New Pew Center Videos Sharpen Core Routines and Reflexes
Washington, D.C., October 23, 2000 — Practical tools to help journalists learn about what’s happening in their communities and do a better job of reporting the news are spotlighted in a new set of four training videos from the Pew Center for Civic Journalism.
Each 13-minute video describes deliberate strategies that reporters, editors and producers around the country are using on a daily basis to conduct better interviews, tap new sources, discover new stories and report them better.
The videos in “A Journalist’s Toolbox,” for instance, show the difference between questions that “shut down” an interview and those that “open up” a conversation. They show how reporting on tensions or patterns rather than conflict can produce stories that “ring truer” to readers, viewers and listeners. They show how journalists can build a better community Rolodex.
“A Journalist’s Toolbox” draws on the techniques and experiences of working journalists at The Charlotte Observer, The Orange County Register, The Virginian-Pilot, the Tampa Tribune and Tampa’s WFLA-TV.
“Journalists need to retool some core competencies to met today’s reporting realities,” said Jan Schaffer, the Pew Center’s executive director. “And journalists who are building on these skills discover quickly that they are doing better stories.”
The videos build on the work of Richard Harwood, president of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, who has conducted Civic Mapping Seminars for the Pew Center and has served as a consultant for many news organizations. View the transcripts.
“This video toolkit is one of our most extensive efforts to help civic journalists enlarge their skills beyond project journalism and to help all journalists develop some new routines and reflexes,” Schaffer said.
The videos complement a newly revised workbook, “Tapping Civic Life. How to Report First, and Best, What’s Happening in Your Community,” a do-it-yourself manual for injecting fresh voices and citizen concerns into daily journalism. The workbook was prepared by The Harwood Institute.
The videos were produced with funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts.