Batten Semifinalists: More Great Work

After years of struggle to assure all North Carolina children an equal and integrated education, the state’s schools have been quietly resegregating – quietly, until the Raleigh News & Observer compiled statistics showing increasing concentrations of poor, minority children in low-performing schools.

“The New Segregation” series was a semifinalist for this year’s Batten Awards and, with other semifinalists, indicates how robust the practice of civic journalism is. Here are some semifinalist highlights.

The Big Deal: Illegal Drugs in the Rochester Region

It was a bold assertion: The war on drugs has failed. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle felt confident printing that conclusion because, after months of convening virtually every segment of the community, the consensus was clear.

“People disagreed about all manner of things – whether drugs should be legal or not legal, the best way to deal with addicts and so on,” Special Projects Editor Sebby Wilson Jacobson said. “But the thing they all agreed with, bar none, whether it was a state trooper or a drug user, was that the war on drugs is not working.”

The paper won the Batten Awards in 1997 for a series on teen violence. Its comfort level with convening community members as a reporting tool served it well.

“We started by listening,” Jacobson said, “and we made a point of not bringing any preconceived ideas to this … What we needed to do was describe accurately and even-handedly the toll it was taking on taxpayers, families, neighborhoods.

Criminal justice reporter Gary Craig turned out to be the skeptic. “I thought we were going to be telling people things they already knew … but I was happily proven wrong. We struck a nerve.”

He came to realize that his coverage, although consistent, was fragmented. “A police reporter covers the bust. Another reporter covers the treatment program that’s upset because its funds are being cut,” he said. “We don’t usually try to pull all those elements together.”

The initial five-part series last June looked at the costs of the war on drugs – not just for law enforcement and jails but in rising social service budgets to counter the effects of illegal drugs. A drug summit and some new initiatives resulted.

Defining Moments

Last year, the Chronicle-Tribune won a Batten Award for “Moment of Truth,” which took a hard look at Marion’s grim realities. It also included a successful effort to engage the community so that the reporting became a rallying point.

The group “Framework for Change” was created to lead civic renewal efforts, and Indiana Wesleyan University made volunteer work a graduation requirement.

But Editor Juli Metzger felt the paper’s efforts included a tacit promise to cover the good news with equal vigor.

“Defining Moments” reported the community’s activity since “Moment of Truth” and focused on five key areas: reviving the downtown, the arts community, the shifting demographics that showed up in the 2000 census, entrepreneurs who are taking risks and starting businesses in Marion and the impact of two universities.

Each section contained “Best Kept Secrets,” about little-known Marion attractions, and “Signs of Strength,”readers’ thoughts about Marion’s strong points. The paper solicited the readers’ stories through a coupon asking, “What was your defining moment?”

The New Segregation

“Separate and unequal, again” – The News & Observer headline showed how fragile social change can be. It had taken tremendous upheaval to integrate North Carolina schools in the ’70s, but the state became a model through the ’80s for how to desegregate schools successfully. Then came the ’90s and the gradual return to racially isolated schools.

Reporter Tim Simmons first noticed the trend in 1999, when he wrote “Worlds Apart,” which documented the achievement gap between white and non-white students and prompted efforts to close the gap.

He decided specifically not to write about segregation – still an emotional topic – concerned that it would become the focus. Instead, he began examining school segregation without taking a position on whether it was good or bad, a worthy goal or a waste of time.

The N&O created a massive database on school enrollment with test results by race, income and grade level.

“Once you had the numbers,” said Projects Editor Rob Waters, “they gave you the story.”

The data showed academic achievement of all minority groups suffers when students are placed in segregated schools. The effects are greatest on middle-class black children, and one possible reason is that predominately black schools rely heavily on inexperienced and sometimes uncertified teachers.

The series has reignited the discussion groups started by the earlier series.