Harwood Civic Mapping Seminars Resume

 in Fall 2001  tagged civic mapping / mapping / Pew Updates

Fall 2001

Harwood Mapping Seminars Resume

Twelve news organizations will take part in the fourth Harwood Civic Mapping Seminar. The weekend workshop, Nov. 9-11, in Washington, DC, is designed to improve reporters’ and editors’ capacities to understand their communities and tell untold stories.

Co-sponsored by The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation and the Pew Center for Civic Journalism, the mapping seminars are designed to help newsrooms tap into new places and develop alternative sources of news.

Participants will learn approaches and skills to map the civic layers of either geographic communities or communities of interest. The approach was first outlined by Richard C. Harwood, president of The Harwood Institute, in “Tapping Civic Life: How to Report First, and Best, What’s Happening in Your Community,” a workbook based on research in various newsrooms and supported and published by the Pew Center.

“In order for newspapers to report on their communities, they need to understand those communities deeply,” says Harwood. “Tapping into civic life is an important part of that process.”

Harwood has spent more than 10 years studying the relationship between citizens, public concerns and the news media – and how these relationships can be strengthened. He has worked with major news organizations and he led the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Journalism Values Institute.

The news organizations were selected based on proposals they submitted. Each will send three reporters and editors. Those attending and the areas they seek to map include:

  • The Day, New London, CT – the sprawling Waterford suburb.

     

  • Duluth News Tribune, MN- neighborhoods most affected by impending school closings.

     

  • The Orange County Register, CA – Santa Ana’s Hispanic community.

     

  • The Herald, Everett, WA – the Lynnwood community and communities of young people, seniors, poor and minorities.

     

  • The Bismarck Tribune, ND – newly formed communities, many of which have no official representation.

     

  • Press Journal, Vero Beach, FL – the education community, with a focus on issues pertaining to parents, students, schools, test scores, subjects and sports.

     

  • The Asheville Citizen-Times, NC – a newcomer community and a fast-growing area called Fletcher.

     

  • The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH – Shaker Heights, an upscale suburb.

     

  • The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS – growth and development in Madison County.

     

  • Tulsa World, OK – the Hispanic community, particularly a rapidly changing inner-city neighborhood.

     

  • The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN – K-12 public schools and the education community.

     

  • Herald & Review, Decatur, IL – communities impacted by the local Bridgestone/Firestone plant closing and layoffs from other manufacturing companies.