Winter 1997
Defining Civic Journalism
Definitions from key panelists at the
Dec. 9 workshop,"Civic Journalism Washington Style,
Reporting Beyond the Beltway," sponsored by the Pew
Center, the Regional Reporters Association and the Freedom
Forum in Rosslyn, Va.
"In writing about
public life, we provide readers with the information they
need to be citizens. It’s more of a consumer approach to
public affairs reporting than most reporters are used to.
Civic journalism is an antidote to some of the cheapening of
the business, some of the market-driven forces."
Jennie Buckner, Editor, The
Charlotte Observer
"I believe it’s
journalism that grows out of the hopes, fears, dreams,
conflicts and struggles of a particular community. It’s
a point of view, an attitude, a set of values that informs
what you do day in and day out."
Steve Smith, Editor,Colorado Springs
Gazette Telegraph
"Civic journalism is
a journalism that begins every day with the conviction that
readers and voters are as important as the sources and
subjects of our stories."
David Shribman, Washington Bureau Chief,
The Boston Globe