities and the use of coal severance taxes. The Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence, MA, and the Chronicle-Tribune of Marion, IN, were named runners-up while five other organizations garnered honorable mentions.
Mapping Reflects Real Life, Real People
Assistant Metro Editor Kamrhan Farwell of The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, CA, reflects on how a civic mapping project at the paper generated relevant and authentic stories on critical community issues.
How to Reach Diverse Communities
Don Heider, assistant professor of journalism at the University of Texas-Austin and author of "White News, Why Local News Programs Don't Cover People of Color," examines the dearth of diverse community coverage in news and offers pointers to remedy the problem.
Batten Award Winners: How They Did It
The news organizations that won top honors at the 2001 Batten Symposium explain the visions that guided their projects and the resulting changes in their communities.